The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Part 20 (1/2)
He held out his hand, and I saw in the light of the la
”It is not an airy nothing, you see,” said he, sh for a man to break his hand over Is Mrs Watson in?”
”She is away upon a visit”
”Indeed! You are alone?”
”Quite”
”Then it makes it the easier for me to propose that you should come aith me for a week to the Continent”
”Where?”
”Oh, anywhere It's all the sae in all this It was not Hol about his pale, worn face told hest tension He saw the question in ether and his elbows upon his knees, he explained the situation
”You have probably never heard of Professor Moriarty?” said he
”Never”
”Aye, there's the genius and the wonder of the thing!” he cried ”The man pervades London, and no one has heard of him That's what puts him on a pinnacle in the records of crime I tell you, Watson, in all seriousness, that if I could beat that man, if I could free society of him, I should feel that my own career had reached its summit, and I should be prepared to turn to some more placid line in life Between ourselves, the recent cases in which I have been of assistance to the royal family of Scandinavia, and to the French republic, have left me in such a position that I could continue to live in the quiet fashi+on which is enial to me, and to concentrate my attention upon my chemical researches But I could not rest, Watson, I could not sit quiet in ht that such athe streets of London unchallenged”
”What has he done, then?”
”His career has been an extraordinary one He is a ood birth and excellent education, endowed by nature with a phenoe of twenty-one he wrote a treatise upon the Binoth of it he won the Mathematical Chair at one of our smaller universities, and had, to all appearances, a most brilliant career before him But the man had hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind A cri erous by his extraordinary athered round him in the university town, and eventually he was con his chair and to come down to London, where he set up as an ar you nohat I have myself discovered
”As you are aware, Watson, there is no one who knows the higher criminal world of London so well as I do For years past I have continually been conscious of so pohich forever stands in the way of the law, and throws its shi+eld over the wrong-doer Again and again in cases of the ery cases, robberies, murders--I have felt the presence of this force, and I have deduced its action in many of those undiscovered crimes in which I have not been personally consulted For years I have endeavored to break through the veil which shrouded it, and at last the time came when I seized my thread and followed it, until it led s, to ex-Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity
”He is the Napoleon of crianizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker He has a brain of the first order He sits motionless, like a spider in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knoell every quiver of each of theents are nuanized Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, ill say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed--the word is passed to the Professor, the ht In that case money is found for his bail or his defence But the central pohich uses the agent is never caught--never so anization which I deduced, Watson, and which I devotedup
”But the Professor was fenced round with safeguards so cunningly devised that, do what I would, it seeet evidence which would convict in a court of law You know my powers, my dear Watson, and yet at the end of three onist as my intellectual equal My horror at his crimes was lost in my admiration at his skill But at last he made a trip--only a little, little trip--but it was more than he could afford when I was so close upon hi from that point, I have woven my net round him until now it is all ready to close In three days--that is to say, on Monday next--matters will be ripe, and the Professor, with all the principal , will be in the hands of the police Then will co up of over forty mysteries, and the rope for all of them; but if we move at all prematurely, you understand, they may slip out of our hands even at the last moment
”Now, if I could have done this without the knowledge of Professor Moriarty, all would have been well But he was too wily for that He saw every step which I took to draw ain he strove to break away, but I as often headed him off I tell you, my friend, that if a detailed account of that silent contest could be written, it would take its place as the most brilliant bit of thrust-and-parry work in the history of detection Never have I risen to such a height, and never have I been so hard pressed by an opponent He cut deep, and yet I just undercut hi the last steps were taken, and three days only anted to co the matter over, when the door opened and Professor Moriarty stood before me
”My nerves are fairly proof, Watson, but I must confess to a start when I saw the verythere on my threshhold His appearance was quite familiar to me He is extremely tall and thin, his forehead domes out in a white curve, and his two eyes are deeply sunken in his head He is clean-shaven, pale, and ascetic-looking, retaining so of the professor in his features His shoulders are rounded from much study, and his face protrudes forward, and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashi+on He peered at reat curiosity in his puckered eyes
”'You have less frontal development than I should have expected,' said he, at last 'It is a dangerous habit to finger loaded firearown'
”The fact is that upon his entrance I had instantly recognized the extreer in which I lay The only conceivable escape for hiue In an instant I had slipped the revolver froh the cloth At his remark I drew the weapon out and laid it cocked upon the table He still s about his eyes which lad that I had it there
”'You evidently don't know me,' said he
”'On the contrary,' I answered, 'I think it is fairly evident that I do Pray take a chair I can spare you fiveto say'
”'All that I have to say has already crossed your mind,' said he
”'Then possibly my answer has crossed yours,' I replied
”'You stand fast?'
”'Absolutely'
”He clapped his hand into his pocket, and I raised the pistol from the table But he merely drew out a memorandum-book in which he had scribbled some dates
”'You crossed my path on the 4th of January,' said he 'On the 23d you incommoded me; by the middle of February I was seriously inconvenienced by you; at the end of March I was absolutely hampered in my plans; and now, at the close of April, I find h your continual persecution that I aan iestion to make?' I asked
”'Youhis face about 'You really must, you know'
”'After Monday,' said I
”'Tut, tut,' said he 'I aence will see that there can be but one outcome to this affair It is necessary that you should withdraw You have worked things in such a fashi+on that we have only one resource left It has been an intellectual treat to rappled with this affair, and I say, unaffectedly, that it would be a grief to me to be forced to take any extreme measure You smile, sir, but I assure you that it really would'
”'Danger is part of er,' said he 'It is inevitable destruction You stand in the way not anization, the full extent of which you, with all your cleverness, have been unable to realize You must stand clear, Mr Holmes, or be trodden under foot'
”'I a, 'that in the pleasure of this conversation I a business of importance which awaits me elsewhere'
”He rose also and looked athis head sadly
”'Well, well,' said he, at last 'It seems a pity, but I have done what I could I know everybefore Monday It has been a duel between you and me, Mr Holmes You hope to place me in the dock I tell you that I will never stand in the dock You hope to beat me I tell you that you will never beatdestruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you'
”'You have paid me several compliments, Mr Moriarty,' said I 'Let me pay you one in return when I say that if I were assured of the former eventuality I would, in the interests of the public, cheerfully accept the latter'
”'I can promise you the one, but not the other,' he snarled, and so turned his rounded back uponout of the rooular intervieith Professor Moriarty I confess that it left an unpleasant effect upon my mind His soft, precise fashi+on of speech leaves a conviction of sincerity which a mere bully could not produce Of course, you will say: 'Why not take police precautions against him?' the reason is that I aents the bloill fall I have the best proofs that it would be so”
”You have already been assaulted?”
”My dear Watson, Professor Moriarty is not a row under his feet I went out about mid-day to transact some business in Oxford Street As I passed the corner which leads fro a two-horse van furiously driven whizzed round and was onfor the foot-path and saved myself by the fraction of a second The van dashed round by Marylebone Lane and was gone in an instant I kept to the pavement after that, Watson, but as I walked down Vere Street a brick came down froments at my feet I called the police and had the place examined There were slates and bricks piled up on the roof preparatory to some repairs, and they would have me believe that the wind had toppled over one of these Of course I knew better, but I could prove nothing I took a cab after that and reached my brother's rooms in Pall Mall, where I spent the day Now I have coh with a bludgeon I knocked him down, and the police have him in custody; but I can tell you with the most absolute confidence that no possible connection will ever be traced between the gentleman upon whose front teeth I have barkedout problems upon a black-board ten miles away You will not wonder, Watson, thatyour rooms was to close your shutters, and that I have been compelled to ask your permission to leave the house by some less conspicuous exit than the front door”
I had often ade, but neveroff a series of incidents which must have combined to ht here?” I said
”No, uest I have one so far now that they can h my presence is necessary for a conviction It is obvious, therefore, that I cannot do better than get away for the few days which rereat pleasure to me, therefore, if you could come on to the Continent with me”
”The practice is quiet,” said I, ”and I have an accolad to co?”
”If necessary”