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"'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, `
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questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank `
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grasp, he hurried from the room. `
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`
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"Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very `
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much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission `
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which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was `
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glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked `
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had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that `
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this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face `
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and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon `
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me, and I could not think that his explanation of the `
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fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my `
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coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell `
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anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate `
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a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having `
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obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. `
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`
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"At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. `
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However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I `
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reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the `
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only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the `
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platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed `
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out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of `
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the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a `
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word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door `
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of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either `
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side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the `
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horse could go." `
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`
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"One horse?" interjected Holmes. `
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`
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"Yes, only one." `
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`
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"Did you observe the colour?" `
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`
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"Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the `
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carriage. It was a chestnut." `
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`
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"Tired-looking or fresh?" `
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`
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"Oh, fresh and glossy." `
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`
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"Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue `
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your most interesting statement." `
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`
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"Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel `
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Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I `
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should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the `
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time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat `
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at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than `
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once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me `
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with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good `
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in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I `
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tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we `
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were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out `
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nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now `
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and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the `
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journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the `
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conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the `
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road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, `
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and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang `
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out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch `
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which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of `
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the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the `
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most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that `
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I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, `
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and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage `
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drove away. `
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`
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"It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled `
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about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. `
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Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a `
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long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew `
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broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she `
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held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. `
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I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which `
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the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich `
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material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as `
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though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a `
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gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly `
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fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered `
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something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room `
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from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the `
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lamp in his hand. `
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`
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"'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a `
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few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a `
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quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the `
`
centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel `
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Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the `
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door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and `
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vanished into the darkness. `
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`
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"I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my `
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ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises `
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on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked `
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across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of `
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the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded `
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across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old `
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clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise `
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everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began `
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to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were `
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they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And `
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where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was `
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all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no `
`
idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, `
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were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, `
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after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, `
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that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, `
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humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling `
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that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. `
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`
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"Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the `
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utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman `
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was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind `
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her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and `
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beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with `
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fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one `
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shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few `
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whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, `
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like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. `
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`
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"'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to `
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speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no `
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good for you to do.' `
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`
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"'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I `
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cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' `
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`
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"'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass `
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through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled `
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and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and `
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made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love `
`
of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too `
`
late!' `
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`
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"But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to `
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engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I `
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thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of `
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the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to `
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go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried `
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out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This `
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woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout `
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bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I `
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cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention `
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of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties `
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when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps `
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was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up `
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her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and `
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as noiselessly as she had come. `
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`
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"The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man `
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with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double `
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chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. `
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`
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"'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the `
`
way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just `
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now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' `
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`
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"'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I `
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felt the room to be a little close.' `
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`
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"He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had `
`
better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I `
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will take you up to see the machine.' `
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`
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"'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' `
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`
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"'Oh, no, it is in the house.' `
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`
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"'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' `
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`
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"'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. `
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All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us `
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know what is wrong with it.' `
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`
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"We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the `
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fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, `
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with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little `
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low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the `
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generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no `
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signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster `
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was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in `
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green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an `
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air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the `
`
lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon `
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my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent `
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man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at `
`
least a fellow-countryman. `
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`
`
"Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which `
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he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three `
`
of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, `
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and the colonel ushered me in. `
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`
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"'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and `
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it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were `
`
to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the `
`
end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of `
`
many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns `
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