“Oh yes, it is most necessary. Then these are your instructions,and I beg, my dear Watson, that you will obey them to the letter,for you are now playing a double-handed game with me against thecleverest rogue and the most powerful syndicate of criminals inEurope. Now listen! You will dispatch whatever luggage you intendto take by a trusty messenger unaddressed to Victoria to-night. Inthe morning you will send for a hansom, desiring your man to takeneither the first nor the second which may present itself. Into thishansom you will jump, and you will drive to the Strand end of theLowther Arcade, handing the address to the cabman upon a slipof paper, with a request that he will not throw it away. Have yourMemoirs of Sherlock Holmes 841
fare ready, and the instant that your cab stops, dash through theArcade, timing yourself to reach the other side at a quarter-pastnine. You will find a small brougham waiting close to the curb,driven by a fellow with a heavy black cloak tipped at the collarwith red. Into this you will step, and you will reach Victoria intime for the Continental express.”
“Where shall I meet you?”
“At the station. The second first-class carriage from the frontwill be reserved for us.”
“The carriage is our rendezvous, then?”
“Yes.”
It was in vain that I asked Holmes to remain for the evening. Itwas evident to me that he thought he might bring trouble to theroof he was under, and that that was the motive which impelledhim to go. With a few hurried words as to our plans for themorrow he rose and came out with me into the garden, clamberingover the wall which leads into Mortimer Street, and immediatelywhistling for a hansom, in which I heard him drive away.
In the morning I obeyed Holmes’s injunctions to the letter. Ahansom was procured with such precaution as would prevent itsbeing one which was placed ready for us, and I drove immediatelyafter breakfast to the Lowther Arcade, through which I hurried atthe top of my speed. A brougham was waiting with a very massivedriver wrapped in a dark cloak, who, the instant that I had steppedin, whipped up the horse and rattled off to Victoria Station. Onmy alighting there he turned the carriage, and dashed away againwithout so much as a look in my direction.
So far all had gone admirably. My luggage was waiting for me,and I had no difficulty in finding the carriage which Holmes hadindicated, the less so as it was the only one in the train whichwas marked “Engaged.” My only source of anxiety now wasthe non-appearance of Holmes. The station clock marked onlyseven minutes from the time when we were due to start. In vainI searched among the groups of travellers and leave-takers forthe lithe figure of my friend. There was no sign of him. I spenta few minutes in assisting a venerable Italian priest, who wasendeavoring to make a porter understand, in his broken English,that his luggage was to be booked through to Paris. Then, havingtaken another look round, I returned to my carriage, where Ifound that the porter, in spite of the ticket, had given me my decrepitItalian friend as a traveling companion. It was useless for me toexplain to him that his presence was an intrusion, for my Italianwas even more limited than his English, so I shrugged my shouldersresignedly, and continued to look out anxiously for my friend. Achill of fear had come over me, as I thought that his absence might842 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
mean that some blow had fallen during the night. Already the doorshad all been shut and the whistle blown, when——“My dear Watson,” said a voice, “you have not even condescendedto say good-morning.”
I turned in uncontrollable astonishment. The aged ecclesiastichad turned his face towards me. For an instant the wrinkles weresmoothed away, the nose drew away from the chin, the lower lipceased to protrude and the mouth to mumble, the dull eyes regainedtheir fire, the drooping figure expanded. The next the whole framecollapsed again, and Holmes had gone as quickly as he had come.
“Good heavens!” I cried, “how you startled me!”
“Every precaution is still necessary,” he whispered. “I havereason to think that they are hot upon our trail. Ah, there isMoriarty himself.”
The train had already begun to move as Holmes spoke.
Glancing back, I saw a tall man pushing his way furiously throughthe crowd, and waving his hand as if he desired to have the trainstopped. It was too late, however, for we were rapidly gatheringmomentum, and an instant later had shot clear of the station.
“With all our precautions, you see that we have cut it ratherfine,” said Holmes, laughing. He rose, and throwing off the blackcassock and hat which had formed his disguise, he packed themaway in a hand-bag.
“Have you seen the morning paper, Watson?”
“No.”
“You haven’t’ seen about Baker Street, then?”
“Baker Street?”
“They set fire to our rooms last night. No great harm was done.”
“Good heavens, Holmes! this is intolerable.”
“They must have lost my track completely after their bludgeonmanwas arrested. Otherwise they could not have imaginedthat I had returned to my rooms. They have evidently takenthe precaution of watching you, however, and that is what hasbrought Moriarty to Victoria. You could not have made any slip incoming?”
“I did exactly what you advised.”
“Did you find your brougham?”
“Yes, it was waiting.”
“Did you recognize your coachman?”
“No.”
“It was my brother Mycroft. It is an advantage to get about insuch a case without taking a mercenary into your confidence. Butwe must plan what we are to do about Moriarty now.”
“As this is an express, and as the boat runs in connection with it,should think we have shaken him off very effectively.”
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“My dear Watson, you evidently did not realize my meaningwhen I said that this man may be taken as being quite on the sameintellectual plane as myself. You do not imagine that if I were thepursuer I should allow myself to be baffled by so slight an obstacle.
Why, then, should you think so meanly of him?”
“What will he do?”