had also risen, preparatory to leaving. Holmes's voice had a touch of urgency to it.
'Inspector, simply as matter of security, why don't you depart via our back yard,' he suggested.
I looked back from the window in surprise. This was an unusual thought on Holmes's part and I could see that it puzzled MacDonald as well. However, he did not choose to comment on it.
'Vera well,' said he, in his low-timbered voice as my attention returned to the street outside.
On the pavement below there was a raggedy man winding the crank of an ancient street organ. He was gazing upward at illuminated windows in a hopeful manner and, indeed, one did open and there was a flash of metal in the light of the gas jet of the street lamp and a clink as it struck the cobblestones. Like a flash, a small monkey darted from atop the musical instrument to retrieve the coin, causing me to smile, but only for a moment, for in the wavering jet of the lamp I noted another presence in a doorway opposite Mrs. Hudson's house. For but an instant I glimpsed an Oriental face peering at the organ grinder's monkey and then it disappeared into the darkness.
'Good Lord!' I exclaimed, turning back to the others. 'There's a Chinaman outside and he's watching this house, I'm sure.'
As both Gilligan and the inspector instinctively stepped toward the window, they were halted by a surprising statement from Sherlock Holmes.
'I know.'
Gilligan, as always, exhibited no reaction but both MacDonald's and my eyebrows escalated.
'The organ grinder is an . . . associate. The possibility of the hand of Chu San Fu reaching as far as Baker Street had occurred to me.'
'And the music was the signal,' said MacDonald. 'Then the Oriental must have arrived but recently. I see now the reason for my leaving by the back.'
I had vacated my position at the window and Gilligan had replaced me there. One glance at the street was enough for the cracksman.
'Slippery Styles,' he exclaimed, with a grin. 'Iffen the watcher leaves, 'e won't be alone. Though 'e'll never know it,' Gilligan added, with relish.
'This puts a different complexion on things,' stated MacDonald, his face suddenly creased with worry.
'Come now,' replied Holmes, 'after Styles leaves and he will have to shortly, to prevent being conspicuous, Wiggins and a couple of his street urchin friends will be in the vicinity.'
'Ta ... a smart move, Guv,' said Gilligan. 'Them Baker Street irreg'lars can wander at will without attractin' notice.'
'In a matter such as this, considering the forces that form the opposition, I need all the help I can get,' said Holmes, and this was a remarkable admission to come from him.
MacDonald and I exchanged a significant glance. Holmes was notorious for his lack of concern about his personal safety, a fact that had prompted many an uncomfortable thought for both of us. I was reassured by the conviction that some of London's finest might soon find themselves in the area as well.
MacDonald bid us goodnight and made his way down the stairs and out the rear past the plane tree in our small yard and through the inconspicuous door that served as a seldom-used back exit. From there, he had easy access via the Mews to King Street and a route of departure safe from the eyes of the watcher without.
I wondered for a moment if the back of our residence was being watched. The Chinese crime tsar seemed to have unlimited manpower at his command. But then I realized that Wiggins and the irregulars were no doubt already on the scene and would have notified Holmes had our rear been under surveillance.
With the leaving of MacDonald, Holmes had some instructions for Gilligan. To facilitate them, he crossed to the desk and scrawled an address on a sheet of paper, which he tendered to our ally.
'Slim, here's where Barker had lodgings during his London residence, which was terminated in such an unfortunate manner. The front door has a Crowley lock. You might find the back more convenient. There are two windows to his living room, either of which will not delay you more than thirty seconds. I noted that there is convenient ivy on the back wall of the building as well. While I spent some time going through Barker's things, a more detailed search is called for.'
'Right you are, Guv,' replied the cracksman, with his ready smile. 'It's a pleasure doin' biz wiv you. Every little caper is like a summer breeze.'
'Let's hope they are all like this one.' For a brief moment there was that gleam in Holmes's eyes that was reserved for very few people indeed. 'But think, my good fellow, how reassuring it is to know that a complex problem would become simple in your deft hands.'
Holmes was habitually sparing in his praise, and I knew of very few who commanded his respect. Not all of them, associates like Gilligan. Von Herder, the blind mechanic who had worked for Moriarty, was one. Van Seddar, the Dutch gem expert associated with Count Sylvius was another. And, of course, that late Napoleon of crime, Moriarty and his right-hand man, Colonel Sebastian Moran, were held in the highest esteem by the sleuth for their talents if not for their motives and morals. Gilligan had his place in this diverse and limited group.
Holmes and Gilligan departed together and I assumed that my friend was leading the cracksman to the upper story, where there was access to the roof of 221B. Gilligan had a pronounced preference for rooftops. How he intended to vacate our residence and reach the adjacent building I had not the faintest idea but I had no doubt that he would accomplish this feat, and with ease. Holmes had many times mentioned that the mark of the expert was the ability to make the difficult seem commonplace and, considering some of his own amazing solutions to baffling problems, I was certainly ready to agree with him.
In but a short time, Holmes returned with a satisfied air.
'It is said that one is judged by one's associates, which makes me the most fortunate of men. To secure an aide who will follow instructions implicitly is one thing and not an easy one. But to secure a Gilligan who can think on the spot and adapt himself to a changing scene, that is a treasure indeed.'
Through my mind flashed a series of incidents when I had blundered on a wrong trail, and my face must have expressed this painful recollection or possibly Holmes divined the memories that his comment would awaken.
'Come now, good fellow, we all make our contributions in our particular style and where would I have been on many occasions without your invaluable presence?' Sentiment was rare for the sleuth and I could see him erase it promptly. 'To prove my point,' he continued, 'do you have readily available that piece of heavy ordnance you carry on occasion?'
'I can secure it in a trice,' I stammered, quickly, glad to be of some use.
'Do so by all means and check its load. I shall caution Mrs. Hudson and Billy not to answer the door below without alerting us first. Some caution from here on in will not be amiss.'
When we retired for the night, I had the feeling that our cozy domicile was in a state of seige, a most unusual situation indeed.
14
The Removal of the Bird
147
The following morning there was no trace of the Chinaman on the street outside. Holmes, with his breakfast coffee at hand, wrote a cable to the Trans-Continental Insurance Company advising them to settle the claim of Amos Gridley, and composed another to Vasil D'Anglas in Berlin intimating that the Bird might be in his possession shortly.
This last communique piqued my interest, of course.
'Then you really expect Basil Selkirk to place the statue in your hands.'
'How I wish I had a direct answer for you, Watson. He said he would and there was no reason for him to make an idle promise. Unless it was a ploy to gain time. But time for what? Selkirk spent a great deal of money securing the Bird for the sheer joy of foiling his rival, Chu San Fu. Why relinquish his prize at the moment of triumph? Wait!' Holmes said, suddenly.
Whatever idea had come to his mind, it was sufficiently promising to cause him to spring from his chair at the breakfast table and begin to pace our sitting room nervously.
'It ties in,' he muttered, after four or five circuits of the immediate area. His thin face dominated by the famous hawklike nose centered on me and there was a realization in his piercing eyes. 'Let us backtrack, good
