“ ‘You stand fast?’
“ ‘Absolutely.’
“He clapped his hand into his pocket, and I raised the pistolfrom the table. But he merely drew out a memorandum-book inwhich he had scribbled some dates.
“ ‘You crossed my path on the fourth of January,’ said he. ‘Onthe twenty-third you incommoded me; by the middle of Februarywas seriously inconvenienced by you; at the end of March I wasabsolutely hampered in my plans; and now, at the close of April,find myself placed in such a position through your continualpersecution that I am in positive danger of losing my liberty. Thesituation is becoming an impossible one.’
“ ‘Have you any suggestion to make?’ I asked.
“ ‘You must drop it, Mr. Holmes,’ said he, swaying his faceabout. ‘You really must, you know.’
“ ‘After Monday,’ said I.
“ ‘Tut, tut,’ said he. ‘I am quite sure that a man of yourintelligence will see that there can be but one outcome to thisMemoirs of Sherlock Holmes 839
affair. It is necessary that you should withdraw. You have workedthings in such a fashion that we have only one resource left. It hasbeen an intellectual treat to me to see the way in which you havegrappled with this affair, and I say, unaffectedly, that it would be agrief to me to be forced to take any extreme measure. You smile,sir, but I assure you that it really would.’
“ ‘Danger is part of my trade,’ I remarked.
“ ‘This is not danger,’ said he. ‘It is inevitable destruction. Youstand in the way not merely of an individual, but of a mightyorganization, the full extent of which you, with all your cleverness,have been unable to realize. You must stand clear, Mr. Holmes, orbe trodden under foot.’
“ ‘I am afraid,’ said I, rising, ‘that in the pleasure of thisconversation I am neglecting business of importance which awaitsme elsewhere.’
“He rose also and looked at me in silence, shaking his head sadly.
“ ‘Well, well,’ said he, at last. ‘It seems a pity, but I have donewhat I could. I know every move of your game. You can donothing before Monday. It has been a duel between you and me,Mr. Holmes. You hope to place me in the dock. I tell you thatI will never stand in the dock. You hope to beat me. I tell youthat you will never beat me. If you are clever enough to bringdestruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you.’
“ ‘You have paid me several compliments, Mr. Moriarty,’ said I.
‘Let me pay you one in return when I say that if I were assuredof the former eventuality I would, in the interests of the public,cheerfully accept the latter.’
“ ‘I can promise you the one, but not the other,’ he snarled,and so turned his rounded back upon me, and went peering andblinking out of the room.
“That was my singular interview with Professor Moriarty. Iconfess that it left an unpleasant effect upon my mind. His soft,precise fashion of speech leaves a conviction of sincerity which amere bully could not produce. Of course, you will say: ‘Why nottake police precautions against him?’ the reason is that I am wellconvinced that it is from his agents the blow will fall. I have thebest proofs that it would be so.”
“You have already been assaulted?”
“My dear Watson, Professor Moriarty is not a man who lets thegrass grow under his feet. I went out about midday to transactsome business in Oxford Street. As I passed the corner whichleads from Bentinck Street on to the Welbeck Street crossing atwo-horse van furiously driven whizzed round and was on me likea flash. I sprang for the foot-path and saved myself by the fractionof a second. The van dashed round by Marylebone Lane and was840 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
gone in an instant. I kept to the pavement after that, Watson, butas I walked down Vere Street a brick came down from the roofof one of the houses, and was shattered to fragments at my feet.
called the police and had the place examined. There were slatesand bricks piled up on the roof preparatory to some repairs, andthey would have me believe that the wind had toppled over oneof these. Of course I knew better, but I could prove nothing. Itook a cab after that and reached my brother’s rooms in Pall Mall,where I spent the day. Now I have come round to you, and on myway I was attacked by a rough with a bludgeon. I knocked himdown, and the police have him in custody; but I can tell you withthe most absolute confidence that no possible connection willever be traced between the gentleman upon whose front teeth Ihave barked my knuckles and the retiring mathematical coach,who is, I dare say, working out problems upon a black-board tenmiles away. You will not wonder, Watson, that my first act onentering your rooms was to close your shutters, and that I havebeen compelled to ask your permission to leave the house by someless conspicuous exit than the front door.”
I had often admired my friend’s courage, but never more thannow, as he sat quietly checking off a series of incidents which musthave combined to make up a day of horror.
“You will spend the night here?” I said.
“No, my friend, you might find me a dangerous guest. I have myplans laid, and all will be well. Matters have gone so far now thatthey can move without my help as far as the arrest goes, though mypresence is necessary for a conviction. It is obvious, therefore, thatcannot do better than get away for the few days which remainbefore the police are at liberty to act. It would be a great pleasure tome, therefore, if you could come on to the Continent with me.”
“The practice is quiet,” said I, “and I have an accommodatingneighbor. I should be glad to come.”
“And to start to-morrow morning?”
“If necessary.”