So far all had gone admirably. My luggage was waiting for me,and I had no difficulty in finding the carriage which Holmes hadindicated, the less so as it was the only one in the train whichwas marked “Engaged.” My only source of anxiety now wasthe non-appearance of Holmes. The station clock marked onlyseven minutes from the time when we were due to start. In vainI searched among the groups of travellers and leave-takers forthe lithe figure of my friend. There was no sign of him. I spenta few minutes in assisting a venerable Italian priest, who wasendeavoring to make a porter understand, in his broken English,that his luggage was to be booked through to Paris. Then, havingtaken another look round, I returned to my carriage, where Ifound that the porter, in spite of the ticket, had given me my decrepitItalian friend as a traveling companion. It was useless for me toexplain to him that his presence was an intrusion, for my Italianwas even more limited than his English, so I shrugged my shouldersresignedly, and continued to look out anxiously for my friend. Achill of fear had come over me, as I thought that his absence mightmean that some blow had fallen during the night. Already the doorshad all been shut and the whistle blown, when——“My dear Watson,” said a voice, “you have not even condescendedto say good-morning.”
I turned in uncontrollable astonishment. The aged ecclesiastichad turned his face towards me. For an instant the wrinkles weresmoothed away, the nose drew away from the chin, the lower lipceased to protrude and the mouth to mumble, the dull eyes regainedtheir fire, the drooping figure expanded. The next the whole framecollapsed again, and Holmes had gone as quickly as he had come.
“Good heavens!” I cried, “how you startled me!”
“Every precaution is still necessary,” he whispered. “I havereason to think that they are hot upon our trail. Ah, there isMoriarty himself.”
The train had already begun to move as Holmes spoke.
Glancing back, I saw a tall man pushing his way furiously throughthe crowd, and waving his hand as if he desired to have the trainstopped. It was too late, however, for we were rapidly gatheringmomentum, and an instant later had shot clear of the station.
“With all our precautions, you see that we have cut it ratherfine,” said Holmes, laughing. He rose, and throwing off the blackcassock and hat which had formed his disguise, he packed themaway in a hand-bag.
“Have you seen the morning paper, Watson?”
“No.”
“You haven’t’ seen about Baker Street, then?”
“Baker Street?”
“They set fire to our rooms last night. No great harm was done.”
“Good heavens, Holmes! this is intolerable.”
“They must have lost my track completely after their bludgeonmanwas arrested. Otherwise they could not have imaginedthat I had returned to my rooms. They have evidently takenthe precaution of watching you, however, and that is what hasbrought Moriarty to Victoria. You could not have made any slip incoming?”
“I did exactly what you advised.”
“Did you find your brougham?”
“Yes, it was waiting.”
“Did you recognize your coachman?”
“No.”
“It was my brother Mycroft. It is an advantage to get about insuch a case without taking a mercenary into your confidence. Butwe must plan what we are to do about Moriarty now.”
“As this is an express, and as the boat runs in connection with it,I should think we have shaken him off very effectively.”
“My dear Watson, you evidently did not realize my meaningwhen I said that this man may be taken as being quite on the sameintellectual plane as myself. You do not imagine that if I were thepursuer I should allow myself to be baffled by so slight an obstacle.
Why, then, should you think so meanly of him?”
“What will he do?”
“What I should do?”
“What would you do, then?”
“Engage a special.”
“But it must be late.”
“By no means. This train stops at Canterbury; and there isalways at least a quarter of an hour’s delay at the boat. He willcatch us there.”
“One would think that we were the criminals. Let us have himarrested on his arrival.”
“It would be to ruin the work of three months. We should get thebig fish, but the smaller would dart right and left out of the net. OnMonday we should have them all. No, an arrest is inadmissible.”
“What then?”
“We shall get out at Canterbury.”
“And then?”
“Well, then we must make a cross-country journey to Newhaven,and so over to Dieppe. Moriarty will again do what I should do. Hewill get on to Paris, mark down our luggage, and wait for two daysat the depot. In the meantime we shall treat ourselves to a coupleof carpet-bags, encourage the manufactures of the countriesthrough which we travel, and make our way at our leisure intoSwitzerland, via Luxembourg and Basle.”
At Canterbury, therefore, we alighted, only to find that we shouldhave to wait an hour before we could get a train to Newhaven.
I was still looking rather ruefully after the rapidly disappearingluggage-van which contained my wardrobe, when Holmes pulledmy sleeve and pointed up the line.
“Already, you see,” said he.
Far away, from among the Kentish woods there rose a thin sprayof smoke. A minute later a carriage and engine could be seen flyingalong the open curve which leads to the station. We had hardlytime to take our place behind a pile of luggage when it passed witha rattle and a roar, beating a blast of hot air into our faces.
“There he goes,” said Holmes, as we watched the carriage swingand rock over the points. “There are limits, you see, to our friend’sintelligence. It would have been a coup-de-maitre had he deducedwhat I would deduce and acted accordingly.”
“And what would he have done had he overtaken us?”
“There cannot be the least doubt that he would have made amurderous attack upon me. It is, however, a game at which twomay play. The question now is whether we should take a prematurelunch here, or run our chance of starving before we reach thebuffet at Newhaven.”
