ld me
about her, about him, about everything. i tell you, gentlemen,
it nearly drove me mad. this drunken hound, that he should dare
to raise his hand to her whose boots he was not worthy to lick!
i met theresa again. then i met mary herself -- and met her again.
then she would meet me no more. but the other day i had a notice
that i was to start on my voyage within a week, and i determined
that i would see her once before i left. theresa was always my
friend, for she loved mary and hated this villain almost as much
as i did. from her i learned the ways of the house. mary used to
sit up reading in her own little room downstairs. i crept round
there last night and scratched at the window. at first she would
not open to me, but in her heart i know that now she loves me, and
she could not leave me in the frosty night. she whispered to me
to come round to the big front window, and i found it open before
me so as to let me into the dining-room. again i heard from her
own lips things that made my blood boil, and again i cursed this
brute who mishandled the woman that i loved. well, gentlemen,
i was standing with her just inside the window, in all innocence,
as heaven is my judge, when he rushed like a madman into the room,
called her the vilest name that a man could use to a woman, and
welted her across the face with the stick he had in his hand.
i had sprung for the poker, and it was a fair fight between us.
see here on my arm where his first blow fell. then it was my turn,
and i went through him as if he had been a rotten pumpkin. do you
think i was sorry? not i! it was his life or mine, but far more
than that it was his life or hers, for how could i leave her in
the power of this madman? that was how i killed him. was i wrong?
well, then, what would either of you gentlemen have done if you
had been in my position?"
"she had screamed when he struck her, and that brought old theresa
down from the room above. there was a bottle of wine on the
sideboard, and i opened it and poured a little between mary's
lips, for she was half dead with the shock. then i took a drop
myself. theresa was as cool as ice, and it was her plot as much
as mine. we must make it appear that burglars had done the thing.
theresa kept on repeating our story to her mistress, while i
swarmed up and cut the rope of the bell. then i lashed her in her
chair, and frayed out the end of the rope to make it look natural,
else they would wonder how in the world a burglar could have got
up there to cut it. then i gathered up a few plates and pots of
silver, to carry out the idea of a robbery, and there i left them
with orders to give the alarm when i had a quarter of an hour's
start. i dropped the silver into the pond and made off for
sydenham, feeling that for once in my life i had done a real
good night's work. and that's the truth and the whole truth,
mr. holmes, if it costs me my neck."
holmes smoked for some time in silence. then he crossed the room
and shook our visitor by the hand.
"that's what i think," said he. "i know that every word is true,
for you have hardly said a word which i did not know. no one but
an acrobat or a sailor could have got up to that bell-rope from
the bracket, and no one but a sailor could have made the knots
with which the cord was fastened to the chair. only once had this
lady been brought into contact with sailors, and that was on her
voyage, and it was someone of her own class of life, since she was
trying hard to shield him and so showing that she loved him. you
see how easy it was for me to lay my hands upon you when once i
had started upon the right trail."
"i thought the police never could have seen through our dodge."
"and the police haven't; nor will they, to the best of my belief.
now, look here, captain croker, this is a very serious matter,
though i am willing to admit that you acted under the most extreme
provocation to which any man could be subjected. i am not sure
that in defence of your own life your action will not be
pronounced legitimate. however, that is for a british jury to
decide. meanwhile i have so much sympathy for you that if you
choose to disappear in the next twenty-four hours i will promise
you that no one will hinder you."
"and then it will all come out?"
"certainly it will come out."
the sailor flushed with anger.
"what sort of proposal is that to make to a man? i know enough of
law to understand that mary would be had as accomplice. do you
think i would leave her alone to face the music while i slunk
away? no, sir; let them do their worst upon me, but for heaven's
sake, mr. holmes, find some way of keeping my poor mary out of the
courts."
holmes for a second time held out his hand to the sailor.
"i was only testing you, and you ring true every time. well, it
is a great responsibility th
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