“‘Well done, sir. Let us away at once,’ Holmes said, and he gave me a slight shove forward.
“Holmes had me limp along as fast as I could ‘til we had weaved around a few corner blocks and were mixed in enough crowds that we did not have to worry ourselves about the copper returning. We stopped in front of a fairly empty street, where I was startled to see a hansom waiting.
“‘Why, Holmes, is that carriage for us?’
“‘No, sir, it is for you. I had the driver wait here, ready to take you away. I’ve already given him half of his fee for the trip.’
“‘Trip? Mr. Holmes, I still don’t know what exactly happened back there.’
“‘I happened. Now, into the hansom you go.’ Holmes urged me forward, but I slammed my crutch down and stood my ground.
“‘Wait, Mr. Holmes. You are a blessing, I can’t rightly deny that. Still, I feel you owe me some explanation of how I ended up so fortunate. Before I hop into that cab, tell me – How did you manage to pull all this off?’
“Holmes’s expression soured at my insistence. He checked his pocket watch, sighed, and then said, ‘Very well. After I left you, I followed your directions to the gambling street den and was able to see the layout of Emerson’s scheme. He has his dealer play fairly, but if he determines that he is losing too much money, he wipes his nose, which gestures to the dealer to slip poor cards to the players. This causes the winners to be allowed to win but not to win big. At one point during my game, Emerson gave out a cough and his ruffians stood and blocked the alley exit. I noted that Emerson shook his head “No”, and his henchmen went back to their positions. I believe he really had a cough at that moment. So, I knew that was his signal to deal with a cheat or a thief. Having learned the inner workings of Emerson’s street games within a half of an hour, I accepted my losses, proposed a game of Vingt-un to commence in an hour, and then I went about gathering food and clothing for you, procuring this cab, and putting young Williams to work.’
“‘Williams?’ I asked. ‘Who is Williams?’
“‘Ah, Williams was the young street urchin I hired to call the police at precisely noon today.’
“‘You mean you knew we would be attacked?’ I bellowed.
“‘Of course. Think about it. It was a rather elementary deduction. When we entered the gambling den, I knew we had a limited time to earn your required moneys. I also knew that by having both of us participate in the game of Vingt-un, we would have double the odds of earning your money. Now, the deck that the dealer used was well worn and easy to count the cards. Before each hand was finished being dealt, I had ascertained who would win. That is why I made a point to have you throw away some of your winning hands. We had to gain the trust of the house. So we kept our winnings small until ten minutes to noon. I made a point of stating that I had an early afternoon engagement, so there was no concern with me checking my watch during the game. When I knew the time was right, I significantly increased my bets. We won five large pools of money, and then we went back to losing to throw off Emerson. If he called in the goons too soon, we would end up in a street brawl. So, that is why we kept playing. When it was noon, we ended the game. I believed that Emerson would call in his thugs, but I was not certain. Of course, he did follow through with that course of action.
“‘I had told Williams to alert the constable at precisely noon that a crippled man was being assaulted in Emerson’s Alley. Even a bribed constable cannot turn his back on a gentleman being attacked on the streets. He came round just as the ruffians were attacking you. His timing could not have been better. When we assisted you, I told the constable the tale of you being an innocent bystander, attacked by a disreputable gang. Then, Williams came around and called the constable to pursue Emerson’s associates. We then absconded, and here we are. Now, I believe I owe you your winnings, sans my expenses for the episode.’
“Holmes handed me my winnings and then told me the cab would take me to a rooming house on the Thames.
“Tomorrow, Father, I will board a ship and will make my voyage back to Cork, back to my wife, back to my home where a new job awaits me. Time for me to start my life again.
“I said my goodbye to Mr. Holmes, and when I arrived at the boarding house, I was happy to see your small parish next door. I believe it was the Lord intervening on my behalf, Father. I know I earned my passage back home through ill means. I know Holmes lied and maybe cheated a bit to get me home. I’m ready to do penance for the opportunity which the Lord has granted me.
“Yes, Father, I will. Thank you. What’s that? No, Father, when I said goodbye to Holmes, we only shook hands. I learned nothing else about the lad. I’m sorry to say that this is probably the last adventure we’ll ever hear about that involves Mr. Sherlock Holmes.”
The Adventure of the Gloria Scott
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“I have some papers here,” said my friend Sherlock Holmes, as we sat one winter’s night on either side of the fire, “which I really think, Watson, that it would be worth your while to glance over. These are the documents in the extraordinary case
