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孤身騎車人 The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
從一四年到一九○一年期間，歇洛剋·福爾摩斯先生異常繁忙。完全可以說，這八年來各種公辦的疑難著名案件，沒有一件不請教福爾摩斯的。還有千百件私人案件，其中許多是十分錯綜復雜並具有特色的，福爾摩斯也在其中起了重要作用。許多驚人的成就和一些不可避免的失敗是這一漫長時期連續工作的結果。由於我對這些案件有聞必錄，其中的許多案件我自己也親身參加過，可以想象，要弄清我應該選擇哪些來公之於衆，這不是一件容易的事。然而，我可以按照我從前的作法，優先選擇那些不是以犯罪的兇殘著稱，而是以結案的巧妙和戲劇性而引人入勝的案件。由於這個原因，我就選擇了有關維奧萊特·史密斯小姐，查林頓的孤身騎車人一事，以及我們調查到的奇異結局，這個結局以出人意料的悲劇而告終。現在我就把情況介紹給讀者。誠然，這些事對我朋友那因以揚名的才能並沒有增添什麽異彩，可是這件案子卻有幾點非常突出，不同於我從中收集資料寫成了這些小故事的那些長期犯罪記錄。
我翻閱了一五年的筆記，查出是四月二十三日，星期六，我們第一次聽維奧萊特·史密斯談自己的事。我記得福爾摩斯對她的來訪極不歡迎，因為那時他正全神貫註於一件十分難解的錯綜復雜的問題，這個問題涉及著名的煙草大王約翰·文森特·哈登所遭遇的特殊難題。我的朋友最喜歡的事就是準確和思想集中，在辦手頭的事情時，最厭煩別的事來打擾他。儘管如此，但他生性並不固執生硬，不可能拒絶那位身材苗條、儀態萬方、神色莊重的美貌姑娘來講述她的遭遇，何況她又是在這麽晚的晚上親自來貝剋街懇請他幫助和指點的。儘管福爾摩斯聲明時間已經排滿，但也無濟於事，因為那姑娘下定决心非講不可。很明顯，她不達到目的，要想使她離開除非動武。福爾摩斯顯出無可奈何的神色，勉強地笑了笑，請那位美麗的不速之客坐下，把她遇到的麻煩事如實地講給我們聽。
“至少不會是一件有礙你身體健康的事，"福爾摩斯用那雙敏銳的眼睛把她周身打量了一番說道，“象你這樣愛騎車的人，一定是精力充沛的。”
她驚異地看看自己的雙腳，我也發現了她鞋底一邊被腳蹬子邊緣磨得起毛了。
“是的，我經常騎自行車，福爾摩斯先生，我今天來拜訪你，正是和騎車的事情有關係呢。”
我的朋友拿起這姑娘沒戴手套的那衹手，象科學家看標本那樣，全神貫註而不動聲色地檢查着。
“我相信，你會原諒我的。這是我的業務，"福爾摩斯把姑娘的手放下，說道，"我幾乎錯把你當成打字員了。顯而易見，你當然是一位音樂傢。華生，你註意到那兩種職業所共有的勺形指端嗎？不過，她臉上有一種風采，"那女子平靜地把臉轉嚮亮處，"那是打字員所不具備的。所以，這位女士是音樂傢。”
“是的，福爾摩斯先生，我教音樂。”
“從你的臉色來看，我想你是在鄉下教音樂。”
“是的，先生，靠近法納姆，在薩裏邊界。”
“是一個好地方，可以使人聯想到許多有趣的事情。華生，你一定記得我們就是在那附近拿獲了偽造貨幣犯阿爾奇·斯坦福德。嗯，維奧萊特小姐，靠近法納姆，在薩裏邊界，你遇到什麽事了？”
那位姑娘十分清楚明白、鎮靜自若地說出下面這一段古怪離奇的事情來：
“福爾摩斯先生，我父親已經去世了。他叫詹姆斯·史密斯，是老帝國劇院的樂隊指揮。我和母親在世上舉目無親，我衹有一個叔父，他名叫拉爾夫·史密斯，於二十五年前到非洲去了，從那時期音信全無。父親死後，我們一譬如洗，可是有一天人傢告訴我們，《泰晤士報》登了一則廣告，詢問我們的下落。你可以想象我們是多麽激動啊，因為我們想這是有人給我們留下遺産了。我們立即按報上登的姓名去找那位律師，在那裏又遇到了兩位先生，卡拉瑟斯和伍德利，他們是從南非回來探傢的。他們說我叔父是他們的朋友，幾個月以前在十分貧睏中死於約翰內斯堡。我叔父臨終之前，請他們去找他的親屬，並務必使他的親屬不至窮睏潦倒。這似乎使我們很奇怪，我叔父拉爾夫活着的時候，並不關心我們，而在他死時卻那麽精心關照我們。可是卡拉瑟斯先生解釋說，因為我叔父剛剛聽到他哥哥的死訊，所以感到對我們的命運負有重大責任。”
“請原諒，"福爾摩斯說道，"你們是什麽時候見面的？”
“去年十二月，已有四個月了。”
“請繼續講下去吧。”
“我看伍德利先生討厭得很，他是一個面孔虛胖、一臉紅鬍子的粗暴的青年，頭髮披散在額頭兩邊，總是嚮我擠眉弄眼。我認為他十分可憎，我相信西裏爾一定不樂意我認識這個人。”
“噢，西裏爾是他的名字！"福爾摩斯笑容滿面地說道。
那姑娘滿面通紅，笑了笑。
“是的，福爾摩斯先生，西裏爾·莫頓，是一個電氣工程師，我們希望在夏末結婚。哎呀，我怎麽扯其他來了呢？我想說伍德利先生十分討厭，而那位年紀老些的卡拉瑟斯先生可比較有禮貌。雖然他臉色土黃，臉颳得光光的，沉默寡言，但舉止文雅，笑容可掬。他詢問了我們的境況，發現我們很窮睏，便要我到他那裏教他那十歲的獨生女兒。我說我不願離開母親，他說我可以在每周末回傢去看她。他答應給我每年一百鎊，這當然是十分優厚的酬金了。所以最後我答應了，來到離法納姆六英裏左右的奇爾特恩農莊。卡拉瑟斯先生喪妻鰥居，他雇用了一個叫狄剋遜太太的女管傢來照料傢事，這位老婦人老成持重，令人品敬。那個孩子也很可愛，一切也都如意。卡拉瑟斯先生十分和善，熱衷於音樂，我們晚上在一起過得很高興，每逢周末我回城裏傢中看望母親。
“在我的快樂生活中，頭一件不順心的事就是一臉紅鬍子的伍德利先生的到來。他來訪一個星期，哎呀！對我來說簡直如同三個月。他是一個可怕的人，對別人橫行霸道，對我更肆無忌憚。他作了許多醜態表示愛我，吹噓他的財富，說如果我嫁給他，我就可以得到倫敦最漂亮的鑽石。最後，當我始終對他不加理睬時，有一天飯後他抓住我把我抱在懷裏——他有可惡的牛勁——發誓說如果我不吻他，他就不放手。這時正好卡拉瑟斯先生進屋，把他從我身邊拉開。為了這事，伍德利和東道主翻了臉，把卡拉瑟斯在地，臉上弄出個大口子。伍德利的來訪至此結束，第二天卡拉瑟斯先生嚮我道歉，並保證絶不讓我再受這樣的。從那以後我再沒見到伍德利先生。
“現在，福爾摩斯先生，我終於談到今天來嚮你請教的具體事情上了。你一定知道，我每星期六上午騎車到法納姆車站，趕十二點二十二分的火車進城。我從奇爾特恩農莊出來，那條路很偏僻，有一段尤其荒涼，這一段有一英裏多長，一邊是查林頓石南灌木地帶，另一邊是查林頓莊園外圈的樹林。你再也找不到比這段路更荒涼的地方了。在你沒有到達靠近剋魯剋斯伯裏山公路以前，極難遇到一輛馬車、一個農民。兩星期以前，我從這地方經過，偶然回頭一望，見身後兩百碼左右有個男人在騎車，看起來是個中年人，蓄着短短的黑鬍子。在到法納姆以前，我又回頭一看，那人已經消失，所以我也沒再想這件事。不過，福爾摩斯先生，我星期一返回時又在那段路上看到那個人。你可想而知我該多麽驚奇了。而下一個星期六和星期一，又和上次絲毫不差，這事又重演了一遍，我愈發驚異不止了。那個人始終保持一定距離，决不打擾我，不過這畢竟十分古怪。我把這事告訴了卡拉瑟斯先生，他看來十分重視我說的事，告訴我他已經訂購了一騎馬和一輛輕便馬車，所以將來我再過那段偏僻道路時，不愁沒有伴侶了。
“馬和輕便馬車本來應該在這個星期就到，可不知什麽原因，賣主沒有交貨，我衹好還是騎車到火車站。這是今天早晨的事。我來到查林頓石南灌木地帶，嚮遠處一看，一點也不錯，那人就在那地方，和兩個星期以前一模一樣。他總是離我很遠，我看不清他的臉，但肯定不是我認識的人。他穿一身黑衣服，戴布帽。我衹能看清他臉上的黑鬍子。今天我不害怕了，而是滿腹疑團，我决心查明他是什麽人，要幹什麽事。我放慢了我的車速，他也放慢了他的車速。後來我停車不騎了，他也停車不騎了。於是我心生一計來對付他。路上有一處急轉彎，我便緊蹬一陣拐過彎去，然後停車等候他。我指望他很快拐過彎來，並且來不及停車，超到我前面去。但他根本沒露面。我便返回去，嚮轉彎處四處張望。我可以望見一英裏的路程，可是路上不見他的蹤影。尤其令人驚異的是，這地方並沒有岔路，他是無法走開的。”
福爾摩斯輕聲一笑，搓着雙手。"這件事確實有它的特色，"他說道，"從你轉過彎去到你發現路上無人，這中間有多久？”
“二、三分鐘吧。”
“那他來不及從原路退走，你說那裏沒有岔路嗎？”
“沒有。”
“那他肯定是從路旁人行小徑走開的。”
“不可能從石南灌木地段那一側，不然我早就看到他了。”
“那麽，按照排除推理法，我們就查明了一個事實，他嚮查林頓莊園那一側去了，據我所知，查林頓莊園宅基就在大路一側。還有其它情況嗎？”
“沒有了，福爾摩斯先生，衹是我十分惶惑莫解，感到極不愉快，所以纔來見你，求得你的指點。”
福爾摩斯默默不語地坐了一會兒。
“和你訂婚的那位先生在什麽地方？"福爾摩斯終於問道。
“他在考文垂的米得蘭電氣公司。”
“他不會出其不意地來看你吧？”
“噢，福爾摩斯先生！難道我還不認識他！”
“還有其他愛慕你的男人嗎？”
“在我認識西裏爾以前有過幾個。”
“從那時以後呢？”
“假如你把伍德利也算做一個愛慕我的人的話，那就是那個可怕的人了。”
“沒有別的人了嗎？”
我們那位美麗的委托人似乎有點為難。
“他是誰呢？"福爾摩斯問道。
“噢，可能純粹是我鬍思亂想；可是有時我似乎覺得我的雇主卡拉瑟斯先生對我十分有意。我們經常相遇，晚上我給他伴奏，他從來沒說過什麽。他是一位很好的先生，可是一個姑娘總是心裏明白的。”
“哈！"福爾摩斯顯得十分嚴肅，"他以什麽為生呢？”
“他是一個富有的人。”
“他沒有四輪馬車或者馬匹嗎？”
“啊，至少他生活相當富裕。他每星期進城兩三次，十分關心南非的黃金股票。”
“史密斯小姐，你要把新發現的一切情況告訴我。現在我很忙，不過我一定抽時間來查辦你這件案子。在這期間，不要沒通知我就采取行動。再見，我相信我們會得到你的好消息。”
“這樣的一位姑娘會有一些追求者，這是很自然的，"福爾摩斯沉思地抽着煙斗說道，“不過不要選偏僻村路騎自行車去追逐嘛。毫無疑問是一個偷偷愛上她的人。可是這件案子裏有一些頗為奇怪和引人深思的細節，華生。”
“你是說他竟然衹在那個地方出現嗎？”
“不錯。我們要做的第一件事就是查明誰租用了查林頓莊園。然後再查明卡拉瑟斯和伍德利究竟是什麽關係，因為他倆是完全不同類型的人啊。他倆為什麽急於查訪拉爾夫·史密斯的親屬呢？還有一點，卡拉瑟斯傢離車站六英裏遠，連一騎馬都不買，卻偏偏要出兩倍代價來雇一名家庭女教師，這是一種什麽樣的治傢之道呢？奇怪，華生，十分奇怪！”
“你下去調查嗎？”
“不，我親愛的朋友，你下去調查好了。這可能是一件無足挂齒的小陰謀，我不能為它中斷別的重大調查工作。星期一你一早到法納姆去，要隱藏在查林頓石南地帶附近，親自觀察這些事實。根據自己的判斷見機行事，然後，查明是誰住在查林頓莊園，回來嚮我報告。現在，華生，在弄到幾件可靠的證據，有希望用於結案前，我對這件事沒有別的話好講的了。”
那姑娘告訴我們她星期一九點五十分從滑鐵盧車站乘車出發，所以我便提早出發趕乘九點十三分的火車。到法納姆車站，我毫不費力地問明了查林頓地帶。要錯過那姑娘的遇險地帶是不可能的，因為那段路一邊是開闊的石南灌木地帶，另一邊是老紫杉樹籬，環繞着一座花園，花園裏巨樹參天。莊園有個長滿地衣的石子路，大門兩側的石柱上滿是破爛的紋章圖案。除了中間行車的石子路之外，我發現幾處樹籬有豁口，有小路穿入。從路上看不到宅院，四周的環境都顯得陰暗、衰頽。
石南地帶開滿一叢叢的黃色金雀花，在燦爛的春日驕陽下閃閃發光。我在灌木叢後選好隱身之處，以便既能觀察莊園大門，又能看到兩邊長長的一大段路。我離開大路時，路上空無一人，現在有個人品着車從對面嚮我來的方向奔去。他穿着黑色服裝，我見他蓄有黑鬍子。他來到查林頓宅地盡頭，跳下車來，把車推進樹籬的一處豁口，在我的視綫中消失了。
過了一刻鐘，第二個騎自行車的人出現了。這次是那位姑娘從火車站來。我見她騎到查林頓樹籬時四下張望。過了一會兒，那男人從藏身處走出來，跳上自行車，尾隨着她。在那遼闊的如畫風景中，衹有這兩個人影在活動。那位儀態端莊的姑娘筆直地A騎在車上，她身後的男人卻低伏在車把上，一舉一動都帶有莫名其妙的鬼鬼祟祟的形跡。她回頭看到他，便放慢了速度。他也放慢了速度。姑娘下了車，他也立即下車，在她身後有二百碼的距離。那姑娘的下一步動作卻是出奇不意地迅猛，她突然扭轉車頭緊蹬一陣，徑直嚮他衝了過去。然而，他也象那姑娘一樣迅速，不顧一切拼命地逃脫了。她又立刻返回大路，傲然地昂着頭，不屑再去置理那不聲不響的尾隨者了。他也轉過身來，依然保持着那段距離，直到轉過大路我看不到他們為止。
我依然呆在藏身之處，這樣作是很恰當的，因為那個男人馬上又露面了，他不慌不忙地騎車返回來。他拐進莊園大門，下了車。我看他在樹叢中站了幾分鐘，舉起雙手，似乎在整理他的領帶。然後又上車從我身旁經過，嚮對着莊園的車道騎去。我跑出石南灌木地帶，從樹林縫隙望過去，可以隱約看到遠處那座古老的灰樓和它那些矗立的都鐸式煙囪，可惜那條車道穿過一片濃密的灌木叢，我再也看不到那個人了。
不過，我看我已經作了一件漂亮事，便興致勃勃地徒步走回法納姆。關於查林頓莊園，當地房産經紀人什麽也說不出來，衹好把我介紹到帕爾馬爾的一傢著名的公司。我在回傢途中到那裏停留了一陣，受到經紀人的殷勤接待。不行，我不能租用查林頓莊園避暑了，我來得太晚了，莊園一個月以前已經租出去，租給了一個叫威廉森先生的人。他是一個體面的老先生。那位頗有禮貌的經紀人客氣地說他不能再告訴我什麽了，因為他不能議論他顧主的事。
那天晚上，歇洛剋·福爾摩斯先生註意地傾聽了我嚮他作的冗長的報告。我本來期望受到稱贊，而且很重視他的稱贊，可是連一句贊許的話也沒有聽到。恰恰相反，在他評論我做過的事和沒有做到的事時，他那嚴峻的面容甚至比平時更加嚴肅。
“我親愛的華生，你那藏身之地是非常失算的。你本來應該藏到樹籬後面，仔細看看那位有趣的人。事實上，你藏的地方離那兒幾百碼，告訴我的情況甚至比史密斯小姐還要少。她認為她不認識那個人，我確信她是認識的。要不然，他為什麽那樣拼死拼活地擔心，生怕那姑娘走近他，看清了他的面貌呢？你說他伏身在自行車把上，你看，這不又是為了隱藏面目嗎？你確實作得十分不妙。他回到了那所宅院，你要查明他是誰，卻跑到一個倫敦房産經紀人那裏！”
“那我應該怎麽辦呢？"我有點頭腦發熱地高聲喊道。
“到離那兒最近的酒店裏去，那裏是村上扯閑話的中心。人傢會告訴你每一個人的名字，從主人到幫廚的女僕。至於威廉森嗎，我一點印象也沒有。假如他是老年人，那麽他就不是那個靈敏的騎車人，不是在那個姑娘迅速敏捷的追趕下翩然逃脫的人。你這次遠行的收穫是什麽呢？知道了那姑娘所講的是真事，這我從來都不懷疑。知道了騎車人和莊園有關係這我同樣不曾懷疑過。知道了那莊園是由威廉森租用的。誰又能為這作保證呢？好了，好了，我親愛的先生，不要顯得那麽灰心喪氣。星期六以前我們還可以多幹點事，這段時間我還可以親自做一兩次調查。”
第二天早晨，我們接到史密斯小姐一封短信，簡要而又準確地重述了我親眼看到的那件事，可是信的主旨卻留在附言中。
當我告訴你我在這裏的處境已經變得很睏難時，我相信你會考慮我所吐露的秘密，這是由於我的雇主已經嚮我求婚這樣一個事實。我相信他的感情是十分深厚而且高尚的。這時，我當然把我已經訂婚的事告訴了他。他把我的拒絶看得非常嚴重，但又十分和氣。然而，你可以理解，我的處境是有些尷尬了。
“我們的年輕朋友看起來陷入了睏境，"福爾摩斯看完信後，若有所思地說道，"這件案子肯定比我原來設想的有趣得多，發展的可能性也多得多。我還是應當到鄉下去過一天安靜太平日子，我打算今天下午就去，並且把我所形成的一兩點想法檢驗一下。”
福爾摩斯在鄉下度過的安靜日子，結局是很奇特的，因為他晚間很晚纔回到貝剋街，嘴唇劃破了，額頭上還青腫了一大塊，還有那種狼狽樣子，好象是一個蘇格蘭場調查的對象。他對自己的歷險感到非常高興，一邊講述，一邊出自內心地哈哈大笑。
“積極的鍛煉總是有用的，可惜我鍛煉的不多。"福爾摩斯說道，"你知道，我精通一些優秀的英國舊式拳擊運動，並且偶爾用得上它，比如說，今天，要是沒有這一手，那我就要遭到非常可恥的慘敗了。”
我請他告訴我發生了什麽事。
“我到了請你註意過的那個鄉村酒店，在那裏小心謹慎地進行調查。在酒吧間裏，饒舌的店主把我所要知道的一切都告訴了我。威廉森是一個白鬍子老頭，他和少數幾個僕人住在莊園裏。傳說他現在是或過去當過牧師，可是在莊園這段短時間，有一兩件小事使我覺得他很不象牧師。我查詢過一個牧師機構，他們告訴我，曾經有一個叫這名字的牧師，但他過去的行徑極不光彩。那店主接着告訴我，莊園裏每到周末總有一些來客——'是一夥下流坯，先生'——特別是一個蓄紅鬍子的人，名叫伍德利的，總少不了他。我們正談到這裏，那位伍德利先生竟然走了過來，他一直在酒吧間喝啤酒，把我們的話全都聽去了。他問我是什麽人？我要幹什麽？我問這些問題是什麽意思？他口若懸河，修飾語滿口都是。他最後謾駡了一通，兇惡地反手一擊，我沒有來得及躲避。後來的幾分鐘就很有趣了。我給那兇惡的暴徒一連串的打擊。我就成了你看到的這種樣子。伍德利先生乘車回去了。我這場鄉村旅行也就這樣告終了。必須承認，不管多麽有趣，我這一天薩裏邊界之行並不比你的收穫大。”
星期四那天我們又收到那位委托人的一封信。她寫道：
福爾摩斯先生，你聽到我就要辭去卡拉瑟斯先生的雇聘，不會感到驚奇吧。即使報酬優厚，我也不甘心忍受這尷尬的處境。我在星期六回城裏，不打算再回來了。卡拉瑟斯先生已備好一輛馬車，因此，如果說過去路上有什麽危險的話，那麽偏僻車路上的危險現在已經不存在了。
至於我辭聘的具體原因，不單是我和卡拉瑟斯先生的尷尬處境，而且是那個令人嫌惡的人伍德利先生又來了。他本來可怕，現在的嘴臉更可怕了。因為他好象出了什麽事，所以更加不象樣子了。我是從窗子裏面看到他的，我很高興說，我並沒有碰上他。他和卡拉瑟斯先生談了很長時間，從此以後卡拉瑟斯先生非常激動。伍德利一定居住在附近，因為他並沒有住在卡拉瑟斯傢裏。今早我又看到他在灌木叢中鬼鬼祟祟地活動。我不久就會在這地方碰到這頭兇猛的吃人野獸，簡直說不出是多麽憎恨和害怕了。卡拉瑟斯先生怎麽竟能容忍這樣的一個傢夥？一刻也容忍不得啊！不過，我的一切麻煩到星期六就要結束了。
“我相信是這樣的，華生，我相信是這樣的，"福爾摩斯嚴肅地說道，“圍繞着這位小姑娘正進行着一場極為隱秘的陰謀，我們有責任去一趟，不讓任何人在她最後一次旅行中騷擾她。華生，我想星期六早晨我們一定抽時間一起去，以便保證我們這次奇異而廣泛的調查不致遭受不幸的結局。”
我承認直到現在我還沒有十分看重這件案子，在我看來其中並沒有什麽危險，衹不過有些荒誕、古怪而已。男人埋伏着等待漂亮的女人並且尾隨她，這並不是什麽聞所未聞的事，如果他衹有那麽一點點放肆，不僅不敢嚮她求愛，而在她接近他的時候，反而逃跑，那他就不是十分可怕的暴徒。那個惡棍伍德利則又當別論。可是，除了那一次之外，他再沒有騷擾過我們的委托人，近來他到過卡拉瑟斯傢，可也沒有闖到她面前。那個騎車人無疑是酒店老闆所說的周末聚會的成員。可他是什麽人呢，他要幹什麽呢？卻依然模糊不清。福爾摩斯的嚴肅表情，他離開我們房間以前，把一隻手槍塞到衣袋裏，這些都使我感到，這一連串怪事後面可能隱藏着悲劇。
夜雨之後，早晨陽光燦爛，長滿石南灌木叢的農村，點綴着一叢叢盛開的金雀花，閃閃金光，對厭倦倫敦那陰鬱灰暗色調的人來說，顯得更加美麗，不覺耳目一新。福爾摩斯和我漫步在寬闊而多沙的道路上，呼吸着清晨的新鮮空氣，欣賞着鳥語花香，到處一派欣欣嚮榮的春意。我們從剋魯剋斯伯裏山巔的大路高處，可以看到那座不祥的莊園聳立在古老的橡樹叢中。橡樹本來夠古老的了，可是比起橡樹環抱的建築物來，卻依然顯得年輕。福爾摩斯指着長長的一段路，在那棕褐色的石南灌木叢和一片嫩緑的樹林之間，宛如一條紅黃色的帶子。遠處，出現一個小黑點，可以看出是一輛單馬馬車在嚮我們這個方向移動。福爾摩斯焦急地驚呼了一聲。
“我差了半個小時，"福爾摩斯說道，“假如這是她的馬車，她一定是在趕乘早些的列車。華生，恐怕我們來不及會她，她早就經過查林頓了。”
這時，我們過了大路高處，已經看不到那輛馬車了，可是我們加速嚮前趕路，速度之快，使我開始露出平日安坐為生的壞處，因而不得不落到後面。然而，福爾摩斯一直鍛煉有素，因為他有用之不竭的旺盛精力。他那輕快的腳步一直沒有放慢，突然，他在我前面一百碼的地方停止了腳步。我看見他舉起一隻手作了一個失敗而絶望的手勢。與此同時，一輛空馬車拐過大路的轉彎處，那騎馬繮繩拖地，慢步小跑，馬車吱吱嘎嘎地嚮我們迎面駛來。
“太晚了，華生，太晚了！"在我氣喘籲籲地跑到福爾摩斯身旁時，他大聲喊道，"我真愚蠢，怎麽沒有想到她要趕那趟早些的列車！一定是劫持，華生，是劫持！是謀殺！天知道是什麽！把路擋上！把馬攔住！這就對了。喂，跳上車，看看我們能否補救自己的大錯造成的後果。”
我們跳上馬車，福爾摩斯調過馬頭，狠狠給了那馬一鞭子，我們便順大路往回疾馳。在我們轉過彎時，莊園和石南地段間的整個大路都展現在眼前。我抓住了福爾摩斯的胳膊。
“就是那個人！"我氣喘籲籲地說。
一個無伴騎車人嚮我們衝過來。他低着頭，雙肩滾圓，把全身氣力都用在腳蹬子上，象賽車的人一樣蹬得飛快。突然他擡起滿是鬍子的臉，見我們近在眼前，便停下車，從自行車上跳下來，他那烏黑的鬍子和蒼白的臉色形成鮮明的對照。他雙目閃亮，仿佛正在極度興奮之中。他瞪眼瞅着我們和那輛馬車，然後臉上顯出驚異的神色。
“喂！停下！"他大聲喊道，用他的自行車把我們的路擋住，"你們在哪兒弄到的這輛馬車？嗨，停下！"他從側面口袋中掏出手槍咆哮道，"告訴你，停下，要不然，我可真的要賞你那騎馬一顆子彈了。”
福爾摩斯把繮繩扔到我腿上，從馬車上跳下來。
“你正是我們要見的人，維奧萊特·史密斯小姐在哪裏？”福爾摩斯連忙清晰地問道。
“我正要問你們呢。你們坐的是她的馬車，應當知道她在哪兒。”
“我們在路上碰到這輛馬車，上面沒有人，我們纔把車趕回來去救那位姑娘。”
“天哪！天哪！我怎麽辦哪？"那個陌生人絶望地喊道，"他們把她抓走了，那個該死的伍德利和那個惡棍牧師！快來，先生，假如你們真是她的朋友，那就快來。幫我一同搭救她吧，我橫屍查林頓森林也在所不惜！”
他提着手槍嚮樹籬的一個豁口瘋狂跑去，福爾摩斯緊跟在後，我把馬放到路旁吃草，也跟在福爾摩斯身後跑過去。
“他們是從這兒穿過去的，"陌生人指着泥濘小路上的足跡說道，"喂！停一下！灌木叢裏是什麽人？”
那是個十七八歲的小夥子，衣着象馬夫，穿着皮褲，打着綁腿。他仰面躺着，雙膝蜷麯，頭上有一道可怕的傷口，已經失去知覺，不過還有氣息。我把他的傷口看了一眼，知道沒有傷到骨頭。
“這就是馬夫彼得，"陌生人喊道，"他就是給那姑娘趕車的。那些畜生把他拉下車來用棍棒打傷了。讓他先躺在這兒吧，我們反正救不了他，可是我們卻可以從可能落到一個女人身上的最壞厄運中把她搭救出來。”
我們發瘋一般嚮林中盤麯小徑奔去，一到環繞着宅院的灌木叢，福爾摩斯就站住了。
“他們沒有進宅院。左邊有他們的腳印，在這兒，在月桂樹叢旁邊。啊！我說得不錯。”
他正說着，傳來一陣女人的尖聲哀叫，一種帶着極度驚恐的顫聲狂呼從我們面前一片濃密的緑色灌木叢中傳出來。突然尖聲高叫停止了，接着是一陣窒息的咯咯聲。
“這邊！這邊！他們在滾球場，"那陌生人闖過灌木叢，說道，"啊，這些膽小鬼！跟我來，先生們！哎呀！太遲了！太遲了！”
我們猛然闖進古樹環繞的一片林間緑草地。草地那一邊，在一棵大橡樹的樹蔭下站着三個人。一個是女人，就是我們的委托人，她垂着頭，半昏厥過去，嘴上蒙着手帕。她對面站着面貌兇殘的紅鬍子年青人，腿上紮着綁腿，大叉腿站着，一隻手叉腰，另一隻手裏晃動着馬鞭，他的整個神情顯示出一種洋洋得意的架式。這兩個人中間站着一個花白鬍子的老傢夥，穿淺色花呢衣服，外罩白色短法衣，顯然剛做完結婚儀式，因為我們一到，他就把一本祈禱書裝進衣袋，並且輕輕拍着那陰險的新郎的後背，興致勃勃地嚮他祝福。
“他們在舉行婚禮！"我氣喘籲籲地說道。
“來！"我們的領路人喊道，"來！"他衝過林中空地，福爾摩斯和我緊緊跟隨。在我們衝到姑娘跟前時，她搖搖晃晃地靠在樹幹上以免摔倒。前牧師威廉森嚮我們嘲弄地鞠了一躬，而暴徒伍德利卻野蠻地大吼一聲，得意忘形地狂笑着，嚮我們衝來。
“你可以把你的鬍子摘掉，鮑勃，"他說道，"我認識你，一點不含糊。喂，你和你的同夥來得正是時候，我正好給你們介紹一下伍德利夫人。”
我們那帶路人的回答很特別。他一把拉掉用以偽裝的黑鬍子，把它扔到地上，露出颳得光光的淺黃色長臉。然後舉起手槍，對準了那年輕的暴徒，這時，那暴徒正好手揮致命的馬鞭嚮他衝來。
“是的，"我們的夥伴說道，"我就是鮑勃·卡拉瑟斯，我要看到這姑娘安然無恙，否則我衹好上吊了。我告訴過你，假如你騷擾了她，我準備怎麽辦。皇天在上，我說到做到。”
“你太晚了，她已經是我妻子了。”
“不對，她是你的寡妻。”
槍聲響了，我看到血從伍德利前心噴出來。他尖叫一聲轉了一子就仰面倒下了，那醜陋的紅臉霎時變成斑駁而又蒼白，十分嚇人。那老頭子依然披着白色的法衣，此時破口大駡，那駡不絶口的骯髒話語，我真是聞所未聞的。他掏出他自己的手槍來，但還沒來得及舉槍，就看見福爾摩斯的槍口已經對準他了。
“夠了，"我的朋友冷冷地說道，"把槍扔下！華生，你把槍揀起來！把槍對準他的頭！謝謝你。還有你，卡拉瑟斯，把你的槍也給我。我們用不着再動武了。來，把槍繳了！”
“那麽，你是誰？”
“我叫歇洛剋·福爾摩斯。”
“啊呀！”
“我看得出，你們早知道我的名字了。在官方警探來到以前，我衹好代勞了。喂，你！福爾摩斯嚮林中空地那邊一個嚇壞了的馬夫喊道，納姆去。"福爾摩斯從筆記本上撕下一頁紙，草草寫了幾句話，"把這送到署交給警長。在他來到之前，我衹好代勞來監護你們了。”
福爾摩斯那堅強的主宰一切的性格在支配着這幕慘劇的場面，所有的人都同樣乖乖地聽他的擺布。威廉森和卡拉瑟斯把受傷的伍德利擡進屋去，我也扶着那受驚的姑娘。傷者放在床上，我應福爾摩斯的要求對傷者進行了檢查。當我嚮他報告檢查結果時，他正坐在挂有壁毯的老式飯廳裏，面前坐着受他監護的威廉森和卡拉瑟斯。
“他可以活下來，"我報告說。
“什麽！"卡拉瑟斯高聲喊道，從椅子上跳下來，"我首先上樓把他結果了再說。你們不是對我說，那個小天使般的姑娘要一輩子受狂徒伍德利的約束嗎？”
“這用不着你過問，"福爾摩斯說道，"她根本不成其為他的妻室，這有兩條非常充分的理由。第一，我們完全有把握懷疑威廉森主持婚禮的權利。”
“我受任過聖職，"那老無賴喊道。
“早就免去聖職了。”
“一旦做牧師，終身是牧師。”
“我看不行。那麽結婚證書呢？”
“我們有結婚證書，就在我衣袋裏。”
“照此看來，你們是靠陰謀詭計弄來的。不管怎樣來的，反正強迫婚姻絶對不是婚姻，而是十分嚴重的罪行。在你們完蛋以前，你會悟出這一點的。除非我弄錯了，在今後十年左右，你是有時間想通這一點的。至於你，卡拉瑟斯，要是你不從衣袋裏掏出槍來，你本來可以幹得好一些的。”
“我現在纔開始這樣想，福爾摩斯先生，可是在我想到我為保護那姑娘所采取的一切預防措施時——因為我愛她，福爾摩斯先生，而這是我有生以來頭一次知道什麽叫做愛——想到她落入那個南非最殘忍的暴徒的魔掌之中，而此人的名字從金伯利到約翰內斯堡人人懼怕，這簡直使我發狂。啊，①福爾摩斯先生，你很難相信這些，我知道這些無賴潛伏在這所宅子裏，可是自從那姑娘受我聘請以來，她經過這所房子時，我沒有一次不騎車護送她，親眼看她不致受到傷害。我和她保持着一定距離，我戴上了鬍子，以便使她認不出我來，因為她是一位善良而氣質高貴的姑娘，如果她想到是我在村①金伯利及約翰內斯堡均為南非地名。——譯者註路上尾隨她，她就不會長期受我雇聘了。”
“你為什麽不把危險告訴她呢？”
“因為那樣一來，她還是要離開我的，可是我不願意有這樣的事。即使她不愛我，衹要我能在傢裏看到她那秀麗的容貌，聽到她的聲音，那我就知足了。”
“喂，"我說道，"你把這叫做愛，卡拉瑟斯先生。可是我卻把這叫做利己主義。”
“可能兩者兼而有之。不管怎樣，我不能讓她離開。再說，她周圍有這夥人，最好還是有人在身邊照顧她好一些。後來，接到電報，我知道他們一定要有所行動了。”
“什麽電報？”
卡拉瑟斯從口袋裏拿出一份電報來。
“就是這個，"他說道。
電文非常簡單明了：
老兒已死。
“哼！"福爾摩斯說道，"我想我知道這是怎麽回事了，並且我也明白，象你所說的，這封電報會引其他們走嚮極端。你們可以一邊等，一邊盡你所知全部告訴我。”
那個穿白色法衣的老惡棍破口駡出一連串骯髒話。
“皇天在上！"他說道，"假如你泄露我們的秘密，鮑勃，我就要用你對付傑剋·伍德利的手段來對付你。你可以隨心所欲地把那姑娘的事說得天花亂墜，那是你們自己的事，可是你要把你的朋友出賣給這個便衣，那你就要自找倒黴了。”
“尊敬的牧師閣下用不着激動，"福爾摩斯點燃香煙，說道，"這件案子對你們不利，這是十分清楚的。我不過出於個人好奇，問幾個細節問題而已。不過，假如你們不便見告，那麽我就來說一說，然後你們就會明白你們還能隱瞞住什麽秘密了。首先，你們三個人從南非來玩這場把戲——你威廉森，你卡拉瑟斯，還有伍德利。”
“頭號的謊言，"那老傢夥說道，"兩個月以前，我連他們見也沒見過，而且我生來也沒到過非洲，所以你可以把這謊言放進煙斗裏一起燒掉，愛管閑事的福爾摩斯先生。”
“他說的是實話，"卡拉瑟斯說道。
“好了，好了，你們兩個是從遠方來的。這位尊敬的牧師是我們自己的本國貨。你們在南非結識了拉爾夫·史密斯。你們有理由相信他不會活得很久了，你們發現他的侄女要繼承他的遺産。我這話怎麽樣？嗯？”
卡拉瑟斯點點頭，威廉森咒駡不止。
“毫無疑問，她是最近的親屬，你們知道那個老人不會留下遺囑。”
“他不認字也不會寫，"卡拉瑟斯說道。
“所以你們兩人不遠萬裏而來，到處查尋這位姑娘。你們打的主意是，一個人娶她，另一個人分一部分贓款。由於某種原因，伍德利選上做丈夫。那原因是什麽呢？”
“我們在航途打牌，用那個姑娘作註，伍德利贏了。”
“我明白了。你把姑娘騙到你傢裏，好讓伍德利到你傢嚮她求愛。可是她看得出伍德利是個酗酒的惡棍，不願和他來往。同時，你自己也愛上了這位姑娘，這就完全打亂了你們的安排。你想到那個惡棍要占有這姑娘，便再也不能容忍了。”
“對，的確，我不能再容忍了。”
“於是你們爭吵起來。他一怒之下就走了，把你起在一邊，自己打主意了。”
“威廉森，我看，我們要說的這位先生都說了，已經所剩無幾了，"卡拉瑟斯苦笑着大聲喊道，"對，我們爭吵過，他把我了。不管怎樣，在打架方面，我和他是不相上下的。後來我就見不到他了。原來那時他在這裏結識了這位被免職的牧師。我發現他們倆在這兒租了房子，這正是她去車站的必經之路。在這以後我就留心照料她，因為我知道風聲啊。我一次又一次地去看他們，因為很想知道他們在追求什麽。兩天以前伍德利帶着這封電報到我傢來，電報說拉爾夫·史密斯已經去世。伍德利問我是不是遵守講好的交易條件。我說我不願意。他問我是不是自己想娶那姑娘，然後分給他一部分財産。我說我倒是願意這麽辦，可是姑娘不答應。伍德利說，'讓我們先把她娶到手，過一兩個星期，她對事情的看法就會有所不同了。'我說我不願意動用武力。所以他就現出那出言下流的無賴本色，駡駡咧咧地走了，並且發誓說，一定要把她弄到手。她打算這個周末離開我，我弄到一輛輕便馬車送她去車站，可總是放心不下，所以騎自行車趕來。然而，她已經動身了，還沒等我追上她，禍事就發生了。我一看到你們兩位先生把她乘坐的馬車趕回來，我就立即知道情況不妙了。”
福爾摩斯站起來，把煙蒂扔進壁爐。"我的感覺一直很遲鈍，華生，"他說道，"當你報告說你見騎車人好象在灌木叢中整理領帶，光是這一件事就早已嚮我說明了一切。不過，我們還可以慶幸我們通到這樣一樁希奇古怪的、在某些方面又是獨一無二的案子。我看見車道上來了三名區，我很高興看到那個小馬夫也能跟他們走得一樣快，所以，看來，不管是牧師，還是那個有趣的新郎，由於他們今天早晨的非法行動，將永無出頭之日了。華生，我想，憑你的醫務能力，你可以拜訪史密斯小姐，告訴她，假如她恢復了健康，我們就送她回娘傢去。如果她還沒有完全復原，你可以暗示說，我們準備給米得蘭公司的一位年輕電學家打電報，這多半可以把她治愈。至於你，卡拉瑟斯先生，我想你對你參加的罪惡陰謀活動，已經力所能及地進行了補救。這是我的名片，先生，如果在審判你的時候，我的證詞對你有益的話，請隨意使用好了。”
在我們那層出不窮的活動中，讀者可能已經察覺，我往往很難對我的記敘文加以潤色，並且寫出讀者可能期望的那些希奇古怪的最終詳細情節。每一案件都是另一案件的序幕，而决定性時刻一過，那些登臺人物就從我們的忙亂生活中永遠退場。然而，我找到了我記敘這件案子的手稿，手稿的結尾有一段簡要的記載，我在記載中報告說，維奧萊特·史密斯小姐果真繼承了一大筆遺産，現在她已經是莫頓和肯尼迪公司的大股東，著名的威斯敏斯特電學家西裏爾·莫頓的妻子。威廉森和伍德利兩個人都因誘拐和傷害罪受審，威廉森被判七年徒刑，伍德利被判十年徒刑。我沒有得到卡拉瑟斯結果如何的報告，不過我相信，既然伍德利是一個聲名狼藉的十分危險的惡棍，法庭是不會十分嚴重地看待卡拉瑟斯所犯的傷害罪的，我想法官判他幾個月監禁也就足夠了。
On referring to my note-book for the year 1895 I find that it was upon Saturday, the 23rd of April, that we first heard of Miss Violet Smith. Her visit was, I remember, extremely unwelcome to Holmes, for he was immersed at the moment in a very abstruse and complicated problem concerning the peculiar persecution to which John Vincent Harden, the well-known tobacco millionaire, had been subjected. My friend, who loved above all things precision and concentration of thought, resented anything which distracted his attention from the matter in hand. And yet without a harshness which was foreign to his nature it was impossible to refuse to listen to the story of the young and beautiful woman, tall, graceful, and queenly, who presented herself at Baker Street late in the evening and implored his assistance and advice. It was vain to urge that his time was already fully occupied, for the young lady had come with the determination to tell her story, and it was evident that nothing short of force could get her out of the room until she had done so. With a resigned air and a somewhat weary smile, Holmes begged the beautiful intruder to take a seat and to inform us what it was that was troubling her.
"At least it cannot be your health," said he, as his keen eyes darted over her; "so ardent a bicyclist must be full of energy."
She glanced down in surprise at her own feet, and I observed the slight roughening of the side of the sole caused by the friction of the edge of the pedal.
"Yes, I bicycle a good deal, Mr. Holmes, and that has something to do with my visit to you to-day."
My friend took the lady's ungloved hand and examined it with as close an attention and as little sentiment as a scientist would show to a specimen.
"You will excuse me, I am sure. It is my business," said he, as he dropped it. "I nearly fell into the error of supposing that you were typewriting. Of course, it is obvious that it is music. You observe the spatulate finger-end, Watson, which is common to both professions? There is a spirituality about the face, however" -- he gently turned it towards the light -- "which the typewriter does not generate. This lady is a musician."
"Yes, Mr. Holmes, I teach music."
"In the country, I presume, from your complexion."
"Yes, sir; near Farnham, on the borders of Surrey."
"A beautiful neighbourhood and full of the most interesting associations. You remember, Watson, that it was near there that we took Archie Stamford, the forger. Now, Miss Violet, what has happened to you near Farnham, on the borders of Surrey?"
The young lady, with great clearness and composure, made the following curious statement:--
"My father is dead, Mr. Holmes. He was James Smith, who conducted the orchestra at the old Imperial Theatre. My mother and I were left without a relation in the world except one uncle, Ralph Smith, who went to Africa twenty-five years ago, and we have never had a word from him since. When father died we were left very poor, but one day we were told that there was an advertisement in the TIMES inquiring for our whereabouts. You can imagine how excited we were, for we thought that someone had left us a fortune. We went at once to the lawyer whose name was given in the paper. There we met two gentlemen, Mr. Carruthers and Mr. Woodley, who were home on a visit from South Africa. They said that my uncle was a friend of theirs, that he died some months before in great poverty in Johannesburg, and that he had asked them with his last breath to hunt up his relations and see that they were in no want. It seemed strange to us that Uncle Ralph, who took no notice of us when he was alive, should be so careful to look after us when he was dead; but Mr. Carruthers explained that the reason was that my uncle had just heard of the death of his brother, and so felt responsible for our fate."
"Excuse me," said Holmes; "when was this interview?"
"Last December -- four months ago."
"Pray proceed."
"Mr. Woodley seemed to me to be a most odious person. He was for ever making eyes at me -- a coarse, puffy-faced, red-moustached young man, with his hair plastered down on each side of his forehead. I thought that he was perfectly hateful -- and I was sure that Cyril would not wish me to know such a person."
"Oh, Cyril is his name!" said Holmes, smiling.
The young lady blushed and laughed.
"Yes, Mr. Holmes; Cyril Morton, an electrical engineer, and we hope to be married at the end of the summer. Dear me, how DID I get talking about him? What I wished to say was that Mr. Woodley was perfectly odious, but that Mr. Carruthers, who was a much older man, was more agreeable. He was a dark, sallow, clean-shaven, silent person; but he had polite manners and a pleasant smile. He inquired how we were left, and on finding that we were very poor he suggested that I should come and teach music to his only daughter, aged ten. I said that I did not like to leave my mother, on which he suggested that I should go home to her every week-end, and he offered me a hundred a year, which was certainly splendid pay. So it ended by my accepting, and I went down to Chiltern Grange, about six miles from Farnham. Mr. Carruthers was a widower, but he had engaged a lady-housekeeper, a very respectable, elderly person, called Mrs. Dixon, to look after his establishment. The child was a dear, and everything promised well. Mr. Carruthers was very kind and very musical, and we had most pleasant evenings together. Every week-end I went home to my mother in town.
"The first flaw in my happiness was the arrival of the red-moustached Mr. Woodley. He came for a visit of a week, and oh, it seemed three months to me! He was a dreadful person, a bully to everyone else, but to me something infinitely worse. He made odious love to me, boasted of his wealth, said that if I married him I would have the finest diamonds in London, and finally, when I would have nothing to do with him, he seized me in his arms one day after dinner -- he was hideously strong -- and he swore that he would not let me go until I had kissed him. Mr. Carruthers came in and tore him off from me, on which he turned upon his own host, knocking him down and cutting his face open. That was the end of his visit, as you can imagine. Mr. Carruthers apologized to me next day, and assured me that I should never be exposed to such an insult again. I have not seen Mr. Woodley since.
"And now, Mr. Holmes, I come at last to the special thing which has caused me to ask your advice to-day. You must know that every Saturday forenoon I ride on my bicycle to Farnham Station in order to get the 12.22 to town. The road from Chiltern Grange is a lonely one, and at one spot it is particularly so, for it lies for over a mile between Charlington Heath upon one side and the woods which lie round Charlington Hall upon the other. You could not find a more lonely tract of road anywhere, and it is quite rare to meet so much as a cart, or a peasant, until you reach the high road near Crooksbury Hill. Two weeks ago I was passing this place when I chanced to look back over my shoulder, and about two hundred yards behind me I saw a man, also on a bicycle. He seemed to be a middle-aged man, with a short, dark beard. I looked back before I reached Farnham, but the man was gone, so I thought no more about it. But you can imagine how surprised I was, Mr. Holmes, when on my return on the Monday I saw the same man on the same stretch of road. My astonishment was increased when the incident occurred again, exactly as before, on the following Saturday and Monday. He always kept his distance and did not molest me in any way, but still it certainly was very odd. I mentioned it to Mr. Carruthers, who seemed interested in what I said, and told me that he had ordered a horse and trap, so that in future I should not pass over these lonely roads without some companion.
"The horse and trap were to have come this week, but for some reason they were not delivered, and again I had to cycle to the station. That was this morning. You can think that I looked out when I came to Charlington Heath, and there, sure enough, was the man, exactly as he had been the two weeks before. He always kept so far from me that I could not clearly see his face, but it was certainly someone whom I did not know. He was dressed in a dark suit with a cloth cap. The only thing about his face that I could clearly see was his dark beard. To-day I was not alarmed, but I was filled with curiosity, and I determined to find out who he was and what he wanted. I slowed down my machine, but he slowed down his. Then I stopped altogether, but he stopped also. Then I laid a trap for him. There is a sharp turning of the road, and I pedalled very quickly round this, and then I stopped and waited. I expected him to shoot round and pass me before he could stop. But he never appeared. Then I went back and looked round the corner. I could see a mile of road, but he was not on it. To make it the more extraordinary, there was no side road at this point down which he could have gone."
Holmes chuckled and rubbed his hands. "This case certainly presents some features of its own," said he. "How much time elapsed between your turning the corner and your discovery that the road was clear?"
"Two or three minutes."
"Then he could not have retreated down the road, and you say that there are no side roads?"
"None."
"Then he certainly took a footpath on one side or the other."
"It could not have been on the side of the heath or I should have seen him."
"So by the process of exclusion we arrive at the fact that he made his way towards Charlington Hall, which, as I understand, is situated in its own grounds on one side of the road. Anything else?"
"Nothing, Mr. Holmes, save that I was so perplexed that I felt I should not be happy until I had seen you and had your advice."
Holmes sat in silence for some little time.
"Where is the gentleman to whom you are engaged?" he asked, at last.
"He is in the Midland Electrical Company, at Coventry."
"He would not pay you a surprise visit?"
"Oh, Mr. Holmes! As if I should not know him!"
"Have you had any other admirers?"
"Several before I knew Cyril."
"And since?"
"There was this dreadful man, Woodley, if you can call him an admirer."
"No one else?"
Our fair client seemed a little confused.
"Who was he?" asked Holmes.
"Oh, it may be a mere fancy of mine; but it has seemed to me sometimes that my employer, Mr. Carruthers, takes a great deal of interest in me. We are thrown rather together. I play his accompaniments in the evening. He has never said anything. He is a perfect gentleman. But a girl always knows."
"Ha!" Holmes looked grave. "What does he do for a living?"
"He is a rich man."
"No carriages or horses?"
"Well, at least he is fairly well-to-do. But he goes into the City two or three times a week. He is deeply interested in South African gold shares."
"You will let me know any fresh development, Miss Smith. I am very busy just now, but I will find time to make some inquiries into your case. In the meantime take no step without letting me know. Good-bye, and I trust that we shall have nothing but good news from you."
"It is part of the settled order of Nature that such a girl should have followers," said Holmes, as he pulled at his meditative pipe, "but for choice not on bicycles in lonely country roads. Some secretive lover, beyond all doubt. But there are curious and suggestive details about the case, Watson."
"That he should appear only at that point?"
"Exactly. Our first effort must be to find who are the tenants of Charlington Hall. Then, again, how about the connection between Carruthers and Woodley, since they appear to be men of such a different type? How came they BOTH to be so keen upon looking up Ralph Smith's relations? One more point. What sort of a MENAGE is it which pays double the market price for a governess, but does not keep a horse although six miles from the station? Odd, Watson -- very odd!"
"You will go down?"
"No, my dear fellow, YOU will go down. This may be some trifling intrigue, and I cannot break my other important research for the sake of it. On Monday you will arrive early at Farnham; you will conceal yourself near Charlington Heath; you will observe these facts for yourself, and act as your own judgment advises. Then, having inquired as to the occupants of the Hall, you will come back to me and report. And now, Watson, not another word of the matter until we have a few solid stepping-stones on which we may hope to get across to our solution."
We had ascertained from the lady that she went down upon the Monday by the train which leaves Waterloo at 9.50, so I started early and caught the 9.13. At Farnham Station I had no difficulty in being directed to Charlington Heath. It was impossible to mistake the scene of the young lady's adventure, for the road runs between the open heath on one side and an old yew hedge upon the other, surrounding a park which is studded with magnificent trees. There was a main gateway of lichen-studded stone, each side pillar surmounted by mouldering heraldic emblems; but besides this central carriage drive I observed several points where there were gaps in the hedge and paths leading through them. The house was invisible from the road, but the surroundings all spoke of gloom and decay.
The heath was covered with golden patches of flowering gorse, gleaming magnificently in the light of the bright spring sunshine. Behind one of these clumps I took up my position, so as to command both the gateway of the Hall and a long stretch of the road upon either side. It had been deserted when I left it, but now I saw a cyclist riding down it from the opposite direction to that in which I had come. He was clad in a dark suit, and I saw that he had a black beard. On reaching the end of the Charlington grounds he sprang from his machine and led it through a gap in the hedge, disappearing from my view.
A quarter of an hour passed and then a second cyclist appeared. This time it was the young lady coming from the station. I saw her look about her as she came to the Charlington hedge. An instant later the man emerged from his hiding-place, sprang upon his cycle, and followed her. In all the broad landscape those were the only moving figures, the graceful girl sitting very straight upon her machine, and the man behind her bending low over his handle-bar, with a curiously furtive suggestion in every movement. She looked back at him and slowed her pace. He slowed also. She stopped. He at once stopped too, keeping two hundred yards behind her. Her next movement was as unexpected as it was spirited. She suddenly whisked her wheels round and dashed straight at him! He was as quick as she, however, and darted off in desperate flight. Presently she came back up the road again, her head haughtily in the air, not deigning to take any further notice of her silent attendant. He had turned also, and still kept his distance until the curve of the road hid them from my sight.
I remained in my hiding-place, and it was well that I did so, for presently the man reappeared cycling slowly back. He turned in at the Hall gates and dismounted from his machine. For some few minutes I could see him standing among the trees. His hands were raised and he seemed to be settling his necktie. Then he mounted his cycle and rode away from me down the drive towards the Hall. I ran across the heath and peered through the trees. Far away I could catch glimpses of the old grey building with its bristling Tudor chimneys, but the drive ran through a dense shrubbery, and I saw no more of my man.
However, it seemed to me that I had done a fairly good morning's work, and I walked back in high spirits to Farnham. The local house-agent could tell me nothing about Charlington Hall, and referred me to a well-known firm in Pall Mall. There I halted on my way home, and met with courtesy from the representative. No, I could not have Charlington Hall for the summer. I was just too late. It had been let about a month ago. Mr. Williamson was the name of the tenant. He was a respectable elderly gentleman. The polite agent was afraid he could say no more, as the affairs of his clients were not matters which he could discuss.
Mr. Sherlock Holmes listened with attention to the long report which I was able to present to him that evening, but it did not elicit that word of curt praise which I had hoped for and should have valued. On the contrary, his austere face was even more severe than usual as he commented upon the things that I had done and the things that I had not.
"Your hiding-place, my dear Watson, was very faulty. You should have been behind the hedge; then you would have had a close view of this interesting person. As it is you were some hundreds of yards away, and can tell me even less than Miss Smith. She thinks she does not know the man; I am convinced she does. Why, otherwise, should he be so desperately anxious that she should not get so near him as to see his features? You describe him as bending over the handle-bar. Concealment again, you see. You really have done remarkably badly. He returns to the house and you want to find out who he is. You come to a London house-agent!"
"What should I have done?" I cried, with some heat.
"Gone to the nearest public-house. That is the centre of country gossip. They would have told you every name, from the master to the scullery-maid. Williamson! It conveys nothing to my mind. If he is an elderly man he is not this active cyclist who sprints away from that athletic young lady's pursuit. What have we gained by your expedition? The knowledge that the girl's story is true. I never doubted it. That there is a connection between the cyclist and the Hall. I never doubted that either. That the Hall is tenanted by Williamson. Who's the better for that? Well, well, my dear sir, don't look so depressed. We can do little more until next Saturday, and in the meantime I may make one or two inquiries myself."
Next morning we had a note from Miss Smith, recounting shortly and accurately the very incidents which I had seen, but the pith of the letter lay in the postscript:--
"I am sure that you will respect my confidence, Mr. Holmes, when I tell you that my place here has become difficult owing to the fact that my employer has proposed marriage to me. I am convinced that his feelings are most deep and most honourable. At the same time my promise is, of course, given. He took my refusal very seriously, but also very gently. You can understand, however, that the situation is a little strained."
"Our young friend seems to be getting into deep waters," said Holmes, thoughtfully, as he finished the letter. "The case certainly presents more features of interest and more possibility of development than I had originally thought. I should be none the worse for a quiet, peaceful day in the country, and I am inclined to run down this afternoon and test one or two theories which I have formed."
Holmes's quiet day in the country had a singular termination, for he arrived at Baker Street late in the evening with a cut lip and a discoloured lump upon his forehead, besides a general air of dissipation which would have made his own person the fitting object of a Scotland Yard investigation. He was immensely tickled by his own adventures, and laughed heartily as he recounted them.
"I get so little active exercise that it is always a treat," said he. "You are aware that I have some proficiency in the good old British sport of boxing. Occasionally it is of service. To-day, for example, I should have come to very ignominious grief without it."
I begged him to tell me what had occurred.
"I found that country pub which I had already recommended to your notice, and there I made my discreet inquiries. I was in the bar, and a garrulous landlord was giving me all that I wanted. Williamson is a white-bearded man, and he lives alone with a small staff of servants at the Hall. There is some rumour that he is or has been a clergyman; but one or two incidents of his short residence at the Hall struck me as peculiarly unecclesiastical. I have already made some inquiries at a clerical agency, and they tell me that there WAS a man of that name in orders whose career has been a singularly dark one. The landlord further informed me that there are usually week-end visitors -- `a warm lot, sir' -- at the Hall, and especially one gentleman with a red moustache, Mr. Woodley by name, who was always there. We had got as far as this when who should walk in but the gentleman himself, who had been drinking his beer in the tap-room and had heard the whole conversation. Who was I? What did I want? What did I mean by asking questions? He had a fine flow of language, and his adjectives were very vigorous. He ended a string of abuse by a vicious back-hander which I failed to entirely avoid. The next few minutes were delicious. It was a straight left against a slogging ruffian. I emerged as you see me. Mr. Woodley went home in a cart. So ended my country trip, and it must be confessed that, however enjoyable, my day on the Surrey border has not been much more profitable than your own."
The Thursday brought us another letter from our client.
"You will not be surprised, Mr. Holmes," said she, "to hear that I am leaving Mr. Carruthers's employment. Even the high pay cannot reconcile me to the discomforts of my situation. On Saturday I come up to town and I do not intend to return. Mr. Carruthers has got a trap, and so the dangers of the lonely road, if there ever were any dangers, are now over.
"As to the special cause of my leaving, it is not merely the strained situation with Mr. Carruthers, but it is the reappearance of that odious man, Mr. Woodley. He was always hideous, but he looks more awful than ever now, for he appears to have had an accident and he is much disfigured. I saw him out of the window, but I am glad to say I did not meet him. He had a long talk with Mr. Carruthers, who seemed much excited afterwards. Woodley must be staying in the neighbourhood, for he did not sleep here, and yet I caught a glimpse of him again this morning slinking about in the shrubbery. I would sooner have a savage wild animal loose about the place. I loathe and fear him more than I can say. How CAN Mr. Carruthers endure such a creature for a moment? However, all my troubles will be over on Saturday."
"So I trust, Watson; so I trust," said Holmes, gravely. "There is some deep intrigue going on round that little woman, and it is our duty to see that no one molests her upon that last journey. I think, Watson, that we must spare time to run down together on Saturday morning, and make sure that this curious and inconclusive investigation has no untoward ending."
I confess that I had not up to now taken a very serious view of the case, which had seemed to me rather grotesque and bizarre than dangerous. That a man should lie in wait for and follow a very handsome woman is no unheard-of thing, and if he had so little audacity that he not only dared not address her, but even fled from her approach, he was not a very formidable assailant. The ruffian Woodley was a very different person, but, except on one occasion, he had not molested our client, and now he visited the house of Carruthers without intruding upon her presence. The man on the bicycle was doubtless a member of those week-end parties at the Hall of which the publican had spoken; but who he was or what he wanted was as obscure as ever. It was the severity of Holmes's manner and the fact that he slipped a revolver into his pocket before leaving our rooms which impressed me with the feeling that tragedy might prove to lurk behind this curious train of events.
A rainy night had been followed by a glorious morning, and the heath-covered country-side with the glowing clumps of flowering gorse seemed all the more beautiful to eyes which were weary of the duns and drabs and slate-greys of London. Holmes and I walked along the broad, sandy road inhaling the fresh morning air, and rejoicing in the music of the birds and the fresh breath of the spring. From a rise of the road on the shoulder of Crooksbury Hill we could see the grim Hall bristling out from amidst the ancient oaks, which, old as they were, were still younger than the building which they surrounded. Holmes pointed down the long tract of road which wound, a reddish yellow band, between the brown of the heath and the budding green of the woods. Far away, a black dot, we could see a vehicle moving in our direction. Holmes gave an exclamation of impatience.
"I had given a margin of half an hour," said he. "If that is her trap she must be making for the earlier train. I fear, Watson, that she will be past Charlington before we can possibly meet her."
From the instant that we passed the rise we could no longer see the vehicle, but we hastened onwards at such a pace that my sedentary life began to tell upon me, and I was compelled to fall behind. Holmes, however, was always in training, for he had inexhaustible stores of nervous energy upon which to draw. His springy step never slowed until suddenly, when he was a hundred yards in front of me, he halted, and I saw him throw up his hand with a gesture of grief and despair. At the same instant an empty dog-cart, the horse cantering, the reins trailing, appeared round the curve of the road and rattled swiftly towards us.
"Too late, Watson; too late!" cried Holmes, as I ran panting to his side. "Fool that I was not to allow for that earlier train! It's abduction, Watson -- abduction! Murder! Heaven knows what! Block the road! Stop the horse! That's right. Now, jump in, and let us see if I can repair the consequences of my own blunder."
We had sprung into the dog-cart, and Holmes, after turning the horse, gave it a sharp cut with the whip, and we flew back along the road. As we turned the curve the whole stretch of road between the Hall and the heath was opened up. I grasped Holmes's arm.
"That's the man!" I gasped.
A solitary cyclist was coming towards us. His head was down and his shoulders rounded as he put every ounce of energy that he possessed on to the pedals. He was flying like a racer. Suddenly he raised his bearded face, saw us close to him, and pulled up, springing from his machine. That coal-black beard was in singular contrast to the pallor of his face, and his eyes were as bright as if he had a fever. He stared at us and at the dog-cart. Then a look of amazement came over his face.
"Halloa! Stop there!" he shouted, holding his bicycle to block our road. "Where did you get that dog-cart? Pull up, man!" he yelled, drawing a pistol from his side pocket. "Pull up, I say, or, by George, I'll put a bullet into your horse."
Holmes threw the reins into my lap and sprang down from the cart.
"You're the man we want to see. Where is Miss Violet Smith?" he said, in his quick, clear way.
"That's what I am asking you. You're in her dog-cart. You ought to know where she is."
"We met the dog-cart on the road. There was no one in it. We drove back to help the young lady."
"Good Lord! Good Lord! what shall I do?" cried the stranger, in an ecstasy of despair. "They've got her, that hellhound Woodley and the blackguard parson. Come, man, come, if you really are her friend. Stand by me and we'll save her, if I have to leave my carcass in Charlington Wood."
He ran distractedly, his pistol in his hand, towards a gap in the hedge. Holmes followed him, and I, leaving the horse grazing beside the road, followed Holmes.
"This is where they came through," said he, pointing to the marks of several feet upon the muddy path. "Halloa! Stop a minute! Who's this in the bush?"
It was a young fellow about seventeen, dressed like an ostler, with leather cords and gaiters. He lay upon his back, his knees drawn up, a terrible cut upon his head. He was insensible, but alive. A glance at his wound told me that it had not penetrated the bone.
"That's Peter, the groom," cried the stranger. "He drove her. The beasts have pulled him off and clubbed him. Let him lie; we can't do him any good, but we may save her from the worst fate that can befall a woman."
We ran frantically down the path, which wound among the trees. We had reached the shrubbery which surrounded the house when Holmes pulled up.
"They didn't go to the house. Here are their marks on the left -- here, beside the laurel bushes! Ah, I said so!"
As he spoke a woman's shrill scream -- a scream which vibrated with a frenzy of horror -- burst from the thick green clump of bushes in front of us. It ended suddenly on its highest note with a choke and a gurgle.
"This way! This way! They are in the bowling alley," cried the stranger, darting through the bushes. "Ah, the cowardly dogs! Follow me, gentlemen! Too late! too late! by the living Jingo!"
We had broken suddenly into a lovely glade of greensward surrounded by ancient trees. On the farther side of it, under the shadow of a mighty oak, there stood a singular group of three people. One was a woman, our client, drooping and faint, a handkerchief round her mouth. Opposite her stood a brutal, heavy-faced, red-moustached young man, his gaitered legs parted wide, one arm akimbo, the other waving a riding-crop, his whole attitude suggestive of triumphant bravado. Between them an elderly, grey-bearded man, wearing a short surplice over a light tweed suit, had evidently just completed the wedding service, for he pocketed his prayer-book as we appeared and slapped the sinister bridegroom upon the back in jovial congratulation.
"They're married!" I gasped.
"Come on!" cried our guide; "come on!" He rushed across the glade, Holmes and I at his heels. As we approached, the lady staggered against the trunk of the tree for support. Williamson, the ex-clergyman, bowed to us with mock politeness, and the bully Woodley advanced with a shout of brutal and exultant laughter.
"You can take your beard off, Bob," said he. "I know you right enough. Well, you and your pals have just come in time for me to be able to introduce you to Mrs. Woodley."
Our guide's answer was a singular one. He snatched off the dark beard which had disguised him and threw it on the ground, disclosing a long, sallow, clean-shaven face below it. Then he raised his revolver and covered the young ruffian, who was advancing upon him with his dangerous riding-crop swinging in his hand.
"Yes," said our ally, "I AM Bob Carruthers, and I'll see this woman righted if I have to swing for it. I told you what I'd do if you molested her, and, by the Lord, I'll be as good as my word!"
"You're too late. She's my wife!"
"No, she's your widow."
His revolver cracked, and I saw the blood spurt from the front of Woodley's waistcoat. He spun round with a scream and fell upon his back, his hideous red face turning suddenly to a dreadful mottled pallor. The old man, still clad in his surplice, burst into such a string of foul oaths as I have never heard, and pulled out a revolver of his own, but before he could raise it he was looking down the barrel of Holmes's weapon.
"Enough of this," said my friend, coldly. "Drop that pistol! Watson, pick it up! Hold it to his head! Thank you. You, Carruthers, give me that revolver. We'll have no more violence. Come, hand it over!"
"Who are you, then?"
"My name is Sherlock Holmes."
"Good Lord!"
"You have heard of me, I see. I will represent the official police until their arrival. Here, you!" he shouted to a frightened groom who had appeared at the edge of the glade. "Come here. Take this note as hard as you can ride to Farnham." He scribbled a few words upon a leaf from his note-book. "Give it to the superintendent at the police-station. Until he comes I must detain you all under my personal custody."
The strong, masterful personality of Holmes dominated the tragic scene, and all were equally puppets in his hands. Williamson and Carruthers found themselves carrying the wounded Woodley into the house, and I gave my arm to the frightened girl. The injured man was laid on his bed, and at Holmes's request I examined him. I carried my report to where he sat in the old tapestry-hung dining-room with his two prisoners before him.
"He will live," said I.
"What!" cried Carruthers, springing out of his chair. "I'll go upstairs and finish him first. Do you tell me that that girl, that angel, is to be tied to Roaring Jack Woodley for life?"
"You need not concern yourself about that," said Holmes. "There are two very good reasons why she should under no circumstances be his wife. In the first place, we are very safe in questioning Mr. Williamson's right to solemnize a marriage."
"I have been ordained," cried the old rascal.
"And also unfrocked."
"Once a clergyman, always a clergyman."
"I think not. How about the license?"
"We had a license for the marriage. I have it here in my pocket."
"Then you got it by a trick. But in any case a forced marriage is no marriage, but it is a very serious felony, as you will discover before you have finished. You'll have time to think the point out during the next ten years or so, unless I am mistaken. As to you, Carruthers, you would have done better to keep your pistol in your pocket."
"I begin to think so, Mr. Holmes; but when I thought of all the precaution I had taken to shield this girl -- for I loved her, Mr. Holmes, and it is the only time that ever I knew what love was -- it fairly drove me mad to think that she was in the power of the greatest brute and bully in South Africa, a man whose name is a holy terror from Kimberley to Johannesburg. Why, Mr. Holmes, you'll hardly believe it, but ever since that girl has been in my employment I never once let her go past this house, where I knew these rascals were lurking, without following her on my bicycle just to see that she came to no harm. I kept my distance from her, and I wore a beard so that she should not recognise me, for she is a good and high-spirited girl, and she wouldn't have stayed in my employment long if she had thought that I was following her about the country roads."
"Why didn't you tell her of her danger?"
"Because then, again, she would have left me, and I couldn't bear to face that. Even if she couldn't love me it was a great deal to me just to see her dainty form about the house, and to hear the sound of her voice."
"Well," said I, "you call that love, Mr. Carruthers, but I should call it selfishness."
"Maybe the two things go together. Anyhow, I couldn't let her go. Besides, with this crowd about, it was well that she should have someone near to look after her. Then when the cable came I knew they were bound to make a move."
"What cable?"
Carruthers took a telegram from his pocket.
"That's it," said he.
It was short and concise:--
"The old man is dead."
"Hum!" said Holmes. "I think I see how things worked, and I can understand how this message would, as you say, bring them to a head. But while we wait you might tell me what you can."
The old reprobate with the surplice burst into a volley of bad language.
"By Heaven," said he, "if you squeal on us, Bob Carruthers, I'll serve you as you served Jack Woodley. You can bleat about the girl to your heart's content, for that's your own affair, but if you round on your pals to this plain-clothes copper it will be the worst day's work that ever you did."
"Your reverence need not be excited," said Holmes, lighting a cigarette. "The case is clear enough against you, and all I ask is a few details for my private curiosity. However, if there's any difficulty in your telling me I'll do the talking, and then you will see how far you have a chance of holding back your secrets. In the first place, three of you came from South Africa on this game -- you Williamson, you Carruthers, and Woodley."
"Lie number one," said the old man; "I never saw either of them until two months ago, and I have never been in Africa in my life, so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Busybody Holmes!"
"What he says is true," said Carruthers.
"Well, well, two of you came over. His reverence is our own home-made article. You had known Ralph Smith in South Africa. You had reason to believe he would not live long. You found out that his niece would inherit his fortune. How's that -- eh?"
Carruthers nodded and Williamson swore.
"She was next-of-kin, no doubt, and you were aware that the old fellow would make no will."
"Couldn't read or write," said Carruthers.
"So you came over, the two of you, and hunted up the girl. The idea was that one of you was to marry her and the other have a share of the plunder. For some reason Woodley was chosen as the husband. Why was that?"
"We played cards for her on the voyage. He won."
"I see. You got the young lady into your service, and there Woodley was to do the courting. She recognised the drunken brute that he was, and would have nothing to do with him. Meanwhile, your arrangement was rather upset by the fact that you had yourself fallen in love with the lady. You could no longer bear the idea of this ruffian owning her."
"No, by George, I couldn't!"
"There was a quarrel between you. He left you in a rage, and began to make his own plans independently of you."
"It strikes me, Williamson, there isn't very much that we can tell this gentleman," cried Carruthers, with a bitter laugh. "Yes, we quarreled, and he knocked me down. I am level with him on that, anyhow. Then I lost sight of him. That was when he picked up with this cast padre here. I found that they had set up house-keeping together at this place on the line that she had to pass for the station. I kept my eye on her after that, for I knew there was some devilry in the wind. I saw them from time to time, for I was anxious to know what they were after. Two days ago Woodley came up to my house with this cable, which showed that Ralph Smith was dead. He asked me if I would stand by the bargain. I said I would not. He asked me if I would marry the girl myself and give him a share. I said I would willingly do so, but that she would not have me. He said, `Let us get her married first, and after a week or two she may see things a bit different.' I said I would have nothing to do with violence. So he went off cursing, like the foul-mouthed blackguard that he was, and swearing that he would have her yet. She was leaving me this week-end, and I had got a trap to take her to the station, but I was so uneasy in my mind that I followed her on my bicycle. She had got a start, however, and before I could catch her the mischief was done. The first thing I knew about it was when I saw you two gentlemen driving back in her dog-cart."
Holmes rose and tossed the end of his cigarette into the grate. "I have been very obtuse, Watson," said he. "When in your report you said that you had seen the cyclist as you thought arrange his necktie in the shrubbery, that alone should have told me all. However, we may congratulate ourselves upon a curious and in some respects a unique case. I perceive three of the county constabulary in the drive, and I am glad to see that the little ostler is able to keep pace with them; so it is likely that neither he nor the interesting bridegroom will be permanently damaged by their morning's adventures. I think, Watson, that in your medical capacity you might wait upon Miss Smith and tell her that if she is sufficiently recovered we shall be happy to escort her to her mother's home. If she is not quite convalescent you will find that a hint that we were about to telegraph to a young electrician in the Midlands would probably complete the cure. As to you, Mr. Carruthers, I think that you have done what you could to make amends for your share in an evil plot. There is my card, sir, and if my evidence can be of help to you in your trial it shall be at your disposal."
In the whirl of our incessant activity it has often been difficult for me, as the reader has probably observed, to round off my narratives, and to give those final details which the curious might expect. Each case has been the prelude to another, and the crisis once over the actors have passed for ever out of our busy lives. I find, however, a short note at the end of my manuscripts dealing with this case, in which I have put it upon record that Miss Violet Smith did indeed inherit a large fortune, and that she is now the wife of Cyril Morton, the senior partner of Morton & Kennedy, the famous Westminster electricians. Williamson and Woodley were both tried for abduction and assault, the former getting seven years and the latter ten. Of the fate of Carruthers I have no record, but I am sure that his assault was not viewed very gravely by the Court, since Woodley had the reputation of being a most dangerous ruffian, and I think that a few months were sufficient to satisfy the demands of justice.
我翻閱了一五年的筆記，查出是四月二十三日，星期六，我們第一次聽維奧萊特·史密斯談自己的事。我記得福爾摩斯對她的來訪極不歡迎，因為那時他正全神貫註於一件十分難解的錯綜復雜的問題，這個問題涉及著名的煙草大王約翰·文森特·哈登所遭遇的特殊難題。我的朋友最喜歡的事就是準確和思想集中，在辦手頭的事情時，最厭煩別的事來打擾他。儘管如此，但他生性並不固執生硬，不可能拒絶那位身材苗條、儀態萬方、神色莊重的美貌姑娘來講述她的遭遇，何況她又是在這麽晚的晚上親自來貝剋街懇請他幫助和指點的。儘管福爾摩斯聲明時間已經排滿，但也無濟於事，因為那姑娘下定决心非講不可。很明顯，她不達到目的，要想使她離開除非動武。福爾摩斯顯出無可奈何的神色，勉強地笑了笑，請那位美麗的不速之客坐下，把她遇到的麻煩事如實地講給我們聽。
“至少不會是一件有礙你身體健康的事，"福爾摩斯用那雙敏銳的眼睛把她周身打量了一番說道，“象你這樣愛騎車的人，一定是精力充沛的。”
她驚異地看看自己的雙腳，我也發現了她鞋底一邊被腳蹬子邊緣磨得起毛了。
“是的，我經常騎自行車，福爾摩斯先生，我今天來拜訪你，正是和騎車的事情有關係呢。”
我的朋友拿起這姑娘沒戴手套的那衹手，象科學家看標本那樣，全神貫註而不動聲色地檢查着。
“我相信，你會原諒我的。這是我的業務，"福爾摩斯把姑娘的手放下，說道，"我幾乎錯把你當成打字員了。顯而易見，你當然是一位音樂傢。華生，你註意到那兩種職業所共有的勺形指端嗎？不過，她臉上有一種風采，"那女子平靜地把臉轉嚮亮處，"那是打字員所不具備的。所以，這位女士是音樂傢。”
“是的，福爾摩斯先生，我教音樂。”
“從你的臉色來看，我想你是在鄉下教音樂。”
“是的，先生，靠近法納姆，在薩裏邊界。”
“是一個好地方，可以使人聯想到許多有趣的事情。華生，你一定記得我們就是在那附近拿獲了偽造貨幣犯阿爾奇·斯坦福德。嗯，維奧萊特小姐，靠近法納姆，在薩裏邊界，你遇到什麽事了？”
那位姑娘十分清楚明白、鎮靜自若地說出下面這一段古怪離奇的事情來：
“福爾摩斯先生，我父親已經去世了。他叫詹姆斯·史密斯，是老帝國劇院的樂隊指揮。我和母親在世上舉目無親，我衹有一個叔父，他名叫拉爾夫·史密斯，於二十五年前到非洲去了，從那時期音信全無。父親死後，我們一譬如洗，可是有一天人傢告訴我們，《泰晤士報》登了一則廣告，詢問我們的下落。你可以想象我們是多麽激動啊，因為我們想這是有人給我們留下遺産了。我們立即按報上登的姓名去找那位律師，在那裏又遇到了兩位先生，卡拉瑟斯和伍德利，他們是從南非回來探傢的。他們說我叔父是他們的朋友，幾個月以前在十分貧睏中死於約翰內斯堡。我叔父臨終之前，請他們去找他的親屬，並務必使他的親屬不至窮睏潦倒。這似乎使我們很奇怪，我叔父拉爾夫活着的時候，並不關心我們，而在他死時卻那麽精心關照我們。可是卡拉瑟斯先生解釋說，因為我叔父剛剛聽到他哥哥的死訊，所以感到對我們的命運負有重大責任。”
“請原諒，"福爾摩斯說道，"你們是什麽時候見面的？”
“去年十二月，已有四個月了。”
“請繼續講下去吧。”
“我看伍德利先生討厭得很，他是一個面孔虛胖、一臉紅鬍子的粗暴的青年，頭髮披散在額頭兩邊，總是嚮我擠眉弄眼。我認為他十分可憎，我相信西裏爾一定不樂意我認識這個人。”
“噢，西裏爾是他的名字！"福爾摩斯笑容滿面地說道。
那姑娘滿面通紅，笑了笑。
“是的，福爾摩斯先生，西裏爾·莫頓，是一個電氣工程師，我們希望在夏末結婚。哎呀，我怎麽扯其他來了呢？我想說伍德利先生十分討厭，而那位年紀老些的卡拉瑟斯先生可比較有禮貌。雖然他臉色土黃，臉颳得光光的，沉默寡言，但舉止文雅，笑容可掬。他詢問了我們的境況，發現我們很窮睏，便要我到他那裏教他那十歲的獨生女兒。我說我不願離開母親，他說我可以在每周末回傢去看她。他答應給我每年一百鎊，這當然是十分優厚的酬金了。所以最後我答應了，來到離法納姆六英裏左右的奇爾特恩農莊。卡拉瑟斯先生喪妻鰥居，他雇用了一個叫狄剋遜太太的女管傢來照料傢事，這位老婦人老成持重，令人品敬。那個孩子也很可愛，一切也都如意。卡拉瑟斯先生十分和善，熱衷於音樂，我們晚上在一起過得很高興，每逢周末我回城裏傢中看望母親。
“在我的快樂生活中，頭一件不順心的事就是一臉紅鬍子的伍德利先生的到來。他來訪一個星期，哎呀！對我來說簡直如同三個月。他是一個可怕的人，對別人橫行霸道，對我更肆無忌憚。他作了許多醜態表示愛我，吹噓他的財富，說如果我嫁給他，我就可以得到倫敦最漂亮的鑽石。最後，當我始終對他不加理睬時，有一天飯後他抓住我把我抱在懷裏——他有可惡的牛勁——發誓說如果我不吻他，他就不放手。這時正好卡拉瑟斯先生進屋，把他從我身邊拉開。為了這事，伍德利和東道主翻了臉，把卡拉瑟斯在地，臉上弄出個大口子。伍德利的來訪至此結束，第二天卡拉瑟斯先生嚮我道歉，並保證絶不讓我再受這樣的。從那以後我再沒見到伍德利先生。
“現在，福爾摩斯先生，我終於談到今天來嚮你請教的具體事情上了。你一定知道，我每星期六上午騎車到法納姆車站，趕十二點二十二分的火車進城。我從奇爾特恩農莊出來，那條路很偏僻，有一段尤其荒涼，這一段有一英裏多長，一邊是查林頓石南灌木地帶，另一邊是查林頓莊園外圈的樹林。你再也找不到比這段路更荒涼的地方了。在你沒有到達靠近剋魯剋斯伯裏山公路以前，極難遇到一輛馬車、一個農民。兩星期以前，我從這地方經過，偶然回頭一望，見身後兩百碼左右有個男人在騎車，看起來是個中年人，蓄着短短的黑鬍子。在到法納姆以前，我又回頭一看，那人已經消失，所以我也沒再想這件事。不過，福爾摩斯先生，我星期一返回時又在那段路上看到那個人。你可想而知我該多麽驚奇了。而下一個星期六和星期一，又和上次絲毫不差，這事又重演了一遍，我愈發驚異不止了。那個人始終保持一定距離，决不打擾我，不過這畢竟十分古怪。我把這事告訴了卡拉瑟斯先生，他看來十分重視我說的事，告訴我他已經訂購了一騎馬和一輛輕便馬車，所以將來我再過那段偏僻道路時，不愁沒有伴侶了。
“馬和輕便馬車本來應該在這個星期就到，可不知什麽原因，賣主沒有交貨，我衹好還是騎車到火車站。這是今天早晨的事。我來到查林頓石南灌木地帶，嚮遠處一看，一點也不錯，那人就在那地方，和兩個星期以前一模一樣。他總是離我很遠，我看不清他的臉，但肯定不是我認識的人。他穿一身黑衣服，戴布帽。我衹能看清他臉上的黑鬍子。今天我不害怕了，而是滿腹疑團，我决心查明他是什麽人，要幹什麽事。我放慢了我的車速，他也放慢了他的車速。後來我停車不騎了，他也停車不騎了。於是我心生一計來對付他。路上有一處急轉彎，我便緊蹬一陣拐過彎去，然後停車等候他。我指望他很快拐過彎來，並且來不及停車，超到我前面去。但他根本沒露面。我便返回去，嚮轉彎處四處張望。我可以望見一英裏的路程，可是路上不見他的蹤影。尤其令人驚異的是，這地方並沒有岔路，他是無法走開的。”
福爾摩斯輕聲一笑，搓着雙手。"這件事確實有它的特色，"他說道，"從你轉過彎去到你發現路上無人，這中間有多久？”
“二、三分鐘吧。”
“那他來不及從原路退走，你說那裏沒有岔路嗎？”
“沒有。”
“那他肯定是從路旁人行小徑走開的。”
“不可能從石南灌木地段那一側，不然我早就看到他了。”
“那麽，按照排除推理法，我們就查明了一個事實，他嚮查林頓莊園那一側去了，據我所知，查林頓莊園宅基就在大路一側。還有其它情況嗎？”
“沒有了，福爾摩斯先生，衹是我十分惶惑莫解，感到極不愉快，所以纔來見你，求得你的指點。”
福爾摩斯默默不語地坐了一會兒。
“和你訂婚的那位先生在什麽地方？"福爾摩斯終於問道。
“他在考文垂的米得蘭電氣公司。”
“他不會出其不意地來看你吧？”
“噢，福爾摩斯先生！難道我還不認識他！”
“還有其他愛慕你的男人嗎？”
“在我認識西裏爾以前有過幾個。”
“從那時以後呢？”
“假如你把伍德利也算做一個愛慕我的人的話，那就是那個可怕的人了。”
“沒有別的人了嗎？”
我們那位美麗的委托人似乎有點為難。
“他是誰呢？"福爾摩斯問道。
“噢，可能純粹是我鬍思亂想；可是有時我似乎覺得我的雇主卡拉瑟斯先生對我十分有意。我們經常相遇，晚上我給他伴奏，他從來沒說過什麽。他是一位很好的先生，可是一個姑娘總是心裏明白的。”
“哈！"福爾摩斯顯得十分嚴肅，"他以什麽為生呢？”
“他是一個富有的人。”
“他沒有四輪馬車或者馬匹嗎？”
“啊，至少他生活相當富裕。他每星期進城兩三次，十分關心南非的黃金股票。”
“史密斯小姐，你要把新發現的一切情況告訴我。現在我很忙，不過我一定抽時間來查辦你這件案子。在這期間，不要沒通知我就采取行動。再見，我相信我們會得到你的好消息。”
“這樣的一位姑娘會有一些追求者，這是很自然的，"福爾摩斯沉思地抽着煙斗說道，“不過不要選偏僻村路騎自行車去追逐嘛。毫無疑問是一個偷偷愛上她的人。可是這件案子裏有一些頗為奇怪和引人深思的細節，華生。”
“你是說他竟然衹在那個地方出現嗎？”
“不錯。我們要做的第一件事就是查明誰租用了查林頓莊園。然後再查明卡拉瑟斯和伍德利究竟是什麽關係，因為他倆是完全不同類型的人啊。他倆為什麽急於查訪拉爾夫·史密斯的親屬呢？還有一點，卡拉瑟斯傢離車站六英裏遠，連一騎馬都不買，卻偏偏要出兩倍代價來雇一名家庭女教師，這是一種什麽樣的治傢之道呢？奇怪，華生，十分奇怪！”
“你下去調查嗎？”
“不，我親愛的朋友，你下去調查好了。這可能是一件無足挂齒的小陰謀，我不能為它中斷別的重大調查工作。星期一你一早到法納姆去，要隱藏在查林頓石南地帶附近，親自觀察這些事實。根據自己的判斷見機行事，然後，查明是誰住在查林頓莊園，回來嚮我報告。現在，華生，在弄到幾件可靠的證據，有希望用於結案前，我對這件事沒有別的話好講的了。”
那姑娘告訴我們她星期一九點五十分從滑鐵盧車站乘車出發，所以我便提早出發趕乘九點十三分的火車。到法納姆車站，我毫不費力地問明了查林頓地帶。要錯過那姑娘的遇險地帶是不可能的，因為那段路一邊是開闊的石南灌木地帶，另一邊是老紫杉樹籬，環繞着一座花園，花園裏巨樹參天。莊園有個長滿地衣的石子路，大門兩側的石柱上滿是破爛的紋章圖案。除了中間行車的石子路之外，我發現幾處樹籬有豁口，有小路穿入。從路上看不到宅院，四周的環境都顯得陰暗、衰頽。
石南地帶開滿一叢叢的黃色金雀花，在燦爛的春日驕陽下閃閃發光。我在灌木叢後選好隱身之處，以便既能觀察莊園大門，又能看到兩邊長長的一大段路。我離開大路時，路上空無一人，現在有個人品着車從對面嚮我來的方向奔去。他穿着黑色服裝，我見他蓄有黑鬍子。他來到查林頓宅地盡頭，跳下車來，把車推進樹籬的一處豁口，在我的視綫中消失了。
過了一刻鐘，第二個騎自行車的人出現了。這次是那位姑娘從火車站來。我見她騎到查林頓樹籬時四下張望。過了一會兒，那男人從藏身處走出來，跳上自行車，尾隨着她。在那遼闊的如畫風景中，衹有這兩個人影在活動。那位儀態端莊的姑娘筆直地A騎在車上，她身後的男人卻低伏在車把上，一舉一動都帶有莫名其妙的鬼鬼祟祟的形跡。她回頭看到他，便放慢了速度。他也放慢了速度。姑娘下了車，他也立即下車，在她身後有二百碼的距離。那姑娘的下一步動作卻是出奇不意地迅猛，她突然扭轉車頭緊蹬一陣，徑直嚮他衝了過去。然而，他也象那姑娘一樣迅速，不顧一切拼命地逃脫了。她又立刻返回大路，傲然地昂着頭，不屑再去置理那不聲不響的尾隨者了。他也轉過身來，依然保持着那段距離，直到轉過大路我看不到他們為止。
我依然呆在藏身之處，這樣作是很恰當的，因為那個男人馬上又露面了，他不慌不忙地騎車返回來。他拐進莊園大門，下了車。我看他在樹叢中站了幾分鐘，舉起雙手，似乎在整理他的領帶。然後又上車從我身旁經過，嚮對着莊園的車道騎去。我跑出石南灌木地帶，從樹林縫隙望過去，可以隱約看到遠處那座古老的灰樓和它那些矗立的都鐸式煙囪，可惜那條車道穿過一片濃密的灌木叢，我再也看不到那個人了。
不過，我看我已經作了一件漂亮事，便興致勃勃地徒步走回法納姆。關於查林頓莊園，當地房産經紀人什麽也說不出來，衹好把我介紹到帕爾馬爾的一傢著名的公司。我在回傢途中到那裏停留了一陣，受到經紀人的殷勤接待。不行，我不能租用查林頓莊園避暑了，我來得太晚了，莊園一個月以前已經租出去，租給了一個叫威廉森先生的人。他是一個體面的老先生。那位頗有禮貌的經紀人客氣地說他不能再告訴我什麽了，因為他不能議論他顧主的事。
那天晚上，歇洛剋·福爾摩斯先生註意地傾聽了我嚮他作的冗長的報告。我本來期望受到稱贊，而且很重視他的稱贊，可是連一句贊許的話也沒有聽到。恰恰相反，在他評論我做過的事和沒有做到的事時，他那嚴峻的面容甚至比平時更加嚴肅。
“我親愛的華生，你那藏身之地是非常失算的。你本來應該藏到樹籬後面，仔細看看那位有趣的人。事實上，你藏的地方離那兒幾百碼，告訴我的情況甚至比史密斯小姐還要少。她認為她不認識那個人，我確信她是認識的。要不然，他為什麽那樣拼死拼活地擔心，生怕那姑娘走近他，看清了他的面貌呢？你說他伏身在自行車把上，你看，這不又是為了隱藏面目嗎？你確實作得十分不妙。他回到了那所宅院，你要查明他是誰，卻跑到一個倫敦房産經紀人那裏！”
“那我應該怎麽辦呢？"我有點頭腦發熱地高聲喊道。
“到離那兒最近的酒店裏去，那裏是村上扯閑話的中心。人傢會告訴你每一個人的名字，從主人到幫廚的女僕。至於威廉森嗎，我一點印象也沒有。假如他是老年人，那麽他就不是那個靈敏的騎車人，不是在那個姑娘迅速敏捷的追趕下翩然逃脫的人。你這次遠行的收穫是什麽呢？知道了那姑娘所講的是真事，這我從來都不懷疑。知道了騎車人和莊園有關係這我同樣不曾懷疑過。知道了那莊園是由威廉森租用的。誰又能為這作保證呢？好了，好了，我親愛的先生，不要顯得那麽灰心喪氣。星期六以前我們還可以多幹點事，這段時間我還可以親自做一兩次調查。”
第二天早晨，我們接到史密斯小姐一封短信，簡要而又準確地重述了我親眼看到的那件事，可是信的主旨卻留在附言中。
當我告訴你我在這裏的處境已經變得很睏難時，我相信你會考慮我所吐露的秘密，這是由於我的雇主已經嚮我求婚這樣一個事實。我相信他的感情是十分深厚而且高尚的。這時，我當然把我已經訂婚的事告訴了他。他把我的拒絶看得非常嚴重，但又十分和氣。然而，你可以理解，我的處境是有些尷尬了。
“我們的年輕朋友看起來陷入了睏境，"福爾摩斯看完信後，若有所思地說道，"這件案子肯定比我原來設想的有趣得多，發展的可能性也多得多。我還是應當到鄉下去過一天安靜太平日子，我打算今天下午就去，並且把我所形成的一兩點想法檢驗一下。”
福爾摩斯在鄉下度過的安靜日子，結局是很奇特的，因為他晚間很晚纔回到貝剋街，嘴唇劃破了，額頭上還青腫了一大塊，還有那種狼狽樣子，好象是一個蘇格蘭場調查的對象。他對自己的歷險感到非常高興，一邊講述，一邊出自內心地哈哈大笑。
“積極的鍛煉總是有用的，可惜我鍛煉的不多。"福爾摩斯說道，"你知道，我精通一些優秀的英國舊式拳擊運動，並且偶爾用得上它，比如說，今天，要是沒有這一手，那我就要遭到非常可恥的慘敗了。”
我請他告訴我發生了什麽事。
“我到了請你註意過的那個鄉村酒店，在那裏小心謹慎地進行調查。在酒吧間裏，饒舌的店主把我所要知道的一切都告訴了我。威廉森是一個白鬍子老頭，他和少數幾個僕人住在莊園裏。傳說他現在是或過去當過牧師，可是在莊園這段短時間，有一兩件小事使我覺得他很不象牧師。我查詢過一個牧師機構，他們告訴我，曾經有一個叫這名字的牧師，但他過去的行徑極不光彩。那店主接着告訴我，莊園裏每到周末總有一些來客——'是一夥下流坯，先生'——特別是一個蓄紅鬍子的人，名叫伍德利的，總少不了他。我們正談到這裏，那位伍德利先生竟然走了過來，他一直在酒吧間喝啤酒，把我們的話全都聽去了。他問我是什麽人？我要幹什麽？我問這些問題是什麽意思？他口若懸河，修飾語滿口都是。他最後謾駡了一通，兇惡地反手一擊，我沒有來得及躲避。後來的幾分鐘就很有趣了。我給那兇惡的暴徒一連串的打擊。我就成了你看到的這種樣子。伍德利先生乘車回去了。我這場鄉村旅行也就這樣告終了。必須承認，不管多麽有趣，我這一天薩裏邊界之行並不比你的收穫大。”
星期四那天我們又收到那位委托人的一封信。她寫道：
福爾摩斯先生，你聽到我就要辭去卡拉瑟斯先生的雇聘，不會感到驚奇吧。即使報酬優厚，我也不甘心忍受這尷尬的處境。我在星期六回城裏，不打算再回來了。卡拉瑟斯先生已備好一輛馬車，因此，如果說過去路上有什麽危險的話，那麽偏僻車路上的危險現在已經不存在了。
至於我辭聘的具體原因，不單是我和卡拉瑟斯先生的尷尬處境，而且是那個令人嫌惡的人伍德利先生又來了。他本來可怕，現在的嘴臉更可怕了。因為他好象出了什麽事，所以更加不象樣子了。我是從窗子裏面看到他的，我很高興說，我並沒有碰上他。他和卡拉瑟斯先生談了很長時間，從此以後卡拉瑟斯先生非常激動。伍德利一定居住在附近，因為他並沒有住在卡拉瑟斯傢裏。今早我又看到他在灌木叢中鬼鬼祟祟地活動。我不久就會在這地方碰到這頭兇猛的吃人野獸，簡直說不出是多麽憎恨和害怕了。卡拉瑟斯先生怎麽竟能容忍這樣的一個傢夥？一刻也容忍不得啊！不過，我的一切麻煩到星期六就要結束了。
“我相信是這樣的，華生，我相信是這樣的，"福爾摩斯嚴肅地說道，“圍繞着這位小姑娘正進行着一場極為隱秘的陰謀，我們有責任去一趟，不讓任何人在她最後一次旅行中騷擾她。華生，我想星期六早晨我們一定抽時間一起去，以便保證我們這次奇異而廣泛的調查不致遭受不幸的結局。”
我承認直到現在我還沒有十分看重這件案子，在我看來其中並沒有什麽危險，衹不過有些荒誕、古怪而已。男人埋伏着等待漂亮的女人並且尾隨她，這並不是什麽聞所未聞的事，如果他衹有那麽一點點放肆，不僅不敢嚮她求愛，而在她接近他的時候，反而逃跑，那他就不是十分可怕的暴徒。那個惡棍伍德利則又當別論。可是，除了那一次之外，他再沒有騷擾過我們的委托人，近來他到過卡拉瑟斯傢，可也沒有闖到她面前。那個騎車人無疑是酒店老闆所說的周末聚會的成員。可他是什麽人呢，他要幹什麽呢？卻依然模糊不清。福爾摩斯的嚴肅表情，他離開我們房間以前，把一隻手槍塞到衣袋裏，這些都使我感到，這一連串怪事後面可能隱藏着悲劇。
夜雨之後，早晨陽光燦爛，長滿石南灌木叢的農村，點綴着一叢叢盛開的金雀花，閃閃金光，對厭倦倫敦那陰鬱灰暗色調的人來說，顯得更加美麗，不覺耳目一新。福爾摩斯和我漫步在寬闊而多沙的道路上，呼吸着清晨的新鮮空氣，欣賞着鳥語花香，到處一派欣欣嚮榮的春意。我們從剋魯剋斯伯裏山巔的大路高處，可以看到那座不祥的莊園聳立在古老的橡樹叢中。橡樹本來夠古老的了，可是比起橡樹環抱的建築物來，卻依然顯得年輕。福爾摩斯指着長長的一段路，在那棕褐色的石南灌木叢和一片嫩緑的樹林之間，宛如一條紅黃色的帶子。遠處，出現一個小黑點，可以看出是一輛單馬馬車在嚮我們這個方向移動。福爾摩斯焦急地驚呼了一聲。
“我差了半個小時，"福爾摩斯說道，“假如這是她的馬車，她一定是在趕乘早些的列車。華生，恐怕我們來不及會她，她早就經過查林頓了。”
這時，我們過了大路高處，已經看不到那輛馬車了，可是我們加速嚮前趕路，速度之快，使我開始露出平日安坐為生的壞處，因而不得不落到後面。然而，福爾摩斯一直鍛煉有素，因為他有用之不竭的旺盛精力。他那輕快的腳步一直沒有放慢，突然，他在我前面一百碼的地方停止了腳步。我看見他舉起一隻手作了一個失敗而絶望的手勢。與此同時，一輛空馬車拐過大路的轉彎處，那騎馬繮繩拖地，慢步小跑，馬車吱吱嘎嘎地嚮我們迎面駛來。
“太晚了，華生，太晚了！"在我氣喘籲籲地跑到福爾摩斯身旁時，他大聲喊道，"我真愚蠢，怎麽沒有想到她要趕那趟早些的列車！一定是劫持，華生，是劫持！是謀殺！天知道是什麽！把路擋上！把馬攔住！這就對了。喂，跳上車，看看我們能否補救自己的大錯造成的後果。”
我們跳上馬車，福爾摩斯調過馬頭，狠狠給了那馬一鞭子，我們便順大路往回疾馳。在我們轉過彎時，莊園和石南地段間的整個大路都展現在眼前。我抓住了福爾摩斯的胳膊。
“就是那個人！"我氣喘籲籲地說。
一個無伴騎車人嚮我們衝過來。他低着頭，雙肩滾圓，把全身氣力都用在腳蹬子上，象賽車的人一樣蹬得飛快。突然他擡起滿是鬍子的臉，見我們近在眼前，便停下車，從自行車上跳下來，他那烏黑的鬍子和蒼白的臉色形成鮮明的對照。他雙目閃亮，仿佛正在極度興奮之中。他瞪眼瞅着我們和那輛馬車，然後臉上顯出驚異的神色。
“喂！停下！"他大聲喊道，用他的自行車把我們的路擋住，"你們在哪兒弄到的這輛馬車？嗨，停下！"他從側面口袋中掏出手槍咆哮道，"告訴你，停下，要不然，我可真的要賞你那騎馬一顆子彈了。”
福爾摩斯把繮繩扔到我腿上，從馬車上跳下來。
“你正是我們要見的人，維奧萊特·史密斯小姐在哪裏？”福爾摩斯連忙清晰地問道。
“我正要問你們呢。你們坐的是她的馬車，應當知道她在哪兒。”
“我們在路上碰到這輛馬車，上面沒有人，我們纔把車趕回來去救那位姑娘。”
“天哪！天哪！我怎麽辦哪？"那個陌生人絶望地喊道，"他們把她抓走了，那個該死的伍德利和那個惡棍牧師！快來，先生，假如你們真是她的朋友，那就快來。幫我一同搭救她吧，我橫屍查林頓森林也在所不惜！”
他提着手槍嚮樹籬的一個豁口瘋狂跑去，福爾摩斯緊跟在後，我把馬放到路旁吃草，也跟在福爾摩斯身後跑過去。
“他們是從這兒穿過去的，"陌生人指着泥濘小路上的足跡說道，"喂！停一下！灌木叢裏是什麽人？”
那是個十七八歲的小夥子，衣着象馬夫，穿着皮褲，打着綁腿。他仰面躺着，雙膝蜷麯，頭上有一道可怕的傷口，已經失去知覺，不過還有氣息。我把他的傷口看了一眼，知道沒有傷到骨頭。
“這就是馬夫彼得，"陌生人喊道，"他就是給那姑娘趕車的。那些畜生把他拉下車來用棍棒打傷了。讓他先躺在這兒吧，我們反正救不了他，可是我們卻可以從可能落到一個女人身上的最壞厄運中把她搭救出來。”
我們發瘋一般嚮林中盤麯小徑奔去，一到環繞着宅院的灌木叢，福爾摩斯就站住了。
“他們沒有進宅院。左邊有他們的腳印，在這兒，在月桂樹叢旁邊。啊！我說得不錯。”
他正說着，傳來一陣女人的尖聲哀叫，一種帶着極度驚恐的顫聲狂呼從我們面前一片濃密的緑色灌木叢中傳出來。突然尖聲高叫停止了，接着是一陣窒息的咯咯聲。
“這邊！這邊！他們在滾球場，"那陌生人闖過灌木叢，說道，"啊，這些膽小鬼！跟我來，先生們！哎呀！太遲了！太遲了！”
我們猛然闖進古樹環繞的一片林間緑草地。草地那一邊，在一棵大橡樹的樹蔭下站着三個人。一個是女人，就是我們的委托人，她垂着頭，半昏厥過去，嘴上蒙着手帕。她對面站着面貌兇殘的紅鬍子年青人，腿上紮着綁腿，大叉腿站着，一隻手叉腰，另一隻手裏晃動着馬鞭，他的整個神情顯示出一種洋洋得意的架式。這兩個人中間站着一個花白鬍子的老傢夥，穿淺色花呢衣服，外罩白色短法衣，顯然剛做完結婚儀式，因為我們一到，他就把一本祈禱書裝進衣袋，並且輕輕拍着那陰險的新郎的後背，興致勃勃地嚮他祝福。
“他們在舉行婚禮！"我氣喘籲籲地說道。
“來！"我們的領路人喊道，"來！"他衝過林中空地，福爾摩斯和我緊緊跟隨。在我們衝到姑娘跟前時，她搖搖晃晃地靠在樹幹上以免摔倒。前牧師威廉森嚮我們嘲弄地鞠了一躬，而暴徒伍德利卻野蠻地大吼一聲，得意忘形地狂笑着，嚮我們衝來。
“你可以把你的鬍子摘掉，鮑勃，"他說道，"我認識你，一點不含糊。喂，你和你的同夥來得正是時候，我正好給你們介紹一下伍德利夫人。”
我們那帶路人的回答很特別。他一把拉掉用以偽裝的黑鬍子，把它扔到地上，露出颳得光光的淺黃色長臉。然後舉起手槍，對準了那年輕的暴徒，這時，那暴徒正好手揮致命的馬鞭嚮他衝來。
“是的，"我們的夥伴說道，"我就是鮑勃·卡拉瑟斯，我要看到這姑娘安然無恙，否則我衹好上吊了。我告訴過你，假如你騷擾了她，我準備怎麽辦。皇天在上，我說到做到。”
“你太晚了，她已經是我妻子了。”
“不對，她是你的寡妻。”
槍聲響了，我看到血從伍德利前心噴出來。他尖叫一聲轉了一子就仰面倒下了，那醜陋的紅臉霎時變成斑駁而又蒼白，十分嚇人。那老頭子依然披着白色的法衣，此時破口大駡，那駡不絶口的骯髒話語，我真是聞所未聞的。他掏出他自己的手槍來，但還沒來得及舉槍，就看見福爾摩斯的槍口已經對準他了。
“夠了，"我的朋友冷冷地說道，"把槍扔下！華生，你把槍揀起來！把槍對準他的頭！謝謝你。還有你，卡拉瑟斯，把你的槍也給我。我們用不着再動武了。來，把槍繳了！”
“那麽，你是誰？”
“我叫歇洛剋·福爾摩斯。”
“啊呀！”
“我看得出，你們早知道我的名字了。在官方警探來到以前，我衹好代勞了。喂，你！福爾摩斯嚮林中空地那邊一個嚇壞了的馬夫喊道，納姆去。"福爾摩斯從筆記本上撕下一頁紙，草草寫了幾句話，"把這送到署交給警長。在他來到之前，我衹好代勞來監護你們了。”
福爾摩斯那堅強的主宰一切的性格在支配着這幕慘劇的場面，所有的人都同樣乖乖地聽他的擺布。威廉森和卡拉瑟斯把受傷的伍德利擡進屋去，我也扶着那受驚的姑娘。傷者放在床上，我應福爾摩斯的要求對傷者進行了檢查。當我嚮他報告檢查結果時，他正坐在挂有壁毯的老式飯廳裏，面前坐着受他監護的威廉森和卡拉瑟斯。
“他可以活下來，"我報告說。
“什麽！"卡拉瑟斯高聲喊道，從椅子上跳下來，"我首先上樓把他結果了再說。你們不是對我說，那個小天使般的姑娘要一輩子受狂徒伍德利的約束嗎？”
“這用不着你過問，"福爾摩斯說道，"她根本不成其為他的妻室，這有兩條非常充分的理由。第一，我們完全有把握懷疑威廉森主持婚禮的權利。”
“我受任過聖職，"那老無賴喊道。
“早就免去聖職了。”
“一旦做牧師，終身是牧師。”
“我看不行。那麽結婚證書呢？”
“我們有結婚證書，就在我衣袋裏。”
“照此看來，你們是靠陰謀詭計弄來的。不管怎樣來的，反正強迫婚姻絶對不是婚姻，而是十分嚴重的罪行。在你們完蛋以前，你會悟出這一點的。除非我弄錯了，在今後十年左右，你是有時間想通這一點的。至於你，卡拉瑟斯，要是你不從衣袋裏掏出槍來，你本來可以幹得好一些的。”
“我現在纔開始這樣想，福爾摩斯先生，可是在我想到我為保護那姑娘所采取的一切預防措施時——因為我愛她，福爾摩斯先生，而這是我有生以來頭一次知道什麽叫做愛——想到她落入那個南非最殘忍的暴徒的魔掌之中，而此人的名字從金伯利到約翰內斯堡人人懼怕，這簡直使我發狂。啊，①福爾摩斯先生，你很難相信這些，我知道這些無賴潛伏在這所宅子裏，可是自從那姑娘受我聘請以來，她經過這所房子時，我沒有一次不騎車護送她，親眼看她不致受到傷害。我和她保持着一定距離，我戴上了鬍子，以便使她認不出我來，因為她是一位善良而氣質高貴的姑娘，如果她想到是我在村①金伯利及約翰內斯堡均為南非地名。——譯者註路上尾隨她，她就不會長期受我雇聘了。”
“你為什麽不把危險告訴她呢？”
“因為那樣一來，她還是要離開我的，可是我不願意有這樣的事。即使她不愛我，衹要我能在傢裏看到她那秀麗的容貌，聽到她的聲音，那我就知足了。”
“喂，"我說道，"你把這叫做愛，卡拉瑟斯先生。可是我卻把這叫做利己主義。”
“可能兩者兼而有之。不管怎樣，我不能讓她離開。再說，她周圍有這夥人，最好還是有人在身邊照顧她好一些。後來，接到電報，我知道他們一定要有所行動了。”
“什麽電報？”
卡拉瑟斯從口袋裏拿出一份電報來。
“就是這個，"他說道。
電文非常簡單明了：
老兒已死。
“哼！"福爾摩斯說道，"我想我知道這是怎麽回事了，並且我也明白，象你所說的，這封電報會引其他們走嚮極端。你們可以一邊等，一邊盡你所知全部告訴我。”
那個穿白色法衣的老惡棍破口駡出一連串骯髒話。
“皇天在上！"他說道，"假如你泄露我們的秘密，鮑勃，我就要用你對付傑剋·伍德利的手段來對付你。你可以隨心所欲地把那姑娘的事說得天花亂墜，那是你們自己的事，可是你要把你的朋友出賣給這個便衣，那你就要自找倒黴了。”
“尊敬的牧師閣下用不着激動，"福爾摩斯點燃香煙，說道，"這件案子對你們不利，這是十分清楚的。我不過出於個人好奇，問幾個細節問題而已。不過，假如你們不便見告，那麽我就來說一說，然後你們就會明白你們還能隱瞞住什麽秘密了。首先，你們三個人從南非來玩這場把戲——你威廉森，你卡拉瑟斯，還有伍德利。”
“頭號的謊言，"那老傢夥說道，"兩個月以前，我連他們見也沒見過，而且我生來也沒到過非洲，所以你可以把這謊言放進煙斗裏一起燒掉，愛管閑事的福爾摩斯先生。”
“他說的是實話，"卡拉瑟斯說道。
“好了，好了，你們兩個是從遠方來的。這位尊敬的牧師是我們自己的本國貨。你們在南非結識了拉爾夫·史密斯。你們有理由相信他不會活得很久了，你們發現他的侄女要繼承他的遺産。我這話怎麽樣？嗯？”
卡拉瑟斯點點頭，威廉森咒駡不止。
“毫無疑問，她是最近的親屬，你們知道那個老人不會留下遺囑。”
“他不認字也不會寫，"卡拉瑟斯說道。
“所以你們兩人不遠萬裏而來，到處查尋這位姑娘。你們打的主意是，一個人娶她，另一個人分一部分贓款。由於某種原因，伍德利選上做丈夫。那原因是什麽呢？”
“我們在航途打牌，用那個姑娘作註，伍德利贏了。”
“我明白了。你把姑娘騙到你傢裏，好讓伍德利到你傢嚮她求愛。可是她看得出伍德利是個酗酒的惡棍，不願和他來往。同時，你自己也愛上了這位姑娘，這就完全打亂了你們的安排。你想到那個惡棍要占有這姑娘，便再也不能容忍了。”
“對，的確，我不能再容忍了。”
“於是你們爭吵起來。他一怒之下就走了，把你起在一邊，自己打主意了。”
“威廉森，我看，我們要說的這位先生都說了，已經所剩無幾了，"卡拉瑟斯苦笑着大聲喊道，"對，我們爭吵過，他把我了。不管怎樣，在打架方面，我和他是不相上下的。後來我就見不到他了。原來那時他在這裏結識了這位被免職的牧師。我發現他們倆在這兒租了房子，這正是她去車站的必經之路。在這以後我就留心照料她，因為我知道風聲啊。我一次又一次地去看他們，因為很想知道他們在追求什麽。兩天以前伍德利帶着這封電報到我傢來，電報說拉爾夫·史密斯已經去世。伍德利問我是不是遵守講好的交易條件。我說我不願意。他問我是不是自己想娶那姑娘，然後分給他一部分財産。我說我倒是願意這麽辦，可是姑娘不答應。伍德利說，'讓我們先把她娶到手，過一兩個星期，她對事情的看法就會有所不同了。'我說我不願意動用武力。所以他就現出那出言下流的無賴本色，駡駡咧咧地走了，並且發誓說，一定要把她弄到手。她打算這個周末離開我，我弄到一輛輕便馬車送她去車站，可總是放心不下，所以騎自行車趕來。然而，她已經動身了，還沒等我追上她，禍事就發生了。我一看到你們兩位先生把她乘坐的馬車趕回來，我就立即知道情況不妙了。”
福爾摩斯站起來，把煙蒂扔進壁爐。"我的感覺一直很遲鈍，華生，"他說道，"當你報告說你見騎車人好象在灌木叢中整理領帶，光是這一件事就早已嚮我說明了一切。不過，我們還可以慶幸我們通到這樣一樁希奇古怪的、在某些方面又是獨一無二的案子。我看見車道上來了三名區，我很高興看到那個小馬夫也能跟他們走得一樣快，所以，看來，不管是牧師，還是那個有趣的新郎，由於他們今天早晨的非法行動，將永無出頭之日了。華生，我想，憑你的醫務能力，你可以拜訪史密斯小姐，告訴她，假如她恢復了健康，我們就送她回娘傢去。如果她還沒有完全復原，你可以暗示說，我們準備給米得蘭公司的一位年輕電學家打電報，這多半可以把她治愈。至於你，卡拉瑟斯先生，我想你對你參加的罪惡陰謀活動，已經力所能及地進行了補救。這是我的名片，先生，如果在審判你的時候，我的證詞對你有益的話，請隨意使用好了。”
在我們那層出不窮的活動中，讀者可能已經察覺，我往往很難對我的記敘文加以潤色，並且寫出讀者可能期望的那些希奇古怪的最終詳細情節。每一案件都是另一案件的序幕，而决定性時刻一過，那些登臺人物就從我們的忙亂生活中永遠退場。然而，我找到了我記敘這件案子的手稿，手稿的結尾有一段簡要的記載，我在記載中報告說，維奧萊特·史密斯小姐果真繼承了一大筆遺産，現在她已經是莫頓和肯尼迪公司的大股東，著名的威斯敏斯特電學家西裏爾·莫頓的妻子。威廉森和伍德利兩個人都因誘拐和傷害罪受審，威廉森被判七年徒刑，伍德利被判十年徒刑。我沒有得到卡拉瑟斯結果如何的報告，不過我相信，既然伍德利是一個聲名狼藉的十分危險的惡棍，法庭是不會十分嚴重地看待卡拉瑟斯所犯的傷害罪的，我想法官判他幾個月監禁也就足夠了。
On referring to my note-book for the year 1895 I find that it was upon Saturday, the 23rd of April, that we first heard of Miss Violet Smith. Her visit was, I remember, extremely unwelcome to Holmes, for he was immersed at the moment in a very abstruse and complicated problem concerning the peculiar persecution to which John Vincent Harden, the well-known tobacco millionaire, had been subjected. My friend, who loved above all things precision and concentration of thought, resented anything which distracted his attention from the matter in hand. And yet without a harshness which was foreign to his nature it was impossible to refuse to listen to the story of the young and beautiful woman, tall, graceful, and queenly, who presented herself at Baker Street late in the evening and implored his assistance and advice. It was vain to urge that his time was already fully occupied, for the young lady had come with the determination to tell her story, and it was evident that nothing short of force could get her out of the room until she had done so. With a resigned air and a somewhat weary smile, Holmes begged the beautiful intruder to take a seat and to inform us what it was that was troubling her.
"At least it cannot be your health," said he, as his keen eyes darted over her; "so ardent a bicyclist must be full of energy."
She glanced down in surprise at her own feet, and I observed the slight roughening of the side of the sole caused by the friction of the edge of the pedal.
"Yes, I bicycle a good deal, Mr. Holmes, and that has something to do with my visit to you to-day."
My friend took the lady's ungloved hand and examined it with as close an attention and as little sentiment as a scientist would show to a specimen.
"You will excuse me, I am sure. It is my business," said he, as he dropped it. "I nearly fell into the error of supposing that you were typewriting. Of course, it is obvious that it is music. You observe the spatulate finger-end, Watson, which is common to both professions? There is a spirituality about the face, however" -- he gently turned it towards the light -- "which the typewriter does not generate. This lady is a musician."
"Yes, Mr. Holmes, I teach music."
"In the country, I presume, from your complexion."
"Yes, sir; near Farnham, on the borders of Surrey."
"A beautiful neighbourhood and full of the most interesting associations. You remember, Watson, that it was near there that we took Archie Stamford, the forger. Now, Miss Violet, what has happened to you near Farnham, on the borders of Surrey?"
The young lady, with great clearness and composure, made the following curious statement:--
"My father is dead, Mr. Holmes. He was James Smith, who conducted the orchestra at the old Imperial Theatre. My mother and I were left without a relation in the world except one uncle, Ralph Smith, who went to Africa twenty-five years ago, and we have never had a word from him since. When father died we were left very poor, but one day we were told that there was an advertisement in the TIMES inquiring for our whereabouts. You can imagine how excited we were, for we thought that someone had left us a fortune. We went at once to the lawyer whose name was given in the paper. There we met two gentlemen, Mr. Carruthers and Mr. Woodley, who were home on a visit from South Africa. They said that my uncle was a friend of theirs, that he died some months before in great poverty in Johannesburg, and that he had asked them with his last breath to hunt up his relations and see that they were in no want. It seemed strange to us that Uncle Ralph, who took no notice of us when he was alive, should be so careful to look after us when he was dead; but Mr. Carruthers explained that the reason was that my uncle had just heard of the death of his brother, and so felt responsible for our fate."
"Excuse me," said Holmes; "when was this interview?"
"Last December -- four months ago."
"Pray proceed."
"Mr. Woodley seemed to me to be a most odious person. He was for ever making eyes at me -- a coarse, puffy-faced, red-moustached young man, with his hair plastered down on each side of his forehead. I thought that he was perfectly hateful -- and I was sure that Cyril would not wish me to know such a person."
"Oh, Cyril is his name!" said Holmes, smiling.
The young lady blushed and laughed.
"Yes, Mr. Holmes; Cyril Morton, an electrical engineer, and we hope to be married at the end of the summer. Dear me, how DID I get talking about him? What I wished to say was that Mr. Woodley was perfectly odious, but that Mr. Carruthers, who was a much older man, was more agreeable. He was a dark, sallow, clean-shaven, silent person; but he had polite manners and a pleasant smile. He inquired how we were left, and on finding that we were very poor he suggested that I should come and teach music to his only daughter, aged ten. I said that I did not like to leave my mother, on which he suggested that I should go home to her every week-end, and he offered me a hundred a year, which was certainly splendid pay. So it ended by my accepting, and I went down to Chiltern Grange, about six miles from Farnham. Mr. Carruthers was a widower, but he had engaged a lady-housekeeper, a very respectable, elderly person, called Mrs. Dixon, to look after his establishment. The child was a dear, and everything promised well. Mr. Carruthers was very kind and very musical, and we had most pleasant evenings together. Every week-end I went home to my mother in town.
"The first flaw in my happiness was the arrival of the red-moustached Mr. Woodley. He came for a visit of a week, and oh, it seemed three months to me! He was a dreadful person, a bully to everyone else, but to me something infinitely worse. He made odious love to me, boasted of his wealth, said that if I married him I would have the finest diamonds in London, and finally, when I would have nothing to do with him, he seized me in his arms one day after dinner -- he was hideously strong -- and he swore that he would not let me go until I had kissed him. Mr. Carruthers came in and tore him off from me, on which he turned upon his own host, knocking him down and cutting his face open. That was the end of his visit, as you can imagine. Mr. Carruthers apologized to me next day, and assured me that I should never be exposed to such an insult again. I have not seen Mr. Woodley since.
"And now, Mr. Holmes, I come at last to the special thing which has caused me to ask your advice to-day. You must know that every Saturday forenoon I ride on my bicycle to Farnham Station in order to get the 12.22 to town. The road from Chiltern Grange is a lonely one, and at one spot it is particularly so, for it lies for over a mile between Charlington Heath upon one side and the woods which lie round Charlington Hall upon the other. You could not find a more lonely tract of road anywhere, and it is quite rare to meet so much as a cart, or a peasant, until you reach the high road near Crooksbury Hill. Two weeks ago I was passing this place when I chanced to look back over my shoulder, and about two hundred yards behind me I saw a man, also on a bicycle. He seemed to be a middle-aged man, with a short, dark beard. I looked back before I reached Farnham, but the man was gone, so I thought no more about it. But you can imagine how surprised I was, Mr. Holmes, when on my return on the Monday I saw the same man on the same stretch of road. My astonishment was increased when the incident occurred again, exactly as before, on the following Saturday and Monday. He always kept his distance and did not molest me in any way, but still it certainly was very odd. I mentioned it to Mr. Carruthers, who seemed interested in what I said, and told me that he had ordered a horse and trap, so that in future I should not pass over these lonely roads without some companion.
"The horse and trap were to have come this week, but for some reason they were not delivered, and again I had to cycle to the station. That was this morning. You can think that I looked out when I came to Charlington Heath, and there, sure enough, was the man, exactly as he had been the two weeks before. He always kept so far from me that I could not clearly see his face, but it was certainly someone whom I did not know. He was dressed in a dark suit with a cloth cap. The only thing about his face that I could clearly see was his dark beard. To-day I was not alarmed, but I was filled with curiosity, and I determined to find out who he was and what he wanted. I slowed down my machine, but he slowed down his. Then I stopped altogether, but he stopped also. Then I laid a trap for him. There is a sharp turning of the road, and I pedalled very quickly round this, and then I stopped and waited. I expected him to shoot round and pass me before he could stop. But he never appeared. Then I went back and looked round the corner. I could see a mile of road, but he was not on it. To make it the more extraordinary, there was no side road at this point down which he could have gone."
Holmes chuckled and rubbed his hands. "This case certainly presents some features of its own," said he. "How much time elapsed between your turning the corner and your discovery that the road was clear?"
"Two or three minutes."
"Then he could not have retreated down the road, and you say that there are no side roads?"
"None."
"Then he certainly took a footpath on one side or the other."
"It could not have been on the side of the heath or I should have seen him."
"So by the process of exclusion we arrive at the fact that he made his way towards Charlington Hall, which, as I understand, is situated in its own grounds on one side of the road. Anything else?"
"Nothing, Mr. Holmes, save that I was so perplexed that I felt I should not be happy until I had seen you and had your advice."
Holmes sat in silence for some little time.
"Where is the gentleman to whom you are engaged?" he asked, at last.
"He is in the Midland Electrical Company, at Coventry."
"He would not pay you a surprise visit?"
"Oh, Mr. Holmes! As if I should not know him!"
"Have you had any other admirers?"
"Several before I knew Cyril."
"And since?"
"There was this dreadful man, Woodley, if you can call him an admirer."
"No one else?"
Our fair client seemed a little confused.
"Who was he?" asked Holmes.
"Oh, it may be a mere fancy of mine; but it has seemed to me sometimes that my employer, Mr. Carruthers, takes a great deal of interest in me. We are thrown rather together. I play his accompaniments in the evening. He has never said anything. He is a perfect gentleman. But a girl always knows."
"Ha!" Holmes looked grave. "What does he do for a living?"
"He is a rich man."
"No carriages or horses?"
"Well, at least he is fairly well-to-do. But he goes into the City two or three times a week. He is deeply interested in South African gold shares."
"You will let me know any fresh development, Miss Smith. I am very busy just now, but I will find time to make some inquiries into your case. In the meantime take no step without letting me know. Good-bye, and I trust that we shall have nothing but good news from you."
"It is part of the settled order of Nature that such a girl should have followers," said Holmes, as he pulled at his meditative pipe, "but for choice not on bicycles in lonely country roads. Some secretive lover, beyond all doubt. But there are curious and suggestive details about the case, Watson."
"That he should appear only at that point?"
"Exactly. Our first effort must be to find who are the tenants of Charlington Hall. Then, again, how about the connection between Carruthers and Woodley, since they appear to be men of such a different type? How came they BOTH to be so keen upon looking up Ralph Smith's relations? One more point. What sort of a MENAGE is it which pays double the market price for a governess, but does not keep a horse although six miles from the station? Odd, Watson -- very odd!"
"You will go down?"
"No, my dear fellow, YOU will go down. This may be some trifling intrigue, and I cannot break my other important research for the sake of it. On Monday you will arrive early at Farnham; you will conceal yourself near Charlington Heath; you will observe these facts for yourself, and act as your own judgment advises. Then, having inquired as to the occupants of the Hall, you will come back to me and report. And now, Watson, not another word of the matter until we have a few solid stepping-stones on which we may hope to get across to our solution."
We had ascertained from the lady that she went down upon the Monday by the train which leaves Waterloo at 9.50, so I started early and caught the 9.13. At Farnham Station I had no difficulty in being directed to Charlington Heath. It was impossible to mistake the scene of the young lady's adventure, for the road runs between the open heath on one side and an old yew hedge upon the other, surrounding a park which is studded with magnificent trees. There was a main gateway of lichen-studded stone, each side pillar surmounted by mouldering heraldic emblems; but besides this central carriage drive I observed several points where there were gaps in the hedge and paths leading through them. The house was invisible from the road, but the surroundings all spoke of gloom and decay.
The heath was covered with golden patches of flowering gorse, gleaming magnificently in the light of the bright spring sunshine. Behind one of these clumps I took up my position, so as to command both the gateway of the Hall and a long stretch of the road upon either side. It had been deserted when I left it, but now I saw a cyclist riding down it from the opposite direction to that in which I had come. He was clad in a dark suit, and I saw that he had a black beard. On reaching the end of the Charlington grounds he sprang from his machine and led it through a gap in the hedge, disappearing from my view.
A quarter of an hour passed and then a second cyclist appeared. This time it was the young lady coming from the station. I saw her look about her as she came to the Charlington hedge. An instant later the man emerged from his hiding-place, sprang upon his cycle, and followed her. In all the broad landscape those were the only moving figures, the graceful girl sitting very straight upon her machine, and the man behind her bending low over his handle-bar, with a curiously furtive suggestion in every movement. She looked back at him and slowed her pace. He slowed also. She stopped. He at once stopped too, keeping two hundred yards behind her. Her next movement was as unexpected as it was spirited. She suddenly whisked her wheels round and dashed straight at him! He was as quick as she, however, and darted off in desperate flight. Presently she came back up the road again, her head haughtily in the air, not deigning to take any further notice of her silent attendant. He had turned also, and still kept his distance until the curve of the road hid them from my sight.
I remained in my hiding-place, and it was well that I did so, for presently the man reappeared cycling slowly back. He turned in at the Hall gates and dismounted from his machine. For some few minutes I could see him standing among the trees. His hands were raised and he seemed to be settling his necktie. Then he mounted his cycle and rode away from me down the drive towards the Hall. I ran across the heath and peered through the trees. Far away I could catch glimpses of the old grey building with its bristling Tudor chimneys, but the drive ran through a dense shrubbery, and I saw no more of my man.
However, it seemed to me that I had done a fairly good morning's work, and I walked back in high spirits to Farnham. The local house-agent could tell me nothing about Charlington Hall, and referred me to a well-known firm in Pall Mall. There I halted on my way home, and met with courtesy from the representative. No, I could not have Charlington Hall for the summer. I was just too late. It had been let about a month ago. Mr. Williamson was the name of the tenant. He was a respectable elderly gentleman. The polite agent was afraid he could say no more, as the affairs of his clients were not matters which he could discuss.
Mr. Sherlock Holmes listened with attention to the long report which I was able to present to him that evening, but it did not elicit that word of curt praise which I had hoped for and should have valued. On the contrary, his austere face was even more severe than usual as he commented upon the things that I had done and the things that I had not.
"Your hiding-place, my dear Watson, was very faulty. You should have been behind the hedge; then you would have had a close view of this interesting person. As it is you were some hundreds of yards away, and can tell me even less than Miss Smith. She thinks she does not know the man; I am convinced she does. Why, otherwise, should he be so desperately anxious that she should not get so near him as to see his features? You describe him as bending over the handle-bar. Concealment again, you see. You really have done remarkably badly. He returns to the house and you want to find out who he is. You come to a London house-agent!"
"What should I have done?" I cried, with some heat.
"Gone to the nearest public-house. That is the centre of country gossip. They would have told you every name, from the master to the scullery-maid. Williamson! It conveys nothing to my mind. If he is an elderly man he is not this active cyclist who sprints away from that athletic young lady's pursuit. What have we gained by your expedition? The knowledge that the girl's story is true. I never doubted it. That there is a connection between the cyclist and the Hall. I never doubted that either. That the Hall is tenanted by Williamson. Who's the better for that? Well, well, my dear sir, don't look so depressed. We can do little more until next Saturday, and in the meantime I may make one or two inquiries myself."
Next morning we had a note from Miss Smith, recounting shortly and accurately the very incidents which I had seen, but the pith of the letter lay in the postscript:--
"I am sure that you will respect my confidence, Mr. Holmes, when I tell you that my place here has become difficult owing to the fact that my employer has proposed marriage to me. I am convinced that his feelings are most deep and most honourable. At the same time my promise is, of course, given. He took my refusal very seriously, but also very gently. You can understand, however, that the situation is a little strained."
"Our young friend seems to be getting into deep waters," said Holmes, thoughtfully, as he finished the letter. "The case certainly presents more features of interest and more possibility of development than I had originally thought. I should be none the worse for a quiet, peaceful day in the country, and I am inclined to run down this afternoon and test one or two theories which I have formed."
Holmes's quiet day in the country had a singular termination, for he arrived at Baker Street late in the evening with a cut lip and a discoloured lump upon his forehead, besides a general air of dissipation which would have made his own person the fitting object of a Scotland Yard investigation. He was immensely tickled by his own adventures, and laughed heartily as he recounted them.
"I get so little active exercise that it is always a treat," said he. "You are aware that I have some proficiency in the good old British sport of boxing. Occasionally it is of service. To-day, for example, I should have come to very ignominious grief without it."
I begged him to tell me what had occurred.
"I found that country pub which I had already recommended to your notice, and there I made my discreet inquiries. I was in the bar, and a garrulous landlord was giving me all that I wanted. Williamson is a white-bearded man, and he lives alone with a small staff of servants at the Hall. There is some rumour that he is or has been a clergyman; but one or two incidents of his short residence at the Hall struck me as peculiarly unecclesiastical. I have already made some inquiries at a clerical agency, and they tell me that there WAS a man of that name in orders whose career has been a singularly dark one. The landlord further informed me that there are usually week-end visitors -- `a warm lot, sir' -- at the Hall, and especially one gentleman with a red moustache, Mr. Woodley by name, who was always there. We had got as far as this when who should walk in but the gentleman himself, who had been drinking his beer in the tap-room and had heard the whole conversation. Who was I? What did I want? What did I mean by asking questions? He had a fine flow of language, and his adjectives were very vigorous. He ended a string of abuse by a vicious back-hander which I failed to entirely avoid. The next few minutes were delicious. It was a straight left against a slogging ruffian. I emerged as you see me. Mr. Woodley went home in a cart. So ended my country trip, and it must be confessed that, however enjoyable, my day on the Surrey border has not been much more profitable than your own."
The Thursday brought us another letter from our client.
"You will not be surprised, Mr. Holmes," said she, "to hear that I am leaving Mr. Carruthers's employment. Even the high pay cannot reconcile me to the discomforts of my situation. On Saturday I come up to town and I do not intend to return. Mr. Carruthers has got a trap, and so the dangers of the lonely road, if there ever were any dangers, are now over.
"As to the special cause of my leaving, it is not merely the strained situation with Mr. Carruthers, but it is the reappearance of that odious man, Mr. Woodley. He was always hideous, but he looks more awful than ever now, for he appears to have had an accident and he is much disfigured. I saw him out of the window, but I am glad to say I did not meet him. He had a long talk with Mr. Carruthers, who seemed much excited afterwards. Woodley must be staying in the neighbourhood, for he did not sleep here, and yet I caught a glimpse of him again this morning slinking about in the shrubbery. I would sooner have a savage wild animal loose about the place. I loathe and fear him more than I can say. How CAN Mr. Carruthers endure such a creature for a moment? However, all my troubles will be over on Saturday."
"So I trust, Watson; so I trust," said Holmes, gravely. "There is some deep intrigue going on round that little woman, and it is our duty to see that no one molests her upon that last journey. I think, Watson, that we must spare time to run down together on Saturday morning, and make sure that this curious and inconclusive investigation has no untoward ending."
I confess that I had not up to now taken a very serious view of the case, which had seemed to me rather grotesque and bizarre than dangerous. That a man should lie in wait for and follow a very handsome woman is no unheard-of thing, and if he had so little audacity that he not only dared not address her, but even fled from her approach, he was not a very formidable assailant. The ruffian Woodley was a very different person, but, except on one occasion, he had not molested our client, and now he visited the house of Carruthers without intruding upon her presence. The man on the bicycle was doubtless a member of those week-end parties at the Hall of which the publican had spoken; but who he was or what he wanted was as obscure as ever. It was the severity of Holmes's manner and the fact that he slipped a revolver into his pocket before leaving our rooms which impressed me with the feeling that tragedy might prove to lurk behind this curious train of events.
A rainy night had been followed by a glorious morning, and the heath-covered country-side with the glowing clumps of flowering gorse seemed all the more beautiful to eyes which were weary of the duns and drabs and slate-greys of London. Holmes and I walked along the broad, sandy road inhaling the fresh morning air, and rejoicing in the music of the birds and the fresh breath of the spring. From a rise of the road on the shoulder of Crooksbury Hill we could see the grim Hall bristling out from amidst the ancient oaks, which, old as they were, were still younger than the building which they surrounded. Holmes pointed down the long tract of road which wound, a reddish yellow band, between the brown of the heath and the budding green of the woods. Far away, a black dot, we could see a vehicle moving in our direction. Holmes gave an exclamation of impatience.
"I had given a margin of half an hour," said he. "If that is her trap she must be making for the earlier train. I fear, Watson, that she will be past Charlington before we can possibly meet her."
From the instant that we passed the rise we could no longer see the vehicle, but we hastened onwards at such a pace that my sedentary life began to tell upon me, and I was compelled to fall behind. Holmes, however, was always in training, for he had inexhaustible stores of nervous energy upon which to draw. His springy step never slowed until suddenly, when he was a hundred yards in front of me, he halted, and I saw him throw up his hand with a gesture of grief and despair. At the same instant an empty dog-cart, the horse cantering, the reins trailing, appeared round the curve of the road and rattled swiftly towards us.
"Too late, Watson; too late!" cried Holmes, as I ran panting to his side. "Fool that I was not to allow for that earlier train! It's abduction, Watson -- abduction! Murder! Heaven knows what! Block the road! Stop the horse! That's right. Now, jump in, and let us see if I can repair the consequences of my own blunder."
We had sprung into the dog-cart, and Holmes, after turning the horse, gave it a sharp cut with the whip, and we flew back along the road. As we turned the curve the whole stretch of road between the Hall and the heath was opened up. I grasped Holmes's arm.
"That's the man!" I gasped.
A solitary cyclist was coming towards us. His head was down and his shoulders rounded as he put every ounce of energy that he possessed on to the pedals. He was flying like a racer. Suddenly he raised his bearded face, saw us close to him, and pulled up, springing from his machine. That coal-black beard was in singular contrast to the pallor of his face, and his eyes were as bright as if he had a fever. He stared at us and at the dog-cart. Then a look of amazement came over his face.
"Halloa! Stop there!" he shouted, holding his bicycle to block our road. "Where did you get that dog-cart? Pull up, man!" he yelled, drawing a pistol from his side pocket. "Pull up, I say, or, by George, I'll put a bullet into your horse."
Holmes threw the reins into my lap and sprang down from the cart.
"You're the man we want to see. Where is Miss Violet Smith?" he said, in his quick, clear way.
"That's what I am asking you. You're in her dog-cart. You ought to know where she is."
"We met the dog-cart on the road. There was no one in it. We drove back to help the young lady."
"Good Lord! Good Lord! what shall I do?" cried the stranger, in an ecstasy of despair. "They've got her, that hellhound Woodley and the blackguard parson. Come, man, come, if you really are her friend. Stand by me and we'll save her, if I have to leave my carcass in Charlington Wood."
He ran distractedly, his pistol in his hand, towards a gap in the hedge. Holmes followed him, and I, leaving the horse grazing beside the road, followed Holmes.
"This is where they came through," said he, pointing to the marks of several feet upon the muddy path. "Halloa! Stop a minute! Who's this in the bush?"
It was a young fellow about seventeen, dressed like an ostler, with leather cords and gaiters. He lay upon his back, his knees drawn up, a terrible cut upon his head. He was insensible, but alive. A glance at his wound told me that it had not penetrated the bone.
"That's Peter, the groom," cried the stranger. "He drove her. The beasts have pulled him off and clubbed him. Let him lie; we can't do him any good, but we may save her from the worst fate that can befall a woman."
We ran frantically down the path, which wound among the trees. We had reached the shrubbery which surrounded the house when Holmes pulled up.
"They didn't go to the house. Here are their marks on the left -- here, beside the laurel bushes! Ah, I said so!"
As he spoke a woman's shrill scream -- a scream which vibrated with a frenzy of horror -- burst from the thick green clump of bushes in front of us. It ended suddenly on its highest note with a choke and a gurgle.
"This way! This way! They are in the bowling alley," cried the stranger, darting through the bushes. "Ah, the cowardly dogs! Follow me, gentlemen! Too late! too late! by the living Jingo!"
We had broken suddenly into a lovely glade of greensward surrounded by ancient trees. On the farther side of it, under the shadow of a mighty oak, there stood a singular group of three people. One was a woman, our client, drooping and faint, a handkerchief round her mouth. Opposite her stood a brutal, heavy-faced, red-moustached young man, his gaitered legs parted wide, one arm akimbo, the other waving a riding-crop, his whole attitude suggestive of triumphant bravado. Between them an elderly, grey-bearded man, wearing a short surplice over a light tweed suit, had evidently just completed the wedding service, for he pocketed his prayer-book as we appeared and slapped the sinister bridegroom upon the back in jovial congratulation.
"They're married!" I gasped.
"Come on!" cried our guide; "come on!" He rushed across the glade, Holmes and I at his heels. As we approached, the lady staggered against the trunk of the tree for support. Williamson, the ex-clergyman, bowed to us with mock politeness, and the bully Woodley advanced with a shout of brutal and exultant laughter.
"You can take your beard off, Bob," said he. "I know you right enough. Well, you and your pals have just come in time for me to be able to introduce you to Mrs. Woodley."
Our guide's answer was a singular one. He snatched off the dark beard which had disguised him and threw it on the ground, disclosing a long, sallow, clean-shaven face below it. Then he raised his revolver and covered the young ruffian, who was advancing upon him with his dangerous riding-crop swinging in his hand.
"Yes," said our ally, "I AM Bob Carruthers, and I'll see this woman righted if I have to swing for it. I told you what I'd do if you molested her, and, by the Lord, I'll be as good as my word!"
"You're too late. She's my wife!"
"No, she's your widow."
His revolver cracked, and I saw the blood spurt from the front of Woodley's waistcoat. He spun round with a scream and fell upon his back, his hideous red face turning suddenly to a dreadful mottled pallor. The old man, still clad in his surplice, burst into such a string of foul oaths as I have never heard, and pulled out a revolver of his own, but before he could raise it he was looking down the barrel of Holmes's weapon.
"Enough of this," said my friend, coldly. "Drop that pistol! Watson, pick it up! Hold it to his head! Thank you. You, Carruthers, give me that revolver. We'll have no more violence. Come, hand it over!"
"Who are you, then?"
"My name is Sherlock Holmes."
"Good Lord!"
"You have heard of me, I see. I will represent the official police until their arrival. Here, you!" he shouted to a frightened groom who had appeared at the edge of the glade. "Come here. Take this note as hard as you can ride to Farnham." He scribbled a few words upon a leaf from his note-book. "Give it to the superintendent at the police-station. Until he comes I must detain you all under my personal custody."
The strong, masterful personality of Holmes dominated the tragic scene, and all were equally puppets in his hands. Williamson and Carruthers found themselves carrying the wounded Woodley into the house, and I gave my arm to the frightened girl. The injured man was laid on his bed, and at Holmes's request I examined him. I carried my report to where he sat in the old tapestry-hung dining-room with his two prisoners before him.
"He will live," said I.
"What!" cried Carruthers, springing out of his chair. "I'll go upstairs and finish him first. Do you tell me that that girl, that angel, is to be tied to Roaring Jack Woodley for life?"
"You need not concern yourself about that," said Holmes. "There are two very good reasons why she should under no circumstances be his wife. In the first place, we are very safe in questioning Mr. Williamson's right to solemnize a marriage."
"I have been ordained," cried the old rascal.
"And also unfrocked."
"Once a clergyman, always a clergyman."
"I think not. How about the license?"
"We had a license for the marriage. I have it here in my pocket."
"Then you got it by a trick. But in any case a forced marriage is no marriage, but it is a very serious felony, as you will discover before you have finished. You'll have time to think the point out during the next ten years or so, unless I am mistaken. As to you, Carruthers, you would have done better to keep your pistol in your pocket."
"I begin to think so, Mr. Holmes; but when I thought of all the precaution I had taken to shield this girl -- for I loved her, Mr. Holmes, and it is the only time that ever I knew what love was -- it fairly drove me mad to think that she was in the power of the greatest brute and bully in South Africa, a man whose name is a holy terror from Kimberley to Johannesburg. Why, Mr. Holmes, you'll hardly believe it, but ever since that girl has been in my employment I never once let her go past this house, where I knew these rascals were lurking, without following her on my bicycle just to see that she came to no harm. I kept my distance from her, and I wore a beard so that she should not recognise me, for she is a good and high-spirited girl, and she wouldn't have stayed in my employment long if she had thought that I was following her about the country roads."
"Why didn't you tell her of her danger?"
"Because then, again, she would have left me, and I couldn't bear to face that. Even if she couldn't love me it was a great deal to me just to see her dainty form about the house, and to hear the sound of her voice."
"Well," said I, "you call that love, Mr. Carruthers, but I should call it selfishness."
"Maybe the two things go together. Anyhow, I couldn't let her go. Besides, with this crowd about, it was well that she should have someone near to look after her. Then when the cable came I knew they were bound to make a move."
"What cable?"
Carruthers took a telegram from his pocket.
"That's it," said he.
It was short and concise:--
"The old man is dead."
"Hum!" said Holmes. "I think I see how things worked, and I can understand how this message would, as you say, bring them to a head. But while we wait you might tell me what you can."
The old reprobate with the surplice burst into a volley of bad language.
"By Heaven," said he, "if you squeal on us, Bob Carruthers, I'll serve you as you served Jack Woodley. You can bleat about the girl to your heart's content, for that's your own affair, but if you round on your pals to this plain-clothes copper it will be the worst day's work that ever you did."
"Your reverence need not be excited," said Holmes, lighting a cigarette. "The case is clear enough against you, and all I ask is a few details for my private curiosity. However, if there's any difficulty in your telling me I'll do the talking, and then you will see how far you have a chance of holding back your secrets. In the first place, three of you came from South Africa on this game -- you Williamson, you Carruthers, and Woodley."
"Lie number one," said the old man; "I never saw either of them until two months ago, and I have never been in Africa in my life, so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Busybody Holmes!"
"What he says is true," said Carruthers.
"Well, well, two of you came over. His reverence is our own home-made article. You had known Ralph Smith in South Africa. You had reason to believe he would not live long. You found out that his niece would inherit his fortune. How's that -- eh?"
Carruthers nodded and Williamson swore.
"She was next-of-kin, no doubt, and you were aware that the old fellow would make no will."
"Couldn't read or write," said Carruthers.
"So you came over, the two of you, and hunted up the girl. The idea was that one of you was to marry her and the other have a share of the plunder. For some reason Woodley was chosen as the husband. Why was that?"
"We played cards for her on the voyage. He won."
"I see. You got the young lady into your service, and there Woodley was to do the courting. She recognised the drunken brute that he was, and would have nothing to do with him. Meanwhile, your arrangement was rather upset by the fact that you had yourself fallen in love with the lady. You could no longer bear the idea of this ruffian owning her."
"No, by George, I couldn't!"
"There was a quarrel between you. He left you in a rage, and began to make his own plans independently of you."
"It strikes me, Williamson, there isn't very much that we can tell this gentleman," cried Carruthers, with a bitter laugh. "Yes, we quarreled, and he knocked me down. I am level with him on that, anyhow. Then I lost sight of him. That was when he picked up with this cast padre here. I found that they had set up house-keeping together at this place on the line that she had to pass for the station. I kept my eye on her after that, for I knew there was some devilry in the wind. I saw them from time to time, for I was anxious to know what they were after. Two days ago Woodley came up to my house with this cable, which showed that Ralph Smith was dead. He asked me if I would stand by the bargain. I said I would not. He asked me if I would marry the girl myself and give him a share. I said I would willingly do so, but that she would not have me. He said, `Let us get her married first, and after a week or two she may see things a bit different.' I said I would have nothing to do with violence. So he went off cursing, like the foul-mouthed blackguard that he was, and swearing that he would have her yet. She was leaving me this week-end, and I had got a trap to take her to the station, but I was so uneasy in my mind that I followed her on my bicycle. She had got a start, however, and before I could catch her the mischief was done. The first thing I knew about it was when I saw you two gentlemen driving back in her dog-cart."
Holmes rose and tossed the end of his cigarette into the grate. "I have been very obtuse, Watson," said he. "When in your report you said that you had seen the cyclist as you thought arrange his necktie in the shrubbery, that alone should have told me all. However, we may congratulate ourselves upon a curious and in some respects a unique case. I perceive three of the county constabulary in the drive, and I am glad to see that the little ostler is able to keep pace with them; so it is likely that neither he nor the interesting bridegroom will be permanently damaged by their morning's adventures. I think, Watson, that in your medical capacity you might wait upon Miss Smith and tell her that if she is sufficiently recovered we shall be happy to escort her to her mother's home. If she is not quite convalescent you will find that a hint that we were about to telegraph to a young electrician in the Midlands would probably complete the cure. As to you, Mr. Carruthers, I think that you have done what you could to make amends for your share in an evil plot. There is my card, sir, and if my evidence can be of help to you in your trial it shall be at your disposal."
In the whirl of our incessant activity it has often been difficult for me, as the reader has probably observed, to round off my narratives, and to give those final details which the curious might expect. Each case has been the prelude to another, and the crisis once over the actors have passed for ever out of our busy lives. I find, however, a short note at the end of my manuscripts dealing with this case, in which I have put it upon record that Miss Violet Smith did indeed inherit a large fortune, and that she is now the wife of Cyril Morton, the senior partner of Morton & Kennedy, the famous Westminster electricians. Williamson and Woodley were both tried for abduction and assault, the former getting seven years and the latter ten. Of the fate of Carruthers I have no record, but I am sure that his assault was not viewed very gravely by the Court, since Woodley had the reputation of being a most dangerous ruffian, and I think that a few months were sufficient to satisfy the demands of justice.
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