And this was the singular case of the Grecian Interpreter, theexplanation of which is still involved in some mystery. We wereable to find out, by communicating with the gentleman who hadanswered the advertisement, that the unfortunate young ladycame of a wealthy Grecian family, and that she had been on a visitto some friends in England. While there she had met a youngman named Harold Latimer, who had acquired an ascendancyover he and had eventually persuaded her to fly with him. Herfriends, shocked at the event, had contented themselves withinforming her brother at Athens, and had then washed theirhands of the matter. The brother, on his arrival in England, hadimprudently placed himself in the power of Latimer and of hisassociate, whose name was Wilson Kemp—a man of the foulestantecedents. These two, finding that through his ignorance of thelanguage he was helpless in their hands, had kept him a prisoner,and had endeavored by cruelty and starvation to make him signaway his own and his sister’s property. They had kept him in the806 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
house without the girl’s knowledge, and the plaster over the facehad been for the purpose of making recognition difficult in caseshe should ever catch a glimpse of him. Her feminine perception,however, had instantly seen through the disguise when, on theoccasion of the interpreter’s visit, she had seen him for the firsttime. The poor girl, however, was herself a prisoner, for there wasno one about the house except the man who acted as coachman,and his wife, both of whom were tools of the conspirators. Findingthat their secret was out, and that their prisoner was not to becoerced, the two villains with the girl had fled away at a few hours’
notice from the furnished house which they had hired, havingfirst, as they thought, taken vengeance both upon the man whohad defied and the one who had betrayed them.
Months afterwards a curious newspaper cutting reached us fromBuda-Pesth. It told how two Englishmen who had been travelingwith a woman had met with a tragic end. They had each beenstabbed, it seems, and the Hungarian police were of opinion thatthey had quarreled and had inflicted mortal injuries upon eachother. Holmes, however, is, I fancy, of a different way of thinking,and holds to this day that, if one could find the Grecian girl, onemight learn how the wrongs of herself and her brother came to beavenged.
The Naval Treaty
The July which immediately succeeded my marriage was madememorable by three cases of interest, in which I had the privilegeof being associated with Sherlock Holmes and of studying hismethods. I find them recorded in my notes under the headingsof “The Adventure of the Second Stain,” “The Adventure of theNaval Treaty,” and “The Adventure of the Tired Captain.” Thefirst of these, however, deals with interest of such importanceand implicates so many of the first families in the kingdom thatfor many years it will be impossible to make it public. No case,however, in which Holmes was engaged has ever illustrated thevalue of his analytical methods so clearly or has impressed thosewho were associated with him so deeply. I still retain an almostverbatim report of the interview in which he demonstrated thetrue facts of the case to Monsieur Dubugue of the Paris police,and Fritz von Waldbaum, the well-known specialist of Dantzig,both of whom had wasted their energies upon what proved to beside-issues. The new century will have come, however, before thestory can be safely told. Meanwhile I pass on to the second on mylist, which promised also at one time to be of national importance,Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes 807
and was marked by several incidents which give it a quite uniquecharacter.
During my school-days I had been intimately associated with alad named Percy Phelps, who was of much the same age as myself,though he was two classes ahead of me. He was a very brilliantboy, and carried away every prize which the school had to offer,finished his exploits by winning a scholarship which sent him on tocontinue his triumphant career at Cambridge. He was, I remember,extremely well connected, and even when we were all little boystogether we knew that his mother’s brother was Lord Holdhurst,the great conservative politician. This gaudy relationship did himlittle good at school. On the contrary, it seemed rather a piquantthing to us to chevy him about the playground and hit him over theshins with a wicket. But it was another thing when he came out intothe world. I heard vaguely that his abilities and the influences whichhe commanded had won him a good position at the Foreign Office,and then he passed completely out of my mind until the followingletter recalled his existence:
Briarbrae, Woking.
My dear Watson:
I have no doubt that you can remember “Tadpole” Phelps, whowas in the fifth form when you were in the third. It is possibleeven that you may have heard that through my uncle’s influence Iobtained a good appointment at the Foreign Office, and that I wasin a situation of trust and honor until a horrible misfortune camesuddenly to blast my career.
There is no use writing of the details of that dreadful event. Inthe event of your acceding to my request it is probably that I shallhave to narrate them to you. I have only just recovered from nineweeks of brain-fever, and am still exceedingly weak. Do you thinkthat you could bring your friend Mr. Holmes down to see me? Ishould like to have his opinion of the case, though the authoritiesassure me that nothing more can be done. Do try to bring himdown, and as soon as possible. Every minute seems an hour while Ilive in this state of horrible suspense. Assure him that if I have notasked his advice sooner it was not because I did not appreciate histalents, but because I have been off my head ever since the blowfell. Now I am clear again, though I dare not think of it too muchfor fear of a relapse. I am still so weak that I have to write, as yousee, by dictating. Do try to bring him.