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.”

“She will not be able to
But I hear the rumble of wheels
Now carry out my orders to the letter.”

As he spoke the gleam of the sidelights 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
A fierce quarrel broke out, which was increased by
the two guardsmen, who took sides with one of the loungers, and by the
scissors-grinder, who was equally hot upon the other side
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
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
“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
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
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
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
“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
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
The alarm of fire was admirably done
The smoke and shouting
were enough to shake nerves of steel
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.”

“And now?” I asked