INITIALIZATION Knowledgebase: ki-dev Base Query: can you explain the contents of "The Tomb.pdf"? Model: gpt-4-1106-preview Use Curl?: None ================================================== QUESTIONING Clarity Score: 10 Give follow-up?: False Follow-up query: ================================================== ROUTING Query type: summary ================================================== RAG PARAMETERS Max Context To Include: 100 Lowest Score to Consider: 0.1 ================================================== VECTOR SEARCH ALGORITHM TO USE Use MMR search?: True Use Similarity search?: False ================================================== PRIMER Primer: You are a highly intelligent personal assistant. Your role is to act as an expert at summarization and analysis. In your responses to enterprise users, prioritize clarity, trustworthiness, and appropriate formality. Be honest by admitting when a topic falls outside your scope of knowledge, and suggest alternative avenues for obtaining information when necessary. Make effective use of chat history to avoid redundancy and enhance response relevance, continuously adapting to integrate all necessary details in your interactions. Use as much tokens as possible to provide a detailed response. Your answer must be in English language. Your tone must be neutral. Your writing style must be standard. ================================================== FINAL QUERY Final Query: CONTEXT: ########## File: The%20Tomb.txt Page: 1 Context: The Tomb by H. P. Lovecraft In relating the circumstances which have led to my confinement within this refuge for the demented, I am aware that my present position will create a natural doubt of the authenticity of my narrative. It is an unfortunate fact that the bulk of humanity is too limited in its mental vision to weigh with patience and intelligence those isolated phenomena, seen and felt only by a psychologically sensitive few, which lie outside its common experience. Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal; that all things appear as they do only by virtue of the delicate individual physical and mental media through which we are made conscious of them; but the prosaic materialism of the majority condemns as madness the flashes of supersight which penetrate the common veil of obvious empricism. My name is Jervas Dudley, and from earliest childhood I have been a dreamer and a visionary. Wealthy beyond the necessity of a commercial life, and temperamentally unfitted for the formal studies and social recreation of my acquaintances, I have dwelt ever in realms apart from the visible world; spending my youth and adolescence in ancient and little known books, and in roaming the fields and groves of the region near my ancestral home. I do not think that what I read in these books or saw in these fields and groves was exactly what other boys read and saw there; but of this I must say little, since detailed speech would but confirm those cruel slanders upon my intellect which I sometimes overhear from the whispers of the stealthy attendants around me. It is sufficient for me to relate events without analyzing causes. I have said that I dwelt apart from the visible world, but I have not said that I dwelt alone. This no human creature may do; for lacking the fellowship of the living, he inevitably draws upon the companionship of things that are not, or are no longer, living. Close by my home there lies a singular wooded hollow, in whose twilight deeps I spent most of my time; reading, thinking, and dreaming. Down its moss-covered slopes my first steps of infancy were taken, and around its grotesquely gnarled oak trees my first fancies of boyhood were woven. Well did I come to know the presiding dryads of those trees, and often have I watched their wild dances in the struggling beams of a waning moon but of these things I must not now speak. I will tell only of the lone tomb in the darkest of the hillside thickets; the deserted tomb of the Hydes, an old and exalted family whose last direct descendant had been laid within its black recesses many decades before my birth. The vault to which I refer is of ancient granite, weathered and discolored by the mists and dampness of generations. Excavated back into the hillside, the structure is visible only at the entrance. The door, a ponderous and forbidding slab of stone, hangs upon rusted iron hinges, and is fastened ajar in a queerly sinister way by means of heavy iron chains and padlocks, according to a gruesome fashion of half a century ago. The abode of the race whose scions are here inurned had once crowned the declivity which holds the tomb, but had long since fallen victim to the flames which sprang up from a stroke of lightning. Of the midnight storm which destroyed this gloomy mansion, the older inhabitants of the region sometimes speak in hushed and uneasy voices; alluding to what they call 'divine wrath' in a manner that in later years vaguely increased the always strong fascination which I had felt for the forest-darkened sepulcher. One man only had perished in the fire. When the last of the Hydes was buried in this place of shade and stillness, the sad urnful of ashes had come from a distant land, to which the family had repaired when the mansion burned down. No one remains to lay flowers before the granite portal, and few care to brave the depressing shadows which seem to linger strangely about the water-worn stones. I shall never forget the afternoon when first I stumbled upon the half-hidden house of death. It was in midsummer, when the alchemy of nature transmutes the sylvan landscape to one vivid and almost homogeneous mass of green; when the senses are well-nigh intoxicated with the surging seas of moist verdure and the subtly indefinable odors of the soil and the vegetation. In such surroundings the mind loses its perspective; time and space become trivial and unreal, and echoes of a forgotten prehistoric past beat insistently upon the enthralled consciousness. #################### File: The%20Tomb.txt Page: 1 Context: As the phantom of the burning house faded, I found myself screaming and struggling madly in the arms of two men, one of whom was the spy who had followed me to the tomb. Rain was pouring down in torrents, and upon the southern horizon were flashes of lightning that had so lately passed over our heads. My father, his face lined with sorrow, stood by as I shouted my demands to be laid within the tomb, frequently admonishing my captors to treat me as gently as they could. A blackened circle on the floor of the ruined cellar told of a violent stroke from the heavens; and from this spot a group of curious villagers with lanterns were prying a small box of antique workmanship, which the thunderbolt had brought to light. Ceasing my futile and now objectless writhing, I watched the spectators as they viewed the treasure-trove, and was permitted to share in their discoveries. The box, whose fastenings were broken by the stroke which had unearthed it, contained many papers and objects of value, but I had eyes for one thing alone. It was the porcelain miniature of a young man in a smartly curled bag-wig, and bore the initials 'J. H.' The face was such that as I gazed, I might well have been studying my mirror. On the following day I was brought to this room with the barred windows, but I have been kept informed of certain things through an aged and simple-minded servitor, for whom I bore a fondness in infancy, and who, like me, loves the churchyard. What I have dared relate of my experiences within the vault has brought me only pitying smiles. My father, who visits me frequently, declares that at no time did I pass the chained portal, and swears that the rusted padlock had not been touched for fifty years when he examined it. He even says that all the village knew of my journeys to the tomb, and that I was often watched as I slept in the bower outside the grim facade, my half-open eyes fixed on the crevice that leads to the interior. Against these assertions I have no tangible proof to offer, since my key to the padlock was lost in the struggle on that night of horrors. The strange things of the past which I have learned during those nocturnal meetings with the dead he dismisses as the fruits of my lifelong and omnivorous browsing amongst the ancient volumes of the family library. Had it not been for my old servant Hiram, I should have by this time become quite convinced of my madness. But Hiram, loyal to the last, has held faith in me, and has done that which impels me to make public at least part of my story. A week ago he burst open the lock which chains the door of the tomb perpetually ajar, and descended with a lantern into the murky depths. On a slab in an alcove he found an old but empty coffin whose tarnished plate bears the single word: Jervas. In that coffin and in that vault they have promised me I shall be buried. #################### File: The%20Tomb.txt Page: 1 Context: All day I had been wandering through the mystic groves of the hollow; thinking thoughts I need not discuss, and conversing with things I need not name. In years a child of ten, I had seen and heard many wonders unknown to the throng; and was oddly aged in certain respects. When, upon forcing my way between two savage clumps of briars, I suddenly encountered the entrance of the vault, I had no knowledge of what I had discovered. The dark blocks of granite, the door so curiously ajar, and the funeral carvings above the arch, aroused in me no associations of mournful or terrible character. Of graves and tombs I knew and imagined much, but had on account of my peculiar temperament been kept from all personal contact with churchyards and cemeteries. The strange stone house on the woodland slope was to me only a source of interest and speculation; and its cold, damp interior, into which I vainly peered through the aperture so tantalizingly left, contained for me no hint of death or decay. But in that instant of curiosity was born the madly unreasoning desire which has brought me to this hell of confinement. Spurred on by a voice which must have come from the hideous soul of the forest, I resolved to enter the beckoning gloom in spite of the ponderous chains which barred my passage. In the waning light of day I alternately rattled the rusty impediments with a view to throwing wide the stone door, and essayed to squeeze my slight form through the space already provided; but neither plan met with success. At first curious, I was now frantic; and when in the thickening twilight I returned to my home, I had sworn to the hundred gods of the grove that at any cost I would some day force an entrance to the black, chilly depths that seemed calling out to me. The physician with the iron-grey beard who comes each day to my room, once told a visitor that this decision marked the beginning of a pitiful monomania; but I will leave final judgment to my readers when they shall have learnt all. The months following my discovery were spent in futile attempts to force the complicated padlock of the slightly open vault, and in carefully guarded inquiries regarding the nature and history of the structure. With the traditionally receptive ears of the small boy, I learned much; though an habitual secretiveness caused me to tell no one of my information or my resolve. It is perhaps worth mentioning that I was not at all surprised or terrified on learning of the nature of the vault. My rather original ideas regarding life and death had caused me to associate the cold clay with the breathing body in a vague fashion; and I felt that the great and sinister family of the burned-down mansion was in some way represented within the stone space I sought to explore. Mumbled tales of the weird rites and godless revels of bygone years in the ancient hall gave to me a new and potent interest in the tomb, before whose door I would sit for hours at a time each day. Once I thrust a candie within the nearly closed entrance, but could see nothing save a flight of damp stone steps leading downward. The odor of the place repelled yet bewitched me. I felt I had known it before, in a past remote beyond all recollection; beyond even my tenancy of the body I now possess. The year after I first beheld the tomb, I stumbled upon a worm-eaten translation of Plutarch's Lives in the book-filled attic of my home. Reading the life of Theseus, I was much impressed by that passage telling of the great stone beneath which the boyish hero was to find his tokens of destiny whenever he should become old enough to lift its enormous weight. The legend had the effect of dispelling my keenest impatience to enter the vault, for it made me feel that the time was not yet ripe. Later, I told myself, I should grow to a strength and ingenuity which might enable me to unfasten the heavily chained door with ease; but until then I would do better by conforming to what seemed the will of Fate. #################### File: The%20Tomb.txt Page: 1 Context: Accordingly my watches by the dank portal became less persistent, and much of my time was spent in other though equally strange pursuits. I would sometimes rise very quietly in the night, stealing out to walk in those church-yards and places of burial from which I had been kept by my parents. What I did there I may not say, for I am not now sure of the reality of certain things; but I know that on the day after such a nocturnal ramble I would often astonish those about me with my knowledge of topics almost forgotten for many generations. It was after a night like this that I shocked the community with a queer conceit about the burial of the rich and celebrated Squire Brewster, a maker of local history who was interred in 1711, and whose slate headstone, bearing a graven skull and crossbones, was slowly crumbling to powder. In a moment of childish imagination I vowed not only that the undertaker, Goodman Simpson, had stolen the silver-buckled shoes, silken hose, and satin small-clothes of the deceased before burial; but that the Squire himself, not fully inanimate, had turned twice in his mound-covered coffin on the day after interment. But the idea of entering the tomb never left my thoughts; being indeed stimulated by the unexpected genealogical discovery that my own maternal ancestry possessed at least a slight link with the supposediy extinct family of the Hydes. Last of my paternal race, I was likewise the last of this older and more mysterious line. I began to feel that the tomb was mine, and to look forward with hot eagerness to the time when I might pass within that stone door and down those slimy stone steps in the dark. I now formed the habit of listening very intently at the slightly open portal, choosing my favorite hours of midnight stillness for the odd vigil. By the time I came of age, I had made a small clearing in the thicket before the mold-stained facade of the hillside, allowing the surrounding vegetation to encircle and overhang the space like the walls and roof of a sylvan bower. This bower was my temple, the fastened door my shrine, and here I would lie outstretched on the mossy ground, thinking strange thoughts and dreaming strange dreams. The night of the first revelation was a sultry one. I must have fallen asleep from fatigue, for it was with a distinct sense of awakening that I heard the voices. Of these tones and accents I hesitate to speak; of their quality I will not speak; but I may say that they presented certain uncanny differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, and mode of utterance. Every shade of New England dialect, from the uncouth syllables of the Puritan colonists to the precise rhetoric of fifty years ago, seemed represented in that shadowy colloquy, though it was only later that I noticed the fact. At the time, indeed, my attention was distracted from this matter by another phenomenon; a phenomenon so fleeting that I could not take oath upon its reality. I barely fancied that as I awoke, a light had been hurriedly extinguished within the sunken sepulcher. I do not think I was either astounded or panic-stricken, but I know that I was greatly and permanently changed that night. Upon returning home I went with much directness to a rotting chest in the attic, wherein I found the key which next day unlocked with ease the barrier I had so long stormed in vain. It was in the soft glow of late afternoon that I first entered the vault on the abandoned slope. A spell was upon me, and my heart leaped with an exultation I can but ill describe. As I closed the door behind me and descended the dripping steps by the light of my lone candle, I seemed to know the way; and though the candle sputtered with the stifling reek of the place, I felt singularly at home in the musty, charnel-house air. Looking about me, I beheld many marble slabs bearing coffins, or the remains of coffins. Some of these were sealed and intact, but others had nearly vanished, leaving the silver handles and plates isolated amidst certain curious heaps of whitish dust. Upon one plate I read the name of Sir Geoffrey Hyde, who had come from Sussex in 1640 and died here a few years later. In a conspicuous alcove was one fairly well preserved and untenanted casket, adorned with a single name which brought me both a smile and a shudder. An odd impulse caused me to climb upon the broad slab, extinguish my candle, and lie down within the vacant box. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 2 Context: The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Valley of Fear, by Arthur Conan DoyleThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and withalmost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away orre-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License includedwith this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.netTitle: The Valley of FearAuthor: Arthur Conan DoylePosting Date: May 15, 2009 [EBook #3776]Release Date: February, 2003First Posted: September 3, 2001Last Updated: February 10, 2005Language: English*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALLEY OF FEAR ***Produced by Toby F. Charkin. HTML version by Al Haines. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 3 Context: The Valley Of Fearby #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 5 Context: CONTENTSPART 1—The Tragedy of BirlstoneChapter 1 The Warning2 Sherlock Holmes Discourses3 The Tragedy of Birlstone4 Darkness5 The People Of the Drama6 A Dawning Light7 The SolutionPART 2—The Scowrers1 The Man2 The Bodymaster3 Lodge 341, Vermissa4 The Valley of Fear5 The Darkest Hour6 Danger7 The Trapping of Birdy Edwards Epilogue #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 7 Context: eyes of thelaw—and there lie the glory and the wonder of it! The greatest schemer of alltime, the organizer of every deviltry, the controlling brain of the underworld, abrain which might have made or marred the destiny of nations—that's the man!But so aloof is he from general suspicion, so immune from criticism, soadmirable in his management and self-effacement, that for those very words thatyou have uttered he could hale you to a court and emerge with your year'spension as a solatium for his wounded character. Is he not the celebrated authorof The Dynamics of an Asteroid, a book which ascends to such rarefied heightsof pure mathematics that it is said that there was no man in the scientific presscapable of criticizing it? Is this a man to traduce? Foul-mouthed doctor andslandered professor—such would be your respective roles! That's genius,Watson. But if I am spared by lesser men, our day will surely come.""May I be there to see!" I exclaimed devoutly. "But you were speaking of thism #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 8 Context: is instance'?""Because there are many ciphers which I would read as easily as I do theapocrypha of the agony column: such crude devices amuse the intelligencewithout fatiguing it. But this is different. It is clearly a reference to the words ina page of some book. Until I am told which page and which book I ampowerless.""But why 'Douglas' and 'Birlstone'?""Clearly because those are words which were not contained in the page inquestion.""Then why has he not indicated the book?" #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 10 Context: pushed away his untasted breakfast and lit theunsavoury pipe which was the companion of his deepest meditations. "Iwonder!" said he, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. "Perhaps there arepoints which have escaped your Machiavellian intellect. Let us consider theproblem in the light of pure reason. This man's reference is to a book. That is ourpoint of departure.""A somewhat vague one.""Let us see then if we can narrow it down. As I focus my mind upon it, itseems rather less impenetrable. What indications have we as to this book?""None.""Well, well, it is surely not quite so bad as that. The cipher message beginswith a large 534, does it not? We may take it as a working hypothesis that 534 isthe particular page to which the cipher refers. So our book has already become alarge book which is surely something gained. What other indications have we as #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 10 Context: "No less! When any of that party talk about 'He' you know whom they mean.There is one predominant 'He' for all of them.""But what can he do?""Hum! That's a large question. When you have one of the first brains ofEurope up against you, and all the powers of darkness at his back, there areinfinite possibilities. Anyhow, Friend Porlock is evidently scared out of hissenses—kindly compare the writing in the note to that upon its envelope; whichwas done, he tells us, before this ill-omened visit. The one is clear and firm. Theother hardly legible.""Why did he write at all? Why did he not simply drop it?""Because he feared I would make some inquiry after him in that case, andpossibly bring trouble on him.""No doubt," said I. "Of course." I had picked up the original cipher messageand was bending my brows over it. "It's pretty maddening to think that animportant secret may lie here on this slip of paper, and that it is beyond humanpower to penetrate it."Sherlock Holmes had pushed away his unta #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 11 Context: were nipped, tosend me the clue in this envelope. He says so in his note. This would seem toindicate that the book is one which he thought I would have no difficulty infinding for myself. He had it—and he imagined that I would have it, too. Inshort, Watson, it is a very common book.""What you say certainly sounds plausible.""So we have contracted our field of search to a large book, printed in doublecolumns and in common use.""The Bible!" I cried triumphantly."Good, Watson, good! But not, if I may say so, quite good enough! Even if Iaccepted the compliment for myself I could hardly name any volume whichwould be less likely to lie at the elbow of one of Moriarty's associates. Besides,the editions of Holy Writ are so numerous that he could hardly suppose that twocopies would have the same pagination. This is clearly a book which is #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 12 Context: standardized. He knows for certain that his page 534 will exactly agree with mypage 534.""But very few books would correspond with that.""Exactly. Therein lies our salvation. Our search is narrowed down tostandardized books which anyone may be supposed to possess.""Bradshaw!""There are difficulties, Watson. The vocabulary of Bradshaw is nervous andterse, but limited. The selection of words would hardly lend itself to the sendingof general messages. We will eliminate Bradshaw. The dictionary is, I fear,inadmissible for the same reason. What then is left?""An almanac!""Excellent, Watson! I am very much mistaken if you have not touched thespot. An almanac! Let us consider the claims of Whitaker's Almanac. It is incommon use. It has the requisite number of pages. It is in double column.Though reserved in its earlier vocabulary, it becomes, if I remember right, quitegarrulous towards the end." He picked the volume from his desk. "Here is page534, column two, a substantial block of print dea #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 13 Context: letter of explanation been written. Now let us see what page 534 has in store forus. Number thirteen is 'There,' which is much more promising. Number onehundred and twenty-seven is 'is'—'There is'"—Holmes's eyes were gleamingwith excitement, and his thin, nervous fingers twitched as he counted the words—"'danger.' Ha! Ha! Capital! Put that down, Watson. 'There is danger—may—come—very—soon—one.' Then we have the name 'Douglas'— 'rich—country—now—at—Birlstone—House—Birlstone—confidence—is— pressing.' There,Watson! What do you think of pure reason and its fruit? If the greengrocer hadsuch a thing as a laurel wreath, I should send Billy round for it."I was staring at the strange message which I had scrawled, as he decipheredit, upon a sheet of foolscap on my knee."What a queer, scrambling way of expressing his meaning!" said I."On the contrary, he has done quite remarkably well," said Holmes. "Whenyou search a single column for words with which to express your meaning, youcan hardly expect #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 15 Context: on is dead. I aminterested; but, as you observe, I am not surprised."In a few short sentences he explained to the inspector the facts about the letterand the cipher. MacDonald sat with his chin on his hands and his great sandyeyebrows bunched into a yellow tangle."I was going down to Birlstone this morning," said he. "I had come to askyou if you cared to come with me—you and your friend here. But from what yousay we might perhaps be doing better work in London.""I rather think not," said Holmes."Hang it all, Mr. Holmes!" cried the inspector. "The papers will be full of theBirlstone mystery in a day or two; but where's the mystery if there is a man inLondon who prophesied the crime before ever it occurred? We have only to layour hands on that man, and the rest will follow.""No doubt, Mr. Mac. But how do you propose to lay your hands on the so-called Porlock?"MacDonald turned over the letter which Holmes had handed him. "Posted in #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 15 Context: Sherlock Holmes DiscoursesIt was one of those dramatic moments for which my friend existed. It wouldbe an overstatement to say that he was shocked or even excited by the amazingannouncement. Without having a tinge of cruelty in his singular composition, hewas undoubtedly callous from long over-stimulation. Yet, if his emotions weredulled, his intellectual perceptions were exceedingly active. There was no tracethen of the horror which I had myself felt at this curt declaration; but his faceshowed rather the quiet and interested composure of the chemist who sees thecrystals falling into position from his oversaturated solution."Remarkable!" said he. "Remarkable!""You don't seem surprised.""Interested, Mr. Mac, but hardly surprised. Why should I be surprised? Ireceive an anonymous communication from a quarter which I know to beimportant, warning me that danger threatens a certain person. Within an hour Ilearn that this danger has actually materialized and that the person is dead. I aminte #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 19 Context: "You found something compromising?""Absolutely nothing. That was what amazed me. However, you have nowseen the point of the picture. It shows him to be a very wealthy man. How did heacquire wealth? He is unmarried. His younger brother is a station master in thewest of England. His chair is worth seven hundred a year. And he owns aGreuze.""Well?""Surely the inference is plain.""You mean that he has a great income and that he must earn it in an illegalfashion?""Exactly. Of course I have other reasons for thinking so—dozens of exiguousthreads which lead vaguely up towards the centre of the web where thepoisonous, motionless creature is lurking. I only mention the Greuze because itbrings the matter within the range of your own observation.""Well, Mr. Holmes, I admit that what you say is interesting: it's more thaninteresting—it's just wonderful. But let us have it a little clearer if you can. Is itforgery, coining, burglary—where does the money come from?""Have you ever read of Jonathan Wi #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 21 Context: ast there was a fitting object for those remarkable powers which, like allspecial gifts, become irksome to their owner when they are not in use. That razorbrain blunted and rusted with inaction. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 22 Context: one which presented some very perplexing and extraordinaryfeatures. That's absolutely all we have at present, Mr. Holmes." #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 22 Context: a snorter. Don't waste a moment ingetting started. If you can bring Mr. Holmes, please do so; for he will find somethingafter his own heart. We would think the whole thing had been fixed up for theatricaleffect if there wasn't a dead man in the middle of it. My word! it is a snorter.""Your friend seems to be no fool," remarked Holmes."No, sir, White Mason is a very live man, if I am any judge.""Well, have you anything more?""Only that he will give us every detail when we meet.""Then how did you get at Mr. Douglas and the fact that he had been horriblymurdered?""That was in the enclosed official report. It didn't say 'horrible': that's not arecognized official term. It gave the name John Douglas. It mentioned that hisinjuries had been in the head, from the discharge of a shotgun. It also mentionedthe hour of the alarm, which was close on to midnight last night. It added that thecase was undoubtedly one of murder, but that no arrest had been made, and thatthe case was one which presented #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 23 Context: e roseupon the ruins of the feudal castle. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 23 Context: "Then, with your permission, we will leave it at that, Mr. Mac. Thetemptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of ourprofession. I can see only two things for certain at present—a great brain inLondon, and a dead man in Sussex. It's the chain between that we are going totrace."Chapter 3The Tragedy of BirlstoneNow for a moment I will ask leave to remove my own insignificantpersonality and to describe events which occurred before we arrived upon thescene by the light of knowledge which came to us afterwards. Only in this waycan I make the reader appreciate the people concerned and the strange setting inwhich their fate was cast.The village of Birlstone is a small and very ancient cluster of half-timberedcottages on the northern border of the county of Sussex. For centuries it hadremained unchanged; but within the last few years its picturesque appearanceand situation have attracted a number of well-to-do residents, whose villas peepout from the woods around. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 26 Context: was afoot.On reaching the Manor House, the sergeant had found the drawbridge down,the windows lighted up, and the whole household in a state of wild confusionand alarm. The white-faced servants were huddling together in the hall, with thefrightened butler wringing his hands in the doorway. Only Cecil Barker seemedto be master of himself and his emotions; he had opened the door which wasnearest to the entrance and he had beckoned to the sergeant to follow him. Atthat moment there arrived Dr. Wood, a brisk and capable general practitioner #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 29 Context: t."What's this?" he asked, holding it up.Barker looked at it with curiosity. "I never noticed it before," he said. "Themurderer must have left it behind him.""V. V.—341. I can make no sense of that."The sergeant kept turning it over in his big fingers. "What's V. V.?Somebody's initials, maybe. What have you got there, Dr. Wood?"It was a good-sized hammer which had been lying on the rug in front of thefireplace—a substantial, workmanlike hammer. Cecil Barker pointed to a box ofbrass-headed nails upon the mantelpiece."Mr. Douglas was altering the pictures yesterday," he said. "I saw him myself,standing upon that chair and fixing the big picture above it. That accounts for thehammer.""We'd best put it back on the rug where we found it," said the sergeant, #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 30 Context: to come upon him, so he murdered him and escaped.""That's how I read it," said Barker. "But, I say, aren't we wasting precioustime? Couldn't we start out and scour the country before the fellow gets away?"The sergeant considered for a moment."There are no trains before six in the morning; so he can't get away by rail. Ifhe goes by road with his legs all dripping, it's odds that someone will notice him.Anyhow, I can't leave here myself until I am relieved. But I think none of youshould go until we see more clearly how we all stand."The doctor had taken the lamp and was narrowly scrutinizing the body."What's this mark?" he asked. "Could this have any connection with the crime?"The dead man's right arm was thrust out from his dressing gown, and exposedas high as the elbow. About halfway up the forearm was a curious brown design,a triangle inside a circle, standing out in vivid relief upon the lard-coloured skin."It's not tattooed," said the doctor, peering through his glasses. "I never s #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 32 Context: Chapter 4DarknessAt three in the morning the chief Sussex detective, obeying the urgent callfrom Sergeant Wilson of Birlstone, arrived from headquarters in a light dog-cartbehind a breathless trotter. By the five-forty train in the morning he had sent hismessage to Scotland Yard, and he was at the Birlstone station at twelve o'clockto welcome us. White Mason was a quiet, comfortable-looking person in a loosetweed suit, with a clean-shaved, ruddy face, a stoutish body, and powerful bandylegs adorned with gaiters, looking like a small farmer, a retired gamekeeper, oranything upon earth except a very favourable specimen of the provincialcriminal officer."A real downright snorter, Mr. MacDonald!" he kept repeating. "We'll havethe pressmen down like flies when they understand it. I'm hoping we will get ourwork done before they get poking their noses into it and messing up all the trails.There has been nothing like this that I can remember. There are some bits thatwill come home to you, Mr. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 36 Context: beyond it."I've had a good look, Mr. Holmes," said White Mason. "There is nothingthere, no sign that anyone has landed—but why should he leave any sign?" #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 36 Context: the cold, wintersunshine.Three centuries had flowed past the old Manor House, centuries of births andof homecomings, of country dances and of the meetings of fox hunters. Strangethat now in its old age this dark business should have cast its shadow upon thevenerable walls! And yet those strange, peaked roofs and quaint, overhunggables were a fitting covering to grim and terrible intrigue. As I looked at thedeep-set windows and the long sweep of the dull-coloured, water-lapped front, Ifelt that no more fitting scene could be set for such a tragedy."That's the window," said White Mason, "that one on the immediate right ofthe drawbridge. It's open just as it was found last night.""It looks rather narrow for a man to pass.""Well, it wasn't a fat man, anyhow. We don't need your deductions, Mr.Holmes, to tell us that. But you or I could squeeze through all right."Holmes walked to the edge of the moat and looked across. Then he examinedthe stone ledge and the grass border beyond it."I've had #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 36 Context: time, Mr. White Mason, I claim the right to work in my own way and give myresults at my own time—complete rather than in stages.""I am sure we are honoured by your presence and to show you all we know,"said White Mason cordially. "Come along, Dr. Watson, and when the time comeswe'll all hope for a place in your book."We walked down the quaint village street with a row of pollarded elms oneach side of it. Just beyond were two ancient stone pillars, weather-stained andlichen-blotched bearing upon their summits a shapeless something which hadonce been the rampant lion of Capus of Birlstone. A short walk along thewinding drive with such sward and oaks around it as one only sees in ruralEngland, then a sudden turn, and the long, low Jacobean house of dingy, liver-coloured brick lay before us, with an old-fashioned garden of cut yews on eachside of it. As we approached it, there was the wooden drawbridge and thebeautiful broad moat as still and luminous as quicksilver in the cold, wintersuns #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 37 Context: "Exactly. Why should he? Is the water always turbid?""Generally about this colour. The stream brings down the clay.""How deep is it?""About two feet at each side and three in the middle.""So we can put aside all idea of the man having been drowned in crossing.""No, a child could not be drowned in it."We walked across the drawbridge, and were admitted by a quaint, gnarled,dried-up person, who was the butler, Ames. The poor old fellow was white andquivering from the shock. The village sergeant, a tall, formal, melancholy man,still held his vigil in the room of Fate. The doctor had departed."Anything fresh, Sergeant Wilson?" asked White Mason."No, sir.""Then you can go home. You've had enough. We can send for you if we wantyou. The butler had better wait outside. Tell him to warn Mr. Cecil Barker, Mrs.Douglas, and the housekeeper that we may want a word with them presently.Now, gentlemen, perhaps you will allow me to give you the views I have formedfirst, and then you will be able to arri #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 41 Context: "I don't think so."Holmes walked across to the desk and dabbed a little ink from each bottle onto the blotting paper. "It was not printed in this room," he said; "this is black inkand the other purplish. It was done by a thick pen, and these are fine. No, it wasdone elsewhere, I should say. Can you make anything of the inscription, Ames?""No, sir, nothing.""What do you think, Mr. Mac?""It gives me the impression of a secret society of some sort; the same with hisbadge upon the forearm.""That's my idea, too," said White Mason."Well, we can adopt it as a working hypothesis and then see how far ourdifficulties disappear. An agent from such a society makes his way into thehouse, waits for Mr. Douglas, blows his head nearly off with this weapon, andescapes by wading the moat, after leaving a card beside the dead man, whichwill when mentioned in the papers, tell other members of the society thatvengeance has been done. That all hangs together. But why this gun, of allweapons?""Exactly.""And #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 43 Context: Chapter 5The People Of the Drama"Have you seen all you want of the study?" asked White Mason as wereentered the house."For the time," said the inspector, and Holmes nodded."Then perhaps you would now like to hear the evidence of some of thepeople in the house. We could use the dining-room, Ames. Please come yourselffirst and tell us what you know."The butler's account was a simple and a clear one, and he gave a convincingimpression of sincerity. He had been engaged five years before, when Douglasfirst came to Birlstone. He understood that Mr. Douglas was a rich gentlemanwho had made his money in America. He had been a kind and considerateemployer—not quite what Ames was used to, perhaps; but one can't haveeverything. He never saw any signs of apprehension in Mr. Douglas: on thecontrary, he was the most fearless man he had ever known. He ordered thedrawbridge to be pulled up every night because it was the ancient custom of theold house, and he liked to keep the old ways up.Mr. Douglas s #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 45 Context: to offend it. He could only suppose thatthe legend upon the placard had some reference to this secret society."How long were you with Douglas in California?" asked InspectorMacDonald."Five years altogether.""He was a bachelor, you say?" #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 49 Context: It was spoken with fervour and feeling, and yet Inspector MacDonald couldnot dismiss the subject."You are aware," said he, "that the dead man's wedding ring has been takenfrom his finger?""So it appears," said Barker."What do you mean by 'appears'? You know it as a fact."The man seemed confused and undecided. "When I said 'appears' I meant thatit was conceivable that he had himself taken off the ring.""The mere fact that the ring should be absent, whoever may have removed it,would suggest to anyone's mind, would it not, that the marriage and the tragedywere connected?"Barker shrugged his broad shoulders. "I can't profess to say what it means."he answered. "But if you mean to hint that it could reflect in any way upon thislady's honour"—his eyes blazed for an instant, and then with an evident effort hegot a grip upon his own emotions—"well, you are on the wrong track, that's all.""I don't know that I've anything else to ask you at present," said MacDonald,coldly."There was one small poi #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 50 Context: ho has endured a great shock; but her manner was composed, andthe finely moulded hand which she rested upon the edge of the table was assteady as my own. Her sad, appealing eyes travelled from one to the other of uswith a curiously inquisitive expression. That questioning gaze transformed itselfsuddenly into abrupt speech."Have you found anything out yet?" she asked.Was it my imagination that there was an undertone of fear rather than of hopein the question?"We have taken every possible step, Mrs. Douglas," said the inspector. "Youmay rest assured that nothing will be neglected.""Spare no money," she said in a dead, even tone. "It is my desire that everypossible effort should be made.""Perhaps you can tell us something which may throw some light upon thematter." #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 54 Context: "I'll see, sir."He came back in a moment to say that Barker was in the garden."Can you remember, Ames, what Mr. Barker had on his feet last night whenyou joined him in the study?""Yes, Mr. Holmes. He had a pair of bedroom slippers. I brought him his bootswhen he went for the police.""Where are the slippers now?""They are still under the chair in the hall.""Very good, Ames. It is, of course, important for us to know which tracksmay be Mr. Barker's and which from outside.""Yes, sir. I may say that I noticed that the slippers were stained with blood—so indeed were my own.""That is natural enough, considering the condition of the room. Very good,Ames. We will ring if we want you."A few minutes later we were in the study. Holmes had brought with him thecarpet slippers from the hall. As Ames had observed, the soles of both were darkwith blood."Strange!" murmured Holmes, as he stood in the light of the window andexamined them minutely. "Very strange indeed!"Stooping with one of his quick feli #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 55 Context: Holmes—what's the game?""Ay, what's the game?" my friend repeated thoughtfully.White Mason chuckled and rubbed his fat hands together in his professionalsatisfaction. "I said it was a snorter!" he cried. "And a real snorter it is!"Chapter 6A Dawning LightThe three detectives had many matters of detail into which to inquire; so Ireturned alone to our modest quarters at the village inn. But before doing so Itook a stroll in the curious old-world garden which flanked the house. Rows ofvery ancient yew trees cut into strange designs girded it round. Inside was abeautiful stretch of lawn with an old sundial in the middle, the whole effect sosoothing and restful that it was welcome to my somewhat jangled nerves.In that deeply peaceful atmosphere one could forget, or remember only assome fantastic nightmare, that darkened study with the sprawling, bloodstainedfigure on the floor. And yet, as I strolled round it and tried to steep my soul in itsgentle balm, a strange incident occurred, which b #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 55 Context: nt occurred, which brought me back to the tragedyand left a sinister impression in my mind.I have said that a decoration of yew trees circled the garden. At the endfarthest from the house they thickened into a continuous hedge. On the other sideof this hedge, concealed from the eyes of anyone approaching from the directionof the house, there was a stone seat. As I approached the spot I was aware ofvoices, some remark in the deep tones of a man, answered by a little ripple offeminine laughter.An instant later I had come round the end of the hedge and my eyes lit uponMrs. Douglas and the man Barker before they were aware of my presence. Herappearance gave me a shock. In the dining-room she had been demure anddiscreet. Now all pretense of grief had passed away from her. Her eyes shone #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 59 Context: doing fromquarter to eleven, when the sound of the shot brought them down, until quarterpast eleven, when they rang the bell and summoned the servants. What werethey doing, and why did they not instantly give the alarm? That is the questionwhich faces us, and when it has been answered we shall surely have gone someway to solve our problem.""I am convinced myself," said I, "that there is an understanding between #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 61 Context: re for the slamming door. Whydid your guilty couple do all this, Watson?""I confess that I can't explain it.""Then again, if a woman and her lover conspire to murder a husband, are theygoing to advertise their guilt by ostentatiously removing his wedding ring afterhis death? Does that strike you as very probable, Watson?""No, it does not.""And once again, if the thought of leaving a bicycle concealed outside hadoccurred to you, would it really have seemed worth doing when the dullestdetective would naturally say this is an obvious blind, as the bicycle is the firstthing which the fugitive needed in order to make his escape.""I can conceive of no explanation.""And yet there should be no combination of events for which the wit of mancannot conceive an explanation. Simply as a mental exercise, without anyassertion that it is true, let me indicate a possible line of thought. It is, I admit,mere imagination; but how often is imagination the mother of truth?"We will suppose that there was a #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 63 Context: ells. It was at Tunbridge Wellsthen that he had become conscious of some danger. It was clear, therefore, that ifa man had come over with a bicycle it was from Tunbridge Wells that he mightbe expected to have come. We took the bicycle over with us and showed it at thehotels. It was identified at once by the manager of the Eagle Commercial asbelonging to a man named Hargrave, who had taken a room there two daysbefore. This bicycle and a small valise were his whole belongings. He hadregistered his name as coming from London, but had given no address. Thevalise was London made, and the contents were British; but the man himself wasundoubtedly an American.""Well, well," said Holmes gleefully, "you have indeed done some solid workwhile I have been sitting spinning theories with my friend! It's a lesson in beingpractical, Mr. Mac.""Ay, it's just that, Mr. Holmes," said the inspector with satisfaction."But this may all fit in with your theories," I remarked. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 65 Context: r. Mac, it is very good and very clear so far as it goes. That is yourend of the story. My end is that the crime was committed half an hour earlierthan reported; that Mrs. Douglas and Barker are both in a conspiracy to concealsomething; that they aided the murderer's escape—or at least that they reachedthe room before he escaped—and that they fabricated evidence of his escapethrough the window, whereas in all probability they had themselves let him goby lowering the bridge. That's my reading of the first half."The two detectives shook their heads. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 66 Context: untry inncould do for us. I was already asleep when I was partly awakened by hisentrance."Well, Holmes," I murmured, "have you found anything out?"He stood beside me in silence, his candle in his hand. Then the tall, leanfigure inclined towards me. "I say, Watson," he whispered, "would you be afraidto sleep in the same room with a lunatic, a man with softening of the brain, anidiot whose mind has lost its grip?""Not in the least," I answered in astonishment."Ah, that's lucky," he said, and not another word would he utter that night.Chapter 7 #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 67 Context: ou will no doubt remember, that I should notpresent you with half-proved theories, but that I should retain and work out myown ideas until I had satisfied myself that they were correct. For this reason I amnot at the present moment telling you all that is in my mind. On the other hand, Isaid that I would play the game fairly by you, and I do not think it is a fair gameto allow you for one unnecessary moment to waste your energies upon aprofitless task. Therefore I am here to advise you this morning, and my advice toyou is summed up in three words—abandon the case."MacDonald and White Mason stared in amazement at their celebratedcolleague."You consider it hopeless!" cried the inspector."I consider your case to be hopeless. I do not consider that it is hopeless toarrive at the truth.""But this cyclist. He is not an invention. We have his description, his valise,his bicycle. The fellow must be somewhere. Why should we not get him?" #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 68 Context: e Manor House.""Well, what happened?""Ah, I can only give you a very general answer to that for the moment. By theway, I have been reading a short but clear and interesting account of the oldbuilding, purchasable at the modest sum of one penny from the localtobacconist."Here Holmes drew a small tract, embellished with a rude engraving of theancient Manor House, from his waistcoat pocket."It immensely adds to the zest of an investigation, my dear Mr. Mac, whenone is in conscious sympathy with the historical atmosphere of one'ssurroundings. Don't look so impatient; for I assure you that even so bald anaccount as this raises some sort of picture of the past in one's mind. Permit me togive you a sample. 'Erected in the fifth year of the reign of James I, and standingupon the site of a much older building, the Manor House of Birlstone presentsone of the finest surviving examples of the moated Jacobean residence—'""You are making fools of us, Mr. Holmes!" #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 69 Context: "Tut, tut, Mr. Mac!—the first sign of temper I have detected in you. Well, Iwon't read it verbatim, since you feel so strongly upon the subject. But when Itell you that there is some account of the taking of the place by a parliamentarycolonel in 1644, of the concealment of Charles for several days in the course ofthe Civil War, and finally of a visit there by the second George, you will admitthat there are various associations of interest connected with this ancient house.""I don't doubt it, Mr. Holmes; but that is no business of ours.""Is it not? Is it not? Breadth of view, my dear Mr. Mac, is one of theessentials of our profession. The interplay of ideas and the oblique uses ofknowledge are often of extraordinary interest. You will excuse these remarksfrom one who, though a mere connoisseur of crime, is still rather older andperhaps more experienced than yourself.""I'm the first to admit that," said the detective heartily. "You get to your point,I admit; but you have such a deuced r #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 71 Context: before dusk without fail—without fail, Mr. Mac.""That sounds more like sanity.""All of it was excellent advice; but I don't insist, so long as you are here whenI need you. But now, before we part, I want you to write a note to Mr. Barker.""Well?""I'll dictate it, if you like. Ready?"Dear Sir:"It has struck me that it is our duty to drain the moat, inthe hope that we may find some—""It's impossible," said the inspector. "I've made inquiry.""Tut, tut! My dear sir, please do what I ask you.""Well, go on.""—in the hope that we may find something which may bearupon our investigation. I have made arrangements, and theworkmen will be at work early to-morrow morning divertingthe stream—""Impossible!""—diverting the stream; so I thought it best to explainmatters beforehand."Now sign that, and send it by hand about four o'clock. At that hour we shallmeet again in this room. Until then we may each do what we like; for I can #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 73 Context: tin the fatal study. Everything else was dark and still."How long is this to last?" asked the inspector finally. "And what is it we arewatching for?" #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 73 Context: taccusation, the brutal tap upon the shoulder—what can one make of such adenouement? But the quick inference, the subtle trap, the clever forecast ofcoming events, the triumphant vindication of bold theories—are these not thepride and the justification of our life's work? At the present moment you thrillwith the glamour of the situation and the anticipation of the hunt. Where wouldbe that thrill if I had been as definite as a timetable? I only ask a little patience,Mr. Mac, and all will be clear to you.""Well, I hope the pride and justification and the rest of it will come before weall get our death of cold," said the London detective with comic resignation.We all had good reason to join in the aspiration; for our vigil was a long andbitter one. Slowly the shadows darkened over the long, sombre face of the oldhouse. A cold, damp reek from the moat chilled us to the bones and set our teethchattering. There was a single lamp over the gateway and a steady globe of lightin the fatal study. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 73 Context: We passed along the outer bounds of the Manor House park until we came toa place where there was a gap in the rails which fenced it. Through this weslipped, and then in the gathering gloom we followed Holmes until we hadreached a shrubbery which lies nearly opposite to the main door and thedrawbridge. The latter had not been raised. Holmes crouched down behind thescreen of laurels, and we all three followed his example."Well, what are we to do now?" asked MacDonald with some gruffness."Possess our souls in patience and make as little noise as possible," Holmesanswered."What are we here for at all? I really think that you might treat us with morefrankness."Holmes laughed. "Watson insists that I am the dramatist in real life," said he."Some touch of the artist wells up within me, and calls insistently for a well-staged performance. Surely our profession, Mr. Mac, would be a drab and sordidone if we did not sometimes set the scene so as to glorify our results. The bluntaccusation, the bru #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 74 Context: the writingtable."This is what we are after, Mr. Barker—this bundle, weighted with a dumb-bell, which you have just raised from the bottom of the moat." #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 75 Context: is the inner pocket prolonged into the lining in such fashion asto give ample space for the truncated fowling piece. The tailor's tab is on theneck—'Neal, Outfitter, Vermissa, U. S. A.' I have spent an instructive afternoonin the rector's library, and have enlarged my knowledge by adding the fact that #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 75 Context: t would be dried to-morrow, which had, of course, the effect thatwhoever had hidden the bundle would most certainly withdraw it the momentthat darkness enabled him to do so. We have no less than four witnesses as towho it was who took advantage of the opportunity, and so, Mr. Barker, I thinkthe word lies now with you."Sherlock Holmes put the sopping bundle upon the table beside the lamp andundid the cord which bound it. From within he extracted a dumb-bell, which hetossed down to its fellow in the corner. Next he drew forth a pair of boots."American, as you perceive," he remarked, pointing to the toes. Then he laidupon the table a long, deadly, sheathed knife. Finally he unravelled a bundle ofclothing, comprising a complete set of underclothes, socks, a gray tweed suit,and a short yellow overcoat."The clothes are commonplace," remarked Holmes, "save only the overcoat,which is full of suggestive touches." He held it tenderly towards the light. "Here,as you perceive, is the inner pocket #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 75 Context: Barker stared at Holmes with amazement in his face. "How in thunder cameyou to know anything about it?" he asked."Simply that I put it there.""You put it there! You!""Perhaps I should have said 'replaced it there,'" said Holmes. "You willremember, Inspector MacDonald, that I was somewhat struck by the absence of adumb-bell. I drew your attention to it; but with the pressure of other events youhad hardly the time to give it the consideration which would have enabled you todraw deductions from it. When water is near and a weight is missing it is not avery far-fetched supposition that something has been sunk in the water. The ideawas at least worth testing; so with the help of Ames, who admitted me to theroom, and the crook of Dr. Watson's umbrella, I was able last night to fish up andinspect this bundle."It was of the first importance, however, that we should be able to prove whoplaced it there. This we accomplished by the very obvious device of announcingthat the moat would be dried to- #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 76 Context: er grace from you.""Oh, you think so, do you? Well, all I can say is that if there's any secret hereit is not my secret, and I am not the man to give it away.""Well, if you take that line, Mr. Barker," said the inspector quietly, "we mustjust keep you in sight until we have the warrant and can hold you.""You can do what you damn please about that," said Barker defiantly.The proceedings seemed to have come to a definite end so far as he wasconcerned; for one had only to look at that granite face to realize that no peineforte et dure would ever force him to plead against his will. The deadlock wasbroken, however, by a woman's voice. Mrs. Douglas had been standing listeningat the half opened door, and now she entered the room."You have done enough for now, Cecil," said she. "Whatever comes of it inthe future, you have done enough.""Enough and more than enough," remarked Sherlock Holmes gravely. "I haveevery sympathy with you, madam, and should strongly urge you to have someconfidence in t #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 77 Context: ray eyes, a strong, short-clipped, grizzled moustache, a square, projecting chin, and a humorous mouth.He took a good look at us all, and then to my amazement he advanced to me andhanded me a bundle of paper."I've heard of you," said he in a voice which was not quite English and notquite American, but was altogether mellow and pleasing. "You are the historianof this bunch. Well, Dr. Watson, you've never had such a story as that passthrough your hands before, and I'll lay my last dollar on that. Tell it your ownway; but there are the facts, and you can't miss the public so long as you havethose. I've been cooped up two days, and I've spent the daylight hours—as muchdaylight as I could get in that rat trap—in putting the thing into words. You'rewelcome to them—you and your public. There's the story of the Valley of Fear.""That's the past, Mr. Douglas," said Sherlock Holmes quietly. "What wedesire now is to hear your story of the present.""You'll have it, sir," said Douglas. "May I smoke #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 78 Context: aste ourselves upon asearch that you knew to be an absurd one?""Not one instant, my dear Mr. Mac. Only last night did I form my views ofthe case. As they could not be put to the proof until this evening, I invited youand your colleague to take a holiday for the day. Pray what more could I do?When I found the suit of clothes in the moat, it at once became apparent to methat the body we had found could not have been the body of Mr. John Douglas atall, but must be that of the bicyclist from Tunbridge Wells. No other conclusionwas possible. Therefore I had to determine where Mr. John Douglas himselfcould be, and the balance of probability was that with the connivance of his wifeand his friend he was concealed in a house which had such conveniences for afugitive, and awaiting quieter times when he could make his final escape.""Well, you figured it out about right," said Douglas approvingly. "I thoughtI'd dodge your British law; for I was not sure how I stood under it, and also I sawmy chanc #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 78 Context: d also I sawmy chance to throw these hounds once for all off my track. Mind you, from firstto last I have done nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing that I would not doagain; but you'll judge that for yourselves when I tell you my story. Never mindwarning me, Inspector: I'm ready to stand pat upon the truth."I'm not going to begin at the beginning. That's all there," he indicated mybundle of papers, "and a mighty queer yarn you'll find it. It all comes down to #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 82 Context: a time, far from the Sussex Manor House of Birlstone, and far also from the yearof grace in which we made our eventful journey which ended with the strangestory of the man who had been known as John Douglas. I wish you to journeyback some twenty years in time, and westward some thousands of miles inspace, that I may lay before you a singular and terrible narrative—so singularand so terrible that you may find it hard to believe that even as I tell it, even sodid it occur.Do not think that I intrude one story before another is finished. As you readon you will find that this is not so. And when I have detailed those distant eventsand you have solved this mystery of the past, we shall meet once more in thoserooms on Baker Street, where this, like so many other wonderful happenings,will find its end. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 85 Context: ne, and the rude, strong workers who did it.The young traveller gazed out into this dismal country with a face of mingledrepulsion and interest, which showed that the scene was new to him. At intervalshe drew from his pocket a bulky letter to which he referred, and on the marginsof which he scribbled some notes. Once from the back of his waist he producedsomething which one would hardly have expected to find in the possession of somild-mannered a man. It was a navy revolver of the largest size. As he turned it #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 86 Context: slantwise to the light, the glint upon the rims of the copper shells within thedrum showed that it was fully loaded. He quickly restored it to his secret pocket,but not before it had been observed by a working man who had seated himselfupon the adjoining bench."Hullo, mate!" said he. "You seem heeled and ready."The young man smiled with an air of embarrassment."Yes," said he, "we need them sometimes in the place I come from.""And where may that be?""I'm last from Chicago.""A stranger in these parts?""Yes.""You may find you need it here," said the workman."Ah! is that so?" The young man seemed interested."Have you heard nothing of doings hereabouts?""Nothing out of the way.""Why, I thought the country was full of it. You'll hear quick enough. Whatmade you come here?""I heard there was always work for a willing man.""Are you a member of the union?""Sure.""Then you'll get your job, I guess. Have you any friends?""Not yet; but I have the means of making them.""How's that, then?" #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 96 Context: ve it? Vat about Milman and VanShorst, and the Nicholson family, and old Mr. Hyam, and little Billy James, andthe others? Prove it! Is there a man or a voman in this valley vat does not knowit?""See here!" said McMurdo earnestly. "I want you to take back what you'vesaid, or else make it good. One or the other you must do before I quit this room. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 99 Context: read all this. I had understood that every paper in the United States was writingabout it.""Well, I have read something, it is true; but I had thought it was a story.Maybe these men have some reason in what they do. Maybe they are wrongedand have no other way to help themselves.""Oh, Jack, don't let me hear you speak so! That is how he speaks—the otherone!""Baldwin—he speaks like that, does he?""And that is why I loathe him so. Oh, Jack, now I can tell you the truth. Iloathe him with all my heart; but I fear him also. I fear him for myself; but aboveall I fear him for father. I know that some great sorrow would come upon us if Idared to say what I really felt. That is why I have put him off with half-promises.It was in real truth our only hope. But if you would fly with me, Jack, we couldtake father with us and live forever far from the power of these wicked men."Again there was the struggle upon McMurdo's face, and again it set likegranite. "No harm shall come to you, Ettie—nor to you #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 101 Context: quartersin the morning." #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 101 Context: "No time like the present," cried McMurdo."I'll choose my own time, mister. You can leave the time to me. See here!" Hesuddenly rolled up his sleeve and showed upon his forearm a peculiar sign whichappeared to have been branded there. It was a circle with a triangle within it."D'you know what that means?""I neither know nor care!""Well, you will know, I'll promise you that. You won't be much older, either.Perhaps Miss Ettie can tell you something about it. As to you, Ettie, you'll comeback to me on your knees—d'ye hear, girl?—on your knees—and then I'll tellyou what your punishment may be. You've sowed—and by the Lord, I'll see thatyou reap!" He glanced at them both in fury. Then he turned upon his heel, and aninstant later the outer door had banged behind him.For a few moments McMurdo and the girl stood in silence. Then she threwher arms around him."Oh, Jack, how brave you were! But it is no use, you must fly! To-night—Jack—to-night! It's your only hope. He will have your life. I read #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 104 Context: ked-looking revolver."See here, my joker," said he, "if I thought you were playing any game on us,it would be short work for you.""This is a strange welcome," McMurdo answered with some dignity, "for theBodymaster of a lodge of Freemen to give to a stranger brother.""Ay, but it's just that same that you have to prove," said McGinty, "and Godhelp you if you fail! Where were you made?""Lodge 29, Chicago.""When?""June 24, 1872.""What Bodymaster?" #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 105 Context: from aninner pocket. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 114 Context: companyconsisted of young fellows from eighteen to twenty-five, the ready and capableagents who carried out the commands of their seniors. Among the older menwere many whose features showed the tigerish, lawless souls within; but lookingat the rank and file it was difficult to believe that these eager and open-facedyoung fellows were in very truth a dangerous gang of murderers, whose mindshad suffered such complete moral perversion that they took a horrible pride intheir proficiency at the business, and looked with deepest respect at the man whohad the reputation of making what they called "a clean job." #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 115 Context: in thevictim himself—who, however outnumbered and taken by surprise, might andoccasionally did leave his mark upon his assailants.McMurdo had been warned that some ordeal lay before him; but no onewould tell him in what it consisted. He was led now into an outer room by twosolemn brothers. Through the plank partition he could hear the murmur of manyvoices from the assembly within. Once or twice he caught the sound of his ownname, and he knew that they were discussing his candidacy. Then there enteredan inner guard with a green and gold sash across his chest."The Bodymaster orders that he shall be trussed, blinded, and entered," saidhe.The three of them removed his coat, turned up the sleeve of his right arm, andfinally passed a rope round above the elbows and made it fast. They next placeda thick black cap right over his head and the upper part of his face, so that hecould see nothing. He was then led into the assembly hall.It was pitch dark and very oppressive under his hood. He heard #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 115 Context: To their contorted natures it had become a spirited and chivalrous thing tovolunteer for service against some man who had never injured them, and whomin many cases they had never seen in their lives. The crime committed, theyquarrelled as to who had actually struck the fatal blow, and amused one anotherand the company by describing the cries and contortions of the murdered man.At first they had shown some secrecy in their arrangements; but at the timewhich this narrative describes their proceedings were extraordinarily open, forthe repeated failures of the law had proved to them that, on the one hand, no onewould dare to witness against them, and on the other they had an unlimitednumber of stanch witnesses upon whom they could call, and a well-filledtreasure chest from which they could draw the funds to engage the best legaltalent in the state. In ten long years of outrage there had been no singleconviction, and the only danger that ever threatened the Scowrers lay in thevictim himself #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 118 Context: "The first business on the agenda paper," said McGinty, "is to read thefollowing letter from Division Master Windle of Merton County Lodge 249. Hesays:"DEAR SIR:"There is a job to be done on Andrew Rae of Rae & Sturmash, coal owners near thisplace. You will remember that your lodge owes us a return, having had the service oftwo brethren in the matter of the patrolman last fall. You will send two good men, theywill be taken charge of by Treasurer Higgins of this lodge, whose address you know.He will show them when to act and where. Yours in freedom,"J. W. WINDLE D. M. A. O. F."Windle has never refused us when we have had occasion to ask for the loanof a man or two, and it is not for us to refuse him." McGinty paused and lookedround the room with his dull, malevolent eyes. "Who will volunteer for the job?"Several young fellows held up their hands. The Bodymaster looked at themwith an approving smile."You'll do, Tiger Cormac. If you handle it as well as you did the last, youwon't be wrong #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 121 Context: ose with gloom upon his brow. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 122 Context: ocket."LAW AND ORDER!That's how he heads it."REIGN OF TERROR IN THE COAL AND IRON DISTRICT"Twelve years have now elapsed since the first assassinations which proved theexistence of a criminal organization in our midst. From that day these outrages havenever ceased, until now they have reached a pitch which makes us the opprobrium of #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 123 Context: the civilized world. Is it for such results as this that our great country welcomes to itsbosom the alien who flies from the despotisms of Europe? Is it that they shallthemselves become tyrants over the very men who have given them shelter, and that astate of terrorism and lawlessness should be established under the very shadow of thesacred folds of the starry Flag of Freedom which would raise horror in our minds ifwe read of it as existing under the most effete monarchy of the East? The men areknown. The organization is patent and public. How long are we to endure it? Can weforever live—""Sure, I've read enough of the slush!" cried the chairman, tossing the paperdown upon the table. "That's what he says of us. The question I'm asking you iswhat shall we say to him?""Kill him!" cried a dozen fierce voices."I protest against that," said Brother Morris, the man of the good brow andshaved face. "I tell you, Brethren, that our hand is too heavy in this valley, andthat there will come a poi #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 124 Context: g betweenthe brightly lit windows. From within came the clanking of the printing press."Here, you," said Baldwin to McMurdo, "you can stand below at the door andsee that the road is kept open for us. Arthur Willaby can stay with you. Youothers come with me. Have no fears, boys; for we have a dozen witnesses that #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 126 Context: well carried through. Others, and among them McMurdo, broke away into sidestreets, and so by devious paths to their own homes.Chapter 4The Valley of FearWhen McMurdo awoke next morning he had good reason to remember hisinitiation into the lodge. His head ached with the effect of the drink, and his arm,where he had been branded, was hot and swollen. Having his own peculiarsource of income, he was irregular in his attendance at his work; so he had a latebreakfast, and remained at home for the morning writing a long letter to a friend.Afterwards he read the Daily Herald. In a special column put in at the lastmoment he read:OUTRAGE AT THE HERALD OFFICE—EDITORSERIOUSLY INJURED.It was a short account of the facts with which he was himself more familiar thanthe writer could have been. It ended with the statement:The matter is now in the hands of the police; but it can hardly be hoped that theirexertions will be attended by any better results than in the past. Some of the men wererecognized, a #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 127 Context: handed in by a lad. It was unsigned, and ran thus:I should wish to speak to you, but would rather not do so in your house. You will findme beside the flagstaff upon Miller Hill. If you will come there now, I have somethingwhich it is important for you to hear and for me to say.McMurdo read the note twice with the utmost surprise; for he could notimagine what it meant or who was the author of it. Had it been in a femininehand, he might have imagined that it was the beginning of one of thoseadventures which had been familiar enough in his past life. But it was thewriting of a man, and of a well educated one, too. Finally, after some hesitation,he determined to see the matter through.Miller Hill is an ill-kept public park in the very centre of the town. In summerit is a favourite resort of the people; but in winter it is desolate enough. From thetop of it one has a view not only of the whole straggling, grimy town, but of thewinding valley beneath, with its scattered mines and factories b #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 130 Context: e cloud ofmurder hangs thicker and lower than that over the heads of the people. It is theValley of Fear, the Valley of Death. The terror is in the hearts of the people fromthe dusk to the dawn. Wait, young man, and you will learn for yourself.""Well, I'll let you know what I think when I have seen more," said McMurdocarelessly. "What is very clear is that you are not the man for the place, and thatthe sooner you sell out—if you only get a dime a dollar for what the business isworth—the better it will be for you. What you have said is safe with me; but, byGar! if I thought you were an informer—""No, no!" cried Morris piteously."Well, let it rest at that. I'll bear what you have said in mind, and maybe someday I'll come back to it. I expect you meant kindly by speaking to me like this.Now I'll be getting home.""One word before you go," said Morris. "We may have been seen together.They may want to know what we have spoken about.""Ah! that's well thought of." #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 137 Context: the last time, and make one strong endeavour to draw him from those evilinfluences which were sucking him down. She went to his house, as he had oftenbegged her to do, and made her way into the room which he used as his sitting-room. He was seated at a table, with his back turned and a letter in front of him.A sudden spirit of girlish mischief came over her—she was still only nineteen.He had not heard her when she pushed open the door. Now she tiptoed forwardand laid her hand lightly upon his bended shoulders.If she had expected to startle him, she certainly succeeded; but only in turn tobe startled herself. With a tiger spring he turned on her, and his right hand wasfeeling for her throat. At the same instant with the other hand he crumpled up thepaper that lay before him. For an instant he stood glaring. Then astonishmentand joy took the place of the ferocity which had convulsed his features—aferocity which had sent her shrinking back in horror as from something whichhad never before #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 142 Context: crossroads which is beyond its boundary. Here three men were waiting, withwhom Lawler and Andrews held a short, eager conversation. Then they allmoved on together. It was clearly some notable job which needed numbers. Atthis point there are several trails which lead to various mines. The strangers tookthat which led to the Crow Hill, a huge business which was in strong handswhich had been able, thanks to their energetic and fearless New Englandmanager, Josiah H. Dunn, to keep some order and discipline during the longreign of terror.Day was breaking now, and a line of workmen were slowly making their way,singly and in groups, along the blackened path.McMurdo and Scanlan strolled on with the others, keeping in sight of themen whom they followed. A thick mist lay over them, and from the heart of itthere came the sudden scream of a steam whistle. It was the ten-minute signalbefore the cages descended and the day's labour began.When they reached the open space round the mine shaft there wer #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 143 Context: lieve. The horrible screams of the deadmanager's wife pursued them as they hurried to the town. McMurdo wasabsorbed and silent; but he showed no sympathy for the weakening of hiscompanion. #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 144 Context: dle employees who were membersof the all-powerful society. Coffin notices hung outside his door had notweakened his resolution, and so in a free, civilized country he found himselfcondemned to death.The execution had now been duly carried out. Ted Baldwin, who sprawlednow in the seat of honour beside the Bodymaster, had been chief of the party.His flushed face and glazed, blood-shot eyes told of sleeplessness and drink. Heand his two comrades had spent the night before among the mountains. Theywere unkempt and weather-stained. But no heroes, returning from a forlornhope, could have had a warmer welcome from their comrades.The story was told and retold amid cries of delight and shouts of laughter.They had waited for their man as he drove home at nightfall, taking their stationat the top of a steep hill, where his horse must be at a walk. He was so furred tokeep out the cold that he could not lay his hand on his pistol. They had pulledhim out and shot him again and again. He had screamed #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 144 Context: "Sure, it is like a war," he repeated. "What is it but a war between us andthem, and we hit back where we best can."There was high revel in the lodge room at the Union House that night, notonly over the killing of the manager and engineer of the Crow Hill mine, whichwould bring this organization into line with the other blackmailed and terror-stricken companies of the district, but also over a distant triumph which had beenwrought by the hands of the lodge itself.It would appear that when the County Delegate had sent over five good mento strike a blow in Vermissa, he had demanded that in return three Vermissa menshould be secretly selected and sent across to kill William Hales of Stake Royal,one of the best known and most popular mine owners in the Gilmerton district, aman who was believed not to have an enemy in the world; for he was in all waysa model employer. He had insisted, however, upon efficiency in the work, andhad, therefore, paid off certain drunken and idle employees who we #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 148 Context: ched the lodge of secret gatherings in the Herald office and of distribution of #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 148 Context: Such were the methods of the Society of Freemen, and such were the deedsof the Scowrers by which they spread their rule of fear over the great and richdistrict which was for so long a period haunted by their terrible presence. Whyshould these pages be stained by further crimes? Have I not said enough to showthe men and their methods?These deeds are written in history, and there are records wherein one mayread the details of them. There one may learn of the shooting of Policemen Huntand Evans because they had ventured to arrest two members of the society—adouble outrage planned at the Vermissa lodge and carried out in cold blood upontwo helpless and disarmed men. There also one may read of the shooting of Mrs.Larbey when she was nursing her husband, who had been beaten almost to deathby orders of Boss McGinty. The killing of the elder Jenkins, shortly followed bythat of his brother, the mutilation of James Murdoch, the blowing up of theStaphouse family, and the murder of the Stendals al #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 150 Context: ss."See here, man," he cried, and he almost screeched the words in hisexcitement, "you won't gain anything by sitting keening like an old wife at awake. Let's have the facts. Who is the fellow? Where is he? How did you hear ofhim? Why did you come to me?""I came to you; for you are the one man that would advise me. I told you thatI had a store in the East before I came here. I left good friends behind me, andone of them is in the telegraph service. Here's a letter that I had from himyesterday. It's this part from the top of the page. You can read it yourself."This was what McMurdo read:How are the Scowrers getting on in your parts? We read plenty of them in the papers.Between you and me I expect to hear news from you before long. Five bigcorporations and the two railroads have taken the thing up in dead earnest. They meanit, and you can bet they'll get there! They are right deep down into it. Pinkerton hastaken hold under their orders, and his best man, Birdy Edwards, is operating. The #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 154 Context: nd discussed, than that a blowshould fall upon us without warning which would destroy us all. I haveinformation that the most powerful and richest organizations in this state havebound themselves together for our destruction, and that at this very momentthere is a Pinkerton detective, one Birdy Edwards, at work in the valleycollecting the evidence which may put a rope round the necks of many of us, andsend every man in this room into a felon's cell. That is the situation for thediscussion of which I have made a claim of urgency."There was a dead silence in the room. It was broken by the chairman."What is your evidence for this, Brother McMurdo?" he asked."It is in this letter which has come into my hands," said McMurdo. He readthe passage aloud. "It is a matter of honour with me that I can give no furtherparticulars about the letter, nor put it into your hands; but I assure you that thereis nothing else in it which can affect the interests of the lodge. I put the casebefore you as it h #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 162 Context: the order were concerned, and with no notion of justice or honesty to anyonebeyond. The treasurer, Carter, was a middle-aged man, with an impassive, rathersulky expression, and a yellow parchment skin. He was a capable organizer, andthe actual details of nearly every outrage had sprung from his plotting brain. Thetwo Willabys were men of action, tall, lithe young fellows with determinedfaces, while their companion, Tiger Cormac, a heavy, dark youth, was fearedeven by his own comrades for the ferocity of his disposition. These were themen who assembled that night under the roof of McMurdo for the killing of thePinkerton detective.Their host had placed whisky upon the table, and they had hastened to primethemselves for the work before them. Baldwin and Cormac were already half-drunk, and the liquor had brought out all their ferocity. Cormac placed his handson the stove for an instant—it had been lighted, for the nights were still cold."That will do," said he, with an oath."Ay," said Bald #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 164 Context: s. When Ireached this place I learned that I was wrong and that it wasn't a dime novel afterall. So I stayed to look after it. I never killed a man in Chicago. I never minted adollar in my life. Those I gave you were as good as any others; but I never spentmoney better. But I knew the way into your good wishes and so I pretended toyou that the law was after me. It all worked just as I thought."So I joined your infernal lodge, and I took my share in your councils. Maybe #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 165 Context: my of God and man in these parts. It took a man to getbetween you and the poor devils of men and women that you held under yourgrip. There was just one way of doing it, and I did it. You call me a traitor; but Iguess there's many a thousand will call me a deliverer that went down into hellto save them. I've had three months of it. I wouldn't have three such monthsagain if they let me loose in the treasury at Washington for it. I had to stay till Ihad it all, every man and every secret right here in this hand. I'd have waited alittle longer if it hadn't come to my knowledge that my secret was coming out. Aletter had come into the town that would have set you wise to it all. Then I had toact and act quickly."I've nothing more to say to you, except that when my time comes I'll die theeasier when I think of the work I have done in this valley. Now, Marvin, I'll keepyou no more. Take them in and get it over."There is little more to tell. Scanlan had been given a sealed note to be left atthe #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 167 Context: ofthe moated Manor House. His face was drawn and haggard."I've had bad news—terrible news, Mr. Holmes," said he."I feared as much," said Holmes."You have not had a cable, have you?""I have had a note from someone who has.""It's poor Douglas. They tell me his name is Edwards; but he will always beJack Douglas of Benito Canyon to me. I told you that they started together forSouth Africa in the Palmyra three weeks ago.""Exactly.""The ship reached Cape Town last night. I received this cable from MrsDouglas this morning:—"Jack has been lost overboard in gale off St Helena. No one knows howaccident occurred.—Ivy Douglas." #################### File: The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf Page: 170 Context: Books, unless you receive specific permission. If youdo not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with therules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purposesuch as creation of derivative works, reports, performances andresearch. 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For thirty years, he produced and distributed ProjectGutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printededitions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarilykeep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: http://www.gutenberg.netThis Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg LiteraryArchive Foundation, h #################### File: asdfasdfasdfsaf123123131.txt Page: 1 Context: asdfasdfasdfsaf123123131 #################### File: zxcvzxcvzx.txt.txt Page: 1 Context: edited 04MAY2024 ########## """QUERY: can you explain the contents of "The Tomb.pdf"?""" Consider the chat history for relevant information. Use all information included. Use as much tokens as needed. Final Files Sources: The%20Tomb.txt - Page 1, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 2, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 3, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 5, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 7, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 8, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 10, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 11, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 12, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 13, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 15, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 19, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 21, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 22, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 23, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 26, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 29, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 30, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 32, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 36, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 37, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 41, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 43, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 45, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 49, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 50, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 54, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 55, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 59, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 61, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 63, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 65, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 66, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 67, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 68, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 69, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 71, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 73, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 74, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 75, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 76, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 77, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 78, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 82, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 85, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 86, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 96, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 99, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 101, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 104, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 105, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 114, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 115, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 118, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 121, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 122, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 123, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 124, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 126, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 127, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 130, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 137, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 142, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 143, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 144, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 148, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 150, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 154, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 162, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 164, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 165, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 167, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 170, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 172, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 173, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 174, The-Valley-of-Fear.pdf - Page 175, asdfasdfasdfsaf123123131.txt - Page 1, zxcvzxcvzx.txt.txt - Page 1 ================================================== FINAL ANSWER Answer: Based on the extensive chat history provided, there is no content from a file named "The Tomb.pdf" to explain. The excerpts and context given in the chat history ==================================================