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我站起身来观察了后面的石崖。在那篇绘声绘色的事件描述中，也就是几个月后让我读得津津有味的那篇中，你曾断言那是一座绝壁。你说的其实不对。仍有几个露在外面的窄小立足点，并且有一块很像岩架的地方。一直爬上那么高的峭壁显然是不可能的，同样也不可能再顺着那条湿漉漉的窄道走出去而不留任何痕迹。的确，我也可以像过去在类似情况下做过的那样把鞋倒穿，但是同一方向出现三对脚印的景象定会让人看穿这套把戏。所以，总的看来，我最好还是冒险爬上去。那可不是件愉快的事，沃森。瀑布就在我脚下咆哮。我不是一个想象力丰富的人，但是说真的，我仿佛听见莫里亚蒂从深渊中冲着我尖叫。任何闪失都会是致命的。好几次当我的手没抓住身边的草或是脚从潮湿的岩石缺口中滑下来的时候，我想我完了。然而我拼命往上爬，最后终于爬上了一块有几英尺深的岩架，上面覆盖着柔软的绿苔，在那儿我能以最舒适的姿势躺着，又不被人看见。亲爱的沃森，当你和你的随从正在极其同情而又毫无成效地调查我的死亡现场时，我就躺在那儿。
"At last, when you had all formed your inevitable and totally erroneous conclusions, you departed for the hotel and I was left alone. I had imagined that I had reached the end of my adventures, but a very unexpected occurrence showed me that there were surprises still in store for me. A huge rock, falling from above, boomed past me, struck the path, and bounded over into the chasm. For an instant I thought that it was an accident; but a moment later, looking up, I saw a man's head against the darkening sky, and another stone struck the very ledge upon which I was stretched, within a foot of my head. Of course, the meaning of this was obvious. Moriarty had not been alone. A confederate—and even that one glance had told me how dangerous a man that confederate was—had kept guard while the Professor had attacked me. From a distance, unseen by me, he had been a witness of his friend's death and of my escape. He had waited, and then, making his way round to the top of the cliff, he had endeavoured to succeed where his comrade had failed.
最后，你做出了不可避免而完全错误的结论，然后离开了那里回旅馆去了，剩下我一个人。我本以为我的险遇到此结束，可是发生了一件意想不到的事，这使我知道前面还有 ‘惊喜’ 在等着我。一块巨石从上面掉下来，轰隆一声擦着我的身边落下去，砸中了一条小道，又弹起来滚进了深渊。当时我还以为这只是个偶然事件，但是过了一会儿，我抬头望见昏暗的天空中有一个人的头。这时又落下了一块石头，恰好砸在我躺着的岩架上，离我的头只有不到一英尺的距离。当然，这意味着什么就很清楚了。莫里亚蒂并非只身行动。在他对我下手的时候，还有一个党羽在守望，即使只是那一瞥，已让我看出了那是个多么危险的家伙。他远远地躲在暗处，亲眼目睹了他朋友的死亡和我的逃脱。他一直等着，后来绕道上了崖顶，企图实现他朋友未能得逞的预谋。
"I did not take long to think about it, Watson. Again I saw that grim face look over the cliff, and I knew that it was the precursor of another stone. I scrambled down on to the path. I don't think I could have done it in cold blood. It was a hundred times more difficult than getting up. But I had no time to think of the danger, for another stone sang past me as I hung by my hands from the edge of the ledge. Halfway down I slipped, but by the blessing of God I landed, torn and bleeding, upon the path. I took to my heels, did ten miles over the mountains in the darkness, and a week later I found myself in Florence with the certainty that no one in the world knew what had become of me.
我思考这一切并没有花多少时间，沃森。我又看见那张冷酷的脸从崖顶朝下张望，这是另一块石头要落下来的预兆。我向着崖下的小道往下爬。我认为自己当时没法沉着自如地爬下去。这比往山上爬要难百倍。但我没时间考虑那些危险，因为就在我用双手扒住崖边、身体悬在半空的时候，又有一块石头擦着我的身子呼啸着落了下去。爬到一半的时候，我脚下一滑掉了下去，但多亏上帝保佑，我摔在了那条小路上，只是受了点儿伤，留了点儿血。我起身赶忙开始向前走，摸黑在山里走了有十英里的路。一周以后我到了佛罗伦萨，确信世界上任何人都不知道我怎么样了。
"I had only one confidant—my brother Mycroft. I owe you many apologies, my dear Watson, but it was all—important that it should be thought I was dead, and it is quite certain that you would not have written so convincing an account of my unhappy end had you not yourself thought that it was true. Several times during the last three years I have taken up my pen to write to you, but always I feared lest your affectionate regard for me should tempt you to some indiscretion which would betray my secret. For that reason I turned away from you this evening when you upset my books, for I was in danger at the time, and any show of surprise and emotion upon your part might have drawn attention to my identity and led to the most deplorable and irreparable results. As to Mycroft, I had to confide in him in order to obtain the money which I needed. The course of events in London did not run so well as I had hoped, for the trial of the Moriarty gang left two of its most dangerous members, my own most vindictive enemies, at liberty. I travelled for two years in Tibet, therefore, and amused myself by visiting Lhassa and spending some days with the head Llama. You may have read of the remarkable explorations of a Norwegian named Sigerson, but I am sure that it never occurred to you that you were receiving news of your friend. I then passed through Persia, looked in at Mecca, and paid a short but interesting visit to the Khalifa at Khartoum, the results of which I have communicated to the Foreign Office. Returning to France I spent some months in a research into the coal—tar derivatives, which I conducted in a laboratory at Montpelier, in the South of France. Having concluded this to my satisfaction, and learning that only one of my enemies was now left in London, I was about to return when my movements were hastened by the news of this very remarkable Park Lane Mystery, which not only appealed to me by its own merits, but which seemed to offer some most peculiar personal opportunities. I came over at once to London, called in my own person at Baker Street, threw Mrs. Hudson into violent hysterics, and found that Mycroft had preserved my rooms and my papers exactly as they had always been. So it was, my dear Watson, that at two o'clock to—day I found myself in my old arm—chair in my own old room, and only wishing that I could have seen my old friend Watson in the other chair which he has so often adorned. "
“那时候我只有一个可以信赖的人——我的哥哥米克罗夫特。我非常抱歉，亲爱的沃森，但在那个紧要关头我必须让别人认为我已经死了。而且，要是你本人不相信我的悲惨结局的话，你肯定也写不出那样一篇令人信服的文章。三年来，我几次拿起笔想要给你写信，却又担心你对我的殷切关怀会让你不经意间走漏风声。也是因为这个缘故，今天傍晚你碰掉我的书的时候，我只能避开你，因为我当时处境危险，你任何一点儿惊喜或感情的流露都可能引起别人对我身份的注意，造成无法挽回的悲惨后果。至于米克罗夫特，为了得到必需要用的钱，我只能把这个秘密告诉他。伦敦的事态发展并不像我所希望的那样顺利，莫里亚蒂匪帮案的两个最危险分子还逍遥法外，他们与我是不共戴天的仇人。因此，我在西藏旅行了两年，自得于参观拉萨并和那里的大喇嘛一起消磨几天时光。你或许看过一个叫西格森的挪威人写得非常出色的考察报告，但我敢肯定你绝对不曾想到你看到的正是有关你朋友的消息。然后，我途经波斯，游览了麦加圣地，又在喀土穆的哈里发逗留了几天，那几天的参观短暂而又有趣，后来我还把访问的结果汇报给了外交部。回到法国以后，我在南部蒙彼利埃的一个实验室里呆了几个月，研究煤焦油的衍生物。满意地结束了这项研究后，又听说我的仇人只剩下一个留在伦敦，我便准备回来。这桩公园路疑案加快了我的行程，不仅因为这件案子的特点吸引了我，还因为它给我个人带来了一个十分难得的机会。我火速赶回了伦敦贝克街的家中，吓得赫德森太太惊慌失措。米克罗夫特已经将我的房间和文件照原样保留着。就这样，我亲爱的沃森，今天下午2点，我发现自己坐在我原来屋里那把旧椅子上，多么希望能见到我的老朋友沃森也坐在对面他常坐的那把椅子上。”
Such was the remarkable narrative to which I listened on that April evening a narrative which would have been utterly incredible to me had it not been confirmed by the actual sight of the tall, spare figure and the keen, eager face, which I had never thought to see again. In some manner he had learned of my own sad bereavement, and his sympathy was shown in his manner rather than in his words. "Work is the best antidote to sorrow, my dear Watson, " said he, "and I have a piece of work for us both to—night which, if we can bring it to a successful conclusion, will in itself justify a man's life on this planet. " In vain I begged him to tell me more. "You will hear and see enough before morning, " he answered. "We have three years of the past to discuss. Let that suffice until halfpast nine, when we start upon the notable adventure of the empty house. "
这就是四月份那个晚上我听到的离奇故事。我以为再也见不到他了，要不是亲眼看见那瘦高的身形、热忱的面容，我一定觉得这个故事纯属无稽之谈。他知道我正在经历丧友之痛，便用行动代替语言表达了对我的安慰。 “亲爱的沃森，工作是治愈悲伤最好的解药。” 他说， “今晚咱们俩有件事要做，如果我们能成功地完成它，就不枉到这世上走一遭。” 我请求他讲详细一些，但是他不肯。 “天亮之前你就都知道了。” 他回答说， “咱们有三年的往事要聊，但是畅谈到9点半，咱们就得开始这次特别的空屋历险。”
It was indeed like old times when, at that hour, I found myself seated beside him in a hansom, my revolver in my pocket and the thrill of adventure in my heart. Holmes was cold and stern and silent. As the gleam of the streetlamps flashed upon his austere features I saw that his brows were drawn down in thought and his thin lips compressed. I knew not what wild beast we were about to hunt down in the dark jungle of criminal London, but I was well assured from the bearing of this master huntsman that the adventure was a most grave one—while the sardonic smile which occasionally broke through his ascetic gloom boded little good for the object of our quest.
真像过去一样，一到9点半，我就和他并排坐上了一辆双座马车，口袋里装着手枪，心里充满了冒险所带来的激动。福尔摩斯冷静镇定，一言不发。街灯的亮光忽明忽暗地照在他严肃的脸上，只见他皱眉沉思，双唇紧闭。我不知道我们要在伦敦这个充斥着罪犯的阴暗丛林里猎寻什么样的野兽，但从这个狩猎高手的行为举止来看，我能肯定这是一次十分艰巨的冒险——他的脸像苦行僧一般阴沉着，不时露出讥笑的神情，看来我们猎寻的对象凶多吉少了。
I had imagined that we were bound for Baker Street, but Holmes stopped the cab at the corner of Cavendish Square. I observed that as he stepped out he gave a most searching glance to right and left, and at every subsequent street corner he took the utmost pains to assure that he was not followed. Our route was certainly a singular one. Holmes's knowledge of the byways of London was extraordinary, and on this occasion he passed rapidly, and with an assured step, through a network of mews and stables the very existence of which I had never known. We emerged at last into a small road, lined with old, gloomy houses, which led us into Manchester Street, and so to Blandford Street. Here he turned swiftly down a narrow passage, passed through a wooden gate into a deserted yard, and then opened with a key the back door of a house. We entered together and he closed it behind us.
我本来以为我们要去贝克街，但就在卡文狄希广场拐角的地方，福尔摩斯叫马车停了下来。我注意到他下车时小心谨慎地环顾左右，随后走到街上的每一个拐角处时，他也会极力观察，确保没有人跟踪他。我们走的这条路线的确是独一无二的。福尔摩斯对伦敦的偏僻小路相当熟悉，这会儿，他迅速而笃定地穿过一连串小巷和马厩，而我从来都不知道还有这些地方。最后我们走到了一条小路上，两旁都是阴暗的老房子，我们沿着这条小路到了曼彻斯特街，然后又到了布兰福特街。他在这里迅速地拐进了一条窄道，经过一扇木门进入了一个荒芜的院子，他用钥匙打开了一所房子的后门。我们一起走进去以后，他把门关上了。
The place was pitch—dark, but it was evident to me that it was an empty house. Our feet creaked and crackled over the bare planking, and my outstretched hand touched a wall from which the paper was hanging in ribbons. Holmes's cold, thin fingers closed round my wrist and led me forwards down a long hall, until I dimly saw the murky fanlight over the door. Here Holmes turned suddenly to the right, and we found ourselves in a large, square, empty room, heavily shadowed in the corners, but faintly lit in the centre from the lights of the street beyond. There was no lamp near and the window was thick with dust, so that we could only just discern each other's figures within. My companion put his hand upon my shoulder and his lips close to my ear.
这里一片漆黑，但很明显是一座空房子。地板没有铺地毯，在我们脚下吱吱作响。我伸手碰到一面墙，墙纸裂成一片片垂在那里。福尔摩斯用冰凉干瘦的手指抓住了我的手腕，领我走过一条长长的走廊，直到我隐约看见门上昏暗的扇形窗才停下来。就在这儿福尔摩斯突然往右一转，我们便进入了一间正方形的大空房，房间的角落很昏暗，只有中间一块有点儿外面的街灯照进来微弱的光线。附近没有灯，窗户上又积了厚厚的一层尘土，所以我们只能依稀辨认出彼此的轮廓。我的同伴将一只手搭在我的肩上，嘴巴凑近我的耳朵。
"Do you know where we are? " he whispered.
“你知道咱们在哪儿吗？” 他低声问道。
"Surely that is Baker Street, " I answered, staring through the dim window.
“那不就是贝克街嘛。” 我透过模糊的窗户盯着外面。
"Exactly. We are in Camden House, which stands opposite to our own old quarters. "
“不错。这是卡姆登私邸，就在咱们旧寓所的对面。”
"But why are we here? "
“咱们来这儿干嘛？”
"Because it commands so excellent a view of that picturesque pile. Might I trouble you, my dear Watson, to draw a little nearer to the window, taking every precaution not to show yourself, and then to look up at our old rooms—the starting—point of so many of our little adventures? We will see if my three years of absence have entirely taken away my power to surprise you. "
“因为从这儿可以清楚地看见对面的楼。” 亲爱的沃森，你再走近窗户一点儿，千万小心别暴露自己，再瞧瞧咱们的老屋子——那么多的小冒险不都是从那儿开始的吗？咱们来看看，消失了三年后，我有没有完全失去使你惊奇的能力。”
I crept forward and looked across at the familiar window. As my eyes fell upon it I gave a gasp and a cry of amazement. The blind was down and a strong light was burning in the room. The shadow of a man who was seated in a chair within was thrown in hard, black outline upon the luminous screen of the window. There was no mistaking the poise of the head, the squareness of the shoulders, the sharpness of the features. The face was turned half—round, and the effect was that of one of those black silhouettes which our grandparents loved to frame. It was a perfect reproduction of Holmes. So amazed was I that I threw out my hand to make sure that the man himself was standing beside me. He was quivering with silent laughter.
我小心翼翼地向前挪着步子，朝对面熟悉的窗户望去。当视线落在那扇窗上时，我倒吸一口气，吃惊地叫了起来。窗帘已经放下了，屋里点着明亮的灯。一个人坐在椅子里的身影映在窗帘上，清晰可见。头部的姿势，宽阔的肩膀，分明的轮廓，一点儿都没错。他的脸半转了过去，效果就如同我们祖父母那一辈喜欢装进画框的一幅剪影。那完全就是福尔摩斯本人的翻版。我惊奇地忙把手探过去，想弄清楚他还在不在我身边。他憋住声音笑得全身颤动。
"Well? " said he.
“看见啦？” 他说。
"Good heavens! " I cried. "It is marvellous. "
“天哪！” 我大叫道。 “这妙极了！”
"I trust that age doth not wither nor custom stale my infinite variety, " said he, and I recognised in his voice the joy and pride which the artist takes in his own creation. "It really is rather like me, is it not? "
“我相信我变化多端的手法并没有因为时间流逝而变得生疏，也没有因为频繁使用而变得毫无新意吧？” 他说。从他的话中，我听出了这位艺术家对自己作品的满意和骄傲。 “确实有几分像我，是不是？”
"I should be prepared to swear that it was you. "
“我本准备发誓说，那就是你。”
"The credit of the execution is due to Monsieur Oscar Meunier, of Grenoble, who spent some days in doing the moulding. It is a bust in wax. The rest I arranged myself during my visit to Baker Street this afternoon. "
“这要归功于格勒诺布尔的奥斯卡·莫尼埃先生，他花了几天的时间做模子呢。那是一座蜡像。其余是今天下午我去贝克街自己布置的。”
"But why? "
“可是为什么呢？”
"Because, my dear Watson, I had the strongest possible reason for wishing certain people to think that I was there when I was really elsewhere. "
“亲爱的沃森，因为我有很重要的原因让一些人认为我在那里，而事实上我却在别处。”
"And you thought the rooms were watched? "
“你认为有人在监视你的寓所？”
"I knew that they were watched. "
“我知道有人在监视。”
"By whom? "
“是谁？”
"By my old enemies, Watson. By the charming society whose leader lies in the Reichenbach Fall. You must remember that they knew, and only they knew, that I was still alive. Sooner or later they believed that I should come back to my rooms. They watched them continuously, and this morning they saw me arrive. "
“我的宿敌，沃森。那帮可爱的人，他们的头儿此刻躺在赖兴巴赫瀑布下面。你别忘了，他们知道，而且也只有他们知道我还活着。他们相信我早晚会回寓所。于是他们就不间断地进行监视，今天早上他们看见我到了。”
"How do you know? "
“你怎么知道的？”
"Because I recognised their sentinel when I glanced out of my window. He is a harmless enough fellow, Parker by name, a garroter by trade, and a remarkable performer upon the Jew's harp. I cared nothing for him. But I cared a great deal for the much more formidable person who was behind him, the bosom friend of Moriarty, the man who dropped the rocks over the cliff, the most cunning and dangerous criminal in London. That is the man who is after me to—night, Watson, and that is the man who is quite unaware that we are after him. "
“因为我从窗口往外瞧的时候，认出了他们派来放哨的人。他还不足以对我构成什么威胁，这家伙叫帕克，以杀人抢劫为生，还是个出色的犹太口琴演奏家。我一点儿也不在乎他，但是我非常担心他背后那个更加难对付的人，那是莫里亚蒂的心腹，也就是从悬崖上投石块的那个人。他是伦敦最狡猾、最危险的罪犯。沃森，这就是今天晚上追踪我的那个人，可是他完全不知道咱们也在追踪他。”
My friend's plans were gradually revealing themselves. From this convenient retreat the watchers were being watched and the trackers tracked. That angular shadow up yonder was the bait and we were the hunters. In silence we stood together in the darkness and watched the hurrying figures who passed and repassed in front of us. Holmes was silent and motionless; but I could tell that he was keenly alert, and that his eyes were fixed intently upon the stream of passers—by. It was a bleak and boisterous night, and the wind whistled shrilly down the long street. Many people were moving to and fro, most of them muffled in their coats and cravats. Once or twice it seemed to me that I had seen the same figure before, and I especially noticed two men who appeared to be sheltering themselves from the wind in the doorway of a house some distance up the street. I tried to draw my companion's attention to them, but he gave a little ejaculation of impatience and continued to stare into the street. More than once he fidgeted with his feet and tapped rapidly with his fingers upon the wall. It was evident to me that he was becoming uneasy and that his plans were not working out altogether as he had hoped. At last, as midnight approached and the street gradually cleared, he paced up and down the room in uncontrollable agitation. I was about to make some remark to him when I raised my eyes to the lighted window and again experienced almost as great a surprise as before. I clutched Holmes's arm and pointed upwards.
我朋友的计划渐渐显露出来。在这个便捷的隐蔽处，监视者正受人监视，追踪者正被人追踪。那边窗户上瘦削的影子就是诱饵，而我们俩正是猎人。我们一同沉默地站在黑暗中，注视着面前来去匆匆的身影。福尔摩斯不说话也不动，但我能看出他正处于高度戒备状态，双眼紧紧盯着过往的人流。这是个阴冷喧嚣的夜晚，风刮过长长的街道，发出一阵一阵刺耳的呼啸。很多人在大街上穿梭着，大都紧裹着外套和围巾。有那么一两次，我似乎看见了刚刚见过的人影，特别注意到了两个像是在街边不远处的一个门道里避风的人。我试图让福尔摩斯注意这两个人，但他有点儿不耐烦地哼了一声，又继续目不转睛地望着街上。好几次他局促不安地挪动脚步，用手快速地敲着墙壁。在我看来，他显然开始不安起来，担心计划不能像自己希望的那样完全实现。最后，将近午夜时分，街上的人渐渐少了，他无法控制自己的焦虑，在屋里踱来踱去。我正要对他说点儿什么，一抬眼看到对面亮着灯的窗子，又像刚才那样地大吃了一惊。我抓住福尔摩斯的手臂，指着上面。
"The shadow has moved! " I cried.
“影子动了！” 我叫出声来。
It was, indeed, no longer the profile, but the back, which was turned towards us.
的确，窗帘上的已经不是侧影了，而是背影。
Three years had certainly not smoothed the asperities of his temper or his impatience with a less active intelligence than his own.
三年时间并没有消磨他粗暴的脾气，遇到不像他这么聪明的人时，他依然是那么不耐烦。
"Of course it has moved, " said he. "Am I such a farcical bungler, Watson, that I should erect an obvious dummy and expect that some of the sharpest men in Europe would be deceived by it? We have been in this room two hours, and Mrs. Hudson has made some change in that figure eight times, or once in every quarter of an hour. She works it from the front so that her shadow may never be seen. Ah! " He drew in his breath with a shrill, excited intake. In the dim light I saw his head thrown forward, his whole attitude rigid with attention. Outside, the street was absolutely deserted. Those two men might still be crouching in the doorway, but I could no longer see them. All was still and dark, save only that brilliant yellow screen in front of us with the black figure outlined upon its centre. Again in the utter silence I heard that thin, sibilant note which spoke of intense suppressed excitement. An instant later he pulled me back into the blackest corner of the room, and I felt his warning hand upon my lips. The fingers which clutched me were quivering. Never had I known my friend more moved, and yet the dark street still stretched lonely and motionless before us.
“它当然动了，” 他说， “沃森，我是这么一个可笑的笨蛋吗？难道我会支起一个一眼就认得出的假人，希望靠它来骗过欧洲最狡猾的几个人？咱们在这屋里呆两个钟头，赫德森太太已经把蜡像动了八次，一刻钟一次。她从蜡像的前面来转动它，这样她自己的影子就不会被别人看到。啊！” 他倒吸一口气，声音中夹杂着兴奋。在微弱的光线中，我见他往前探着头，全身由于注意力集中而紧张起来。外面的大街上已经空无一人。那两个人也许还蜷缩在门道里，但我已经看不到他们了。夜深人静，我们只能看到面前那明亮的黄色窗帘和映在它正中的人影。在一片静寂中，我又听到了那种细微的咝咝声，那是在努力忍住兴奋时才会发出的声响。不一会儿，他把我拉回屋子最黑暗的角落，用温热的手捂着我的嘴。他的手指颤抖着。我从没见过他如此激动。那黑暗中的街道仍然孤寂、静默地延伸在我们面前。
But suddenly I was aware of that which his keener senses had already distinguished. A low, stealthy sound came to my ears, not from the direction of Baker Street, but from the back of the very house in which we lay concealed. A door opened and shut. An instant later steps crept down the passage—steps which were meant to be silent, but which reverberated harshly through the empty house. Holmes crouched back against the wall and I did the same, my hand closing upon the handle of my revolver. Peering through the gloom, I saw the vague outline of a man, a shade blacker than the blackness of the open door. He stood for an instant, and then he crept forward, crouching, menacing, into the room. He was within three yards of us, this sinister figure, and I had braced myself to meet his spring, before I realized that he had no idea of our presence. He passed close beside us, stole over to the window, and very softly and noiselessly raised it for half a foot. As he sank to the level of this opening the light of the street, no longer dimmed by the dusty glass, fell full upon his face. The man seemed to be beside himself with excitement. His two eyes shone like stars and his features were working convulsively. He was an elderly man, with a thin, projecting nose, a high, bald forehead, and a huge grizzled moustache. An opera—hat was pushed to the back of his head, and an evening dress shirt—front gleamed out through his open overcoat. His face was gaunt and swarthy, scored with deep, savage lines. In his hand he carried what appeared to be a stick, but as he laid it down upon the floor it gave a metallic clang. Then from the pocket of his overcoat he drew a bulky object, and he busied himself in some task which ended with a loud, sharp click, as if a spring or bolt had fallen into its place. Still kneeling upon the floor he bent forward and threw all his weight and strength upon some lever, with the result that there came a long, whirling, grinding noise, ending once more in a powerful click. He straightened himself then, and I saw that what he held in his hand was a sort of gun, with a curiously misshapen butt. He opened it at the breech, put something in, and snapped the breech—block. Then, crouching down, he rested the end of the barrel upon the ledge of the open window, and I saw his long moustache droop over the stock and his eye gleam as it peered along the sights. I heard a little sigh of satisfaction as he cuddled the butt into his shoulder, and saw that amazing target, the black man on the yellow ground, standing clear at the end of his foresight. For an instant he was rigid and motionless. Then his finger tightened on the trigger. There was a strange, loud whiz and a long, silvery tinkle of broken glass. At that instant Holmes sprang like a tiger on to the marksman's back and hurled him flat upon his face. He was up again in a moment, and with convulsive strength he seized Holmes by the throat; but I struck him on the head with the butt of my revolver and he dropped again upon the floor. I fell upon him, and as I held him my comrade blew a shrill call upon a whistle. There was the clatter of running feet upon the pavement, and two policemen in uniform, with one plain—clothes detective, rushed through the front entrance and into the room.