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October 31, 2020 15:39
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import nltk, re | |
from nltk.corpus import wordnet | |
from nltk.corpus import stopwords | |
from nltk.tokenize import word_tokenize | |
from nltk.stem import WordNetLemmatizer | |
from collections import Counter | |
stop_words = stopwords.words('english') | |
normalizer = WordNetLemmatizer() | |
def get_part_of_speech(word): | |
probable_part_of_speech = wordnet.synsets(word) | |
pos_counts = Counter() | |
pos_counts["n"] = len( [ item for item in probable_part_of_speech if item.pos()=="n"] ) | |
pos_counts["v"] = len( [ item for item in probable_part_of_speech if item.pos()=="v"] ) | |
pos_counts["a"] = len( [ item for item in probable_part_of_speech if item.pos()=="a"] ) | |
pos_counts["r"] = len( [ item for item in probable_part_of_speech if item.pos()=="r"] ) | |
most_likely_part_of_speech = pos_counts.most_common(1)[0][0] | |
return most_likely_part_of_speech | |
def preprocess_text(text): | |
cleaned = re.sub(r'\W+', ' ', text).lower() | |
tokenized = word_tokenize(cleaned) | |
normalized = [normalizer.lemmatize(token, get_part_of_speech(token)) for token in tokenized] | |
filtered = [word for word in normalized if word not in stop_words] | |
return " ".join(filtered) |
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bohemia_ch1 = """ | |
To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard | |
him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses | |
and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt | |
any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that | |
one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but | |
admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect | |
reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a | |
lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never | |
spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They | |
were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the | |
veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner | |
to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely | |
adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which | |
might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a | |
sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power | |
lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a | |
nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and | |
that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable | |
memory. | |
I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us | |
away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the | |
home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first | |
finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to | |
absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of | |
society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in | |
Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from | |
week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the | |
drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, | |
as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his | |
immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in | |
following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which | |
had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time | |
to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons | |
to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up | |
of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, | |
and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so | |
delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. | |
Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely | |
shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of | |
my former friend and companion. | |
One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was | |
returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to | |
civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I | |
passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated | |
in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the | |
Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes | |
again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. | |
His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw | |
his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against | |
the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head | |
sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who | |
knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their | |
own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his | |
drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new | |
problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which | |
had formerly been in part my own. | |
His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I | |
think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly | |
eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, | |
and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he | |
stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular | |
introspective fashion. | |
"Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have | |
put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." | |
"Seven!" I answered. | |
"Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, | |
I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not | |
tell me that you intended to go into harness." | |
"Then, how do you know?" | |
"I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting | |
yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and | |
careless servant girl?" | |
"My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly | |
have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true | |
that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful | |
mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you | |
deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has | |
given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it | |
out." | |
He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands | |
together. | |
"It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the | |
inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, | |
the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they | |
have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round | |
the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. | |
Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile | |
weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting | |
specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a | |
gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black | |
mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge | |
on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted | |
his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce | |
him to be an active member of the medical profession." | |
I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his | |
process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I | |
remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously | |
simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each | |
successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you | |
explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good | |
as yours." | |
"Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing | |
himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. | |
The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen | |
the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." | |
"Frequently." | |
"How often?" | |
"Well, some hundreds of times." | |
"Then how many are there?" | |
"How many? I don't know." | |
"Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is | |
just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, | |
because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are | |
interested in these little problems, and since you are good | |
enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you | |
may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, | |
pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. | |
"It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." | |
The note was undated, and without either signature or address. | |
"There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight | |
o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a | |
matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of | |
the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may | |
safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which | |
can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all | |
quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do | |
not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." | |
"This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that | |
it means?" | |
"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before | |
one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit | |
theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. | |
What do you deduce from it?" | |
I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was | |
written. | |
"The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, | |
endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper | |
could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly | |
strong and stiff." | |
"Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an | |
English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." | |
I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a | |
large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. | |
"What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. | |
"The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." | |
"Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for | |
'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a | |
customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for | |
'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental | |
Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. | |
"Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking | |
country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being | |
the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous | |
glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you | |
make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue | |
triumphant cloud from his cigarette. | |
"The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. | |
"Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you | |
note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of | |
you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian | |
could not have written that. It is the German who is so | |
uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover | |
what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and | |
prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if | |
I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." | |
As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and | |
grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the | |
bell. Holmes whistled. | |
"A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing | |
out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of | |
beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in | |
this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." | |
"I think that I had better go, Holmes." | |
"Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my | |
Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity | |
to miss it." | |
"But your client--" | |
"Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he | |
comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best | |
attention." | |
A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and | |
in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there | |
was a loud and authoritative tap. | |
"Come in!" said Holmes. | |
A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six | |
inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His | |
dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked | |
upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed | |
across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while | |
the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined | |
with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch | |
which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended | |
halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with | |
rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence | |
which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a | |
broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper | |
part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black | |
vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, | |
for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower | |
part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, | |
with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive | |
of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. | |
"You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a | |
strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He | |
looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to | |
address. | |
"Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and | |
colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me | |
in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" | |
"You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. | |
I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour | |
and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most | |
extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate | |
with you alone." | |
I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me | |
back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say | |
before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." | |
The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said | |
he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at | |
the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At | |
present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it | |
may have an influence upon European history." | |
"I promise," said Holmes. | |
"And I." | |
"You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The | |
august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to | |
you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have | |
just called myself is not exactly my own." | |
"I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. | |
"The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution | |
has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense | |
scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of | |
Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House | |
of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." | |
"I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself | |
down in his armchair and closing his eyes. | |
Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, | |
lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him | |
as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. | |
Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his | |
gigantic client. | |
"If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he | |
remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." | |
The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in | |
uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he | |
tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You | |
are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to | |
conceal it?" | |
"Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken | |
before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich | |
Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and | |
hereditary King of Bohemia." | |
"But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down | |
once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you | |
can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in | |
my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not | |
confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I | |
have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting | |
you." | |
"Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. | |
"The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a | |
lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known | |
adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." | |
"Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without | |
opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of | |
docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it | |
was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not | |
at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography | |
sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a | |
staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea | |
fishes. | |
"Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year | |
1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera | |
of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in | |
London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled | |
with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and | |
is now desirous of getting those letters back." | |
"Precisely so. But how--" | |
"Was there a secret marriage?" | |
"None." | |
"No legal papers or certificates?" | |
"None." | |
"Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should | |
produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is | |
she to prove their authenticity?" | |
"There is the writing." | |
"Pooh, pooh! Forgery." | |
"My private note-paper." | |
"Stolen." | |
"My own seal." | |
"Imitated." | |
"My photograph." | |
"Bought." | |
"We were both in the photograph." | |
"Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an | |
indiscretion." | |
"I was mad--insane." | |
"You have compromised yourself seriously." | |
"I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." | |
"It must be recovered." | |
"We have tried and failed." | |
"Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." | |
"She will not sell." | |
"Stolen, then." | |
"Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked | |
her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice | |
she has been waylaid. There has been no result." | |
"No sign of it?" | |
"Absolutely none." | |
Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. | |
"But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. | |
"Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the | |
photograph?" | |
"To ruin me." | |
"But how?" | |
"I am about to be married." | |
"So I have heard." | |
"To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the | |
King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her | |
family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a | |
doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." | |
"And Irene Adler?" | |
"Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I | |
know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul | |
of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and | |
the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry | |
another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not | |
go--none." | |
"You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" | |
"I am sure." | |
"And why?" | |
"Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the | |
betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." | |
"Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That | |
is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to | |
look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in | |
London for the present?" | |
"Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the | |
Count Von Kramm." | |
"Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." | |
"Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." | |
"Then, as to money?" | |
"You have carte blanche." | |
"Absolutely?" | |
"I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom | |
to have that photograph." | |
"And for present expenses?" | |
The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak | |
and laid it on the table. | |
"There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in | |
notes," he said. | |
Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and | |
handed it to him. | |
"And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. | |
"Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." | |
Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the | |
photograph a cabinet?" | |
"It was." | |
"Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon | |
have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, | |
as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If | |
you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three | |
o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." | |
""" | |
bohemia_ch2 = """ | |
At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had | |
not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the | |
house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down | |
beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, | |
however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his | |
inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and | |
strange features which were associated with the two crimes which | |
I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the | |
exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. | |
Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my | |
friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of | |
a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a | |
pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the | |
quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most | |
inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable | |
success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to | |
enter into my head. | |
It was close upon four before the door opened, and a | |
drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an | |
inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. | |
Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of | |
disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it | |
was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he | |
emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. | |
Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in | |
front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. | |
"Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again | |
until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the | |
chair. | |
"What is it?" | |
"It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I | |
employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." | |
"I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the | |
habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." | |
"Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, | |
however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this | |
morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a | |
wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of | |
them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found | |
Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but | |
built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock | |
to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well | |
furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those | |
preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. | |
Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window | |
could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round | |
it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without | |
noting anything else of interest. | |
"I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that | |
there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the | |
garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, | |
and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two | |
fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire | |
about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in | |
the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but | |
whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." | |
"And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. | |
"Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is | |
the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the | |
Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, | |
drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for | |
dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. | |
Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, | |
handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and | |
often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See | |
the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him | |
home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. | |
When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up | |
and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan | |
of campaign. | |
"This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the | |
matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the | |
relation between them, and what the object of his repeated | |
visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the | |
former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his | |
keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this | |
question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony | |
Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the | |
Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my | |
inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to | |
let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the | |
situation." | |
"I am following you closely," I answered. | |
"I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab | |
drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a | |
remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently | |
the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a | |
great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the | |
maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly | |
at home. | |
"He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch | |
glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and | |
down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see | |
nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than | |
before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from | |
his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he | |
shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to | |
the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if | |
you do it in twenty minutes!' | |
"Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do | |
well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, | |
the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under | |
his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of | |
the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall | |
door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, | |
but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. | |
"'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a | |
sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' | |
"This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing | |
whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her | |
landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked | |
twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could | |
object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign | |
if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to | |
twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. | |
"My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the | |
others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their | |
steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid | |
the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there | |
save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who | |
seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three | |
standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side | |
aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. | |
Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to | |
me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards | |
me. | |
"'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' | |
"'What then?' I asked. | |
"'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' | |
"I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was | |
I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, | |
and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally | |
assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to | |
Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and | |
there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady | |
on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was | |
the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my | |
life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just | |
now. It seems that there had been some informality about their | |
license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them | |
without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance | |
saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in | |
search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean | |
to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." | |
"This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what | |
then?" | |
"Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if | |
the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate | |
very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church | |
door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and | |
she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as | |
usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove | |
away in different directions, and I went off to make my own | |
arrangements." | |
"Which are?" | |
"Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the | |
bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to | |
be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want | |
your co-operation." | |
"I shall be delighted." | |
"You don't mind breaking the law?" | |
"Not in the least." | |
"Nor running a chance of arrest?" | |
"Not in a good cause." | |
"Oh, the cause is excellent!" | |
"Then I am your man." | |
"I was sure that I might rely on you." | |
"But what is it you wish?" | |
"When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to | |
you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that | |
our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I | |
have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must | |
be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns | |
from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." | |
"And what then?" | |
"You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to | |
occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must | |
not interfere, come what may. You understand?" | |
"I am to be neutral?" | |
"To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small | |
unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being | |
conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the | |
sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close | |
to that open window." | |
"Yes." | |
"You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." | |
"Yes." | |
"And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what | |
I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of | |
fire. You quite follow me?" | |
"Entirely." | |
"It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped | |
roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, | |
fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. | |
Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, | |
it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then | |
walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten | |
minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" | |
"I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, | |
and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry | |
of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." | |
"Precisely." | |
"Then you may entirely rely on me." | |
"That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I | |
prepare for the new role I have to play." | |
He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in | |
the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist | |
clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white | |
tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and | |
benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have | |
equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His | |
expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every | |
fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as | |
science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in | |
crime. | |
It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still | |
wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in | |
Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just | |
being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, | |
waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such | |
as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, | |
but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On | |
the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was | |
remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men | |
smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his | |
wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and | |
several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with | |
cigars in their mouths. | |
"You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of | |
the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The | |
photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are | |
that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey | |
Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his | |
princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the | |
photograph?" | |
"Where, indeed?" | |
"It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is | |
cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's | |
dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid | |
and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We | |
may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." | |
"Where, then?" | |
"Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But | |
I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, | |
and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it | |
over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but | |
she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be | |
brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she | |
had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she | |
can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." | |
"But it has twice been burgled." | |
"Pshaw! They did not know how to look." | |
"But how will you look?" | |
"I will not look." | |
"What then?" | |
"I will get her to show me." | |
"But she will refuse." | |
"She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is | |
her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." | |
As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round | |
the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which | |
rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of | |
the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in | |
the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another | |
loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce | |
quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who | |
took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, | |
who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and | |
in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was | |
the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who | |
struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes | |
dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached | |
her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood | |
running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to | |
their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while | |
a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle | |
without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to | |
attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, | |
had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her | |
superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking | |
back into the street. | |
"Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. | |
"He is dead," cried several voices. | |
"No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be | |
gone before you can get him to hospital." | |
"He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the | |
lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a | |
gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." | |
"He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" | |
"Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable | |
sofa. This way, please!" | |
Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out | |
in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings | |
from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the | |
blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay | |
upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with | |
compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I | |
know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life | |
than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was | |
conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited | |
upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery | |
to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted | |
to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under | |
my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are | |
but preventing her from injuring another. | |
Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man | |
who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the | |
window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the | |
signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The | |
word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of | |
spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and | |
servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds | |
of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I | |
caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice | |
of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. | |
Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner | |
of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my | |
friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. | |
He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we | |
had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the | |
Edgeware Road. | |
"You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could | |
have been better. It is all right." | |
"You have the photograph?" | |
"I know where it is." | |
"And how did you find out?" | |
"She showed me, as I told you she would." | |
"I am still in the dark." | |
"I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter | |
was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the | |
street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." | |
"I guessed as much." | |
"Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in | |
the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand | |
to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." | |
"That also I could fathom." | |
"Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else | |
could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room | |
which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was | |
determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for | |
air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your | |
chance." | |
"How did that help you?" | |
"It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on | |
fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she | |
values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have | |
more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the | |
Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in | |
the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; | |
an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to | |
me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious | |
to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. | |
The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were | |
enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The | |
photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the | |
right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a | |
glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it | |
was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed | |
from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making | |
my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to | |
attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had | |
come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to | |
wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." | |
"And now?" I asked. | |
"Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King | |
to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be | |
shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is | |
probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the | |
photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain | |
it with his own hands." | |
"And when will you call?" | |
"At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall | |
have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage | |
may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to | |
the King without delay." | |
We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was | |
searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: | |
"Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." | |
There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the | |
greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had | |
hurried by. | |
"I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the | |
dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have | |
been." | |
""" | |
bohemia_ch3 = """ | |
I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our | |
toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed | |
into the room. | |
"You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by | |
either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. | |
"Not yet." | |
"But you have hopes?" | |
"I have hopes." | |
"Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." | |
"We must have a cab." | |
"No, my brougham is waiting." | |
"Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off | |
once more for Briony Lodge. | |
"Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. | |
"Married! When?" | |
"Yesterday." | |
"But to whom?" | |
"To an English lawyer named Norton." | |
"But she could not love him." | |
"I am in hopes that she does." | |
"And why in hopes?" | |
"Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future | |
annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your | |
Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason | |
why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." | |
"It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own | |
station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a | |
moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in | |
Serpentine Avenue. | |
The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood | |
upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped | |
from the brougham. | |
"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. | |
"I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a | |
questioning and rather startled gaze. | |
"Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She | |
left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing | |
Cross for the Continent." | |
"What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and | |
surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" | |
"Never to return." | |
"And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." | |
"We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the | |
drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was | |
scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and | |
open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before | |
her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small | |
sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a | |
photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler | |
herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to | |
"Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend | |
tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at | |
midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: | |
"MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You | |
took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a | |
suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I | |
began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had | |
been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly | |
be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, | |
you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became | |
suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind | |
old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress | |
myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage | |
of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to | |
watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call | |
them, and came down just as you departed. | |
"Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was | |
really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock | |
Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and | |
started for the Temple to see my husband. | |
"We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by | |
so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when | |
you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in | |
peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may | |
do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly | |
wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a | |
weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might | |
take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to | |
possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, | |
"Very truly yours, | |
"IRENE NORTON, ne ADLER." | |
"What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when | |
we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick | |
and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? | |
Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" | |
"From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a | |
very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am | |
sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business | |
to a more successful conclusion." | |
"On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be | |
more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The | |
photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." | |
"I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." | |
"I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can | |
reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from | |
his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. | |
"Your Majesty has something which I should value even more | |
highly," said Holmes. | |
"You have but to name it." | |
"This photograph!" | |
The King stared at him in amazement. | |
"Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." | |
"I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the | |
matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He | |
bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the | |
King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his | |
chambers. | |
And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom | |
of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were | |
beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the | |
cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And | |
when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her | |
photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. | |
""" | |
boscombe_ch1 = """ | |
We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the | |
maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran | |
in this way: | |
"Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from | |
the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. | |
Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. | |
Leave Paddington by the 11:15." | |
"What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. | |
"Will you go?" | |
"I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at | |
present." | |
"Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking | |
a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, | |
and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." | |
"I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained | |
through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack | |
at once, for I have only half an hour." | |
My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the | |
effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were | |
few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a | |
cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock | |
Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt | |
figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey | |
travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. | |
"It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It | |
makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on | |
whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless | |
or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall | |
get the tickets." | |
We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of | |
papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged | |
and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until | |
we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a | |
gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. | |
"Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. | |
"Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." | |
"The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just | |
been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the | |
particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those | |
simple cases which are so extremely difficult." | |
"That sounds a little paradoxical." | |
"But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a | |
clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more | |
difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they | |
have established a very serious case against the son of the | |
murdered man." | |
"It is a murder, then?" | |
"Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for | |
granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into | |
it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have | |
been able to understand it, in a very few words. | |
"Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in | |
Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a | |
Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned | |
some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he | |
held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was | |
also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the | |
colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to | |
settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. | |
Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his | |
tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect | |
equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, | |
a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same | |
age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have | |
avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to | |
have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of | |
sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the | |
neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. | |
Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the | |
least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the | |
families. Now for the facts. | |
"On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at | |
Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the | |
Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out | |
of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been | |
out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told | |
the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of | |
importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came | |
back alive. | |
"From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a | |
mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One | |
was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was | |
William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both | |
these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The | |
game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. | |
McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the | |
same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the | |
father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was | |
following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in | |
the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. | |
"The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, | |
the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly | |
wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the | |
edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of | |
the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the | |
woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she | |
saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. | |
McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a | |
violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very | |
strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his | |
hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their | |
violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached | |
home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near | |
Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to | |
fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came | |
running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead | |
in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was | |
much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right | |
hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On | |
following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the | |
grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated | |
blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as | |
might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's | |
gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the | |
body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly | |
arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned | |
at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the | |
magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next | |
Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out | |
before the coroner and the police-court." | |
"I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If | |
ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so | |
here." | |
"Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes | |
thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, | |
but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it | |
pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something | |
entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case | |
looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very | |
possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people | |
in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the | |
daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his | |
innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect | |
in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in | |
his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the | |
case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are | |
flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly | |
digesting their breakfasts at home." | |
"I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you | |
will find little credit to be gained out of this case." | |
"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he | |
answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some | |
other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to | |
Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting | |
when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by | |
means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of | |
understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly | |
perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand | |
side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted | |
even so self-evident a thing as that." | |
"How on earth--" | |
"My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness | |
which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this | |
season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less | |
and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until | |
it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the | |
jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated | |
than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking | |
at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a | |
result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and | |
inference. Therein lies my mtier, and it is just possible that | |
it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before | |
us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in | |
the inquest, and which are worth considering." | |
"What are they?" | |
"It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after | |
the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary | |
informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not | |
surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. | |
This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any | |
traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the | |
coroner's jury." | |
"It was a confession," I ejaculated. | |
"No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." | |
"Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at | |
least a most suspicious remark." | |
"On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I | |
can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, | |
he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the | |
circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared | |
surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I | |
should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such | |
surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, | |
and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His | |
frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent | |
man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and | |
firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not | |
unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of | |
his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day | |
so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and | |
even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so | |
important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The | |
self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark | |
appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a | |
guilty one." | |
I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter | |
evidence," I remarked. | |
"So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." | |
"What is the young man's own account of the matter?" | |
"It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, | |
though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. | |
You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." | |
He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire | |
paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the | |
paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own | |
statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the | |
corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this | |
way: | |
"Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called | |
and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for | |
three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the | |
morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at | |
the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he | |
had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after | |
my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, | |
looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out | |
of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was | |
going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of | |
the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit | |
warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William | |
Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but | |
he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had | |
no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards | |
from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal | |
between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found | |
him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at | |
seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A | |
conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, | |
for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his | |
passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned | |
towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, | |
however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me | |
to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, | |
with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in | |
my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for | |
some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, | |
his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one | |
near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by | |
his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and | |
forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no | |
active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' | |
"The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before | |
he died? | |
"Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some | |
allusion to a rat. | |
"The Coroner: What did you understand by that? | |
"Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was | |
delirious. | |
"The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father | |
had this final quarrel? | |
"Witness: I should prefer not to answer. | |
"The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. | |
"Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can | |
assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which | |
followed. | |
"The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point | |
out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case | |
considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. | |
"Witness: I must still refuse. | |
"The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common | |
signal between you and your father? | |
"Witness: It was. | |
"The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw | |
you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? | |
"Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. | |
"A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions | |
when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father | |
fatally injured? | |
"Witness: Nothing definite. | |
"The Coroner: What do you mean? | |
"Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into | |
the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet | |
I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay | |
upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be | |
something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. | |
When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was | |
gone. | |
"'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' | |
"'Yes, it was gone.' | |
"'You cannot say what it was?' | |
"'No, I had a feeling something was there.' | |
"'How far from the body?' | |
"'A dozen yards or so.' | |
"'And how far from the edge of the wood?' | |
"'About the same.' | |
"'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen | |
yards of it?' | |
"'Yes, but with my back towards it.' | |
"This concluded the examination of the witness." | |
"I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner | |
in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. | |
He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his | |
father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his | |
refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and | |
his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, | |
as he remarks, very much against the son." | |
Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon | |
the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some | |
pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the | |
young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him | |
credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too | |
little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would | |
give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from | |
his own inner consciousness anything so outr as a dying | |
reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, | |
sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what | |
this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that | |
hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and | |
not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the | |
scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be | |
there in twenty minutes." | |
It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through | |
the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, | |
found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A | |
lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for | |
us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and | |
leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic | |
surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of | |
Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a | |
room had already been engaged for us. | |
"I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup | |
of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be | |
happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." | |
"It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It | |
is entirely a question of barometric pressure." | |
Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. | |
"How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud | |
in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need | |
smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country | |
hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I | |
shall use the carriage to-night." | |
Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed | |
your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as | |
plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer | |
it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a | |
very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your | |
opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing | |
which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my | |
soul! here is her carriage at the door." | |
""" | |
boscombe_ch2 = """ | |
He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the | |
most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her | |
violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her | |
cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her | |
overpowering excitement and concern. | |
"Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the | |
other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, | |
fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I | |
have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. | |
I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, | |
too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each | |
other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no | |
one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a | |
charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." | |
"I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. | |
"You may rely upon my doing all that I can." | |
"But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? | |
Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself | |
think that he is innocent?" | |
"I think that it is very probable." | |
"There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking | |
defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." | |
Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague | |
has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. | |
"But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did | |
it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the | |
reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because | |
I was concerned in it." | |
"In what way?" asked Holmes. | |
"It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had | |
many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that | |
there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always | |
loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young | |
and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he | |
naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there | |
were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." | |
"And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a | |
union?" | |
"No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in | |
favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as | |
Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. | |
"Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father | |
if I call to-morrow?" | |
"I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." | |
"The doctor?" | |
"Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for | |
years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken | |
to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his | |
nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive | |
who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." | |
"Ha! In Victoria! That is important." | |
"Yes, at the mines." | |
"Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner | |
made his money." | |
"Yes, certainly." | |
"Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to | |
me." | |
"You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you | |
will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do | |
tell him that I know him to be innocent." | |
"I will, Miss Turner." | |
"I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if | |
I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She | |
hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we | |
heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. | |
"I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a | |
few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you | |
are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I | |
call it cruel." | |
"I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said | |
Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" | |
"Yes, but only for you and me." | |
"Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have | |
still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" | |
"Ample." | |
"Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very | |
slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." | |
I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through | |
the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, | |
where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a | |
yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, | |
however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were | |
groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the | |
action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and | |
gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the | |
day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were | |
absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely | |
unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between | |
the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, | |
drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was | |
something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the | |
nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? | |
I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which | |
contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's | |
deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left | |
parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been | |
shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot | |
upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from | |
behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when | |
seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it | |
did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his | |
back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call | |
Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying | |
reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be | |
delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become | |
delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how | |
he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my | |
brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident | |
of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the | |
murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his | |
overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to | |
return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was | |
kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a | |
tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I | |
did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith | |
in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long | |
as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young | |
McCarthy's innocence. | |
It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, | |
for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. | |
"The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. | |
"It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able | |
to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his | |
very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not | |
wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young | |
McCarthy." | |
"And what did you learn from him?" | |
"Nothing." | |
"Could he throw no light?" | |
"None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew | |
who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced | |
now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very | |
quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, | |
sound at heart." | |
"I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact | |
that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as | |
this Miss Turner." | |
"Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, | |
insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was | |
only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away | |
five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get | |
into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a | |
registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can | |
imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not | |
doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows | |
to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort | |
which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, | |
at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss | |
Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, | |
and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would | |
have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with | |
his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in | |
Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that | |
point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, | |
for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious | |
trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and | |
has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the | |
Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I | |
think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all | |
that he has suffered." | |
"But if he is innocent, who has done it?" | |
"Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two | |
points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with | |
someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his | |
son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would | |
return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry | |
'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the | |
crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk | |
about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all | |
minor matters until to-morrow." | |
There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke | |
bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with | |
the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe | |
Pool. | |
"There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is | |
said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is | |
despaired of." | |
"An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. | |
"About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life | |
abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This | |
business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend | |
of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I | |
have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." | |
"Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. | |
"Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody | |
about here speaks of his kindness to him." | |
"Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this | |
McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have | |
been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of | |
marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, | |
heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, | |
as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would | |
follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself | |
was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not | |
deduce something from that?" | |
"We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said | |
Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, | |
Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." | |
"You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard | |
to tackle the facts." | |
"Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it | |
difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. | |
"And that is--" | |
"That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that | |
all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." | |
"Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, | |
laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley | |
Farm upon the left." | |
"Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking | |
building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches | |
of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless | |
chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight | |
of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, | |
when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her | |
master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the | |
son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured | |
these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes | |
desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed | |
the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. | |
Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent | |
as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of | |
Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed | |
and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, | |
while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. | |
His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips | |
compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, | |
sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal | |
lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated | |
upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell | |
unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, | |
impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way | |
along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of | |
the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is | |
all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon | |
the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either | |
side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and | |
once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and | |
I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, | |
while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the | |
conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a | |
definite end. | |
The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water | |
some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the | |
Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. | |
Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see | |
the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich | |
landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods | |
grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass | |
twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds | |
which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which | |
the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, | |
that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the | |
fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager | |
face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read | |
upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking | |
up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. | |
"What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. | |
"I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon | |
or other trace. But how on earth--" | |
"Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its | |
inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and | |
there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all | |
have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo | |
and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the | |
lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or | |
eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of | |
the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his | |
waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to | |
himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he | |
was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are | |
deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his | |
story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are | |
the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It | |
is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? | |
Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite | |
unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course | |
that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up | |
and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we | |
were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a | |
great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced | |
his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon | |
his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he | |
remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, | |
gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and | |
examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of | |
the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among | |
the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then | |
he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the | |
highroad, where all traces were lost. | |
""" | |
boscombe_ch3 = """ | |
"It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, | |
returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on | |
the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a | |
word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done | |
that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, | |
and I shall be with you presently." | |
It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove | |
back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he | |
had picked up in the wood. | |
"This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. | |
"The murder was done with it." | |
"I see no marks." | |
"There are none." | |
"How do you know, then?" | |
"The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few | |
days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It | |
corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other | |
weapon." | |
"And the murderer?" | |
"Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears | |
thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian | |
cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his | |
pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be | |
enough to aid us in our search." | |
Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he | |
said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a | |
hard-headed British jury." | |
"Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own | |
method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, | |
and shall probably return to London by the evening train." | |
"And leave your case unfinished?" | |
"No, finished." | |
"But the mystery?" | |
"It is solved." | |
"Who was the criminal, then?" | |
"The gentleman I describe." | |
"But who is he?" | |
"Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a | |
populous neighbourhood." | |
Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, | |
"and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking | |
for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the | |
laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." | |
"All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. | |
Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before | |
I leave." | |
Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where | |
we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in | |
thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds | |
himself in a perplexing position. | |
"Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit | |
down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't | |
know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a | |
cigar and let me expound." | |
"Pray do so." | |
"Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about | |
young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, | |
although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One | |
was the fact that his father should, according to his account, | |
cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying | |
reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but | |
that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double | |
point our research must commence, and we will begin it by | |
presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." | |
"What of this 'Cooee!' then?" | |
"Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The | |
son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that | |
he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the | |
attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But | |
'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used | |
between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the | |
person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was | |
someone who had been in Australia." | |
"What of the rat, then?" | |
Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened | |
it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," | |
he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand | |
over part of the map. "What do you read?" | |
"ARAT," I read. | |
"And now?" He raised his hand. | |
"BALLARAT." | |
"Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his | |
son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter | |
the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." | |
"It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. | |
"It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down | |
considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point | |
which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a | |
certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite | |
conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." | |
"Certainly." | |
"And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only | |
be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could | |
hardly wander." | |
"Quite so." | |
"Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the | |
ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that | |
imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." | |
"But how did you gain them?" | |
"You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of | |
trifles." | |
"His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length | |
of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." | |
"Yes, they were peculiar boots." | |
"But his lameness?" | |
"The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than | |
his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he | |
was lame." | |
"But his left-handedness." | |
"You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded | |
by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from | |
immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can | |
that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind | |
that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had | |
even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special | |
knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian | |
cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and | |
written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different | |
varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the | |
ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss | |
where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety | |
which are rolled in Rotterdam." | |
"And the cigar-holder?" | |
"I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he | |
used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the | |
cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." | |
"Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which | |
he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as | |
truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the | |
direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" | |
"Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of | |
our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. | |
The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His | |
slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of | |
decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and | |
his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual | |
strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled | |
hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air | |
of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an | |
ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were | |
tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that | |
he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. | |
"Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my | |
note?" | |
"Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to | |
see me here to avoid scandal." | |
"I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." | |
"And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my | |
companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question | |
was already answered. | |
"Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It | |
is so. I know all about McCarthy." | |
The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. | |
"But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you | |
my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at | |
the Assizes." | |
"I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. | |
"I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It | |
would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears | |
that I am arrested." | |
"It may not come to that," said Holmes. | |
"What?" | |
"I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter | |
who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. | |
Young McCarthy must be got off, however." | |
"I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for | |
years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a | |
month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." | |
Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand | |
and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he | |
said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson | |
here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the | |
last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall | |
not use it unless it is absolutely needed." | |
"It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I | |
shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I | |
should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the | |
thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but | |
will not take me long to tell. | |
"You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil | |
incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of | |
such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, | |
and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be | |
in his power. | |
"It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap | |
then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at | |
anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck | |
with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you | |
would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and | |
we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time | |
to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. | |
Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party | |
is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. | |
"One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and | |
we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers | |
and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of | |
their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, | |
however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of | |
the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the | |
Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his | |
wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every | |
feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made | |
our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted | |
from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and | |
respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in | |
the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, | |
to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, | |
and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. | |
Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down | |
the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned | |
over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was | |
going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. | |
"I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in | |
Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his | |
foot. | |
"'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be | |
as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and | |
you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, | |
law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman | |
within hail.' | |
"Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking | |
them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land | |
ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; | |
turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my | |
elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more | |
afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he | |
wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without | |
question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing | |
which I could not give. He asked for Alice. | |
"His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was | |
known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that | |
his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was | |
firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that | |
I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that | |
was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do | |
his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses | |
to talk it over. | |
"When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I | |
smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. | |
But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in | |
me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my | |
daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she | |
were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I | |
and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a | |
man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and | |
a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, | |
I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! | |
Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I | |
did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, | |
I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl | |
should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more | |
than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction | |
than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought | |
back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I | |
was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in | |
my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that | |
occurred." | |
"Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man | |
signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we | |
may never be exposed to such a temptation." | |
"I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" | |
"In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you | |
will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the | |
Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is | |
condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be | |
seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or | |
dead, shall be safe with us." | |
"Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, | |
when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace | |
which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his | |
giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. | |
"God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate | |
play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such | |
a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, | |
'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" | |
James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a | |
number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and | |
submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven | |
months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is | |
every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily | |
together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their | |
past. | |
""" |
This file contains bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters
import nltk, re | |
from sherlock_holmes import bohemia_ch1, bohemia_ch2, bohemia_ch3, boscombe_ch1, boscombe_ch2, boscombe_ch3 | |
from preprocessing import preprocess_text | |
from sklearn.feature_extraction.text import CountVectorizer, TfidfVectorizer | |
from sklearn.decomposition import LatentDirichletAllocation | |
# preparing the text | |
corpus = [bohemia_ch1, bohemia_ch2, bohemia_ch3, boscombe_ch1, boscombe_ch2, boscombe_ch3] | |
preprocessed_corpus = [preprocess_text(chapter) for chapter in corpus] | |
# Update stop_list: | |
stop_list = ["say", "see", "holmes", "shall", "say", | |
"man", "upon", "know", "quite", "one", | |
"well", "could", "would", "take", "may", | |
"think", "come", "go", "little", "must", | |
"look"] | |
# filtering topics for stop words | |
def filter_out_stop_words(corpus): | |
no_stops_corpus = [] | |
for chapter in corpus: | |
no_stops_chapter = " ".join([word for word in chapter.split(" ") if word not in stop_list]) | |
no_stops_corpus.append(no_stops_chapter) | |
return no_stops_corpus | |
filtered_for_stops = filter_out_stop_words(preprocessed_corpus) | |
# creating the bag of words model | |
bag_of_words_creator = CountVectorizer() | |
bag_of_words = bag_of_words_creator.fit_transform(filtered_for_stops) | |
# creating the tf-idf model | |
tfidf_creator = TfidfVectorizer(min_df = 0.2) | |
tfidf = tfidf_creator.fit_transform(preprocessed_corpus) | |
# creating the bag of words LDA model | |
lda_bag_of_words_creator = LatentDirichletAllocation(learning_method='online', n_components=10) | |
lda_bag_of_words = lda_bag_of_words_creator.fit_transform(bag_of_words) | |
# creating the tf-idf LDA model | |
lda_tfidf_creator = LatentDirichletAllocation(learning_method='online', n_components=10) | |
lda_tfidf = lda_tfidf_creator.fit_transform(tfidf) | |
print("~~~ Topics found by bag of words LDA ~~~") | |
for topic_id, topic in enumerate(lda_bag_of_words_creator.components_): | |
message = "Topic #{}: ".format(topic_id + 1) | |
message += " ".join([bag_of_words_creator.get_feature_names()[i] for i in topic.argsort()[:-5 :-1]]) | |
print(message) | |
print("\n\n~~~ Topics found by tf-idf LDA ~~~") | |
for topic_id, topic in enumerate(lda_tfidf_creator.components_): | |
message = "Topic #{}: ".format(topic_id + 1) | |
message += " ".join([tfidf_creator.get_feature_names()[i] for i in topic.argsort()[:-5 :-1]]) | |
print(message) |
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