Silver Blaze (The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes)

As to the missing horse, there were abundant proofs in the mud which lay at the bottom of the fatal hollow that he had been there at the time of the struggle.

"Then my horse is running," cried the Colonel in great agitation.

You may remember that I was distrait, and remained sitting after you had all alighted.

We must have an amnesty in that direction, I think.

It was clear, however, that Straker had defended himself vigorously against his assailants, for in his right hand he held a small knife, which was clotted with blood up to the handle, while in his left he clasped a red and black silk cravat, which was recognized by the maid as having been worn on the preceding evening by the stranger who had visited the stables.

It struck me that so astute a man as Straker would not undertake this delicate tendon-nicking without a little practice.

...he was a person of gentlemanly bearing, dressed in a gray suit of tweeds, with a cloth cap.

"Because I made a blunder, my dear Watson—which is, I am afraid, a more common occurrence than any one would think who only knew me through your memoirs.

At the brink of it was the furze-bush upon which the coat had been hung.

Yet, silent as he was, I knew perfectly well what it was over which he was brooding.

As I spoke a powerful bay horse swept out from the weighing enclosure and cantered past us, bearing on its back the well-known black and red of the Colonel.

"It is what we call a cataract knife," said I.

Up to the time of the catastrophe he was the first favorite for the Wessex Cup, the betting being three to one on him.

"The two lads who slept in the chaff-cutting loft above the harness-room were quickly aroused.

I had listened with the greatest interest to the statement which Holmes, with characteristic clearness, had laid before me.

At the same time I recognize that the evidence is purely circumstantial, and that some new development may upset it.

Then he clambered up to the rim of the hollow, and crawled about among the ferns and bushes.

It was clear, however, that Straker had defended himself vigorously against his assailants, for in his right hand he held a small knife, which was clotted with blood up to the handle, while in his left he clasped a red and black silk cravat, which was recognized by the maid as having been worn on the preceding evening by the stranger who had visited the stables.

The fact is that I could not believe it possible that the most remarkable horse in England could long remain concealed, especially in so sparsely inhabited a place as the north of Dartmoor.

The tip was guarded by a disk of cork which we found beside his body.

"A clever counsel would tear it all to rags," said he.

His bullying, overbearing manner was all gone too, and he cringed along at my companion's side like a dog with its master.

I went to Devonshire with the conviction that Fitzroy Simpson was the true culprit, although, of course, I saw that the evidence against him was by no means complete.

curry mutton

Two gentlemen were awaiting us in the station—the one a tall, fair man with lion-like hair and beard and curiously penetrating light blue eyes; the other a small, alert person, very neat and dapper, in a frock-coat and gaiters, with trim little side-whiskers and an eye-glass.

But there goes the bell, and as I stand to win a little on this next race, I shall defer a lengthy explanation until a more fitting time."

You may remember that I was distrait, and remained sitting after you had all alighted.

She begged him to remain at home, as she could hear the rain pattering against the window, but in spite of her entreaties he pulled on his large mackintosh and left the house.

"Gregory, let me recommend to your attention this singular epidemic among the sheep.

...while Sherlock Holmes, with his sharp, eager face framed in his ear-flapped travelling-cap, dipped rapidly into the bundle of fresh papers which he had procured at Paddington.

A horse so treated would develop a slight lameness, which would be put down to a strain in exercise or a touch of rheumatism, but never to foul play.

Is it a fact that at the weights Bayard could give the other a hundred yards in five furlongs, and that the stable have put their money on him?

He had already, in spite of the rain, taken off his overcoat in order to do his delicate task, and so, as he fell, his knife gashed his thigh.

He was a man of excellent birth and education, who had squandered a fortune upon the turf, and who lived now by doing a little quiet and genteel book-making in the sporting clubs of London.

There was a gleam in his eyes and a suppressed excitement in his manner which convinced me, used as I was to his ways, that his hand was upon a clue, though I could not imagine where he had found it.

I presume, as I see blood-stains upon it, that it is the one which was found in the dead man's grasp.

"I am afraid that whatever theory we state has very grave objections to it," returned my companion.

Her face was haggard and thin and eager, stamped with the print of a recent horror.

"The two lads who slept in the chaff-cutting loft above the harness-room were quickly aroused.

The door was open; inside, huddled together upon a chair, Hunter was sunk in a state of absolute stupor, the favorite's stall was empty, and there were no signs of his trainer.

"I should not have the impertinence to do it again after what you say.

And yet there were indications there, had they not been overlaid by other details which concealed their true import.

His head had been shattered by a savage blow from some heavy weapon, and he was wounded on the thigh, where there was a long, clean cut, inflicted evidently by some very sharp instrument.

Inspector Gregory was full of his case, and poured out a stream of remarks, while Holmes threw in an occasional question or interjection.

I presume that you made an inventory of what he had in his pockets at the time of his death, Inspector?

..my companion had rambled about the room with his chin upon his chest and his brows knitted, ...

...on ascending the knoll near the house, ...

The other winced as he read the menace in his eyes.

Tavistock itself lies two miles to the west, while across the moor, also about two miles distant, is the larger training establishment of Mapleton,...

"A child would know Silver Blaze, with his white forehead and his mottled off-foreleg."

His bullying, overbearing manner was all gone too, and he cringed along at my companion's side like a dog with its master.

She was most impressed, however, by the extreme pallor of his face and by the nervousness of his manner.

Finally, an analysis has shown that the remains of his supper left by the stable-lad contain an appreciable quantity of powdered opium, while the people at the house partook of the same dish on the same night without any ill effect.

His face was ashy pale, beads of perspiration shone upon his brow, and his hands shook until the hunting-crop wagged like a branch in the wind.

The tragedy has been so uncommon, so complete and of such personal importance to so many people, that we are suffering from a plethora of surmise, conjecture, and hypothesis.

Holmes pricked up his ears.

...while Sherlock Holmes, with his sharp, eager face framed in his ear-flapped travelling-cap, dipped rapidly into the bundle of fresh papers which he had procured at Paddington.

A minute later we were all seated in a comfortable landau, and were rattling through the quaint old Devonshire city.

For a whole day my companion had rambled about the room with his chin upon his chest and his brows knitted, charging and recharging his pipe with the strongest black tobacco, and absolutely deaf to any of my questions or remarks.

I shall now recapitulate what the police have done in the matter.

A horse so treated would develop a slight lameness, which would be put down to a strain in exercise or a touch of rheumatism, but never to foul play.

The sun was beginning to sink behind the stables of Mapleton, and the long, sloping plain in front of us was tinged with gold, deepening into rich, ruddy browns where the faded ferns and brambles caught the evening light.

His head had been shattered by a savage blow from some heavy weapon, and he was wounded on the thigh, where there was a long, clean cut, inflicted evidently by some very sharp instrument.

"Scoundrel!" cried the Colonel.

"The moor is being scoured for these gypsies.

He did not attempt to deny that he had acted as described upon the evening before, but declared that he had no sinister designs, and had simply wished to obtain first-hand information.

He was a man of excellent birth and education, who had squandered a fortune upon the turf, and who lived now by doing a little quiet and genteel book-making in the sporting clubs of London.

The door was open; inside, huddled together upon a chair, Hunter was sunk in a state of absolute stupor, the favorite's stall was empty, and there were no signs of his trainer.

His wet clothing showed that he had been out in the storm of the night before, and his stick, which was a Penang-lawyer weighted with lead, was just such a weapon as might, by repeated blows, have inflicted the terrible injuries to which the trainer had succumbed.

If our supposition is correct, then the horse must have crossed that, and there is the point where we should look for his tracks."

The tragedy has been so uncommon, so complete and of such personal importance to so many people, that we are suffering from a plethora of surmise, conjecture, and hypothesis.

"My dear Inspector, you surpass yourself!"

The sun was beginning to sink behind the stables of Mapleton, and the long, sloping plain in front of us was tinged with gold, deepening into rich, ruddy browns where the faded ferns and brambles caught the evening light.

"'So, you're one of those damned touts!' cried the lad.

I don't know whether you observed it, Watson, but the Colonel's manner has been just a trifle cavalier to me.

"A more perfect compound of the bully, coward, and sneak than Master Silas Brown I have seldom met with," remarked Holmes as we trudged along together.

It struck me that so astute a man as Straker would not undertake this delicate tendon-nicking without a little practice.

...we listened to our companion's narrative of the events which had occurred at the Dartmoor training-stables upon the Monday night, and the means by which he had unravelled them.

...we whirled back to London...

The other winced as he read the menace in his eyes.

But it falls away towards Mapleton, and you can see from here that there is a long hollow over yonder, which must have been very wet on Monday night.