42 The Devil's Foot from His Last Bow Reminiscences

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1:04continually been faced by difficulties caused by his own aversion to publicity. To his somber and cynical spirit, all popular applause was always a boorant. And nothing amused him more at the end of a successful case than to hand over the actual exposure to some orthodox official. And to listen with a mocking smile to the general chorus of misplaced congratulation. It was indeed this attitude upon the part of my friend, and certainly not any lack of interesting material, which has caused me of late years to lay very few of my records before the public. My participation in some of his adventures was always a privilege, which entailed discretion and reticence upon me. It was then with considerable surprise that I received a telegram from Holmes last Tuesday. He has never been known to write where a telegram would serve in the following terms.

2:10Why not tell them of the Cornish horror? First case I have handled. I have no idea what backward sweep of memory that brought the matter fresh to his mind, or what freak had caused him to desire that I should recount it. But I hasten, before another cancelling telegram may arrive, to hunt out the notes which give me the exact details of the case, and to lay the narrative before my readers. It was then, in the spring of the year 1897, that Holmes' iron constitution showed some symptoms of giving way in the face of constant hard work of a most exacting kind, aggravated perhaps by occasional indiscretions of his own. In March of that year, Dr. Moore A. Gar of Harley Street, whose dramatic introduction to Holmes I may someday recount, gave positive injunctions that the famous private agent

3:16lay aside all his cases and surrender himself to complete rest, if he wished to avert an absolute breakdown. The state of his health was not a matter in which he himself took the faintest interest, but his mental detachment was absolute. But he was induced at last on the threat of being permanently disqualified from work, to give himself a complete change of scene and air. Thus it was that in the early spring of that year, we found ourselves together in a small cottage near Poldieu Bay at the further extremity of the Cornish Peninsula. It was a singular spot, and one peculiarly well-suited to the grim humour of my patient. On the windows of our little white-washed house, which stood high upon a grassy headland, we looked down upon the whole sinister semicircle of Mounts Bay, that old death trap of sailing

4:19vessels, with its fringe of black cliffs and surge-swept reefs, on which innumerable seaman have met their end. With the northerly breeze it lies placid and sheltered, inviting the storm-tost craft to tack into it for rest and protection. Then come the sudden swirl-round of the wind, the blistering gale from the southwest, the dragging anchor, the lee-shore, and the last battle in the creming breakers. The wise mariners stands far out from that evil place. On the land side, our surroundings were as somber as on the sea. It was a country of rolling moors, lonely and done-coloured, with an occasional church tower to mark the sight of some old-world village. In every direction upon these moors there were traces of some vanished race which had passed

5:20utterly away, and left as its sole record strange monuments of stone, irregular mountains which contained the burned ashes of the dead, and curious earthworks which hinted at prehistoric strife. The glamour and mystery of the place, with its sinister atmosphere of forgotten nations, appealed to the imagination of my friend, and he spent much of his time in long walks and solitary meditations upon the moor. The ancient Cornish language had also arrested his attention, and he had, I remember, conceived the idea that it was akin to the Caldien, and had been largely derived from the Phoenician traders in tin. He had received a consignment of books upon philology, and was settling down to develop this thesis, when suddenly to my sorrow and to his unfaimed delight we found ourselves

6:23even in that land of dreams plunged into a problem at our very doors, which was more intense, more engrossing, and infinitely more mysterious than any of those which had driven us from London. Our simple life and peaceful, healthy routine were violently interrupted, and we were precipitated into the midst of a series of events which caused the utmost excitement, not only in Cornwall, but throughout the whole west of England. Many of my readers may retain some recollection of what was called at the time the Cornish horror, though a most imperfect account of the matter reached the London press. Now, after 13 years, I will give the true details of this inconceivable affair to the public. I have said that scattered towers marked the villages which dotted this part of Cornwall.

7:25The nearest of these was the Hamlet of Tradanic Wallace, where the cottages of a couple of hundred inhabitants clustered round an ancient, moss-grown church. The vicar of the parish, Mr. Roundhay, was something of an archaeologist, and a serge Holmes had made his acquaintance. He was a middle-aged man, portly and affable, with a considerable fund of local law. At his invitation we had taken tea at the vicarage, and had come to know also Mr. Mortimer Tragenis, an independent gentleman who increased the clergyman's scanty resources by taking rooms in his large, straggling house. The vicar, being a bachelor, was glad to come to such an arrangement, though he had little in common with his lodger, who was a thin, dark, spectacle-man with a stoop, which gave the impression of actual physical deformity.

8:27I remember that during our short visit we found the vicar garrulous, but his lodger strangely reticent. A sad-faced, introspective man, sitting with averted eyes, brooding apparently upon his own affairs. These were the two men who entered abruptly into our little sitting-room on Tuesday, March 16th, shortly after our breakfast hour. The paratory to our daily excursion upon the moors. Mr. Holmes said the vicar in an agitated voice, the most extraordinary and tragic affair has occurred during the night. It is the most unheard of business. We can only regard it as a special providence that you should chance to be here at the time, for in all England you are the one man we need. I glared at the intrusive vicar with no very friendly eyes. But Holmes took his pipe from his lips and sat up in his chair like an old hound who hears the view hallue.

9:29He waved his hands to the sofa and our palpitating visitor with his agitated companion sat side-by-side upon it. Mr. Mortimer Trigenis was more self-contained than the clergyman, but the twitching of his thin hands and the brightness of his dark eyes showed that they shared a common emotion. Shall I speak or you?" he asked of the vicar. Well, as you seem to have made the discovery, whatever it may be, and the vicar to have had it second-hand, perhaps you had better do the speaking, said Holmes. I glanced at the hastily clad clergyman, with the formally dressed lodger seated beside him, and was amused at the surprise which Holmes' simple deduction had brought to their faces. "'Perhaps I had best say a few words first,' said the vicar. "'And then you can judge if you will listen to the details from Mr. Trigenis, or whether

10:31we should not hasten at once to the scene of this mysterious affair.' I may explain, then, that our friend here spent last evening in the company of his two brothers, Owen and George. "'Stop wasting your nights on a mattress that doesn't get you. Experience the most comfortable mattress in the world. The sleep number's smart bed. At the touch of a button, you can personalize your comfort. This was a novel by godezer Hirke Goro, whose TELEMORS, named Holmes, EZEiffany or WCL, who could also host opera songs, and possibly chose BATLAL, which helped me reunite with the Pierrot vaults in the catastrophic heat of time. It could be home to a decade their property limited to her – organic, and up full of you. Experience the most comfortable mattress in the world. The sleep number smart bed at the touch of a button. You can personalize your comfort. Choose firmer or softer. Adjust

11:33cooler to warmer. And right now, save up to $2,500 during our massive Labor Day event. Hurry into your local sleep number store today, because we have your number. Head of his sister, Brenda, at their house of Tradanic Water, which is near the old stone crusts upon the moor. He left them shortly after ten o'clock, playing cards around the dining room table in excellent health and spirits. On this morning being an early riser, he walked in that direction before breakfast, and was overtaken by the carriage of Dr. Richards, who explained that he had just been sent for on a most urgent call to Tradanic Water. Mr. Mortimer Tragenis naturally went with him. When he arrived at Tradanic Water, he found an extraordinary state of things, his two brothers and his sister. He was seated round the table exactly as he had left them, the cards still spread in front of them, and the

12:36candles burned down to their sockets. The sister lay back stone dead in her chair, while the two brothers sat on each side of her laughing, shouting and singing, the senses stricken clean out of them. All three of them, the dead woman and the two demented men, retained upon their faces an expression of the utmost horror, a convalction of terror which was dreadful to look upon. There was no sign of the presence of anyone in the house except Mrs. Porter, the old cook and housekeeper, who declared that she had slept deeply and heard no sound during the night. Nothing had been stolen or disarranged, and there is absolutely no explanation of what the horror can be which has frightened a woman to death, and two strong men out of their senses. There is the situation Mr. Holmes in a nutshell, and if you can help us to clear it up, you will have done a great work. I had hoped that in

13:37some way I could coax my companion back into the quiet, which had been the object of our journey, but one glance at his intense face and contracted eyebrows told me how vain was now the expectation. He sat for some little time in silence, absorbed in the strange drama which had broken in upon our peace. I will look into this matter, he said at last. On the face of it it would appear to be a case of a very exceptional nature. Have you been there yourself, Mr. Roundhay? No, Mr. Holmes, Mr. Trigenis brought back the account to the vicarage, and I at once harried over with him to consult you. How far is it to the house where this singular tragedy occurred? About a mile in land, then we shall walk over together, but before we start, I must ask you a few questions, Mr. Mortimer Trigenis. The other had been silent all this

14:40time, but I had observed that his more controlled excitement was even greater than the obtrusive emotion of the clergyman. He sat with a pale, drawn face, his anxious gaze fixed upon homes, and his thin hands clasped convulsively together. His pale lips quivered as he listened to the dreadful experience which had befallen his family, and his dark eyes seemed to reflect something of the horror of the scene. Ask what you like, Mr. Holmes, said he eagerly. It is a bad thing to speak of, but I will answer you the truth. Tell me about last night. Well, Mr. Holmes, I sucked there, as the vicarage said, and my elder brother George proposed a game of whisked afterwards. We sat down about nine o'clock. It was a quarter past ten when I moved to go. I left them all round the table as Mary as could be. Oh, let you out. Mrs. Porter had gone to bed, so

15:45I let myself out. I shut the whole door behind me. The window of the room in which they sat was closed, but the blind was not drawn down. There was no change in door or window this morning, or any reason to think that any stranger had been to the house. Yeah, there they sat, driven clean mad with terror, and Brenda lying dead of fright, with her head hanging over the arm of the chair. I'll never get the sight of that room out of my mind so long as I live. The facts, as you state them, are certainly most remarkable, said Holmes. I take it that you have no theory yourself, which can in any way account for them. As devilish, Mr. Holmes, devilish, cried Mortimer Trigonis. It is not of this world. Something has come into that room, which has dashed the light of reason from their minds. What human contrivance could do that? I fear, said Holmes, that if the matter is beyond humanity, it is certainly

16:47beyond me. Yet we must exhaust all natural explanations. Before we fall back upon such a theory as this. As to yourself, Mr. Trigonis, I take it you were divided in some way from your family since they lived together, and you had rooms apart. That is so, Mr. Holmes, though the matter is passed and done with, we were a family of tin miners at Red Ruth, but we sold our venture to a company, and so retired with enough to keep us. I won't deny that there was some feeling about the division of the money, and it stood between us for a time, but it was all forgiven and forgotten, and we were the best of friends together. Looking back at the evening which you spent together, does anything stand out in your memory as throwing any possible light upon the tragedy? Think carefully, Mr. Trigonis, for any clue which can help me. There is nothing at all, sir, your people were

17:51in their usual spirits, never better, were they nervous people? Did they ever show any apprehension of coming danger? Nothing of the kind. You have nothing to add then which could assist me. Mortimer Trigonis considered earnestly for a moment. There is one thing that occurs to me, said he had lost. As we sat at the table, my back was to the window, and my brother George, he being my partner at Cards, was facing it. I saw him once look hard over my shoulder, so I turned round and looked also. The blind was up, and the window shut. But I could just make out the bushes on the lawn, and it seemed to me for a moment that I saw something moving among them. I couldn't even say if it was man or animal, but I just thought there was something there. When I asked him what he was looking at, he told me that he had the same feeling. That is all that I can say. Did you not investigate?

18:57No, the matter passed as unimportant. You left them then, without any premonition of evil? Not at all. I am not clear how you came to hear the news so early this morning. I am an early riser, and generally take a walk before breakfast. This morning I had hardly started when the doctor in his carriage overtook me. He told me that old Mrs. Porter had sent a boy down with an urgent message, by sprangin beside him, and we drove on. When we got there, we looked into that dreadful room. Candles and the fire must have burnt out hours before, and they had been sitting there in the dark until dawn had broken. The doctor said Brenda must have been dead at least six hours. There were no signs of violence. She just lay across the arm of the chair with that look on her face. George and Owen were singing snatches of songs. And gibberin liked two great apes. Oh, it was awful to see. I couldn't stand it,

20:01and the doctor was as white as a sheet. Indeed, he fell into a chair in a sort of faint. And we nearly had him on our hands as well. Remarkable, most remarkable, said Holmes, rising and taking his hat. I think perhaps we had better go down to Tradanic Warthor without further delay. I confess that I have seldom known a case which at first sight presented a more singular problem. Our proceedings of that first morning did little to advance the investigation. It was marked, however, at the outset, by an incident which left the most sinister impression upon my mind. The approach to the spot at which the tragedy occurred is down a narrow winding country lane. While we made our way along it, we heard the rattle of a carriage coming towards us and stood aside to let it pass. As it drove by us, I caught a glimpse through the closed window

21:03of a horribly contorted grinning face glaring out at us. Those staring eyes and gnashing teeth flashed past us like a dreadful vision. My brothers cried Mortimer Trigonis white to his lips. They had taken them to Houston. We looked with horror after the black carriage lumbering upon its way. Then we turned our steps towards this ill-oamened house in which they had met their strange fate. It was a large and bright dwelling, rather a villa than a cottage, with a considerable garden which was already in that Cornish air well filled with spring flowers. Towards this garden the window of the sitting-room fronted, and from it, according to Mortimer Trigonis, must have come that thing of evil which had by sheer horror in a single instant blasted their minds. Homes walked slowly and thoughtfully among the flower pots and along the path,

22:08before we entered the porch. So absorbed was he in his thoughts, I remember, that he stumbled over the watering pot, upset its contents and deluged both our feet and the garden path. Inside the house we were met by the elderly Cornish housekeeper Mrs. Porter, who with the aid of a young girl looked after the wants of the family. She readily answered all Holmes' questions. She had heard nothing in the night. Her employers had all been in excellent spirits lately, and she had never known them more cheerful and prosperous. She had fainted with horror upon entering the room in the morning and seeing that dreadful company round the table. She had, when she recovered, thrown open the window to let the morning air in, and had run down to the lane, when she sent a farm lad for the doctor. The lady was on her bed upstairs

23:08if we cared to see her. It took four strong men to get the brothers into the asylum carriage. She would not herself stay in the house another day, and was starting that very afternoon to rejoin her family at St. Ives. We ascended the stairs and viewed the body. Miss Brenda Trigennis had been a very beautiful girl, though now verging upon middle-age. A dark, clear cut face was handsome, even in death. But there still lingered upon it something of that convulsion of horror, which had been her last human emotion. From her bedroom we descended to the sitting room, where this strange tragedy had actually occurred. The charred ashes of the overnight fire lay in the grate. On the table were the four gutted and burned out candles, with the cards scattered over its surface. The chairs had been moved back against the walls. But all else was,

24:14as it had been the night before. Holmes paced with light swift steps about the room. He sat in the various chairs, drawing them up and reconstructing their positions. He tested how much of the garden was visible. He examined the floor, the ceiling, and the fireplace. But never once did I see that sudden brightening of his eyes and tightening of his lips, which would have told me that he saw some gleam of light in this utter darkness. Why a fire, he asked once. Had they always a fire in this small room on a spring evening? Mortimer Trigenis explained that the night was cold and damp. For that reason, after his arrival, the fire was lit. What are you going to do now, Mr. Holmes? He asked. My friend smiled and laid his hand upon my arm. I think what's that I shall resume that course of

25:16tobacco poisoning, which you have so often and so justly condemned, said he. With your permission, gentlemen, we will now return to our cottage. For I am not aware that any new factor is likely to come to our notice here. I will turn the facts over in my mind, Mr. Trigenis. And, should anything occur to me, I will certainly communicate with you and the vicar. In the meantime, I wish you both good morning. Stop wasting your nights on a mattress that doesn't get you. Experience the most comfortable mattress in the world. The sleep number smart bed. At the touch of a button, you can personalize your comfort. Choose firmer or softer. Adjust cooler to warmer. And right now, save up to $2,500 during our massive Labor Day event. Hurry into your local sleep number store today, because we have your number. Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Emergizer. It's one of the many new drinks out now.

26:22Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire. Try them all only at my dogs. It was not until long after we were back in Poldew cottage that Holmes broke his complete and absorbed silence. He sat coiled in his armchair. His haggard and ascetic face hardly visible amid the blue swirl of his tobacco smoke. His black brows drawn down. His forehead contracted. His eyes vacant and far away. Finally, he laid down his pipe and sprang to his feet. It won't do Watson, said he with a laugh. Let us walk along the cliffs together and search for flint arrows. We are more likely to find them than clues to this problem. To let the brain work without sufficient material is like racing an engine. It rags itself to pieces, the sea air,

27:23sunshine and patience Watson. All else will come. Now, let us calmly define our position Watson. He continued as we skirted the cliffs together. Let us get a firm grip of the very little which we do know. So that when fresh facts arise, we may be ready to fit them into their places. I take it in the first place. That neither of us is prepared to admit diabolical intrusions into the affairs of men. Let us begin by ruling that entirely out of our minds. Very good. There remain three persons who have been grievously stricken by some conscious or unconscious human agency that is firm ground. Now, when did this occur? Evidently, assuming his narrative to be true, it was immediately after Mr. Mortimer Tragenis had left the

28:23room. That is a very important point. The presumption is that it was within a few minutes afterwards. The cards still lay upon the table. It was already passed their usual hour for bed. Yet they had not changed their position or pushed back their chairs. I repeat then that the occurrence was immediately after his departure and not later than 11 o'clock last night. Our next obvious step is to check so far as we can the movements of Mortimer Tragenis after he left the room. In this there is no difficulty as they seem to be above suspicion. Knowing my methods as you do, you were of course conscious of the somewhat clumsy water-part expedient. By which I obtained a clearer impress of his foot than might otherwise have been possible the wet sandy path took it

29:24admirably. Last night was also wet, you will remember. And it was not difficult, having obtained a sample print to pick out his track among others and to follow his movements. He appears to have walked away swiftly in the direction of the vicarage. If then Mortimer Tragenis disappeared from the scene and yet some outside person affected the card-players, how can we reconstruct that person and how was such an impression of horror conveyed? Mrs. Porter may be eliminated, she is evidently harmless. Is there any evidence that someone crept up to the garden window and in some manner produced so terrific an effect that he drove those who saw it out of their senses? The only suggestion in this direction comes from Mortimer Tragenis himself who says that his brother spoke about some movement in the garden that is certainly remarkable as the night was rainy,

30:29cloudy and dark. Anyone who had the design to alarm these people would be compelled to place his very face against the glass before he could be seen. There is a three-foot flower border outside this window but no indication of a footmark. It is difficult to imagine then how an outsider could have made so terrible an impression upon the company, nor have we found any possible motive for so strange and elaborate and attempt. You perceive our difficulties, Watson? They are only too clear, I answered with conviction. And yet, with a little more material, we may prove that they are not insurmountable, said Holmes. I fancy that among your extensive archives, Watson, you may find some, which were nearly as obscure. Meanwhile, we shall put the case aside until more accurate data are available, and devote the rest of our morning to the pursuit of new, lithic man.

31:30I may have commented upon my friend's power of mental detachment, but never have I wondered at it more than upon that spring morning in Cornwall, when for two hours he discourseed upon kelts, arrowheads and shards as lightly as if no sinister mystery were waiting for his solution. It was not until we had returned in the afternoon to our cottage that we found a visitor awaiting us, who soon brought our minds back to the matter in hand. Neither of us needed to be told who that visitor was. The huge body, the craggy and deeply seemed face with the fierce eyes and hawk-like nose, the grizzled hair which nearly brushed our cottage ceiling. The beard, golden at the fringes and white near the lips, save for the nicotine stain from his perpetual cigar, all these were as well known in London as in Africa, and could only be associated with the tremendous

32:32personality of Dr. Leon Sterndale, the great lion hunter and explorer. We had heard of his presence in the district and at once or twice caught sight of his tall figure upon the moorland paths. He made no advances to us, however, nor would we have dreamed of doing so to him. As it was well known that it was his love of seclusion which caused him to spend the greater part of the intervals between his journeys in a small bungalow buried in the lonely ward of Beechham Arians. Here amid his books and his maps he lived an absolutely lonely life, attending to his own simple wants and paying little apparent heed to the affairs of his neighbours. It was a surprise to me, therefore, to hear him asking homes in an eager voice whether he had made any advance in his reconstruction of this mysterious episode. The country police are utterly at fault,

33:33said he. But perhaps your wider experience has suggested some conceivable explanation. My only claim to being taken into your confidence is that during my many residences here, I have come to know this family of Trigenis very well. Indeed, upon my Cornish mother's side, I could call them cousins, and their strange fate has naturally been a great shock to me. I may tell you that I had got as far as Plymouth upon my way to Africa. But the news reached me this morning, and I came straight back again to help in the inquiry. Homes raised his eyebrows. Did you lose your boat through it? I will take the next. Dear me, that is friendship indeed. I tell you they were relatives. Quite so, cousins of your mother, was your baggage aboard the ship? Some of it, but the main part of the hotel. I see. But surely this event could not have found its way into the Plymouth morning papers. No, sir, I had a telegram. Might I ask from whom? A shadow passed over the gorned

34:39face of the explorer. You are very inquisitive, Mr. Holmes. It is my business. With an effort, Dr. Sterndale recovered his ruffled composure. I have no objection to telling you, he said. It was Mr. Roundham, the vicar, who sent me the telegram which recalled me. Thank you, said Holmes. I may say in answer to your original question, that I have not cleared my mind entirely on the subject of this case, but that I have every hope of reaching some conclusion. It would be premature to say more. Perhaps you would not mind telling me if your suspicions point in any particular direction? No, I can hardly answer that. Then I have wasted my time and need not prolong my visit. The famous doctor strode out of our cottage in considerable ill-humour, and within five minutes Holmes had followed him. I saw him no more until the evening,

35:39when he returned with a slow step and haggard face, which assured me that he had made no great progress with his investigation. He glanced at a telegram which awaited him and threw it into the grate. From the Plymouth Hotel Watson, he said. I learned the name of it from the vicar, and I wired to make certain that Dr. Leonner Sterndale's account was true. It appears that he did indeed spend last night there, and that he has actually allowed some of his baggage to go onto Africa while he returned to be present at this investigation. What do you make of that Watson? He is deeply interested, deeply interested. Yes, there is a thread here which he had not yet grasped, and which might lead us through the tangle. Cheer up Watson, for I am very sure that our material has not yet all come to hand. When it does, we may soon leave our difficulties behind us.

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37:42Holmes would be realized or how strange and sinister would be that new development which opened up an entirely fresh line of investigation. I was shaving at my window in the morning when I heard the rattle of hoofs and looking up saw a dog cart coming at a gallop down the road. It pulled up at our door and our friend the vicar sprang from it and rushed up our garden path. Holmes was already dressed and we hastened down to meet him. Our visitor was so excited that he could hardly articulate but at last in gasps and bursts his tragic story came out of him. We are devil-ridden Mr. Holmes, my poor parish is devil-ridden. He cried, Satan himself is loosing it. We are given over into his hands. He danced about in his agitation. A ludicrous object if it were not for his ashy face and startled eyes. Finally he shot out his terrible news. Mr. Mortimer Trigonis died during the night and with

38:47exactly the same symptoms as the rest of his family. Holmes sprang to his feet all energy in an instant. Can you fit us both into your dog cart? Yes, I can. Then Watson, we will postpone our breakfast. Mr. Roundhay, we are entirely at your disposal. Hurry, hurry, before things get disarranged. The lodger occupied two rooms at the vicarage, which were in an angle by themselves, the one above the other. Below was a large sitting-room, above his bedroom. They looked out upon a croquet lawn, which came up to the windows. We had arrived before the doctor or the police so that everything was absolutely undisturbed. Let me describe exactly the scene as we saw it upon that misty, march morning. It has left an impression which can never be a face from my mind. The atmosphere of the room was of a horrible and depressing stuffiness. The servant who had first

39:49entered had thrown up the window, or it would have been even more intolerable. This might partly be due to the fact that a lamp stood flaring and smoking on the centre table. Beside it sat the dead man, leaning back in his chair, his thin beard projecting, his spectacles pushed up onto his forehead, and his lean, dark face turned towards the window, and twisted into the same distortion of terror which had marked the features of his dead sister. His limbs were convulsed, and his fingers contorted, as though he had died in a very paroxysm of fear. He was fully clothed, though there were signs that his dressing had been done in a hurry. We had already learned that his bed had been slept in, and that the tragic end had come to him in the early morning. One realised the red-hot energy which underlay Holmes' flegmentic exterior, when once all the sudden change which

40:50came over him from the moment that he entered the fatal apartment. In an instant he was tense and alert, his eyes shining, his face said, his limbs quivering with eager activity. He was out on the lawn, in through the window, round the room, and up into the bedroom. For all the world, like a dashing foxhound drawing a cover. In the bedroom he made a rapid cast around and ended by throwing open the window, which appeared to give him some fresh cause for excitement, for he leaned out of it with louder jackulations of interest and delight. Then he rushed down the stair out through the open window, threw himself upon his face on the lawn, sprang up, and into the room once more, all with the energy of the hunter who is at the very heels of his quarry. The lamp, which was an ordinary standard, he examined with minute care, making certain measurements upon its bowl. He carefully scrutinised with his lens the talc shield which covered the top of the

41:54chimney and scraped off some ashes which are deared to its upper surface, putting some of them into an envelope which he placed in his pocketbook. Finally, just as the doctor and the official police put in an appearance, he beckoned to the vicar, and we all three went out upon the lawn. I am glad to say that my investigation has not been entirely barren, he remarked. I cannot remain to discuss the matter with the police, but I should be exceedingly obliged, Mr. Roundhay, if you would give the inspector my compliments and direct his attention to the bedroom window and the sitting-room lamp. Each is suggestive, and together they are almost conclusive. If the police would desire further information, I shall be happy to see any of them at the cottage, and now Watson, I think that perhaps we shall be better employed elsewhere. It may be that the police resented the intrusion of an amateur, or that they imagined themselves

42:56to be upon some hopeful line of investigation, but it is certain that we heard nothing from them for the next two days. During this time, Holmes spent some of his time smoking and dreaming in the cottage, but a great apportion in country walks which he undertook alone, returning after many hours without remark as to where he had been. One experiment served to show me the line of his investigation. He had bought a lamp which was the duplicates of the one which had burned in the room of Mortimer Tragenis on the morning of the tragedy. This he filled with the same oil as that used at the Vicarage, and he carefully timed the period which it would take to be exhausted. Another experiment which he made was of a more unpleasant nature, and one which I am not likely ever to forget. You will remember Watson, he remarked one afternoon, that there is a single common point of resemblance in the varying reports which have reached us. This concerns the effect

43:58of the atmosphere of the room in each case upon those who had first entered it. You will recollect that Mortimer Tragenis in describing the episode of his last visit to his brother's house, remarked that the doctor on entering the room fell into a chair. You had forgotten? Well, I can answer for it, that it was so. Now, you will remember also that Mrs. Porter, the housekeeper, told us that she herself fainted upon entering the room and had afterwards opened the window. In the second case, that of Mortimer Tragenis himself, you cannot have forgotten the terrible stuffiness of the room when we arrived, though the servant had thrown open the window. That servant I found upon inquiry was so ill that she had gone to her bed. You will admit Watson that these facts are very suggestive. In each case, there is evidence of a poisonous atmosphere. In each case also there is combustion going on in the room,

44:59in the one case a fire, in the other a lamp. The fire was needed, but the lamp was lit, as a comparison of the oil consumed will show long after it was broad daylight. Why? Surely because there is some connection between three things, the burning, the stuffy atmosphere and finally the madness or death of those unfortunate people, that is clear, is it not? It would appear so. At least we may accept it as a working hypothesis, we will suppose then. That something was burned in each case, which produced an atmosphere causing strange toxic effects, very good. In the first instance that of the Tragenis family this substance was placed in the fire. Now the window was shut, but the fire would naturally carry fumes to some extent up the chimney. Hence one would expect the effects of the poison to be less than in the

45:59second case, where there was less escape for the vapor. The result seems to indicate that it was so since in the first case only the woman, who had presumably the more sensitive organism, was killed, the others exhibiting that temporary or permanent lunacy, which is evidently the first effect of the drug. In the second case the result was complete. The facts therefore seem to bear out the theory of a poison which worked by combustion. With this train of reasoning in my head I naturally looked about in Mortimer Tragenis' room to find some remains of this substance. The obvious place to look was the talc shell for smoke-guard of the lamp. There, sure enough I perceived a number of flaky ashes and round the edges a fringe of brownish powder which had not yet been consumed. Half of this I took, as you saw, and I placed it in an envelope. Why half-homes? It is not for me my dear Watson to stand in the way of the official police force. I leave

47:02them all the evidence which I found. The poison still remained upon the talc. Had they the wit to find it? Now Watson we will light our lamp. We will, however, take the precaution to open our window, to avoid the premature deceased of two deserving members of society, and you will see to yourself near that open window in an armchair, unless like a sensible man you will determine to have nothing to do with the affair. Oh, you will see it out, will you? I thought I knew my Watson. This chair I will place opposite yours so that we may be the same distance from the poison and face to face. The door we will leave a jar. Each is now in a position to watch the other and to bring the experiment to an end. Should the symptom seem alarming? Is that all clear? Well then, I take our powder, or what remains of it from the envelope and I lay it above the burning lamp. So, now Watson let us sit down and

48:04await developments. They were not long in coming. I had hardly settled in my chair before I was conscious of a thick, musky odor, subtle and nauseous. But the very first whiff of it, my brain and my imagination were beyond all control. A thick, black cloud swirled before my eyes. And my mind told me that in this cloud, unseen as yet, but about to spring out upon my appalled senses, lurked all that was vaguely horrible. All that was monstrous and inconceivably wicked in the universe. Vague shapes swirled and swam amid the dark cloud bank. Each amenis and a warning of something coming, the advent of some unspeakable dweller upon the threshold, whose very shadow would blast my soul. A freezing horror took possession of me. I felt that my hair was rising, that my eyes were protruding, that my mouth was opened, and my tongue like leather. The turmoil within my brain

49:10was such that something must surely snap. I tried to scream, and was vaguely aware of some horse-crowke which was my own voice, but distant and detached from myself. At the same moment, in some effort of escape, I broke through that cloud of despair, and had a glimpse of Holmes' face, white, rigid, and drawn with horror. The very look which I had seen upon the features of the dead, it was that vision which gave me an instant of sanity and of strength. I dashed from my chair through my arms around Holmes, and together we lurched through the door, and an instant afterwards had thrown ourselves down upon the grass plot and were lying side by side. Conscious only of the glorious sunshine which was bursting its way through the hellish cloud of terror which had girt us in. Toyota's easy choice sales event is on. Whether you're looking for the performance of the camera, the versatility of her at four, the efficiency of a Corolla, or all electric driving in the

50:16BZ. There's a Toyota that's just right for you, and with great deals across the lineup, now's the time to find yours. But hurry, these deals won't last long. Toyota's easy choice sales and soon. We make it easy. Toyota, let's go places. The slowly it rose from our souls like the mists from a landscape, until peace and reason had returned. And we were sitting upon the grass wiping our clammy forids, and looking with apprehension at each

51:19other to mark the last traces of that terrific experience which we had undergone upon my word. Watson said Holmes at last with an unsteady voice. I owe you both my thanks and an apology. It was an unjustifiable experiment even for oneself. And doubly so for a friend, I am really very sorry. You know I answered with some emotion for I have never seen so much of Holmes' heart before that it is my greatest joy and privilege to help you. He relapsed at once in the half-humorous, half-synical vein which was his habitual attitude to those about him. It would be superfluous to drive us mad, my dear Watson, said he. A candid observer would certainly declare that we were so already before we embarked upon so wild and experiment. I confess that I never imagined that

52:26the effect could be so sudden and so severe. He dashed into the cottage and reappearing with the burning lamp held at full arm's length, he threw it among a bank of brambles. We must give the room a little time to clear. I take it Watson that you have no longer a shadow of doubt as to how these tragedies were produced, none whatever, but the cause remains as obscure as before. Come into the arbor here and let us discuss it together. That villainous stuff seems still to linger around my throat. I think we must admit that all the evidence points to this man, Mortimer Trigennis, having been the criminal in the first tragedy, though he was the victim in the second one. We must remember in the first place that there is some story of a family quarrel followed by a reconciliation. How bitter that quarrel may have been or how hollow the reconciliation

53:31we cannot tell. When I think of Mortimer Trigennis with the foxy face and the small, shrewd, beady eyes behind the spectacles, he is not a man whom I should judge to be of a particularly forgiving disposition. Well, in the next place you will remember that this idea of someone moving in the garden, which took our attention for a moment from the real cause of the tragedy, emanated from him. He had a motive in misleading us. Finally, if he did not throw the substance into the fire at the moment of leaving the room, who did do so? The affair happened immediately after his departure. Had anyone else come in, the family would certainly have risen from the table. Besides, in peaceful Cornwall, visitors did not arrive after ten o'clock at night. We may take it then that all the evidence points to Mortimer Trigennis as the culprit.

54:32Then his own death was suicide. Well, Watson, it is on the face of it, an art impossible supposition. The man who had the guilt upon his soul of having brought such a fate upon his own family might well be driven by remorse to inflict it upon himself. There are, however, some cogent reasons against it. Fortunately, there is one man in England who knows all about it, and I have made arrangements by which we shall hear the facts this afternoon from his own lips. Ah, he has a little before his time. Perhaps you would kindly step this way, Dr. Leon Sterndale? We have been conducting a chemical experiment indoors, which has left our little room hardly fit for the reception of so distinguished a visitor. I had heard the click of the garden gate, and now the majestic figure of the great African explorer appeared upon the path. He turned in some surprise towards the rustic arbor in which we sat.

55:33You sent for me, Mr. Holmes? I had your note about an hour ago, and I have come. Though I really do not know why I should obey your summons. Perhaps we can clear the point up before we separate, said Holmes. Meanwhile, I am much obliged to you for your courteous acquiescence. You will excuse this informal reception in the open air, but my friend Watson and I have nearly furnished an additional chapter to what the papers call the Cornish Horror, and we prefer a clear atmosphere for the present. Perhaps, since the matters which we have to discuss will affect you personally in a very intimate manner, it is as well that we should talk where there can be no eavesdropping. The explorer took his cigar from his lips and gazed sternly at my companion. I am at a loss to know, sir, he said, what you can have to speak about which affects me personally in a very intimate fashion. The killing of Mortimer Triguenis, said Holmes.

56:37For a moment I wished that I were armed. Sterndale's fierce face turned to a dusky red, his eyes glared, and the knotted passionate veins started out in his forehead, while he sprang forward with clenched hands towards my companion. Then he stopped, and with a violent effort he resumed a cold, rigid calmness which was perhaps more suggestive of danger than his hot-headed outburst. I have lived so long among savages and beyond the law, said he, that I have got into the way of being a law to myself. You would do well, Mr. Holmes, not to forget it, or I have no desire to do you an injury. Nor have I any desire to do you an injury, Dr. Sterndale. Surely the clearest proof of it is that, knowing what I know, I have sent for you and not for the police. Sterndale sat down with a gasp overord for perhaps the first time in his adventurous life.

57:40There was a calm assurance of power in Holmes's manner which could not be withstood. Our visitor stammered for a moment, his great hands opening and shutting in his agitation. What do you mean, he asked at last? If this is bluff upon your partners to Holmes, you have chosen a bad man for your experiment. Let us have no more beating about the bush. What do you mean? I will tell you, said Holmes, and the reason why I tell you is that I hope frankness may be get frankness. What my next step may be? We'll depend entirely upon the nature of your own defence. My defence, yes sir. My defence against what? Against the charge of killing Mortimer Tragennis. Sterndale mopped his forehead with his handkerchief. Upon my word, you are getting on, said he. Do all your successes depend upon this prodigious power of bluff? The bluff, said Holmes sternly, is upon your side, Dr Leon Sterndale and not upon mine.

58:45As a proof, I will tell you some of the facts upon which my conclusions are based. Of your return from Plymouth, allowing much of your property to go onto Africa, I will say nothing, save that it first informed me that you were one of the factors which had to be taken into account in reconstructing this drama. I came back, I have heard your reasons, and regard them as unconvincing and inadequate. We will pass that. You came down here to ask me who my suspected, I refused to answer you. You then went to the Vicarage, waited outside it for some time, and finally returned to your cottage. How do you know that? I followed you. I saw no one. That is what you may expect to see when I follow you. You spent a restless night to your cottage, and you formed certain plans which in the early morning you proceeded to put into execution. Leaving your door just as day was breaking, you filled your pocket with some reddish gravel that was lying heaped beside your gate. Sterndale gave a violent start and looked at Holmes in

59:46amazement. You then walked swiftly for the mile which separated you from the Vicarage. You were wearing, I may remark, the same pair of ribbed tennis shoes which are at the present moment upon your feet. At the Vicarage you passed through the orchard and the side-headge coming out under the window of the lodger Triguenis. It was no daylight, but the household was not yet stirring. You drew some of the gravel from your pocket, and you threw it up at the window above you. Sterndale sprang to his feet. I believe that you are the devil himself, he cried. Holmes smiled at the compliment. It took two, or possibly three, handfuls before the lodger came to the window. You beckoned him to come down. He dressed hurriedly and descended to his sitting-room. You entered by the window. There was an interview, a short one, during which you walked up and down the room. Then you passed out and closed the window, standing on the lawn outside,

1:00:48smoking a cigar, and watching what occurred. Finally, after the death of Triguenis, you withdrew as you had come. Now, Dr. Sterndale, how do you justify such conduct? And what were the motives of your actions? Toyota's easy choice sales event is on. Whether you're looking for the performance of the camera, the versatility of her at four, the efficiency of a Corolla, or all electric driving in the BZ. There's a Toyota that's just right for you. And with great deals across the lineup, now's the time to find yours. But hurry, these deals won't last long. Toyota's easy choice sales event ends soon. We make it easy. Toyota, let's go places. Hi, this is Dave Roberts. Heading into summer without a medical emergency kit, that's a risk. Summer colds can linger and getting sick on vacation can derail everything. That's why everyone needs a medical emergency kit. It includes Dr. prescribed medications to treat common and

1:01:52serious illnesses. So if you wake up sick, at home, or on the road, you already have what you need. It's like having an urgent care and pharmacy at home. Say $45 with code blue at urgentcarekitt.com. If you prevaricate or trifle with me, I give you my assurance that the matter will pass out of my hands forever. Our visitors face had turned Ashen Gray as he listened to the words of his accuser. Now he sat for some time in thought, with his face sunk in his hands. Then with a sudden, impulsive gesture, he plucked a photograph from his breast pocket and threw it on the rustic table before us. That is why I have done it," said he. It showed the bust and face of a very beautiful woman. Holmes stooped over it. Brenda Trigenis said he. Yes, Brenda Trigenis repeated our visitor. For years I have loved her. For years she has loved me.

1:02:57There is the secret of that Cornish seclusion which people have marveled at. It has brought me close to the one thing on earth that was dear to me. I could not marry her. For I have a wife who has left me for years and yet whom by the deplorable laws of England, I could not divorce. For years Brenda waited. For years I waited. And this is what we have waited for. A terrible sob shook his great frame and he clutched his throat under his brindled beard. Then with an effort he mastered himself and spoke on. The vicar knew he was in our confidence. He would tell you that she was an angel upon earth. That was why he telegraphed me and I returned. What was my baggage or Africa to me? When I learned that such a fate had come upon my darling there you have the missing clue to my

1:03:58action Mr. Holmes, proceed, said my friend. Dr. Sterndale drew from his pocket a paper packet and laid it upon the table. On the outside was written Radix, Pedis, Diaboli, with a red poison label beneath it. He pushed it towards me. I understand that you are a doctor, sir. Have you ever heard of this preparation? Devil's foot rooked. No, I have never heard of it. It is no reflection upon your professional knowledge, said he. For I believe that save for one sample in a laboratory at Buddha, there is no other specimen in Europe. It has not yet found its way either into the pharma-capier or into the literature of toxicology. The route is shaped like a foot, half human, half goat-like, hence the fanciful name given by a botanical missionary.

1:05:01It is used as an ordeal poison by the medicine men in certain districts of West Africa, and is kept as a secret among them. This particular specimen I obtained under very extraordinary circumstances in the Ubangi country. He opened the paper as he spoke, and disclosed a heap of reddish-brown, snuff-like powder. Well, sir, asked Holmes sternly. I am about to tell you Mr. Holmes all that actually occurred. For you already know so much that it is clearly to my interest that you should know all. I have already explained the relationship in which I stood to the Tragenis family. For the sake of the sister I was friendly with the brothers. There was a family quarrel about money which estranged this man-multima, but it was supposed to be made up. I afterwards met him as I did the others. He was a sly, subtle, scheming man, and several things

1:06:06arose which gave me a suspicion of him. But I had no cause for any positive quarrel. One day, only a couple of weeks ago, he came down to my cottage, and I showed him some of my African curiosities. Among other things I exhibited this powder, and I told him of its strange properties, how it stimulates those brain centers which controlled the emotion of fear, and how either madness or death is the fate of the unhappy native who is subjected to the ordeal by the priest of his tribe. I told him also how powerless European science would be to detect it. How he took it I cannot say for I never left the room. But there is no doubt that it was then, while I was opening cabinets and stooping to boxes, that he managed to abstract some of the devil's thought route. I will remember how he plied me with questions as to the amount and the time that was needed for its effect. But I little dreamed that he could have a personal reason for asking.

1:07:09I thought no more of the matter until the vikers telegram reached me at Plymouth. This villain had thought that I would be at sea before the news could reach me, and that I should be lost for years in Africa. But I returned at once. Of course I could not listen to the details without feeling assured that my poison had been used. I came round to see you on the chance that some other explanation had suggested itself to you. But there could be none. I was convinced that Mortimer Tragenis was the murderer. That for the sake of money and with the idea perhaps that if the other members of his family were all insane, he would be the sole guardian of their joint property. He had used the devil's foot powder upon them, driven two of them out of their senses, and killed his sister Brenda, the one human being whom I have ever loved, or who has ever loved me. There was his crime. What was to be his punishment? Should I appeal to the law?

1:08:13Where were my proofs? I knew that the facts were true, but could I help to make a jury of countrymen believe so fantastic a story? I might, or I might not. But I could not afford to fail. My soul cried out for revenge. I have said to you once before, Mr. Holmes, that I have spent much of my life outside the law, and that I have come at last to be a law to myself, so it was even now. I determined that the fate which he had given to others should be shared by himself, either that, or I would do justice upon him with my own hand. In all England there can be no man who sets less value upon his own life than I do at the present moment. Now I have told you all. You have yourself supplied the rest. I did, as you say, after a restless night, set off early from my cottage. I foresaw the difficulty of arousing him, so I gathered some gravel from the pile which you

1:09:15have mentioned, and I used it to throw up to his window. He came down, and admitted me through the window of the sitting-room. I laid his offence before him. I told him that I had come both as judge and executioner. The wretch sank into a chair, paralyzed at the sight of my revolver. I lit the lamp, put the powder above it, and stood outside the window, ready to carry out my threat to shoot him should he try to leave the room. In five minutes he died. My God, how he died, but my heart was flint, for he endured nothing which my innocent darling had not felt before him. There is my story, Mr. Holmes. Perhaps if you loved a woman, you would have done as much yourself. At any rate I am in your hands. You can take what steps you like, as I have already said there is no man living who can fear death less than I do.

1:10:20Holmes sat for some little time in silence. What were your plans? He asked at last. I had intended to bury myself in Central Africa. My work there is but half finished. Go and do the other half, said Holmes. I at least am not prepared to prevent you. Dr. Sterndale raised his giant figure, bowed gravely, and walked from the arbor. Holmes lit his pipe, and handed me his pouch. Some fumes which are not poisonous would be a welcome change, said he. I think you must agree Watson, that it is not a case in which we are called upon to interfere. Our investigation has been independent, and our action shall be so also. You would not denounce the man? Certainly not, I answered. I have never loved Watson,

1:11:21but if I did, and if the woman I loved had met such an end, I might act, even as our lawless lion hunter has done. Who knows? Well Watson, I will not offend your intelligence by explaining what is obvious. The gravel upon the windowsill was of course the starting point of my research. It was unlike anything in the Vicarage Garden. Only when my attention had been drawn to Dr. Sterndale and his cottage did I find its counterpart. The lamp shining in broad daylight, and the remains of powder upon the shield, were successive links in a fairly obvious chain. And now, my dear Watson, I think we may dismiss the matter from our mind. And go back with a clear conscience to the study of those Caldian roots which are surely to be traced in the Cornish branch of the great Celtic speech.

1:12:26That is the end of the adventure of the Devil's Foot. By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Read by Greg Wackland. For Magpie Audio 2019. Toyota's easy choice sales event is on. Whether you're looking for the performance of the Camry, the versatility of Arat 4, the efficiency of a Corolla, or all electric driving in the BZ. There's a Toyota that's just right for you. And with great deals across the lineup, now's the time to find yours. But hurry, these deals won't last long. Toyota's easy choice sales event and soon. We make it easy. Toyota, let's go places. Hi, this is Dave Roberts. Heading into summer without a medical emergency kit, that's a risk. Summer colds can linger and getting sick on vacation can derail everything. That's why everyone needs a medical emergency kit. It includes Dr. prescribed medications to treat

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