Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built firmly into the massive masonry. No one could pass these shutters if they were bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the matter. A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her fate.
It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre.
The boards round and the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, taking in every detail of the apartment.
We used always to get what we wanted for ourselves. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to this floor. Then he did the same with the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. This is very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little opening for the ventilator is.
For example, what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated with the outside air! With your permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the inner apartment. A camp-bed, a small wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things which met the eye.
Holmes walked slowly round and examined each and all of them with the keenest interest. Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I daresay.
There is one point which I should wish to determine. Here is something interesting! The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. Ah, me! I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn.
We had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he roused himself from his reverie.
Your life may depend upon your compliance. Let me explain. I believe that that is the village inn over there? Then when you hear him retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want into the room which you used to occupy.
I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night. I think that there was probably some more tangible cause.
And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers that threaten you. Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and sitting-room at the Crown Inn.
They were on the upper floor, and from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little figure of the lad who drove him. The trap drove on, and a few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.
There is a distinct element of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than was visible to me. I imagine that you saw all that I did. It was so small that a rat could hardly pass through. You remember in her statement she said that her sister could smell Dr. Now, of course that suggested at once that there must be a communication between the two rooms.
I deduced a ventilator. A ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does not that strike you? It must always be in the same relative position to the ventilator and to the rope—or so we may call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.
We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible crime. When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall be able to strike deeper still. Two hours passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us.
As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, and that it was possible that we might spend the night there.
A moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness.
Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low laugh and put his lips to my ear. I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders at any moment. My companion noiselessly closed the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes round the room.
All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to distinguish the words:.
Have your pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of the bed, and you in that chair. Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left in darkness. How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same state of nervous tension in which I was myself.
The shutters cut off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for whatever might befall.
Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the smell grew stronger.
For half an hour I sat with straining ears. Then suddenly another sound became audible—a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with his cane at the bell-pull. But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which my friend lashed so savagely.
I could, however, see that his face was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the sleepers from their beds.
It struck cold to our hearts, and I stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it had died away into the silence from which it rose. Take your pistol, and we will enter Dr. With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the corridor.
Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar.
Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his head.
As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten.
Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to some place of shelter and let the county police know what has happened. Your Rating:. Your Comment:. Read Online Download.
Great book, The Speckled Band pdf is enough to raise the goose bumps alone. Add a review Your Rating: Your Comment:. When his wife sees them, she is terrified! Cubitt turns to Sherlock Holmes and Dr.
Watson for answers. Will the duo be able to crack the case before disaster strikes? No home library is complete without it. Comprising the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand, the magazine in which they were fi rst published, this volume won even more popularity for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Book Summary: When Ms. Stoner comes to Sherlock Holmes with a strange story that a mysterious whistle caused her sister's death, Holmes is ready to take on the case.
After examining the clues, Watson is sure the gypsies are to blame. Can Holmes prove there is a more sinister plot in play?
Follow the clues with Sherlock Holmes in the adventure of the speckled band! Grades Book Summary: A mysterious package reveals a revolting surprise! When Miss Susan Cushing receives a package with gruesome contents, she cannot imagine who sent it.
While Inspector Lestrade dismisses the package as a practical joke, Holmes fears the worst. Can Holmes and Watson discover the sender? Book Summary: When Mr. Victor Hatherly enters Dr.
Watson's office with a missing thumb, he says the story is so unbelievable he can't go to the police. So, Watson brings Hatherly to Holmes who can solve unsolvable cases.
Join Holmes and Watson on the hunt for the engineer's thumb. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Everyone knows that Captain Carey, nicknamed Black Peter, was a nasty, cruel character. But who would murder him and why? Can Holmes, Watson, and Inspector Lestrade find the brutal killer before it's too late?
Credit goes to him, as he created the character 'Sherlock Holmes'. All the fictions pertaining to the character Sherlock Holmes are all Crime fictions. His wroks include plays, poetry, non-fiction, and historic novels.
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