空屋历险记1

It was in the spring of the year 1894that all London was interested, and the fashionable world dismayed, by the murder of the Honourable Ronald Adair under most unusual and inexplicable circumstances. The public has already learned those particulars of the crime which came out in the police investigation; but a good deal was suppressed upon that occasion, since the case for the prosecution was so overwhelmingly strong that it was not necessary to bring forward all the facts. Only now, at the end of nearly ten years, am I allowed to supply those missing links which make up the whole of that remarkable chain. The crime was of interest in itself, but that interest was as nothing to me compared to the inconceivable sequel, which afforded me the greatest shock and surprise of any event in my adventurous life. Even now, after this long interval, I find myself thrilling as I think of it, and feeling once more that sudden flood of joy, amazement, and incredulity which utterly submerged my mind. Let me say to that public, which has shown some interest in those glimpses which I have occasionally given them of the thoughts and actions of a very remarkable man that they are not to blame me if I have not shared my knowledge with them, for I should have considered it my first duty to have done so had I not been barred by a positive prohibition from his own lips, which was only withdrawn upon the third of last month.

1894年春天，受人敬仰的罗纳德·阿代尔离奇地遭人谋杀，这桩不可思议的谋杀案引起了整个伦敦市的关注，并让上流社会感到惶恐。警方公布的调查结果向公众阐释了详细的案情经过，但仍有很大一部分内容并未公之于众。起诉理由已经十分充分，因而没有必要公开所有案情事实。直到现在，将近十年过去了，我才获许补充案件重要线索中缺失的环节。案子本身耐人寻味，但是在我看来，这与不可思议的结局相比算不了什么。我一生冒险无数，而此案的结局最令我感到震惊和诧异。到现在，事隔已久，但每每回想起来我仍不自觉地激动不已，霎那间涌来的喜悦、惊奇与难以置信之感淹没了我的思绪。一部分公众对我偶尔谈起的某位非常有名的人物的言行举止比较关注，我想对他们说：如果我没有与他们分享所知的一切，请不要责怪我，因为要不是有人曾亲口禁止我这样做，我本来会把它当成自己的首要义务。这项禁令在上个月3号才刚刚取消。

It can be imagined that my close intimacy with Sherlock Holmes had interested me deeply in crime, and that after his disappearance I never failed to read with care the various problems which came before the public, and I even attempted more than once for my own private satisfaction to employ his methods in their solution, though with indifferent success. There was none, however, which appealed to me like this tragedy of Ronald Adair. As I read the evidence at the inquest, which led up to a verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown, I realized more clearly than I had ever done the loss which the community had sustained by the death of Sherlock Holmes. There were points about this strange business which would, I was sure, have specially appealed to him, and the efforts of the police would have been supplemented, or more probably anticipated, by the trained observation and the alert mind of the first criminal agent in Europe. All day as I drove upon my round I turned over the case in my mind, and found no explanation which appeared to me to be adequate. At the risk of telling a twice—told tale I will recapitulate the facts as they were known to the public at the conclusion of the inquest.

可以想象到，与舍洛克·福尔摩斯的密切交往使我对破案产生了浓厚的兴趣。在他失踪以后，凡是对外界公开了的案情疑点，我都仔细研究过，我甚至为了自我满足，还不止一次地尝试用他的方法来解释这些疑点，尽管并不怎么成功。然而，没有任何一桩疑案像罗纳德·阿代尔的惨死那样吸引我。我读了审讯时提供的证据，某个或某些未查明的人因此被判蓄意谋杀罪，那时我比以往任何时候都更加清楚地意识到福尔摩斯的死给社会带来的损失。我确信这桩诡异的案件中有几点一定会特别吸引他，这位欧洲首屈一指的刑事侦探有着训练有素的观察力和敏锐的头脑，这很可能能弥补警力的不足，或更可能预料案情的发展。在巡回出诊的时候，我成天脑子里都在琢磨这桩案子，但始终没有找到一个令我信服的解释。我甘愿冒险讲一个人尽皆知的故事，把审讯结束时公布过的案情扼要地重述一遍。

The Honourable Ronald Adair was the second son of the Earl of Maynooth, at that time governor of one of the Australian colonies. Adair's mother had returned from Australia to undergo the operation for cataract, and she, her son Ronald, and her daughter Hilda were living together at 427, Park Lane. The youth moved in the best society—had, so far as was known, no enemies, and no particular vices. He had been engaged to Miss Edith Woodley, of Carstairs, but the engagement had been broken off by mutual consent some months before, and there was no sign that it had left any very profound feeling behind it. For the rest the man's life moved in a narrow and conventional circle, for his habits were quiet and his nature unemotional. Yet it was upon this easy—going young aristocrat that death came in most strange and unexpected form between the hours of ten and eleventwenty on the night of March 30, 1894.

尊敬的罗纳德·阿代尔先生是当时澳大利亚某殖民地总督梅鲁斯伯爵的次子。他的母亲从澳大利亚回国来做白内障手术，就与儿子罗纳德和女儿希尔达同住在公园路427号。这位年轻人时常出入上流社会，就大家所知，他既没有仇人，也没有什么特别的恶习。他曾与卡斯特尔斯的伊迪丝·伍德利小姐订过婚，但几个月前双方同意解除婚约，此后也没有迹象表明他们对彼此还有什么很深的感情。他平日的时间都消磨在一个狭小、保守的圈子里，因为他生性冷漠，总是沉默不语。然而，在1894年3月30日夜里10点至11点20分之间，死亡突然以十分诡异、出人意料的方式向这个随和的年轻贵族袭来。

Ronald Adair was fond of cards—playing continually, but never for such stakes as would hurt him. He was a member of the Baldwin, the Cavendish, and the Bagatelle card clubs. It was shown that after dinner on the day of his death he had played a rubber of whist at the latter club. He had also played there in the afternoon. The evidence of those who had played with him—Mr. Murray, Sir John Hardy, and Colonel Moran—showed that the game was whist, and that there was a fairly equal fall of the cards. Adair might have lost five pounds, but not more. His fortune was a considerable one, and such a loss could not in any way affect him. He had played nearly every day at one club or other, but he was a cautious player, and usually rose a winner. It came out in evidence that in partnership with Colonel Moran he had actually won as much as four hundred and twenty pounds in a sitting some weeks before from Godfrey Milner and Lord Balmoral. So much for his recent history, as it came out at the inquest.

罗纳德·阿代尔一直喜欢玩纸牌，但赌注从未大到有损他身份的地步。他是鲍尔温、卡文狄希和巴格特尔三个纸牌俱乐部的会员。调查显示，遇害当天他曾于晚饭后在卡文狄希俱乐部玩了一盘惠斯特。当天下午他也在那儿打过牌。跟他一起打牌的莫里先生、约翰·哈迪爵士和莫兰上校的证词表明他们玩的是惠斯特，而且每人的牌好坏差不多。阿代尔大概输了5磅，但不会超过这个数。他有一笔数量可观的财产，这点儿小小的损失对他不会有任何影响。他几乎天天不是在这个俱乐部就是在那个俱乐部打牌，不过他是个小心谨慎的玩家，并且还常常是赢了才离开牌桌。证词中还提到，几星期以前，他曾跟莫兰上校一起，一口气赢了戈弗雷·米尔纳和巴尔莫洛勋爵420镑之多。审讯得到的有关他的近况只有这么多。

On the evening of the crime he returned from the club exactly at ten. His mother and sister were out spending the evening with a relation. The servant deposed that she heard him enter the front room on the second floor, generally used as his sitting—room. She had lit a fire there, and as it smoked she had opened the window. No sound was heard from the room until eleven—twenty, the hour of the return of Lady Maynooth and her daughter. Desiring to say good—night, she had attempted to enter her son's room. The door was locked on the inside, and no answer could be got to their cries and knocking. Help was obtained and the door forced. The unfortunate young man was found lying near the table. His head had been horribly mutilated by an expanding revolver bullet, but no weapon of any sort was to be found in the room. On the table lay two bank—notes for ten pounds each and seventeen pounds ten in silver and gold, the money arranged in little piles of varying amount. There were some figures also upon a sheet of paper with the names of some club friends opposite to them, from which it was conjectured that before his death he was endeavouring to make out his losses or winnings at cards.

事发当晚十点整，他从俱乐部回到家里。母亲和妹妹那晚在亲戚家串门。据女仆供述，她曾听见他走进二楼的前厅，也就是通常用作客厅的那间屋子。女仆那时已经在屋里生好了火，因为有烟，她还开了窗户。直到11点20分梅鲁斯夫人和女儿回来之前，屋里一直都没有动静。梅鲁斯夫人想进儿子屋里去说声晚安。但房门从里面锁上了，她们叫喊、敲门都没得到任何回应。于是她们找了人来把门撞开，只见这个不幸的青年躺在桌边。他的脑袋被一颗爆开的左轮子弹击碎，模样很可怕，可是在屋里没发现任何凶器。桌上摆着两张十英镑的钞票，和几小堆数目不等的金币和银币，总共17镑10先令。另外有一张纸，上面记了若干数字，与几个俱乐部朋友的名字一一对应着，由此可以推测遇害前阿代尔正在计算打牌的输赢。

A minute examination of the circumstances served only to make the case more complex. In the first place, no reason could be given why the young man should have fastened the door upon the inside. There was the possibility that the murderer had done this and had afterwards escaped by the window. The drop was at least twenty feet, however, and a bed of crocuses in full bloom lay beneath. Neither the flowers nor the earth showed any sign of having been disturbed, nor were there any marks upon the narrow strip of grass which separated the house from the road. Apparently, therefore, it was the young man himself who had fastened the door. But how did he come by his death? No one could have climbed up to the window without leaving traces. Suppose a man had fired through the window, it would indeed be a remarkable shot who could with a revolver inflict so deadly a wound. Again, Park Lane is a frequented thoroughfare, and there is a cab—stand within a hundred yards of the house. No one had heard a shot. And yet there was the dead man, and there the revolver bullet, which had mushroomed out, as soft—nosed bullets will, and so inflicted a wound which must have caused instantaneous death. Such were the circumstances of the Park Lane Mystery, which were further complicated by entire absence of motive, since, as I have said, young Adair was not known to have any enemy, and no attempt had been made to remove the money or valuables in the room.

现场的详细检查只是使案情变得更加复杂。首先，没有任何理由可以解释为什么这个年轻人要从屋里把门插上。有可能是凶手插上了门，然后从窗户逃跑了。但是，从窗口到地面的距离至少有20英尺，而且窗下的花坛里正开满了番红花。花丛和泥土都没有人踩过的痕迹，房子和街道之间那条狭长的草地上也不像有人走过。因此，显然是年轻人自己把门插上的。然而已经遇害的他怎么做得到呢？没有人可以不留任何痕迹地爬上窗户。假设是有人从窗外开的枪，那这个人必定是一个出色的射手，因为他能用一把左轮手枪造成这样的致命伤。另外，公园路是一条川流不息的大道，而且离这所房子不到100码的地方就有一个马车站。当时没有一个人听到枪声。可是这儿却死了人，还有一颗像所有铅头子弹那样射出后就会开花的左轮手枪子弹，它造成的创伤可以立刻致人死亡。公园路疑案的这些情况，由于找不到任何作案动机而变得更加复杂，就像前面我所讲的，没人听说年轻的阿代尔有任何仇人，他屋里的金钱和贵重物品也没人动过。

All day I turned these facts over in my mind, endeavouring to hit upon some theory which could reconcile them all, and to find that line of least resistance which my poor friend had declared to be the starting—point of every investigation. I confess that I made little progress. In the evening I strolled across the Park, and found myself about six o'clock at the Oxford Street end of Park Lane. A group of loafers upon the pavements, all staring up at a particular window, directed me to the house which I had come to see. A tall, thin man with coloured glasses, whom I strongly suspected of being a plain—clothes detective, was pointing out some theory of his own, while the others crowded round to listen to what he said. I got as near him as I could, but his observations seemed to me to be absurd, so I withdrew again in some disgust. As I did so I struck against an elderly deformed man, who had been behind me, and I knocked down several books which he was carrying. I remember that as I picked them up I observed the title of one of them, The Origin of Tree Worship, and it struck me that the fellow must be some poor bibliophile who, either as a trade or as a hobby, was a collector of obscure volumes. I endeavoured to apologize for the accident, but it was evident that these books which I had so unfortunately maltreated were very precious objects in the eyes of their owner. With a snarl of contempt he turned upon his heel, and I saw his curved back and white side—whiskers disappear among the throng.

我整天反复思考这些事实，希望突然想到某个理论来把它们理顺，找到最省力的途径，这被我那不幸的亡友称为一切调查的起点。老实说，案情有了一点儿进展。傍晚，我漫步穿过公园，大约在6点左右走到了公园路和牛津街相接的那头。一群游手好闲的人聚在人行道上，都抬着头盯着一扇窗户看，替我指出了我特地要来看看的那所房子。一个戴着墨镜的瘦高个儿正在讲述他自己的某种推测，其他人都围着听，我非常怀疑他是个便衣侦探。我尽量凑近他，但他的说法让我觉得很荒谬，于是我有点儿厌恶地从人群中退了出来。正在这时我撞到了身后一位有残疾的老人身上，把他抱着的几本书碰掉在地上。记得当我捡起那些书的时候，看见其中一本书的名字是《树木崇拜的起源》，这使我想到老人必定是个穷藏书家，收集一些名不见经传的书籍作为生计或爱好。我努力为这场意外道歉，但显然不幸被我碰掉的这几本书在它们主人的眼里是非常珍贵的。他鄙视地吼了一声，转身就走，我看着他驼背的身影和花白的连鬓胡子消失在人群中。

My observations of No. 427, Park Lane did little to clear up the problem in which I was interested. The house was separated from the street by a low wall and railing, the whole not more than five feet high. It was perfectly easy, therefore, for anyone to get into the garden, but the window was entirely inaccessible, since there was no water—pipe or anything which could help the most active man to climb it. More puzzled than ever I retraced my steps to Kensington. I had not been in my study five minutes when the maid entered to say that a person desired to see me. To my astonishment it was none other than my strange old book—collector, his sharp, wizened face peering out from a frame of white hair, and his precious volumes, a dozen of them at least, wedged under his right arm.

我对公园路427号的多次观察对弄清楚我所关心的问题没起到什么作用。这所房子与街道间用高不过5英尺的矮墙和栅栏隔开。因此任何人想进入花园都非常容易，但那扇窗户完全够不着，因为外面没有可以借力的水管或别的什么东西，即使是最灵巧的人也不可能爬上去。我从未这样地感到迷惑不解，只得折回肯辛顿。在书房里呆了还不到五分钟，女仆就进来说有人要见我。令我吃惊的是，来的不是别人，正是那个收藏书籍的古怪老头儿。灰白的须发中露出他那张轮廓分明而干皱的脸，右臂下夹着一摞他心爱的书，至少有十来本。

"You're surprised to see me, sir, " said he, in a strange, croaking voice.

“您没想到是我吧，先生。” 他的声音古怪而嘶哑。

I acknowledged that I was.

我承认我没有想到是他。

"Well, I've a conscience, sir, and when I chanced to see you go into this house, as I came hobbling after you, I thought to myself, I'll just step in and see that kind gentleman, and tell him that if I was a bit gruff in my manner there was not any harm meant, and that I am much obliged to him for picking up my books. "

“呃……我有点儿过意不去，先生。刚才我一瘸一拐地走在您后头，碰巧看见您走进这所房子。我对自己说，我要进来看看那位好心的绅士，告诉他刚才我的态度有点粗暴，但并没有丝毫恶意，还要谢谢他替我把书捡起来。”

"You make too much of a trifle, " said I. "May I ask how you knew who I was? "

“这点儿小事您看得太重了。” 我说。 “可不可以问一下您是怎么知道我是谁的？”

"Well, sir, if it isn't too great a liberty, I am a neighbour of yours, for you'll find my little bookshop at the corner of Church Street, and very happy to see you, I am sure. Maybe you collect yourself, sir; Here's British Birds, and Catullus, and The Holy War—a bargain every one of them. With five volumes you could just fill that gap on that second shelf. It looks untidy, does it not, sir? "

“先生，如果不算冒犯的话，我算是您的街坊，我的小书店就在教堂街拐角的地方，非常欢迎您去看看。您大概也收藏书吧，先生。这儿有《英国鸟类》、《克图拉斯》、《圣战》——每一本都很划算。再来五本书您就可以正好把那第二层的空档填满。现在看起来不太整齐，是不是，先生？”

I moved my head to look at the cabinet behind me. When I turned again Sherlock Holmes was standing smiling at me across my study table. I rose to my feet, stared at him for some seconds in utter amazement, and then it appears that I must have fainted for the first and the last time in my life. Certainly a grey mist swirled before my eyes, and when it cleared I found my collar—ends undone and the tingling after—taste of brandy upon my lips. Holmes was bending over my chair, his flask in his hand.

我回头看了看身后的书柜。等我转回头来，舍洛克·福尔摩斯就站在那儿，隔着书桌对我微笑。我站起身，十分震惊地瞪着他看了几秒钟，然后我一定是晕过去了，这是我平生头一次，也是最后一次。确实有一团灰色的薄雾笼罩在我的眼前，当它散去后，我发现自己的领口是解开的，唇间还留有白兰地辛辣的余味。福尔摩斯正坐在我的椅子上，一手拿着他的扁酒瓶。

"My dear Watson, " said the well—remembered voice, "I owe you a thousand apologies. I had no idea that you would be so affected. "

“亲爱的沃森，” 那个熟悉的声音说， “我万分抱歉。没想到你会有这么大的反应。”

I gripped him by the arm.

我紧紧抓住他的手臂。

"Holmes! " I cried. "Is it really you? Can it indeed be that you are alive? Is it possible that you succeeded in climbing out of that awful abyss? "

“福尔摩斯！” 我大喊道， “真的是你？难道你真的还活着？你怎么可能从那可怕的深渊中活着爬出来？”

"Wait a moment, " said he. "Are you sure that you are really fit to discuss things? I have given you a serious shock by my unnecessarily dramatic reappearance. "

“等一下，” 他说， “你确定以你现在的身体状况可以谈正事儿吗？我戏剧化的出现真是多此一举，竟给你带来了这么大的刺激。”

"I am all right, but indeed, Holmes, I can hardly believe my eyes. Good heavens, to think that you—you of all men——should be standing in my study! " Again I gripped him by the sleeve and felt the thin, sinewy arm beneath it. "Well, you're not a spirit, anyhow, " said I. "My dear chap, I am overjoyed to see you. Sit down and tell me how you came alive out of that dreadful chasm. "

“我没事了。可是说真的，福尔摩斯，我真不敢相信自己的眼睛。天哪！想想看，是你啊——世界上这么多人，竟会是你在我书房中站着！” 我又抓起他的另一只袖子，感受到里面那精瘦而有力的胳臂 “嗯，可是不管怎样，你不是鬼。” 我说。 “亲爱的朋友，看到你我太高兴了。坐下来，跟我聊聊你是怎样从那可怕的峡谷中活着出来的。”

He sat opposite to me and lit a cigarette in his old nonchalant manner. He was dressed in the seedy frock—coat of the book merchant, but the rest of that individual lay in a pile of white hair and old books upon the table. Holmes looked even thinner and keener than of old, but there was a dead—white tinge in his aquiline face which told me that his life recently had not been a healthy one.

他面对着我坐下来，像从前一样若无其事地点燃了一支烟。他还穿着书商的那件破旧长外套，不过其他的东西，包括一堆白发和旧书都放在桌上了。福尔摩斯看起来比以前更加清瘦、敏锐，但他那张鹰一般的脸上带着一丝苍白，看得出他最近的生活并不怎么样。

"I am glad to stretch myself, Watson, " said he. "It is no joke when a tall man has to take a foot off his stature for several hours on end. Now, my dear fellow, in the matter of these explanations we have, if I may ask for your co—operation, a hard and dangerous night's work in front of us. Perhaps it would be better if I gave you an account of the whole situation when that work is finished. "

“我很高兴可以直起腰了，沃森。” 他说， “让一个高个子接连几小时弓着身子变矮一英尺，这可真不是开玩笑的。现在，我亲爱的朋友，至于如何解释这一切——如果可以请你合作的话——咱们还要面临一晚上艰巨而又危险的工作。也许在这项工作完成后，我再把全部情况告诉你会比较好。”

"I am full of curiosity. I should much prefer to hear now. "

“我非常好奇。真想现在就能听到。”

"You'll come with me to—night? "

“今晚你会跟我一起去的吧？”

"When you like and where you like. "

“任何时候，任何地方，只要你一句话。”

"This is indeed like the old days. We shall have time for a mouthful of dinner before we need go. Well, then, about that chasm. I had no serious difficulty in getting out of it, for the very simple reason that I never was in it. "

“真的还和过去一样。出发之前，咱们应该还有时间吃口晚饭。那好吧，就说说那个峡谷。我从峡谷中逃出来并不是很困难，理由很简单：我根本没掉进去。”

"You never were in it? "

“你根本没掉进去？”

"No, Watson, I never was in it. My note to you was absolutely genuine. I had little doubt that I had come to the end of my career when I perceived the somewhat sinister figure of the late Professor Moriarty standing upon the narrow pathway which led to safety. I read an inexorable purpose in his grey eyes. I exchanged some remarks with him, therefore, and obtained his courteous permission to write the short note which you afterwards received. I left it with my cigarette—box and my stick and I walked along the pathway, Moriarty still at my heels. When I reached the end I stood at bay. He drew no weapon, but he rushed at me and threw his long arms around me. He knew that his own game was up, and was only anxious to revenge himself upon me. We tottered together upon the brink of the fall. I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me. I slipped through his grip, and he with a horrible scream kicked madly for a few seconds and clawed the air with both his hands. But for all his efforts he could not get his balance, and over he went. With my face over the brink I saw him fall for a long way. Then he struck a rock, bounded off, and splashed into the water. "

“是的，沃森。我根本没有掉进去。我给你的便条是绝对真实的。在我察觉到那个有些阴险的莫里亚蒂教授正站在通向安全地带的窄道上时，我丝毫不怀疑自己的末日到了。我在他灰色的眼睛里读到了一个凶残的企图。于是我跟他交谈了几句，他客气地允许我写了后来你收到的那张便条。我把它和我的烟盒与手杖一起留在那里，就沿着那条窄道往前走，莫里亚蒂仍紧跟着我。走到尽头后，我无路可退了。他并没有掏出武器，却突然冲过来伸出长臂一把将我扼住。他知道自己的一切都完了，所以唯一急着要做的就是来报复我。我们两人在瀑布边上扭打在一起。然而，我对日本式摔跤略知一二，过去还不止一次用过这一手。我从他的双臂中挣脱出来，他发出一声可怕的尖叫，疯狂地踢了几下，两手在空中乱抓。尽管费了很大的劲，他还是无法保持平衡，掉了下去。我探出头，看到他坠下去很长一段距离，然后撞在了一块岩石上，又被弹出去，坠入水里。”

I listened with amazement to this explanation, which Holmes delivered between the puffs of his cigarette.

我惊愕地听着福尔摩斯边抽烟边讲述的这段经历。

"But the tracks! " I cried. "I saw with my own eyes that two went down the path and none returned. "

“可是还有脚印哪！” 我大声说， “我亲眼看见那条路上有两个人往前走的脚印，往回走的一个也没有。”

"It came about in this way. The instant that the Professor had disappeared it struck me what a really extraordinarily lucky chance Fate had placed in my way. I knew that Moriarty was not the only man who had sworn my death. There were at least three others whose desire for vengeance upon me would only be increased by the death of their leader. They were all most dangerous men. One or other would certainly get me. On the other hand, if all the world was convinced that I was dead they would take liberties, these men, they would lay themselves open, and sooner or later I could destroy them. Then it would be time for me to announce that I was still in the land of the living. So rapidly does the brain act that I believe I had thought this all out before Professor Moriarty had reached the bottom of the Reichenbach Fall.

“事情是这样的。就在教授掉进深渊的一刹那，我突然意识到命运为我安排了一次极好的机会。我知道莫里亚蒂不是唯一一个发誓要置我于死地的人。至少还有三个人，他们要向我报复的欲望会因他们首领的死而变得更为强烈。他们都是非常危险的人。总会有一个一定会找到我。另一方面，如果全世界都相信我死了，这几个人就会松懈下来，公开露面，这样我迟早能消灭他们。那就是我宣布自己还活在人间的时候了。大脑活动起来是那么迅速，我相信，莫里亚蒂教授还没有落到赖兴巴赫瀑布底端时，我已经想出了这一切。”

"I stood up and examined the rocky wall behind me. In your picturesque account of the matter, which I read with great interest some months later, you assert that the wall was sheer. This was not literally true. A few small footholds presented themselves, and there was some indication of a ledge. The cliff is so high that to climb it all was an obvious impossibility, and it was equally impossible to make my way along the wet path without leaving some tracks. I might, it is true, have reversed my boots, as I have done on similar occasions, but the sight of three sets of tracks in one direction would certainly have suggested a deception. On the whole, then, it was best that I should risk the climb. It was not a pleasant business, Watson. The fall roared beneath me. I am not a fanciful person, but I give you my word that I seemed to hear Moriarty's voice screaming at me out of the abyss. A mistake would have been fatal. More than once, as tufts of grass came out in my hand or my foot slipped in the wet notches of the rock, I thought that I was gone. But I struggled upwards, and at last I reached a ledge several feet deep and covered with soft green moss, where I could lie unseen in the most perfect comfort. There I was stretched when you, my dear Watson, and all your following were investigating in the most sympathetic and inefficient manner the circumstances of my death.