His Last Bow

ontinually been faced by difficulties caused by his own aversion to publicity. To his sombre and cynical spirit all popular applause was always abhorrent, and nothing amused him more

rial which has caused me of late years to lay very few of my records before the public. My participat

elegram from Holmes last Tuesday - he has never been known t

Cornish horror - strang

used him to desire that I should recount it; but I hasten, before another cancelling telegram may arrive, t

to Holmes I may some day recount, gave positive injunctions that the famous private agent lay aside all his cases and surrender himself to complete rest if he wished to avert an absolute breakdown. The state of his health was not a matter in which he himself took the faintest interest, for his mental detachment w

eadland, we looked down upon the whole sinister semicircle of Mounts Bay, that old death trap of sailing vessels, with its fringe of black cliffs and surge-swept reefs on

south-west, the dragging anchor, the lee shore, and the last battle in th

gination of my friend, and he spent much of his time in long walks and solitary meditations upon the moor. The ancient Cornish language had also arrested his attention, and he had, I remember, conceived the idea that it was akin to the Chaldean, and had been largely derived from the Phoenician traders in tin. He had received a consignment of books upon philology and was settling down to develop this thesis when suddenly, to my sorrow and to his unfeigned delight, we found ourselves, even in that land of dreams, plunged into a problem at our very doors which was more intense, more engros

He was a middle-aged man, portly and affable, with a considerable fund of local lore. At his invitation we had taken tea at the vicarage and had come to know, also, Mr. Mortimer Tregennis, an independent gentleman, who increased the clergyman's scanty resources by taking rooms in his large, straggling house. The vicar, being a bachelor, was glad to come to such an ar

m on Tuesday, March the 16th, shortly after our breakfast hour, as we w

urred during the night. It is the most unheard-of business. We can only regard it as a special Provi

e view-halloa. He waved his hand to the sofa, and our palpitating visitor with his agitated companion sat side by side upon it. Mr. Mortimer Tregennis wa

or you?" he ask

r it may be, and the vicar to have had it second-hand,

essed lodger seated beside him, and was amused at the surpris

st and was overtaken by the carriage of Dr. Richards, who explained that he had just been sent for on a most urgent call to Tredannick Wartha. Mr. Mortimer Tregennis naturally went with him. When he arrived at Tredannick Wartha he found an extraordinary state of things. His two brothers and his sister were seated round the table exactly as he had left them, the cards still spread in front of them and the candles burned down to their sockets. The sister lay back stone-dead in her chair, while the two brothers sat on each side of her laughing, shouting, and singing, the senses stricken clean out of them. All three of them, the dead

journey; but one glance at his intense face and contracted eyebrows told me how vain was now the expectati

face of it, it would appear to be a case of a very except

ck the account to the vicarage, and I at

house where this singu

a mile

t before we start I must ask you a fe

lergyman. He sat with a pale, drawn face, his anxious gaze fixed upon Holmes, and his thin hands clasped convulsively together. His pale lips quiver

he eagerly. "It is a bad thing to spea

about las

proposed a game of whist afterwards. We sat down about nine o'clock. It was a quarte

et you

down. There was no change in door or window this morning, nor any reason to think that any stranger had been to the house. Yet there they sat, driven clean mad wi

arkable," said Holmes. "I take it that you have no th

not of this world. Something has come into that room which has dashed th

st all natural explanations before we fall back upon such a theory as this. As to yourself, Mr. Tregennis,

ur venture to a company, and so retired with enough to keep us. I won't deny that there was some feeling about the division of

stand out in your memory as throwing any possible light upon the trag

nothing at

ere in their u

r bet

Did they ever show any appr

g of th

to add then, which

s considered earn

shoulder, so I turned round and looked also. The blind was up and the window shut, but I could just make out the bushes on the lawn, and it seemed to me for a moment that I saw something moving among th

not inv

er passed as

en, without any pr

e at

came to hear the news

into that dreadful room. The candles and the fire must have burned out hours before, and they had been sitting there in the dark until dawn had broken. The doctor said Brenda must have been dead at least six hours. There were no signs of violence. She just lay across the arm of the chair

haps, we had better go down to Tredannick Wartha without further delay. I confess tha

to the spot at which the tragedy occurred is down a narrow, winding, country lane. While we made our way along it we heard the raffle of a carriage coming towards us and stood aside to let it pass.

regennis, white to his lips. "T

g upon its way. Then we turned our steps towards this il

e in his thoughts, I remember, that he stumbled over the watering-pot, upset its contents, and deluged both our feet and the garden path. Inside the house we were met by the elderly Cornish housekeeper, Mrs. Porter, who, with the aid of a young girl, looked after the wants of the family. She readily answered all Holmes's questions. She had heard nothing in the night. Her employers had all been in excellent spirits lately, and she had never known them more cheerful and prosperous. She had fainted

this strange tragedy had actually occurred. The charred ashes of the overnight fire lay in the grate. On the table were the four guttered and burned-out candles, with the cards scattered over its surface. The chairs had been moved back against the walls, but all else was as it had been the night before. Holmes paced with light, swift steps about the ro

ad they always a fire in this s

damp. For that reason, after his arrival, the fire was

said he. "With your permission, gentlemen, we will now return to our cottage, for I am not aware that any new factor is likely to come to our notice here. I will turn th

iled in his armchair, his haggard and ascetic face hardly visible amid the blue swirl of his tobacco smoke, his black bro

We are more likely to find them than clues to this problem. To let the brain work without sufficient material is

en. Let us begin by ruling that entirely out of our minds. Very good. There remain three persons who have been grievously stricken by some conscious or unconscious human agency. That is firm ground. Now, when did this occur? Evidently, assuming his narrative to be true, it was immediately after Mr. Mortimer Tregennis had left the room. That is a ver

re, of course, conscious of the somewhat clumsy water-pot expedient by which I obtained a clearer impress of his foot than might otherwise have been possible. The wet, sandy path took it admirably. Last night was also w

n effect that he drove those who saw it out of their senses? The only suggestion in this direction comes from Mortimer Tregennis himself, who says that his brother spoke about some movement in the garden. That is certainly remarkable, as the night was rainy, cloudy, and dark. Anyone who had the design to alarm these people would be compelled to place his very fa

clear," I answere

ong your extensive archives, Watson, you may find some which were nearly as obscure. Meanwhile, we shall put the cas

urned in the afternoon to our cottage that we found a visitor awaiting us, who soon brought our minds back to the matter in hand. Neither of us needed to be told who that visitor was. The huge body, the craggy and deeply seamed face with the fierce eyes and hawk-like nose, the grizzled hair which nearly brus

s maps, he lived an absolutely lonely life, attending to his own simple wants and paying little apparent heed to the affairs of his neighbours. It was a surprise to me, therefore, to hear him asking Holmes in an eager voice whether he had made any advance in his reconstruction of this mysterious episode. "The county police are utterly at fault," said he, "but perhaps your wider experience has suggested some conceivable explanation. My

ised his

e your boat

take t

at is friend

they were

your mother. Was your b

t the main part

ould not have found its way int

I had a

ask fro

ver the gaunt fac

inquisitive,

my bu

terndale recovered h

said. "It was Mr. Roundhay, the vicar, wh

I have not cleared my mind entirely on the subject of this case, but that I ha

ling me if your suspicions poin

hardly an

thin five minutes Holmes had followed him. I saw him no more until the evening, when he returned with a slow step and haggard face which a

eon Sterndale's account was true. It appears that he did indeed spend last night there, and that he has actually allowed som

eeply in

might lead us through the tangle. Cheer up, Watson, for I am very sure that our material

ne of investigation. I was shaving at my window in the morning when I heard the rattle of hoofs and, looking up, saw a dog-cart coming at a gallop down the road.

hardly articulate, but at last in gasps a

loose in it! We are given over into his hands!" He danced about in his agitation, a ludicrous o

the night, and with exactly the same

his feet, all ene

us both into

, I

Mr. Roundhay, we are entirely at your disposal.

droom. They looked out upon a croquet lawn which came up to the windows. We had arrived before the doctor or the police, so that everything was absolutely

at the dead man, leaning back in his chair, his thin beard projecting, his spectacles pushed up on to his forehead, and his lean dark face turned towards the window and twisted into the same distortion of terror which had marked the features of his dead sister. His limbs were convuls

oom he made a rapid cast around and ended by throwing open the window, which appeared to give him some fresh cause for excitement, for he leaned out of it with loud ejaculations of interest and delight. Then he rushed down the stair, out through the open window, threw himself upon his face on the lawn, sprang up and into the room once more, all with the energy of the hunter who is at the very heels of his quarry. The lamp, which was an ordinary

ndhay, if you would give the inspector my compliments and direct his attention to the bedroom window and to the sitting-room lamp. Each is suggestive, and together they are almost conc

ottage; but a greater portion in country walks which he undertook alone, returning after many hours without remark as to where he had been. One experiment served to show me the line of his investigation. He had bought a lamp which was the duplicate of the one which had burned in the room of M

t was so. Now, you will remember also that Mrs. Porter, the housekeeper, told us that she herself fainted upon entering the room and had afterwards opened the window. In the second case - that of Mortimer Tregennis himself - you cannot have forgotten the horrible stuffiness of the room when we arrived. though the servant had thrown open the window. That servant, I found upon inquiry, was so ill that she had gone to her bed. You will admit, Watson, that these facts are very suggestiv

ld appe

s shut, but the fire would naturally carry fumes to some extent up the chimney. Hence one would expect the effects of the poison to be less than in the second case, where there was less escape for the vapour. The result seems to indicate that it was so, since in the first case only the woman, wh

e obvious place to look was the talc shield or smoke-guard of the lamp. There, sure enough, I perceived a number of flaky ashes, and roun

alf, H

ng members of society, and you will seat yourself near that open window in an armchair unless, like a sensible man, you determine to have nothing to do with the affair. Oh, you will see it out, will you? I thought I knew my Watson. This chair I will place opposite yours, so that we may be the same distance from the poison and face to fa

ery shadow would blast my soul. A freezing horror took possession of me. I felt that my hair was rising, that my eyes were protruding, that my mouth wag opened, and my tongue like leather. The turmoil within my brain was such that something must surely snap. I tried to scream and was vaguely aware of some hoarse croak which was my own voice, but distant and detached from myself. At the same moment, in some effort of escape, I broke through that cloud of despair and had a glimpse of Holmes's face, white, rigid, and drawn with horror - the very look which I had seen upon the features of the dead. It was that vision which gave me an

we you both my thanks and an apology. It was an unjustifiable experiment

d never seen so much of Holmes's heart before, "th

lare that we were so already before we embarked upon so wild an experiment. I confess that I never imagined that the effect could be so sudden and so severe." He dashed into the cottage, and, reappearing with the burning

what

ow bitter that quarrel may have been, or how hollow the reconciliation we cannot tell. When I think of Mortimer Tregennis, with the foxy face and the small shrewd, beady eyes behind the spectacles, he is not a man whom I should judge to be of a particularly forgiving disposition. Well, in the next place, you will remember that this idea of someone moving in the garden, which took our attention for a moment from the real cause of the tragedy, emanated

wn death wa

are, however, some cogent reasons against it. Fortunately, there is one man in England who knows all about it, and I have made arrangements by which we shall hear the facts this afternoon from his own lips. Ah! he is a litt

igure of the great African explorer appeared upon the path. He t

bout an hour ago, and I have come, though I rea

in the open air, but my friend Watson and I have nearly furnished an additional chapter to what the papers call the Cornish Horror, and we prefer a clear atmosphere for the presen

ar from his lips and gaze

at you can have to speak about which affect

Mortimer Tregenn

nate veins started out in his forehead, while he sprang forward with clenched hands towards my companion. Then he stopped, and w

I have got into the way of being a law to myself. You would do well, M

le. Surely the clearest proof of it is that, knowing wh

ife. There was a calm assurance of power in Holmes's manner which could not be withstood.

r part, Mr. Holmes, you have chosen a bad man for your experimen

s that I hope frankness may beget frankness. What my next step m

defe

s,

nce agai

ge of killing Mor

pon my word, you are getting on," said he. "Do all your

ts upon which my conclusions are based. Of your return from Plymouth, allowing much of your property to go on to Africa, I will say not

me ba

hat. You came down here to ask me whom I suspected. I refused to answer you. You then wen

you kn

llowe

w no

ormed certain plans, which in the early morning you proceeded to put into execution. Leaving your door just

ent start and looked

at the present moment upon your feet. At the vicarage you passed through the orchard and the side hedge, coming out under the window of the lodger Tregenn

sprang t

ou are the devil

s an interview - a short one - during which you walked up and down the room. Then you passed out and closed the window, standing on the lawn outside smoking a cigar and watching what occurred. Finally, after the death of Tregennis, you

at for some time in thought with his face sunk in his hands. Then with a sudden impulsive ges

I have done

e of a very beautiful woma

regennis,

to the one thing on earth that was dear to me. I could not marry her, for I have a wife who has left me for years and yet whom, by the deplorable laws of England, I could not divorce. For years Brenda wai

was why he telegraphed to me and I returned. What was my baggage or Africa to me when I learned th

," said

de was written "Radix pedis diaboli" with a red poison label beneath it. He pushed it towa

ot! No, I have n

into the literature of toxicology. The root is shaped like a foot, half human, half goatlike; hence the fanciful name given by a botanical missionary. It is used as an ordeal poison by the medicine-men in certain districts of West

" asked Hol

n which I stood to the Tregennis family. For the sake of the sister I was friendly with the brothers. There was a family quarrel about money which estranged this man Mortimer, but it was supposed t

her madness or death is the fate of the unhappy native who is subjected to the ordeal by the priest of his tribe. I told him also how powerless European science would be to detect it. How hi took it I cannot say, for I never left the room, but there is no doubt that it was then, whil

hat my poison had been used. I came round to see you on the chance that some other explanation had suggested itself to you. But there could be none. I was convinced that Mortimer Tregennis was the murderer; that for the sake of money, and with the idea, perhaps, that if the other members of his family we

oul cried out for revenge. I have said to you once before, Mr. Holmes, that I have spent much of my life outside the law, and that I have come at last to be a law to myself. So it was now. I determined that the fate whic

om. I laid his offence before him. I told him that I had come both as judge and executioner. The wretch sank into a chair, paralyzed at the sight of my revolver. I lit the lamp, put the powder above it, and stood outside the window, ready to carry out my threat to shoot him should he try to leave the room. In five minutes he died. My God! how he die

some little t

ur plans?" he

lf in central Africa. My wor

aid Holmes. "I, at least, am

ed gravely, and walked from the arbour. Ho

agree, Watson, that it is not a case in which we are called upon to interfere. Our investig

y not," I

of course, the starting-point of my research. It was unlike anything in the vicarage garden. Only when my attention had been drawn to Dr. Sterndale and his cottage did I find its counterpart. The lamp shining in broad daylight and the remains of powder upon the shield we