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Chapter 10 of the sign of the 
four by Sir, Arthur Conan Doyle.

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This LibriVox recording is in 
the public domain. 

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Chapter 10. 
The end of The Islander. 

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Our meal was a. 
Merry one homes could talk 

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exceedingly. 
Well, when he chose and that 

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night, he did choose. 
He appeared to be in a state of 

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nervous. 
Exultation. 

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I've never known him so 
brilliant. 

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He spoke on a quick succession 
of subjects on Miracle plays on 

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medieval Pottery, on 
Stradivarius violins on the 

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Buddhism of Ceylon and on the 
warships of the future. 

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Handling each as though he had 
made a special study of it. 

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His bright humor marked, the 
reaction from his black 

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depression of the preceding 
days. 

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Athelney Jones proved to be a 
sociable soul in his hours of 

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relaxation and faced his dinner 
with the air of a bon vivant for

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myself. 
I felt elated at the thought 

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that we were nearing the end of 
our task and I caught something 

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of homes is gaiety. 
None of us alluded during dinner

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to the cause which had brought 
us together when the cloth was 

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cleared Holmes, glanced at his 
watch, and filled up three 

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glasses with Port 1. 
Bumper said he to the success of

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our little Expedition and now it
is high time. 

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We were off, have you epistle 
Watson? 

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I have my old service revolver 
in my desk. 

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You had best take it, then it is
well to be prepared. 

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I see that the cab is at the 
door. 

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I It for 6:30. 
It was a little past seven 

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before we reach the Westminster 
Wharf and found our launch 

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awaiting us homes. 
I'd it critically. 

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Is there anything to mark it as 
a police boat? 

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Yes, that green lamp at the 
side, then take it off. 

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The small change was made, we 
stepped on board and the ropes 

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were cast off Jones homes. 
And I sat in the stern, there 

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was one man at the rudder, one 
to ten the engines and two Burly

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police inspectors forward. 
Where to ask Jones to the tower.

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Tell him to stop opposite 
Jacobson's. 

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Yeah. 
Todd craft was evidently a very 

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fast one. 
We shot past the long lines of 

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loaded. 
Barges as though, they were 

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stationary, Holmes smiled with 
satisfaction as we overhauled a 

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river. 
Steamer and left her behind us. 

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We ought to be able to catch 
anything on the river. 

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He said, well, oddly that. 
But there are not many launches 

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to beat us, we shall have to 
catch the Aurora and she has a 

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name for being a Clipper. 
I will tell you how the land 

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lies Watson, You recollect how 
annoyed I was at being bought by

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so small, a thing? 
Yes. 

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Well, I gave my mind a sir 
arrest by plunging into a 

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chemical analysis. 
One of our greatest Statesmen 

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who said that a change of work 
is the best rest. 

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So, it is when I had succeeded 
in dissolving, the hydrocarbon, 

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which I was at work at, I came 
back to our problem of the 

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sholto's and thought the whole 
matter out. 

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Again, my boys have been up the 
river and Down the River without

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result. 
The launch was not at any 

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Landing stage or Wharf nor had 
it returned yet. 

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It could hardly have been 
scuttled to hide their traces 

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though that always remained as a
possible hypothesis. 

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If all else failed, I knew this 
man. 

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Small had a certain degree of 
low cunning, but I did not think

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him capable of anything in the 
nature of delicate finesse. 

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That is usually a product of 
higher education. 

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I then reflected that since he 
had We've been in London some 

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time. 
As we had evidence that he 

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maintained a continual watch 
over pondicherry Lodge. 

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He could hardly leave at a 
moment's notice but would need 

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some little time. 
If it were only a day to arrange

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his Affairs, that was the 
balance of probability at any 

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rate. 
It seems to me to be a little 

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weak said. 
I, it is more probable that he 

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had arranged his Affairs before 
ever. 

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He set out upon his expedition. 
No, I hardly think. 

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So, this layer of his would be 
too valuable at a retreat in 

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case of need for him to give it 
up until he was sure that he 

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could do without it, but a 
second consideration, struck me,

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Jonathan small must have felt 
that the peculiar appearance of 

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His companion. 
However, much. 

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He may have top coated. 
Would give rise to gossip and 

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possibly be associated. 
With this Norwood tragedy. 

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He was quite sharp enough to see
that they had started from their

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headquarters under cover of 
darkness and he would wish to 

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get back before. 
It was broad light. 

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Now, it was past 3:00 according 
to mrs. 

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Smith, when they got the boat, 
it would be quite bright and 

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people would be about in an hour
or so. 

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Therefore, I argued that they 
did not go very far. 

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Are they paid Smith well to hold
his tongue reserved, his launch 

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for the final escape and hurried
to their lodgings with the 

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treasure box in a couple of 
nights when they had time to see

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what view the papers took. 
And whether there was any 

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suspicion, they would make their
way under cover of Darkness, to 

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some ship at Gravesend or in the
Downs. 

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When I doubt, they had already 
arranged for passages to America

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or the colonies. 
But the launch, they could not 

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have taken that to their 
lodgings quite. 

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So, I argued that the launch 
must be no great way off in 

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spite of its invisibility. 
I then put myself in the place 

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of small and looked at it as a 
man of his capacity, would he 

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would probably consider that to 
send back the launch or to keep 

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it at a wharf would make the 
suit easy if the police did 

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happen to get on his track how 
then could he conceal the launch

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and yet have heard At hand. 
When wanted, I wondered what I 

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should do myself? 
If I were in his shoes, I could 

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only think of one way of doing 
it. 

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I might land a launch over to 
some boat builder or repairer 

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with directions to make a 
trifling change in her, she 

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would then be removed to his 
shed, or yard and so be 

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effectually concealed. 
While at the same time, I could 

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have her at a few hours. 
Notice that seems simple enough.

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It is just these very simple 
things which are extremely 

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liable to be overlooked. 
However I determined to act on 

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the idea I started at once in 
this harmless Siemens rig and 

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inquired at all the yards down 
the river, I drew blanket 15. 

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But at the 16th Jacobson's, I 
learned that the Aurora had been

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handed over to them two days ago
by a wooden-legged man. 

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With some trivial directions as 
to her Rudder, right? 

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Nor a Miss with her Radha, said 
the foreman there, she lies with

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the red streaks. 
At that moment who should come 

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down. 
But Mordecai Smith, the missing 

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owner. 
He was rather the worse for 

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liquor. 
I should not have course have 

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known him but he bellowed out 
his name and the name of his 

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launch 10 tonight at 8:00 said, 
he 8:00 sharp mine for have two 

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gentlemen. 
Who won't be kept waiting? 

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Yeah definitely paid him well 
for he was very flush of money, 

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chucking Shillings about to the 
men, I followed him some 

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distance but he subsided into an
alehouse. 

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So I went back to the yard and 
happening to pick up one of my 

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boys on the way I stationed him 
as a century over the launch, he

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is to stand at Waters Edge and 
wave his handkerchief to us. 

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When they start we shall be 
lying off in the Stream and it 

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will be a strange thing. 
If we do, not take men treasure 

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and all You have planned it all 
very neatly whether they are the

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right men or not said Jones. 
But if the affair were in my 

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hands, I should have had a body 
of police in Jacobs and Jarred 

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and arrested them when they came
down. 

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Which would have been never this
man, small is a pretty shrewd 

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fellow, he would send a scout on
ahead and if anything made him 

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suspicious lie snug for another 
week. 

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But you might have stuck to 
Mordecai Smith and so being led 

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to their Hiding Place said I in 
that case I would have wasted my

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day. 
I think that it is 100 to 1 

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against Smith knowing where they
live, as long as he has liquor 

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and a good pay. 
Why should he ask questions? 

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They send him messages. 
What to do? 

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No, I thought every possible 
course. 

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And this is the best. 
While this conversation had been

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proceeding. 
We had been shooting the long 

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series Of bridges, which span 
the Thames. 

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As we pass the city, the last 
rays of the sun were gilding the

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cross upon the summit of st. 
Paul's, it was Twilight before 

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we reach the tower. 
That is Jacobson's yard said, 

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Holmes pointing to a bristle of 
masts and rigging on the Surrey 

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side Crews, gently up. 
And down here, under cover of 

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this string of Lighters, he took
a pair of night classes from his

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pocket and gazed some time at 
the shore. 

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I see my Sentry at his post, he 
remarked, but no sign of a 

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handkerchief. 
Suppose we go Downstream a short

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way and lie in wait for them. 
So Jones, eagerly, we were all 

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eager by this time. 
Even the policemen and Stoker's 

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who are very vague idea of what 
was going forward. 

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We have no right to take 
anything for granted Holmes 

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answered. 
It is certainly ten to one that 

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they go Downstream but we cannot
be certain from this point. 

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We can see the entrance of the 
yard and they can hardly see us.

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It will be a clear night and 
plenty of light. 

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We must stay where we are. 
See how the folks warm Over 

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Yonder in The Gaslight are 
coming from work in the yard. 

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Does he looking Rascals? 
But I suppose everyone has some 

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little Immortal, spark concealed
about him. 

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You would not think it to look 
at them. 

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There is no a priori probability
about it. 

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A strange Enigma is man. 
Someone calls him a soul 

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concealed in an animal. 
I suggested when would read is 

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good upon the subject said 
Holmes. 

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He remarks. 
That, while the individual man 

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is an insoluble puzzle in the 
aggregate. 

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He becomes a mathematical 
certainty. 

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You can, for example, never 
foretell. 

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What any one man will do? 
But you can say with Precision, 

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what an average number will be 
up to individuals vary, but 

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percentages remain constant, so 
says Statistician. 

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But do I see a handkerchief 
surely? 

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There is a white flat Over 
Yonder. 

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Yes, it is, your boy. 
I cried. 

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I can see him plainly. 
And there is the Aurora 

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explained homes and going like, 
the devil Full Speed Ahead 

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engineer make after that. 
Launched with the yellow light 

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by Heaven. 
I shall never forgive myself. 

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If she proves to have the heels 
of us. 

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She had slipped unseen through 
the yard entrance and past 

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behind two, or three small 
craft, so that she had Fairly 

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got a speed up before we saw 
her. 

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Now, she was flying down the 
stream near into the shore. 

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Going into tremendous rate, 
Jones looked Gravely at her and 

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shook his head. 
She's very fast. 

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He said, I doubt if we shall 
catch her, we must catch her 

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cried Holmes between his teeth, 
he put on Stoker's, make her do 

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all she can. 
If we And the boat we must have 

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them. 
We were fairly after her now, 

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the furnace is roared. 
And the powerful engines. 

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Wisdom clanked, like a great 
metallic heart has sharp steep 

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prowl, cut through the river 
water and sent to Rolling waves 

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two, right? 
And two left of us. 

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With every throb of the engines,
we sprang and quivered like a 

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living thing one great Yellow 
Lantern in our boughs through a 

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long. 
Flickering fun, love light in 

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front of us. 
Right ahead. 

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A dark blur upon the Water 
showed where the auroral a and a

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swirl of white. 
Behind her spoke of the pace at 

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which she was going. 
We flashed past, barges 

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Steamers, Merchant vessels in 
and out behind this one and 

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round the other voices, hailed 
us out of the darkness, but 

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still the Aurora thundered on 
and still, we followed close 

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upon a track pilot on men pilot 
on cried. 

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Holmes, looking down into the 
engine room while the fierce 

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glow from below beat upon his 
eager aquiline, face, get every 

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pound of steam, you can I think 
we can gain a little said Jones 

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with his eyes on the Aurora. 
I'm sure of it said, I we shall 

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be up with her in a very few 
minutes that moment. 

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However as our evil fate would 
have it a tug with three barges 

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in tow blundered in between us 
it was only by putting our Helm 

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hard down that we avoided a 
collision and before we could 

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round them and recover our way, 
the Aurora had gained a good 200

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yards. 
She was still, however, well in 

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View and the murky uncertain. 
Twilight was setting into a 

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00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:30,900
clear Starlit Night. 
Our boilers were strained to 

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00:13:30,900 --> 00:13:34,500
their utmost, and the frail 
shell vibrated, and creaked, 

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with the fierce energy, which 
was driving us along, we had 

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00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:42,000
shot through the pool past the 
West India, docks down the long 

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Deptford reach and up again 
after rounding, the Isle of 

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dogs, the doll blur in front of 
us resolved itself. 

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00:13:48,900 --> 00:13:53,400
Now, clearly enough into the 
dainty Aurora Jones turned our 

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00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,600
search light upon her so that we
could plainly see the figures 

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00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:01,200
upon her deck, one man Sat by 
the stern with something black 

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00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,300
between his knees over, which he
stooped beside him. 

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00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:08,800
Lay a dark Mass, which looked 
like a Newfoundland dog. 

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00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,900
The boy held the tiller while 
against the red glare of the 

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00:14:12,900 --> 00:14:16,600
Furnace, I could see old Smith 
stripped to the waist and 

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00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:21,000
shoveling coals for dear life. 
They may have had some doubt at 

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00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,700
first as to whether we were 
really pursuing them. 

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00:14:24,500 --> 00:14:28,400
But now as we followed every 
winding and turning which they 

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00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,700
took, they could be no longer 
any question about it at 

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00:14:32,700 --> 00:14:36,100
Greenwich, we were about 300 
Paces behind them. 

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00:14:36,900 --> 00:14:40,900
At black wool, we could not have
been more than 250. 

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00:14:40,900 --> 00:14:45,200
I have caused many creatures in 
many countries during my 

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00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,600
checkered career, but never did 
sport. 

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00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:52,700
Give me such a wild thrill as 
this mad flying man. 

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00:14:52,700 --> 00:14:55,700
Hunt down the Thames. 
Steadily. 

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00:14:55,700 --> 00:15:00,300
We drew in upon them yard by 
yard in the Silence of the 

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00:15:00,300 --> 00:15:02,500
night. 
We could hear the panting and 

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00:15:02,500 --> 00:15:06,100
clanking of their Machinery. 
The man in the stern, still 

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00:15:06,100 --> 00:15:09,500
crouched upon Deck and his arms 
were moving as though he were 

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00:15:09,500 --> 00:15:13,000
busy while every now and then he
would look up and measure with a

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00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:17,300
glance the distance, which still
separated us nearer. 

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00:15:17,300 --> 00:15:21,100
We came and nearer Jones yelled 
to them to stop. 

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00:15:22,100 --> 00:15:26,000
We were not more than four boats
lengths behind them, both boats,

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00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,500
flying at a tremendous Pace. 
It was a clear reach of the 

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00:15:29,500 --> 00:15:33,200
river with barking level upon 
one side and The Melancholy 

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00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:35,100
plumstead marshes upon the 
other. 

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00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,700
At our hail, the man in the 
stern, sprang up from the deck 

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00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:44,100
and shook his to clinched fists 
at us cursing, a while in a high

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00:15:44,100 --> 00:15:47,500
cracked voice. 
He was a good-sized powerful, 

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00:15:47,500 --> 00:15:51,900
man, and as he stood poison 
himself with legs astride, I 

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00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,000
could see that from the thigh 
downwards, there was, but a 

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wooden stump upon the right 
side. 

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00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,700
At the sound of his strident 
angry cries, there was movement 

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00:16:01,700 --> 00:16:03,300
in the huddled bundle upon the 
deck. 

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00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,300
It straightened itself into a 
little black man, the smallest 

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00:16:07,300 --> 00:16:11,500
I've ever seen with a great 
misshapen head and a shock of 

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00:16:11,500 --> 00:16:15,700
tangle disheveled hair Holmes 
had already drawn his revolver 

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00:16:16,300 --> 00:16:19,100
and I whipped out mine at the 
sight of this Savage distorted 

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00:16:19,100 --> 00:16:22,200
creature. 
He was wrapped in some sort of 

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00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:26,700
dark bolster or blanket, which 
left only his face exposed. 

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00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,900
But that face was enough to give
a man, a sleepless night. 

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00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,600
Never have I seen features so 
deeply marked with all best 

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00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,900
reality and cruelty. 
His small eyes glowed and burned

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00:16:39,900 --> 00:16:44,500
with a sombre light and his 
thick lips were rised back from 

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00:16:44,500 --> 00:16:48,200
his teeth which grinned and 
chattered at us with a half 

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00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:52,800
animal Fury fire. 
If he raises his hand said 

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00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,500
Holmes, quietly, we were within 
a boat's length by this time. 

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00:16:57,300 --> 00:16:59,100
Almost within Touch of our 
Quarry. 

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00:17:00,100 --> 00:17:03,300
I can see the two of them. 
Now, as they stood, the white 

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00:17:03,300 --> 00:17:07,500
man with his legs far apart 
shrieking out curses, and the 

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00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:11,000
unhallowed dwarf with his 
hideous face and his strong 

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00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,400
yellow teeth. 
Gnashing at us in the light of 

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00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:16,099
our Lantern. 
It was well, that we had so 

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00:17:16,099 --> 00:17:19,700
clearer view of him. 
Even as we looked, he plucked 

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00:17:19,700 --> 00:17:23,099
out from under his covering, a 
short round piece of wood like a

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00:17:23,099 --> 00:17:25,700
school ruler, and clapped it to 
his lips. 

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00:17:26,700 --> 00:17:31,400
I'll pistols rang out together. 
He Whirled round threw up his 

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00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:33,700
arms. 
And with a kind of choking 

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00:17:33,700 --> 00:17:36,600
cough, fell sideways into the 
Stream. 

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00:17:37,700 --> 00:17:41,800
I caught one glimpse of his 
venomous menacing eyes amid the 

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00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:45,600
white swirl of The Waters at the
same moment. 

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00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:49,100
The wooden-legged man threw 
himself upon the rudder and put 

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00:17:49,100 --> 00:17:52,300
it hard down so that his boat 
made straight in for the 

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00:17:52,300 --> 00:17:55,100
Southern Bank. 
While we shot past her Stern, 

300
00:17:55,500 --> 00:17:59,900
only clearing her by a few feet.
We were round after her in an 

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00:17:59,900 --> 00:18:02,800
instant, but she was already 
nearly at the bank. 

302
00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:05,500
It was a wild and desolate 
place. 

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00:18:05,500 --> 00:18:09,400
Where the moon glimmered upon a 
wide expanse of Marshland with 

304
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,700
pools of stagnant, water, and 
beds of decaying vegetation. 

305
00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:17,800
The launch with a dull thud ran 
up upon the mudbank with her 

306
00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:20,700
bow, in the air, and her Stern 
flush with the water. 

307
00:18:21,500 --> 00:18:25,500
The Fugitive sprang out, but his
stump instantly sank its whole 

308
00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:29,900
length into the southern soil. 
In vain, he struggled and Rise 

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00:18:30,700 --> 00:18:34,400
not one step could he possibly 
take either forwards or 

310
00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,600
backwards yelled at him, 
impotent, rage and kicked 

311
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,400
frantically into the mud with 
his other foot but his struggles

312
00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,800
only board his wooden pin the 
deeper into the sticky Bank. 

313
00:18:47,100 --> 00:18:50,400
When we brought our launch 
alongside he was so firmly 

314
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:52,800
anchored. 
There was only by throwing the 

315
00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:54,400
end of a rope over his 
shoulders. 

316
00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,400
That we were able to haul him 
out and to drag him like some 

317
00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:03,800
evil fish over our side, the to 
Smith's, father and son sat 

318
00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,500
sullenly in their launch but 
came aboard meekly enough when 

319
00:19:07,500 --> 00:19:12,300
commanded the Aurora herself was
hauled off and made fast to our 

320
00:19:12,300 --> 00:19:16,800
Stern, a solid iron chest of 
Indian workmanship stood upon 

321
00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:21,900
the deck, this there could be no
question was the same that had 

322
00:19:21,900 --> 00:19:24,700
contained The ill-omened 
Treasure of the sholto's. 

323
00:19:25,700 --> 00:19:28,800
There was no key, but it was of 
considerable weight. 

324
00:19:29,300 --> 00:19:33,400
So, we transferred it carefully 
to our own little cabin as we 

325
00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:34,600
steamed slowly. 
Upstream. 

326
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,700
Again, we flashed our search 
light in every direction, but 

327
00:19:38,700 --> 00:19:43,200
there was no sign of the island 
somewhere in the dark ooze at 

328
00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,600
the bottom of the Thames, by the
bones of that strange visitor to

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00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:52,000
our Shores. 
See here said Holmes pointing to

330
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,200
the wooden hatchway. 
We were hardly quick enough with

331
00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,700
our pistols. 
There. 

332
00:19:57,700 --> 00:20:01,700
Sure enough just behind where we
had been standing stuck. 

333
00:20:01,700 --> 00:20:04,200
One of those murderers darts 
which we knew so. 

334
00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:08,500
Well it must have whizzed 
between us at the instant that 

335
00:20:08,500 --> 00:20:13,400
we fired Holmes smiled at it and
Shrugged, his shoulders in his 

336
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,900
easy fashion. 
But I confess that it turned me 

337
00:20:16,900 --> 00:20:20,400
sick to think of the horrible 
death, which had passed. 

338
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:24,900
So close to us that night end of
chapter 10,