Skandal in Bohemia

|At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and strange features which were associated with the two crimes which I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to enter into my head.  

|Klok tri exaktem me es pa Beiker-strit, bat Holms bu returni-te haishi. Domgina informi me, ke lu he kwiti dom sun afte klok ot pa sabah. Me en-sidi bli agni, yedoh, kun intenta finweiti lu, komo unkwe longem treba weiti. Me yo fai interes glube om suy investiga, bikos, obwol it bu hev toy glume e ajibe treta ke ti me yo registri na dwa krimen hev-te, natura de sey kasu e gao posision de suy klienta mah it nopinchan. Ver, apartem fon natura de investiga ke may amiga zai fai, ye koysa in suy master-ney graspa de situasion e in suy agude e yarke resoning kel mah me jui al studi luy sistema de gunsa e al sekwi kway, kushale metodas bay kel lu detanglisi noresolvibile misterias. Me es tanto abyas-ney a suy sempre-ney sukses ke iven posiblitaa de suy fala bu zin may kapa.

|A las tres en punto del día siguiente estaba yo en la casa de Baker Street, pero Holmes no había vuelto aún. La patrona me informó que había salido de la casa poco después de las ocho de la mañana. Me senté cerca del fuego, sin embargo, con intención de esperarlo por mucho que tardara en volver. El nuevo caso había despertado profundamente mi interés, porque aun cuando no estaba rodeado de la tragedia y de los aspectos extraños de los dos crímenes en que yo había intervenido antes, la naturaleza del caso y la importancia de su cliente le daban un interés especial a mis ojos. Además, aparte de la naturaleza de la investigación que mi amigo tenía a mano, había algo tan maravilloso en su magistral dominio de las situaciones y en su agudo e incisivo razonamiento, que para mí era un placer poder estudiar su sistema de trabajo y seguir los métodos rápidos y sutiles por medio de los cuales desentrañaba los más confusos misterios. Tan acostumbrado estaba yo a su éxito invariable, que la simple posibilidad de un fracaso me resultaba inconcebible.

|It was close upon four before the door opened, and a drunkenlooking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes.  

|"Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the chair.  

|"Hao, verem!" lu krai, poy fa-tufi e fai hi-hi snova til ke lu majbur en-lagi bak on stula, laxe e sinmahte.

|De vez en cuando lanzaba alguna exclamación ininteligible, para después continuar riendo como un loco, hasta que quedó inmóvil, exhausto, sobre la silla.

|"What is it?"

|"It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I employed my morning, or what I ended by doing."

|"I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler."

|"Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsy men. Be one of them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back. but built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without noting anything else of interest.  

|"Totem tak; bat sekwa bin aika ajibe. Me ve shwo a yu, yedoh. Me chu dom shao hi afte ora 8 sey sabah in aspekta de kavalyuan sin emploisa. Ye diva-ney mutu-pria e amigitaa inter kavalyuan. Bikam un fon li, e yu ve jan olo, ke ye fo jan. Me findi Braioni-loj sun. Es syao luxe vila do dwa etaja yus bli kamina, kun garden baken. Chab-ney kufla pa dwar. Gran salon desnen, hao mebeli-ney, kun longe windas hampi til poda, e toy absurde inglish winda-fixika ke eni kinda wud mog ofni. Baken ye nixa merkival, exepte ke koridor-winda es atenibile fon ruf de keb-dom. Me promeni sirkum it e examini it atentem fon oli punta de vida, bat sin merki koysa otre interes-ney.

| -Exactamente, pero me ocurrieron cosas en verdad extraordinarias. Salí de la casa poco después de las ocho de la mañana, disfrazado como mozo de caballeriza, sin trabajo. Hay una maravillosa simpatía y camaradería entre los miembros de esta profesión. Pronto encontré Briony Lodge. Es una villa amplia, con un jardín en la parte posterior, con una gran estancia a la derecha, muy bien amueblada, con largas ventanas que llegan casi hasta el suelo, aseguradas con esos aldabones ingleses que hasta un niño puede abrir. A más de eso no era un edificio nada notable. Observé que se podía entrar a una de las ventanas por el techo de la caballeriza. Di varias vueltas alrededor de la casa y la examiné desde todos los ángulos, pero sin notar ninguna otra cosa que despertara mi interés.

|"I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in the neighborhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but whose biographies I was compelled to listen to."

|"And what of Irene Adler?" I asked.  

|"Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan of campaign.  

|"Oo, ela he pagalisi kapa de oli man in toy urba-parta. Ela es zuy charmaful jivika sub gina-ney shapa-ki on sey planeta. Oli Serpentain-kavalyuan shwo tak, oli hi. Ela jivi trankwilem, gani in konsertas, chu-raki klok pet kada dey e returni klok sem exaktem fo akshamfan. Rarem chu in otre taim, exepte wen ela gani. Sol un man visiti ela, bat visiti muy oftem. Lu es tumhar-ney, jamile e hao-klaiden, fai visita amini un ves per dey, e oftem dwa ves. Lu es sinior Godfri Norton, fon Iner Templ. Yu vidi ya avantaja de hev fida de garijen. Li gwo sundi lu a dom fon Serpentain-kavaldom mucho ves, e li jan olo om lu. Afte audi olo ke li hev fo shwo, me begin promeni ahir-adar bli Braioni-loj e dumi om may plan de kampania.

|"This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the relation between them, and what the object of his repeated visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the Temple. It was a delicate point. and it widened the field of my inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the situation."

|"I am following you closely," I answered.  

|"I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached-evidently the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly at home.  

|"Me haishi zai bedumi dela in may menta, wen dwa-rada-ney keb lai-raki a Braioni-loj, e un sinior aussalti. Lu es gro-jamile, tumhar-ney, orlalik e mustash-ney - klarem toy man, om kel me audi-te. Lu semblem gro-hasti. Lu krai a garijen tu weiti e lopi pas ti ofni dwar na servi-gela kom jen kel es totem she swa.

| -Estaba todavía estudiando mentalmente la cuestión, cuando un coche se detuvo frente a Briony Lodge y un caballero descendió de él. Era un hombre notablemente apuesto, moreno, de facciones regulares y espeso bigote... evidentemente se trataba del caballero de quien había oído hablar. Parecía tener mucha prisa. Gritó al cochero que lo esperara y pasó corriendo frente a la doncella que le abrió la puerta, con la confianza de un hombre que está en su propia casa.  

|"He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from his pocket and looked at it earnestly, <br>'Drive like the devil,' he shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if you do it in twenty minutes!'

|Lu es in dom sirke haf-ora, e me mog ek-vidi-ek-vidi in salon-winda, komo lu go ahir-adar, shwo-yen agitem e mavi-yen brachas. Den ela me bu mog vidi. Nau lu apari, do aspekta iven pyu exiti-ney kem bifooen. Wen lu lai a keb, lu tiri golde kloka fon posh e kan it lagan-nem. <br>'Raki gro-kway!', lu exklami, 'un-nem a Gros e Henki in Rijent-strit, e poy a Kirka de Sante Monika in Ejwer-rod. Haf de gini si yu zwo se duran dwashi minuta!'

|"Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for.  

|Li go wek, e me en-dumi ob me gai sekwi li, ewalaa un syao prival lando-gari lai a dom. Garijen es al mantela sol haf-butoni-ney, al tay sub aur, e jota-ney beltas es ausen klaspas. Al ke it stopi, ela fliti aus vila-dwar e zin it. Me sol ek-vidi hi ela dan, bat se sufi: ela es charmaful gina, do tal fas, fo kel man wud mog morti.

|"El coche partió y empezaba a preguntarme si no sería buena idea seguirlo, cuando salió de la caballeriza de Briony Lodge un carruaje pequeño. El cochero traía la librea sólo abotonada a medias y la corbata sin arreglar como si hubiera sido llamado rápidamente. Apenas había llegado el carruaje a la puerta de la casa, cuando Irene salió bruscamente de ella y subió con igual rapidez al coche. Sólo la vi un instante, pero bastó para que notara que era una mujer encantadora, con un rostro por el que cualquier hombre moriría con gusto.  

|"'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.'

|'Kirka de Sante Monika, Jon,' ela exklami, 'e haf-sovrin si yu ateni it duran dwashi minuta'.

|"-¡A la iglesia de Santa Mónica, John! -gritó-. Y te doy medio soberano si llegas en veinte minutos.  

|"This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could object. <br>'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' <br>It was twenty-five minutes to twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind.  

|Es bu-gai-lusi-ke kasu, Wotson. Al ke me zai desidi, ob me gai lopi baken lando oda klingi a it-ney baka, un keb apari in gata. Kebyuan hesiti ob pren tal shma-klienta, bat me inusalti bifoo ke lu mog objeti. <br>'Kirka de Sante Monika,' me shwo, 'e haf-sovrin, si yu ateni it duran dwashi minuta.' <br>Es klok shi-dwa sin dwashi pet, also bu es mushkile tu samaji situasion".

|"Aquello se ponía demasiado interesante para que yo me lo perdiera, Watson. Empezaba a meditar en si debía arriesgarme a ser visto, subiéndome a la parte posterior de su pequeño carruaje, cuando se acercó por el otro lado de la calle un coche de alquiler. El cochero me miró con desconfianza, pero yo salté al interior del carruaje antes de que pudiera protestar.<br>"-¡A la iglesia de Santa Mónica! -le ordené-. Y medio soberano será suyo si llega en veinte minutos.<br>"Faltaban veinticinco minutos para las doce, así que estaba perfectamente claro lo que se proponían.

|"My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards me.  

|May keb raki gro-kway. Semblem me bu gwo raki tanto kway bifooen, yedoh otras es dar bifoo nu. Keb e lando-gari kun ley vapori-she kavales es bifoo kirka-dwar wen me arivi. Me pagi a kebyuan e fa-lansi inu kirka. Dar ye nul jen exepte ti me sekwi na dwa-la e kirkayuan kel semblem zai shwofu li. Oli tri zai stan bifoo altar. Me begin go ahir-adar in flanke pasaja, tak kom eni otre flaner kel ouran zin kirka. Turan, pa may surprisa, sey tri pa altar turni swa a me, e Godfri Norton fa-lansi versu me.

|"Mi cochero se portó muy bien. No creo que jamás haya conducido a tanta velocidad, pero los otros ya estaban allí cuando llegamos. El coche y el pequeño carruaje de Irene se encontraban a la puerta de la iglesia. Pagué al cochero y entré. No había un alma en el interior, con la excepción de los dos personajes a quienes venía siguiendo, y el sacerdote que se encontraba frente a ellos. Los tres formaban un apretado nudo frente al altar. Empecé a caminar lentamente por el pasillo central de la nave, como cualquier otro vagabundo que se ha metido en una iglesia a falta de otra cosa que hacer. De pronto, ante mi sorpresa, las tres personas del altar volvieron su rostro y Godfrey Norton se echó a correr en dirección a mí.

|"Thank God," he cried. "You'll do. Come! Come!"

|"Shukran a Boh", lu krai. "Yu godi. Lai! Lai!"

|"What then?" I asked.  

|"Kwo ye?" me kwesti.

|"-¿Qué quiere de mí? -pregunté.  

|"Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal."

|"Kamon, hao jen, kamon, ye sol tri minuta, otrem se bu ve bi kanun-ney."

|I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear. and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just now. It seems that there had been some informality about their license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion."

|Me es haf-tranen versu altar, e bifoo samaji kwo eventi, me findi swa murmuri-she jawabas ke oni hamsi in may aures, kasami-she om delas ke me bu koni, e generalem helpi-she gaming de Iren Adler e Godfri Norton. Olo es zwo-ney in momenta, ewalaa sinior yo zai danki me fon un taraf e dama fon otre taraf, duran ke kirkayuan zai smaili-rayvati an me. Es zuy pumbe situasion in kel me gwo findi swa, rememba om it hi mah-te me ridi. Semblem li hev-te koy formale mushkila, e kirkayuan totem refusi-te zwo ley gama sin koy gavaher, also may fortune apara librisi-te dulho fon nesesitaa de lopi-chu a gata fo shuki jen. Dulhina dai a me un sovrin, e me intenti porti it on may kloka-kadena pa rememba de sey aventura."

|"Casi me arrastraron hasta el altar y antes de que me diera cuenta de lo que estaba haciendo, murmuraba respuestas que me decían al oído y declaraba cosas de las que no sabía absolutamente nada. Simplemente estaba ayudando a realizar el acto de unir en matrimonio a Irene Adler, soltera, con Godfrey Norton, soltero. Todo fue hecho en un instante y me encontré con una dama dándome las gracias por un lado, un caballero dándome las gracias por el otro, y el sacerdote, enfrente de mí, haciéndome una leve caravana. Era la posición más extraña en que me había encontrado en mi vida, y el pensar en ello fue lo que me produjo el acceso de risa que sufrí hace un momento. Parece que había cierta informalidad en su licencia y que el sacerdote se negaba terminantemente a casarlos sin un testigo. Mi aparición en la iglesia evitó al novio tener que echarse a correr por las calles en busca de un padrino. La novia me dio un soberano y pienso usarlo en la cadena de mi reloj, en recuerdo de la ocasión."

|"This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what then?"

|"Es ga noexpekti-ney turna de dela," me shwo; "e kwo poy?"

|"Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and she to her own house. <br>'I shall drive out in the park at five as usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove away in different directions, and I went off to make my own arrangements."

|"Which are?"

|"Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want your cooperation."

|"I shall be delighted."

|"You don't mind breaking the law?"

|"Not in the least."

|"Nor running a chance of arrest?"

|"Not in a good cause."

|"Oh, the cause is excellent!"

|"Oo, dela es gro-hao!"

|"Then I am your man."

|"I was sure that I might rely on you."

|"Me bin serte, ke me mog fidi yu."

|"But what is it you wish?"

|"When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her."

|"And what then?"

|"You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must not interfere, come what may. You understand?"

|"I am to be neutral?"

|Also, me mus bi neutrale?"

|"To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close to that open window."

|"Yes."

|"You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you."

|"Yes."

|"And when I raise my hand -- so -- you will throw into the room what I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of fire. You quite follow me?"

|"Entirely."

|"It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigarshaped roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smokerocket, fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?"

|"I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street."

|"Me mus resti neutrale, lai a winda, observi yu, e afte yur signal na lansi sey obyekta inu, poy en-krai om agnibeda e weiti yu pa angula de gata."

|"Precisely."

|"Then you may entirely rely on me."

|"That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I prepare for the new role I have to play."

|He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers. his white tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime.  

|It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes's succinct description, but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighborhood, it was remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with cigars in their mouths.  

|Es klok sit e un charfenka, wen nu departi fon Beiker-strit, e es haishi shi minuta til treba-ney ora wen nu findi swa in Serpentain avenu. Es yo tume, e lampas yus gei lumisi, wen nu go ahir-adar bifoo Braioni-loj, al weiti laisa de suy okuper. Dom es yus tal kom me imajini-te it segun exakte deskriba de Sherlok Holms, bat loko sembli bi pyu jenful kem me expekti-te. Fo syao gata in kyete urba-region, it es merkibilem jenful. Ye grupa de povrem klaidi-ney man fumi-she e ridi-she in angula, ye mikas-agudiser kun suy rada, ye dwa gwardier flirti-she kun gela-nana, e kelke hao-klaidi-ney yunge man, kel promeni ahir-adar kun sigara in muh.

|Eran las seis y cuarto cuando salimos de Baker Street y aún faltaban diez minutos para la hora cuando nos encontramos en Serpentine Avenue. Ya había oscurecido y las lámparas empezaban a ser encendidas, cuando nos colocamos frente a Briony Lodge, en espera de la llegada de la dueña de la mansión. La casa era como me la había imaginado por la descripción que me hizo Sherlock Holmes, pero el sitio parecía menos tranquilo de lo que esperaba. Por el contrario, para una calle pequeña, de un vecindario lejano, estaba notablemente animada. Había un grupo de hombres pobremente vestidos, fumando y riendo en una esquina. Un afilador daba vuelta a su rueda, dos hombres flirteaban con una sirvienta, y varios jóvenes bien vestidos recorrían la calle ociosamente, de un lado a otro, con cigarrillos en la boca.

|"You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the photograph?"

|"Yu vidi," Holms remarki, wen nu wandi bifoo dom, "sey gama, pyu-nem, simplisi dela. Foto bikam dwa-blada-ney arma nau. Mogbi ela samem bu yao ke it gei vidi bay sinior Godfri Norton, kom nuy klienta bu yao ke it lai a okos de suy rega-docha. Nau kwesta es tal: "Wo nu findi foto?"

|"Where, indeed?"

|"It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her."

|"Where, then?"

|"Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house."

|"But it has twice been burgled."

|"Bat it dwa ves bin beshuken."

|"Pshaw! They did not know how to look."

|"But how will you look?"

|"I will not look."

|"What then?"

|"I will get her to show me."

|"But she will refuse."

|"Bat ela ve refusi."

|"She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter."

|As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissorsgrinder, who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking back into the street.  

|"Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked.  

|"He is dead," cried several voices.  

|"Lu es morte," kelke vos krai.

| -Está muerto -dijeron varias voces.

|"No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be gone before you can get him to hospital."

|"He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now."

|"He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?"

|"Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable sofa. This way, please!"

|Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are but preventing her from injuring another.  

|Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well dressed and ill -- gentlemen, ostlers, and servant-maids -- joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the Edgeware Road.  

|"You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could have been better. It is all right."

|"You have the photograph?"

|"I know where it is."

|"And how did you find out?"

|"She showed me, as I told you she would."

|"I am still in the dark."

|"I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening."

|"I guessed as much."

|"Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down. clapped my hand to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick."

|"That also I could fathom."

|"Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else could she do? And into her sitting-room. which was the very room which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for air, they were compelled to open the window. and you had your chance."

|"How did that help you?"

|"It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all."

|"Se bin gro-muhim. Wen gina dumi ke suy dom es in agni, ela instinktem tuy fa-lansi a kosa ke ela valori zuy. Es gro-mahtaful impulsa, me gwo utilisi it plurives. In kasu de Darlington-ney skandal me utilisi-te it, sam kom in dela de Kastela de Arnswort. Gami-ney gina graspi suy kinda; nogami-ney gina graspi suy yuweldan. Nau es klare a me, ke nuy sedey-ney dama hev in dom nixa pyu verguy kem ti nu zai shuki na kosa. Ela fa-lansi-te salvi it. Alarma de agni es zwo-ney admirivalem. Fum e kraisa wud sufi fo mah-tremi iven nervas aus stal. Ela reakti-te jamilem. Foto es in ahfilok baken glidi-she planka, yus sobre desne glok-korda. Ela en-loki dar tuy, e me iven ek-vidi foto wen ela haf-austiri it. Wen me krai ke es false alarma, ela pon it bak, ek-kan raketa, chu shamba al lopi, e depos dan me bu he vidi ela. Me en-stan e, al pregi skusa, eskapi fon dom. Me yao-te pren foto tuy; bat un garijen zin-te e wahti-te me atentem, also tu weiti sembli-te pyu anchun. Tro-ney hasta mog ruini olo."

|"And now?" I asked.  

|"Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady; but it is probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain it with his own hands."

|"And when will you call?"

|"At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to the King without delay."

|"Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes."

|"Hao nocha, Sinior Sherlok Holms."

|There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had hurried by.  

|"I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have been."