Theyoungladyresumedherseatwithanairofdispleasure。Herbrother,however,hadjoinedusandwesetoffallfourtogether。Wepassedroundthelawntotheoutsideoftheyoungdiplomatist’swindow。
  Therewere,ashehadsaid,marksuponthebed,buttheywerehopelesslyblurredandvague。Holmesstoppedoverthemforaninstant,andthenroseshrugginghisshoulders。”Idon’tthinkanyonecouldmakemuchofthis,”saidhe。”Letusgoroundthehouseandseewhythisparticularroomwaschosebytheburglar。Ishouldhavethoughtthoselargerwindowsofthedrawing-roomanddining-roomwouldhavehadmoreattractionsforhim。””Theyaremorevisiblefromtheroad,”suggestedMr。
  JosephHarrison。”Ah,yes,ofcourse。Thereisadoorherewhichhemighthaveattempted。Whatisitfor?””Itisthesideentrancefortrades-people。Ofcourseitislockedatnight。””Haveyoueverhadanalarmlikethisbefore?””Never,”saidourclient。”Doyoukeepplateinthehouse,oranythingtoattractburglars?””Nothingofvalue。”
  Holmesstrolledroundthehousewithhishandsinhispocketsandanegligentairwhichwasunusualwithhim。”Bytheway,”saidhetoJosephHarrison,”youfoundsomeplace,Iunderstand,wherethefellowscaledthefence。Letushavealookatthat!”
  Theplumpyoungmanledustoaspotwherethetopofoneofthewoodenrailshadbeencracked。Asmallfragmentofthewoodwashangingdown。Holmespulleditoffandexamineditcritically。”Doyouthinkthatwasdonelastnight?Itlooksratherold,doesitnot?””Well,possiblyso。””Therearenomarksofanyonejumpingdownupontheotherside。No,Ifancyweshallgetnohelphere。
  Letusgobacktothebedroomandtalkthematterover。”
  PercyPhelpswaswalkingveryslowly,leaninguponthearmofhisfuturebrother-in-law。Holmeswalkedswiftlyacrossthelawn,andwewereattheopenwindowofthebedroomlongbeforetheotherscameup。”MissHarrison,”saidHolmes,speakingwiththeutmostintensityofmanner,”youmuststaywhereyouareallday。Letnothingpreventyoufromstayingwhereyouareallday。Itisoftheutmostimportance。””Certainly,ifyouwishit,Mr。Holmes,”saidthegirlinastonishment。”Whenyougotobedlockthedoorofthisroomontheoutsideandkeepthekey。Promisetodothis。””ButPercy?””HewillcometoLondonwithus。””AndamItoremainhere?””Itisforhissake。Youcanservehim。Quick!
  Promise!”
  Shegaveaquicknodofassentjustastheothertwocameup。”Whydoyousitmopingthere,Annie?”criedherbrother。”Comeoutintothesunshine!””No,thankyou,Joseph。Ihaveaslightheadacheandthisroomisdeliciouslycoolandsoothing。””Whatdoyouproposenow,Mr。Holmes?”askedourclient。”Well,ininvestigatingthisminoraffairwemustnotlosesightofourmaininquiry。ItwouldbeaverygreathelptomeifyouwouldcomeuptoLondonwithus。””Atonce?””Well,assoonasyouconvenientlycan。Sayinanhour。””Ifeelquitestrongenough,ifIcanreallybeofanyhelp。””Thegreatestpossible。””Perhapsyouwouldlikemethestaythereto-night?””Iwasjustgoingtoproposeit。””Then,ifmyfriendofthenightcomestorevisitme,hewillfindthebirdflown。Weareallinyourhands,Mr。Holmes,andyoumusttellusexactlywhatyouwouldlikedone。PerhapsyouwouldpreferthatJosephcamewitussoastolookafterme?””Oh,no;myfriendWatsonisamedicalman,youknow,andhe’lllookafteryou。We’llhaveourlunchhere,ifyouwillpermitus,andthenweshallalthreesetofffortowntogether。”
  Itwasarrangedashesuggested,thoughMissHarrisonexcusedherselffromleavingthebedroom,inaccordancewithHolmes’ssuggestion。Whattheobjectofmyfriend’smanoeuvreswasIcouldnotconceive,unlessitweretokeeptheladyawayfromPhelps,who,rejoicedbyhisreturninghealthandbytheprospectofaction,lunchedwithusinthedining-room。Holmeshadstillmorestartlingsurpriseforus,however,for,afteraccompanyingusdowntothestationandseeingusintoourcarriage,hecalmlyannouncedthathehadnointentionofleavingWoking。”ThereareoneortwosmallpointswhichIshoulddesiretoclearupbeforeIgo,”saidhe。”Yourabsence,Mr。Phelps,willinsomewaysratherassistme。Watson,whenyoureachLondonyouwouldobligemebydrivingatoncetoBakerStreetwithourfriendhere,andremainingwithhimuntilIseeyouagain。
  Itisfortunatethatyouareoldschool-fellows,asyoumusthavemuchtotalkover。Mr。Phelpscanhavethesparebedroomto-night,andIwillbewithyouintimeforbreakfast,forthereisatrainwhichwilltakemeintoWaterlooateight。””ButhowaboutourinvestigationinLondon?”askedPhelps,ruefully。”Wecandothatto-morrow。IthinkthatjustatpresentIcanbeofmoreimmediateusehere。””YoumighttellthematBriarbraethatIhopetobebackto-morrownight,”criedPhelps,aswebegantomovefromtheplatform。”IhardlyexpecttogobacktoBriarbrae,”answeredHolmes,andwavedhishandtouscheerilyasweshotoutfromthestation。
  PhelpsandItalkeditoveronourjourney,butneitherofuscoulddeviseasatisfactoryreasonforthisnewdevelopment。”Isupposehewantstofindoutsomeclueastotheburglarylastnight,ifaburglaritwas。Formyself,Idon’tbelieveitwasanordinarythief。””Whatisyourownidea,then?””Uponmyword,youmayputitdowntomyweaknervesornot,butIbelievethereissomedeeppoliticalintriguegoingonaroundme,andthatforsomereasonthatpassesmyunderstandingmylifeisaimedatbytheconspirators。Itsoundshigh-flownandabsurd,butconsiderthefats!Whyshouldathieftrytobreakinatabedroomwindow,wheretherecouldbenohopeofanyplunder,andwhyshouldhecomewithalongknifeinhishand?””Youaresureitwasnotahouse-breaker’sjimmy?””Oh,no,itwasaknife。Isawtheflashofthebladequitedistinctly。””Butwhyonearthshouldyoubepursuedwithsuchanimosity?””Ah,thatisthequestion。””Well,ifHolmestakesthesameview,thatwouldaccountforhisaction,woulditnot?Presumingthatyourtheoryiscorrect,ifhecanlayhishandsuponthemanwhothreatenedyoulastnighthewillhavegonealongwaytowardsfindingwhotookthenavaltreaty。Itisabsurdtosupposethatyouhavetwoenemies,oneofwhomrobsyou,whiletheotherthreatensyourlife。””ButHolmessaidthathewasnotgoingtoBriarbrae。””Ihaveknownhimforsometime,”saidI,”butIneverknewhimdoanythingyetwithoutaverygoodreason,”
  andwiththatourconversationdriftedoffontoothertopics。
  Butitwasawearydayforme。Phelpswasstillweakafterhislongillness,andhismisfortunemadehimquerulousandnervous。InvainIendeavoredtointeresthiminAfghanistan,inIndia,insocialquestions,inanythingwhichmighttakehismindoutofthegroove。Hewouldalwayscomebacktohislosttreaty,wondering,guessing,speculating,astowhatHolmeswasdoing,whatstepsLordHoldhurstwastaking,whatnewsweshouldhaveinthemorning。Astheeveningworeonhisexcitementbecamequitepainful。”YouhaveimplicitfaithinHolmes?”heasked。”Ihaveseenhimdosomeremarkablethings。””Butheneverbroughtlightintoanythingquitesodarkasthis?””Oh,yes;Ihaveknownhimsolvequestionswhichpresentedfewercluesthanyours。””Butnotwheresuchlargeinterestsareatstake?”