DarqueDante/test2 · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 0 74
walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw a
thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which broadened
and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For an instant I
could hardly believe that here was indeed a door which led away from
death. The next instant I threw myself through, and lay half-fainting
upon the other side. The panel had closed again behind me, but the
crash of the lamp, and a few moments afterwards the clang of the two
slabs of metal, told me how narrow had been my escape.

"I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and I
found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, while a
woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, while she
held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend whose warning
I had so foolishly rejected.

"'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a
moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste the
so-precious time, but come!'

"This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to my
feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding stair.
The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we reached it we
heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of two voices, one
answering the other from the floor on which we were and from the one
beneath. My guide stopped and looked about her like one who is at
her wit's end. Then she threw open a door which led into a bedroom,
through the window of which the moon was shining brightly.

"'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be that
you can jump it.'

"As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the
passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark rushing
forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a butcher's
cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, flung open the
window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and wholesome the garden
looked in the moonlight, and it could not be more than thirty feet
down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I hesitated to jump until I
should have heard what passed between my saviour and the ruffian who
pursued me. If she were ill-used, then at any risks I was determined
to go back to her assistance. The thought had hardly flashed through
my mind before he was at the door, pushing his way past her; but she
threw her arms round him and tried to hold him back.

"'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise after
the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be silent!
Oh, he will be silent!'

"'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from her.
'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me pass, I
say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the window, cut at
me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and was hanging by the
hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was conscious of a dull
pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the garden below.

"I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and
rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I understood
that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, however, as I
ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. I glanced down at
my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and then, for the first time,
saw that my thumb had been cut off and that the blood was pouring
from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my handkerchief round it, but
there came a sudden buzzing in my ears, and next moment I fell in a
dead faint among the rose-bushes.

"How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been a
very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was
breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with dew,
and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded thumb. The
smarting of it recalled in an instant all the particulars of my
night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with the feeling that I
might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But to my astonishment,
when I came to look round me, neither house nor garden were to be
seen. I had been lying in an angle of the hedge close by the
highroad, and just a little lower down was a long building, which
proved, upon my approaching it, to be the very station at which I had
arrived upon the previous night. Were it not for the ugly wound upon
my hand, all that had passed during those dreadful hours might have
been an evil dream.

"Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning
train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The same
porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I arrived. I
inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Lysander Stark.
The name was strange to him. Had he observed a carriage the night
before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was there a police-station
anywhere near? There was one about three miles off.

"It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined to
wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the police.
It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first to have my
wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to bring me along
here. I put the case into your hands and shall do exactly what you
advise."

We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to this
extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down from the
shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he placed his
cuttings.

walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw a

thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which broadened

and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For an instant I

could hardly believe that here was indeed a door which led away from

death. The next instant I threw myself through, and lay half-fainting

upon the other side. The panel had closed again behind me, but the

crash of the lamp, and a few moments afterwards the clang of the two

slabs of metal, told me how narrow had been my escape.

"I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and I

found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, while a

woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, while she

held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend whose warning

I had so foolishly rejected.

"'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a

moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste the

so-precious time, but come!'

"This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to my

feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding stair.

The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we reached it we

heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of two voices, one

answering the other from the floor on which we were and from the one

beneath. My guide stopped and looked about her like one who is at

her wit's end. Then she threw open a door which led into a bedroom,

through the window of which the moon was shining brightly.

"'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be that

you can jump it.'

"As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the

passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark rushing

forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a butcher's

cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, flung open the

window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and wholesome the garden

looked in the moonlight, and it could not be more than thirty feet

down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I hesitated to jump until I

should have heard what passed between my saviour and the ruffian who

pursued me. If she were ill-used, then at any risks I was determined

to go back to her assistance. The thought had hardly flashed through

my mind before he was at the door, pushing his way past her; but she

threw her arms round him and tried to hold him back.

"'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise after

the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be silent!

Oh, he will be silent!'

"'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from her.

'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me pass, I

say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the window, cut at

me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and was hanging by the

hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was conscious of a dull

pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the garden below.

"I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and

rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I understood

that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, however, as I

ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. I glanced down at

my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and then, for the first time,

saw that my thumb had been cut off and that the blood was pouring

from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my handkerchief round it, but

there came a sudden buzzing in my ears, and next moment I fell in a

dead faint among the rose-bushes.

"How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been a

very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was

breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with dew,

and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded thumb. The

smarting of it recalled in an instant all the particulars of my

night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with the feeling that I

might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But to my astonishment,

when I came to look round me, neither house nor garden were to be

seen. I had been lying in an angle of the hedge close by the

highroad, and just a little lower down was a long building, which

proved, upon my approaching it, to be the very station at which I had

arrived upon the previous night. Were it not for the ugly wound upon

my hand, all that had passed during those dreadful hours might have

been an evil dream.

"Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning

train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The same

porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I arrived. I

inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Lysander Stark.

The name was strange to him. Had he observed a carriage the night

before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was there a police-station

anywhere near? There was one about three miles off.

"It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined to

wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the police.

It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first to have my

wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to bring me along

here. I put the case into your hands and shall do exactly what you

advise."

We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to this

extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down from the

shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he placed his

cuttings.