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1"'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this
2kind. Where does the thing come from?' "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. "'Some preposterous
3practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such nonsense.' "'I
4should certainly speak to the police,' I said. "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' "'Then let me do
5so?' "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such nonsense.' "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a
6very obstinate man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of forebodings. "On the third day after the
7coming of the letter my father went from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is in command of one of
8the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from danger when he
9was away from home. In that, however, I was in error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram from the
10major, imploring me to come at once. My father had fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the
11neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever
12recovered his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was
13unknown to him, and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in bringing in a verdict of 'death from
14accidental causes.' Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I was unable to find anything which
15could suggest the idea of murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no robbery, no record of strangers
16having been seen upon the roads. And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, and that I was well-nigh
17certain that some foul plot had been woven round him. "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me
18why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an
19incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as pressing in one house as in another. "It was in January,
20'85, that my poor father met his end, and two years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time I have
21lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended
22with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very
23shape in which it had come upon my father." The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and turning to
24the table he shook out upon it five little dried orange pips. "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is
25London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put
26the papers on the sundial.'" "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "Nothing." "Nothing?" "To tell the truth"--he sank his
27face into his thin, white hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor rabbits when the snake is
28writhing towards it. I seem to be in the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight and no
29precautions can guard against." "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are lost. Nothing but
30energy can save you. This is no time for despair." "I have seen the police." "Ah!" "But they listened to my story with a
31smile. I am convinced that the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all practical jokes, and that the
32deaths of my relations were really accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with the warnings."
33Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible imbecility!" he cried. "They have, however, allowed me a
34policeman, who may remain in the house with me." "Has he come with you to-night?" "No. His orders were to stay in the
35house." Again Holmes raved in the air. "Why did you come to me?" he said, "and, above all, why did you not come at
36once?" "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to
37come to you." "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have acted before this. You have no further
38evidence, I suppose, than that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which might help us?" "There is one
39thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted paper,
40he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I
41observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single
42sheet upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it may be one of the papers which has, perhaps,
43fluttered out from among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond the mention of pips, I do not see
44that it helps us much. I think myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is undoubtedly my uncle's."
45Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been
46torn from a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the following enigmatical notices: "4th. Hudson came.
47Same old platform. "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and John Swain of St. Augustine. "9th. McCauley cleared.
48"10th. John Swain cleared. "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and
49returning it to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss
50what you have told me. You must get home instantly and act." "What shall I do?" "There is but one thing to do. It must
51be done at once. You must put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass box which you have described.
52You must also put in a note to say that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that this is the only one
53which remains. You must assert that in such words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you must at once
54put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do you understand?" "Entirely." "Do not think of revenge, or anything of
55the sort, at present. I think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our web to weave, while theirs is
56already woven. The first consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens you. The second is to clear up
57the mystery and to punish the guilty parties." "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his overcoat.
58"You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall certainly do as you advise." "Do not lose an instant. And, above all,
59take care of yourself in the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that you are threatened by a very
60real and imminent danger. How do you go back?" "By train from Waterloo." "It is not yet nine. The streets will be
61crowded, so I trust that you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too closely." "I am armed." "That is
62well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" "No, your secret lies in
63London. It is there that I shall seek it." "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news as to the box
64and the papers. I shall take your advice in every particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside the
65wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come
66to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed
67by them once more.
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