"
"The other being, I presume, Professor Moriarty."
"No less! When any of that party talk about 'He' you know whom
they mean. There is one predominant 'He' for all of them."
"But what can he do?"
"Hum! That's a large question. When you have one of the first
brains of Europe up against you, and all the powers of darkness
at his back, there are infinite possibilities. Anyhow, Friend
Porlock is evidently scared out of his senses--kindly compare the
writing in the note to that upon its envelope; which was done, he
tells us, before this ill-omened visit. The one is clear and
firm. The other hardly legible."
"Why did he write at all? Why did he not simply drop it?"
"Because he feared I would make some inquiry after him in that
case, and possibly bring trouble on him."
"No doubt," said I. "Of course." I had picked up the original
cipher message and was bending my brows over it. "It's pretty
maddening to think that an important secret may lie here on this
slip of paper, and that it is beyond human power to penetrate
it."
Sherlock Holmes had pushed away his untasted breakfast and lit
the unsavoury pipe which was the companion of his deepest
meditations.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29