|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 11
"It is really a wonderful art!" said Solomon.
"The making of a Connecticut Havana cigar?" laughed Holmes. "Not at all.
Give me a head of lettuce and a straw, and I'll make you a box."
"I referred to your art--that of detection," said Solomon. "Your logic is
perfect; step by step we have been led to the irresistible conclusion that
Kidd has made for London, and can be found at one of these hotels."
"And only until next Tuesday, when he will take a house in the
neighborhood of Scotland Yard," put in Holmes, quickly, observing a sneer
on Hawkshaw's lips, and hastening to overwhelm him by further evidence of
his ingenuity. "When he gets his bill he will open his piratical eyes so
wide that he will be seized with jealousy to think of how much more
refined his profession has become since he left it, and out of mere pique
he will leave the hotel, and, to show himself still cleverer than his
modern prototypes, he will leave his account unpaid, with the result that
the affair will be put in the hands of the police, under which
circumstances a house in the immediate vicinity of the famous police
headquarters will be the safest hiding-place he can find, as was instanced
by the remarkable case of the famous Penstock bond robbery. A certain
church-warden named Hinkley, having been appointed cashier thereof, robbed
the Penstock Imperial Bank of �1,000,000 in bonds, and, fleeing to London,
actually joined the detective force at Scotland Yard, and was detailed to
find himself, which of course he never did, nor would he ever have been
found had he not crossed my path."
Hawkshaw gazed mournfully off into space, and Le Coq muttered profane
words under his breath.
"We're not in the same class with this fellow, Hawkshaw," said Le Coq.
"You could tap your forehead knowingly eight hours a day through all
eternity with a sledge-hammer without loosening an idea like that."
"Nevertheless I'll confound him yet," growled the jealous detective. "I
shall myself go to London, and, disguised as Captain Kidd, will lead this
visionary on until he comes there to arrest me, and when these club
members discover that it is Hawkshaw and not Kidd he has run to earth,
we'll have a great laugh on Sherlock Holmes."
"I am anxious to hear how you solved the bond-robbery mystery," said
Socrates, wrapping his toga closely about him and settling back against
one of the spiles of the wharf.
"So are we all," said Sir Walter. "But meantime the House-boat is getting
farther away."
"Not unless she's sailing backwards," sneered Noah, who was still nursing
his resentment against Sir Christopher Wren for his reflections upon the
speed of the Ark.
"What's the hurry?" asked Socrates. "I believe in making haste slowly; and
on the admission of our two eminent naval architects, Sir Christopher and
Noah, neither of their vessels can travel more than a mile a week, and if
we charter the _Flying Dutchman_ to go in pursuit of her we can catch her
before she gets out of the Styx into the Atlantic."
"Jonah might lend us his whale, if the beast is in commission," suggested
Munchausen, dryly. "I for one would rather take a state-room in Jonah's
whale than go aboard the _Flying Dutchman_ again. I made one trip on the
_Dutchman_, and she's worse than a dory for comfort; furthermore, I don't
see what good it would do us to charter a boat that can't land oftener
than once in seven years, and spends most of her time trying to double the
Cape of Good Hope."
"My whale is in commission," said Jonah, with dignity. "But Baron
Munchausen need not consider the question of taking a state-room aboard of
her. She doesn't carry second-class passengers. And if I took any stock in
the idea of a trip on the _Flying Dutchman_ amounting to a seven years'
exile, I would cheerfully pay the Baron's expenses for a round trip."
"We are losing time, gentlemen," suggested Sherlock Holmes. "This is a
moment, I think, when you should lay aside personal differences and
personal preferences for immediate action. I have examined the wake of the
House-boat, and I judge from the condition of what, for want of a better
term, I may call the suds, when she left us the House-boat was making ten
knots a day. Almost any craft we can find suitably manned ought to be able
to do better than that; and if you could summon Charon and ascertain what
boats he has at hand, it would be for the good of all concerned."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|