"'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that.All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let usknow what is wrong with it.'
"We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, thefat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house,with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and littlelow doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by thegenerations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and nosigns of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plasterwas peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through ingreen, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned anair as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of thelady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye uponmy two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silentman, but I could see from the little that he said that he was atleast a fellow-countryman.
"Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, whichhe unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the threeof us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside,and the colonel ushered me in.
"'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, andit would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone wereto turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really theend of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force ofmany tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columnsof water outside which receive the force, and which transmit andmultiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machinegoes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the workingof it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you willhave the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can setit right.'
"I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine verythoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable ofexercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, andpressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once bythe whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which alloweda regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. Anexamination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which wasround the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite tofill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the causeof the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, whofollowed my remarks very carefully and asked several practicalquestions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When Ihad made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of themachine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity.It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earthwas the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to supposethat so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate apurpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of alarge iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see acrust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and wasscraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard amuttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of thecolonel looking down at me.
"'What are you doing there?' he asked.
"I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story asthat which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,'said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as toyour machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which itwas used.'
"The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness ofmy speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up inhis grey eyes.
"'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' Hetook a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the keyin the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but itwas quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks andshoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!'
"And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent myheart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swishof the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lampstill stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examiningthe trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was comingdown upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better thanmyself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to ashapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, anddragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to letme out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned mycries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and withmy hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then itflashed through my mind that the pain of my death would dependvery much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on myface the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered tothink of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; andyet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly blackshadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to standerect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hopeback to my heart.
"I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, thewalls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I sawa thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, whichbroadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. Foran instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a doorwhich led away from death. The next instant I threw myselfthrough, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel hadclosed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a fewmoments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told mehow narrow had been my escape.
"I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, andI found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor,while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand,while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friendwhose warning I had so foolishly rejected.
"'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in amoment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not wastethe so-precious time, but come!'
"This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered tomy feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a windingstair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as wereached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting oftwo voices, one answering the other from the floor on which wewere and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked abouther like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a doorwhich led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moonwas shining brightly.
"'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may bethat you can jump it.'
"As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of thepassage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Starkrushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like abutcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom,flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet andwholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not bemore than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but Ihesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed betweenmy saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used,then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance.The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was atthe door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms roundhim and tried to hold him back.
"'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promiseafter the last time. You said it should not be again. He will besilent! Oh, he will be silent!'
"'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away fromher. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let mepass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to thewindow, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, andwas hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow f
ell. I wasconscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into thegarden below.
"I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up andrushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for Iunderstood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly,however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me.I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, andthen, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off andthat the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie myhandkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in myears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among therose-bushes.
"How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have beena very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning wasbreaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden withdew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my woundedthumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all theparticulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet withthe feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. Butto my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither housenor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of thehedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was along building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be thevery station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Wereit not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passedduring those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream.
"Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morningtrain. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. Thesame porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when Iarrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of ColonelLysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed acarriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Wasthere a police-station anywhere near? There was one about threemiles off.
"It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determinedto wait until I got back to town before telling my story to thepolice. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went firstto have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough tobring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall doexactly what you advise."
We both sat in silence for some little time after listening tothis extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled downfrom the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which heplaced his cuttings.
"Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "Itappeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this:'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, agedtwenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at teno'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Wasdressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time thatthe colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy."
"Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what thegirl said."
"Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool anddesperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing shouldstand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-outpirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well,every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shallgo down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting forEyford."
Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the traintogether, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village.There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, InspectorBradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself.Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon theseat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyfordfor its centre.
"There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius often miles from the village. The place we want must be somewherenear that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir."
"It was an hour's good drive."