THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES

                               THE SIGN OF FOUR


                                  Chapter 8

                         THE BAKER STREET IRREGULARS

"WHAT now?" I asked.  "Toby has lost his character for infallibility."
     "He acted according to his lights," said Holmes, lifting him down from
the barrel and walking him out of the timber-yard.  "If you consider how much
creosote is carted about London in one day, it is no great wonder that our
trail should have been crossed.  It is much used now, especially for the
seasoning of wood.  Poor Toby is not to blame."
     "We must get on the main scent again, I suppose."
     "Yes.  And, fortunately, we have no distance to go.  Evidently what
puzzled the dog at the corner of Knight's Place was that there were two
different trails running in opposite directions.  We took the wrong one.  It
only remains to follow the other."
     There was no difficulty about this.  On leading Toby to the place where
he had committed his fault, he cast about in a wide circle and finally dashed
off in a fresh direction.
     "We must take care that he does not now bring us to the place where the
creosote-barrel came from," I observed.
     "I had thought of that.  But you notice that he keeps on the pavement,
whereas the barrel passed down the roadway.  No, we are on the true scent
now."
     It tended down towards the riverside, running through Belmont Place and
Prince's Street.  At the end of Broad Street it ran right down to the water's
edge, where there was a small wooden wharf.  Toby led us to the very edge of
this and there stood whining, looking out on the dark current beyond.
     "We are out of luck," said Holmes.  "They have taken to a boat here."
     Several small punts and skiffs were lying about in the water and on the
edge of the wharf.  We took Toby round to each in turn, but though he sniffed
earnestly he made no sign.
     Close to the rude landing-stage was a small brick house, with a wooden
placard slung out through the second window.  "Mordecai Smith" was printed
across it in large letters, and, underneath, "Boats to hire by the hour or
day."  A second inscription above the door informed us that a steam launch was
kept--a statement which was confirmed by a great pile of coke upon the jetty.
Sherlock Holmes looked slowly round, and his face assumed an ominous
expression.
     "This looks bad," said he.  "These fellows are sharper than I expected.
They seem to have covered their tracks.  There has, I fear, been preconcerted
management here."
     He was approaching the door of the house, when it opened, and a little
curly-headed lad of six came running out, followed by a stoutish, red-faced
woman with a large sponge in her hand.
     "You come back and be washed, Jack," she shouted.  "Come back, you young
imp; for if your father comes home and finds you like that he'll let us hear
of it."
     "Dear little chap!" said Holmes strategically.  "What a rosy-cheeked
young rascal!  Now, Jack, is there anything you would like?"
     The youth pondered for a moment.
     "I'd like a shillin'," said he.
     "Nothing you would like better?"
     "I'd like two shillin' better," the prodigy answered after some thought.
     "Here you are, then!  Catch!--A fine child, Mrs. Smith!"
     "Lor' bless you, sir, he is that, and forward.  He gets a'most too much
for me to manage, 'specially when my man is away days at a time."
     "Away, is he?" said Holmes in a disappointed voice.  "I am sorry for
that, for I wanted to speak to Mr. Smith."
     "He's been away since yesterday mornin', sir, and, truth to tell, I am
beginnin' to feel frightened about him.  But if it was about a boat, sir,
maybe I could serve as well."
     "I wanted to hire his steam launch."
     "Why, bless you, sir, it is in the steam launch that he has gone.  That's
what puzzles me; for I know there ain't more coals in her than would take her
to about Woolwich and back.  If he's been away in the barge I'd ha' thought
nothin'; for many a time a job has taken him as far as Gravesend, and then if
there was much doin' there he might ha' stayed over.  But what good is a steam
launch without coals?"
     "He might have bought some at a wharf down the river."
     "He might, sir, but it weren't his way.  Many a time I've heard him call
out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags.  Besides, I don't like that
wooden-legged man, wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk.  What did he want
always knockin' about here for?"
     "A wooden-legged man?" said Holmes with bland surprise.
     "Yes, sir, a brown, monkey-faced chap that's called more'n once for my
old man.  It was him that roused him up yesternight, and, what's more, my man
knew he was comin', for he had steam up in the launch.  I tell you straight,
sir, I don't feel easy in my mind about it."
     "But, my dear Mrs. Smith," said Holmes, shrugging his shoulders, "you are
frightening yourself about nothing.  How could you possibly tell that it was
the wooden-legged man who came in the night?  I don't quite understand how you
can be so sure."
     "His voice, sir.  I knew his voice, which is kind o' thick and foggy.  He
tapped at the winder--about three it would be.  'Show a leg, matey,' says he:
'time to turn out guard.'  My old man woke up Jim--that's my eldest--and away
they went without so much as a word to me.  I could hear the wooden leg
clackin' on the stones."
     "And was this wooden-legged man alone?"
     "Couldn't say, I am sure, sir.  I didn't hear no one else."
     "I am sorry, Mrs. Smith, for I wanted a steam launch, and I have heard
good reports of the-- --  Let me see, what is her name?"
     "The Aurora, sir."
     "Ah!  She's not that old green launch with a yellow line, very broad in
the beam?"
     "No, indeed.  She's as trim a little thing as any on the river.  She's
been fresh painted, black with two red streaks."
     "Thanks.  I hope that you will hear soon from Mr. Smith.  I am going down
the river, and if I should see anything of the Aurora I shall let him know
that you are uneasy.  A black funnel, you say?"
     "No, sir.  Black with a white band."
     "Ah, of course.  It was the sides which were black.  Good-morning, Mrs.
Smith.  There is a boatman here with a wherry, Watson.  We shall take it and
cross the river."
     "The main thing with people of that sort," said Holmes as we sat in the
sheets of the wherry, "is never to let them think that their information can
be of the slightest importance to you.  If you do they will instantly shut up
like an oyster.  If you listen to them under protest, as it were, you are very
likely to get what you want."
     "Our course now seems pretty clear," said I.
     "What would you do, then?"
     "I would engage a launch and go down the river on the track of the
Aurora."
     "My dear fellow, it would be a colossal task.  She may have touched at
any wharf on either side of the stream between here and Greenwich.  Below the
bridge there is a perfect labyrinth of landing-places for miles.  It would
take you days and days to exhaust them if you set about it alone."
     "Employ the police, then."
     "No.  I shall probably call Athelney Jones in at the last moment.  He is
not a bad fellow, and I should not like to do anything which would injure him
professionally.  But I have a fancy for working it out myself, now that we
have gone so far."
     "Could we advertise, then, asking for information from wharfingers?"
     "Worse and worse!  Our men would know that the chase was hot at their
heels, and they would be off out of the country.  As it is, they are likely
enough to leave, but as long as they think they are perfectly safe they will
be in no hurry.  Jones's energy will be of use to us there, for his view of
the case is sure to push itself into the daily press, and the runaways will
think that everyone is off on the wrong scent."
     "What are we to do, then?" I asked as we landed near Millbank
Penitentiary.
     "Take this hansom, drive home, have some breakfast, and get an hour's
sleep.  It is quite on the cards that we may be afoot to-night again.  Stop at
a telegraph office, cabby!  We will keep Toby, for he may be of use to us
yet."
     We pulled up at the Great Peter Street Post-Office, and Holmes dispatched
his wire.
     "Whom do you think that is to?" he asked as we resumed our journey.
     "I am sure I don't know."
     "You remember the Baker Street division of the detective police force
whom I employed in the Jefferson Hope case?"
     "Well," said I, laughing.
     "This is just the case where they might be invaluable.  If they fail I
have other resources, but I shall try them first.  That wire was to my dirty
little lieutenant, Wiggins, and I expect that he and his gang will be with us
before we have finished our breakfast."
     It was between eight and nine o'clock now, and I was conscious of a
strong reaction after the successive excitements of the night.  I was limp and
weary, befogged in mind and fatigued in body.  I had not the professional
enthusiasm which carried my companion on, nor could I look at the matter as a
mere abstract intellectual problem.  As far as the death of Bartholomew Sholto
went, I had heard little good of him and could feel no intense antipathy to
his murderers.  The treasure, however, was a different matter.  That, or part
of it, belonged rightfully to Miss Morstan.  While there was a chance of
recovering it I was ready to devote my life to the one object.  True, if I
found it, it would probably put her forever beyond my reach.  Yet it would be
a petty and selfish love which would be influenced by such a thought as that.
If Holmes could work to find the criminals, I had a tenfold stronger reason to
urge me on to find the treasure.
     A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully.
When I came down to our room I found the breakfast laid and Holmes pouring out
the coffee.
     "Here it is," said he, laughing and pointing to an open newspaper.  "The
energetic Jones and the ubiquitous reporter have fixed it up between them.
But you have had enough of the case.  Better have your ham and eggs first."
     I took the paper from him and read the short notice, which was headed
"Mysterious Business at Upper Norwood."

               About twelve o'clock last night [said the Standard] Mr.
          Bartholomew Sholto, of Pondicherry Lodge, Upper Norwood, was found
          dead in his room under circumstances which point to foul play.  As
          far as we can learn, no actual traces of violence were found upon
          Mr. Sholto's person, but a valuable collection of Indian gems which
          the deceased gentleman had inherited from his father has been
          carried off.  The discovery was first made by Mr. Sherlock Holmes
          and Dr. Watson, who had called at the house with Mr. Thaddeus
          Sholto, brother of the deceased.  By a singular piece of good
          fortune, Mr. Athelney Jones, the well-known member of the detective
          police force, happened to be at the Norwood police station and was
          on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm.  His trained
          and experienced faculties were at once directed towards the
          detection of the criminals, with the gratifying result that the
          brother, Thaddeus Sholto, has already been arrested, together with
          the housekeeper, Mrs. Bernstone, an Indian butler named Lal Rao, and
          a porter, or gatekeeper, named McMurdo.  It is quite certain that
          the thief or thieves were well acquainted with the house, for Mr.
          Jones's well-known technical knowledge and his powers of minute
          observation have enabled him to prove conclusively that the
          miscreants could not have entered by the door or by the window but
          must have made their way across the roof of the building, and so
          through a trapdoor into a room which communicated with that in which
          the body was found.  This fact, which has been very clearly made
          out, proves conclusively that it was no mere haphazard burglary.
          The prompt and energetic action of the officers of the law shows the
          great advantage of the presence on such occasions of a single
          vigorous and masterful mind.  We cannot but think that it supplies
          an argument to those who would wish to see our detectives more
          de-centralized, and so brought into closer and more effective touch
          with the cases which it is their duty to investigate.

     "Isn't it gorgeous!" said Holmes, grinning over his coffee cup.  "What do
you think of it?"
     "I think that we have had a close shave ourselves of being arrested for
the crime."
     "So do I.  I wouldn't answer for our safety now if he should happen to
have another of his attacks of energy."
     At this moment there was a loud ring at the bell, and I could hear Mrs.
Hudson, our landlady, raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay.
     "By heavens, Holmes," I said, half rising, "I believe that they are
really after us."
     "No, it's not quite so bad as that.  It is the unofficial force--the
Baker Street irregulars."
     As he spoke, there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs,
a clatter of high voices, and in rushed a dozen dirty and ragged little street
Arabs.  There was some show of discipline among them, despite their tumultuous
entry, for they instantly drew up in line and stood facing us with expectant
faces.  One of their number, taller and older than the others, stood forward
with an air of lounging superiority which was very funny in such a
disreputable little scarecrow.
     "Got your message, sir," said he, "and brought 'em on sharp.  Three bob
and a tanner for tickets."
     "Here you are," said Holmes, producing some silver.  "In future they can
report to you, Wiggins, and you to me.  I cannot have the house invaded in
this way.  However, it is just as well that you should all hear the
instructions.  I want to find the whereabouts of a steam launch called the
Aurora, owner Mordecai Smith, black with two red streaks, funnel black with a
white band.  She is down the river somewhere.  I want one boy to be at
Mordecai Smith's landing-stage opposite Millbank to say if the boat comes
back.  You must divide it out among yourselves and do both banks thoroughly.
Let me know the moment you have news.  Is that all clear?"
     "Yes, guv'nor," said Wiggins.
     "The old scale of pay, and a guinea to the boy who finds the boat.
Here's a day in advance.  Now off you go!"
     He handed them a shilling each, and away they buzzed down the stairs, and
I saw them a moment later streaming down the street.
     "If the launch is above water they will find her," said Holmes as he rose
from the table and lit his pipe.  "They can go everywhere, see everything,
overhear everyone.  I expect to hear before evening that they have spotted
her.  In the meanwhile, we can do nothing but await results.  We cannot pick
up the broken trail until we find either the Aurora or Mr. Mordecai Smith."
     "Toby could eat these scraps, I dare say.  Are you going to bed, Holmes?"
     "No:  I am not tired.  I have a curious constitution.  I never remember
feeling tired by work, though idleness exhausts me completely.  I am going to
smoke and to think over this queer business to which my fair client has
introduced us.  If ever man had an easy task, this of ours ought to be.
Wooden-legged men are not so common, but the other man must, I should think,
be absolutely unique."
     "That other man again!"
     "I have no wish to make a mystery of him to you, anyway.  But you must
have formed your own opinion.  Now, do consider the data.  Diminutive
footmarks, toes never fettered by boots, naked feet, stone-headed wooden mace,
great agility, small poisoned darts.  What do you make of all this?"
     "A savage!" I exclaimed.  "Perhaps one of those Indians who were the
associates of Jonathan Small."
     "Hardly that," said he.  "When first I saw signs of strange weapons I was
inclined to think so, but the remarkable character of the footmarks caused me
to reconsider my views.  Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are
small men, but none could have left such marks as that.  The Hindoo proper has
long and thin feet.  The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well
separated from the others because the thong is commonly passed between.  These
little darts, too, could only be shot in one way.  They are from a blow-pipe.
Now, then, where are we to find our savage?"
     "South America," I hazarded.
     He stretched his hand up and took down a bulky volume from the shelf.
     "This is the first volume of a gazetteer which is now being published.
It may be looked upon as the very latest authority.  What have we here?

               "Andaman Islands, situated 340 miles to the north of Sumatra,
          in the Bay of Bengal.

Hum!  hum!  What's all this?  Moist climate, coral reefs, sharks, Port Blair,
convict barracks, Rutland Island, cottonwoods-- --  Ah, here we are!

               "The aborigines of the Andaman Islands may perhaps claim the
          distinction of being the smallest race upon this earth, though some
          anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa, the Digger Indians of
          America, and the Terra del Fuegians.  The average height is rather
          below four feet, although many full-grown adults may be found who
          are very much smaller than this.  They are a fierce, morose, and
          intractable people, though capable of forming most devoted
          friendships when their confidence has once been gained.

Mark that, Watson.  Now, then listen to this.

               "They are naturally hideous, having large, misshapen heads,
          small fierce eyes, and distorted features.  Their feet and hands,
          however, are remarkably small.  So intractable and fierce are they,
          that all the efforts of the British officials have failed to win
          them over in any degree.  They have always been a terror to
          shipwrecked crews, braining the survivors with their stone-headed
          clubs or shooting them with their poisoned arrows.  These massacres
          are invariably concluded by a cannibal feast.

Nice, amiable people, Watson!  If this fellow had been left to his own unaided
devices, this affair might have taken an even more ghastly turn.  I fancy
that, even as it is, Jonathan Small would give a good deal not to have
employed him."
     "But how came he to have so singular a companion?"
     "Ah, that is more than I can tell.  Since, however, we had already
determined that Small had come from the Andamans, it is not so very wonderful
that this islander should be with him.  No doubt we shall know all about it in
time.  Look here, Watson; you look regularly done.  Lie down there on the sofa
and see if I can put you to sleep."
     He took up his violin from the corner, and as I stretched myself out he
began to play some low, dreamy, melodious air--his own, no doubt, for he had a
remarkable gift for improvisation.  I have a vague remembrance of his gaunt
limbs, his earnest face and the rise and fall of his bow.  Then I seemed to be
floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound until I found myself in
dreamland, with the sweet face of Mary Morstan looking down upon me.