The Adventure of the Devils Foot | Page 5

"Well, as you seem to have made the discovery, whatever it may be, and the vicar to have
had it second-hand, perhaps you had better do the speaking," said Holmes.
I glanced at the hastily clad clergyman, with the formally dressed lodger seated beside
him, and was amused at the surprise which Holmes's simple deduction had brought to
their faces.
"Perhaps I had best say a few words first," said the vicar, "and then you can judge if you
will listen to the details from Mr. Tregennis, or whether we should not hasten at once to
the scene of this mysterious affair. I may explain, then, that our friend here spent last
evening in the company of his two brothers, Owen and George, and of his sister Brenda,
at their house of Tredannick Wartha, which is near the old stone cross upon the moor. He
left them shortly after ten o'clock, playing cards round the dining-room table, in excellent
health and spirits. This morning, being an early riser, he walked in that direction before
breakfast and was overtaken by the carriage of Dr. Richards, who explained that he had
just been sent for on a most urgent call to Tredannick Wartha. Mr. Mortimer Tregennis
naturally went with him. When he arrived at Tredannick Wartha he found an
extraordinary state of things. His two brothers and his sister were seated round the table
exactly as he had left them, the cards still spread in front of them and the candles burned
down to their sockets. The sister lay back stone-dead in her chair, while the two brothers
sat on each side of her laughing, shouting, and singing, the senses stricken clean out of
them. All three of them, the dead woman and the two demented men, retained upon their
faces an expression of the utmost horror--a convulsion of terror which was dreadful to
look upon. There was no sign of the presence of anyone in the house, except Mrs. Porter,
the old cook and housekeeper, who declared that she had slept deeply and heard no sound
during the night. Nothing had been stolen or disarranged, and there is absolutely no

explanation of what the horror can be which has frightened a woman to death and two
strong men out of their senses. There is the situation, Mr. Holmes, in a nutshell, and if
you can help us to clear it up you will have done a great work."
I had hoped that in some way I could coax my companion back into the quiet which had
been the object of our journey; but one glance at his intense face and contracted eyebrows
told me how vain was now the expectation. He sat for some little time in silence,
absorbed in the strange drama which had broken in upon our peace.
"I will look into this matter," he said at last. "On the face of it, it would appear to be a
case of a very exceptional nature. Have you been there yourself, Mr. Roundhay?"
"No, Mr. Holmes. Mr. Tregennis brought back the account to the vicarage, and I at once
hurried over with him to consult you."
"How far is it to the house where this singular tragedy occurred?"
"About a mile inland."
"Then we shall walk over together. But before we start I must ask you a few questions,
Mr. Mortimer Tregennis."
The other had been silent all this time, but I had observed that his more controlled
excitement was even greater than the obtrusive emotion of the clergyman. He sat with a
pale, drawn face, his anxious gaze fixed upon Holmes, and his thin hands clasped
convulsively together. His pale lips quivered as he listened to the dreadful experience
which had befallen his family, and his dark eyes seemed to reflect something of the
horror of the scene.
"Ask what you like, Mr. Holmes," said he eagerly. "It is a bad thing to speak of, but I will
answer you the truth."
"Tell me about last night."
"Well, Mr. Holmes, I supped there, as the vicar has said, and my elder brother George
proposed a game of whist afterwards. We sat down about nine o'clock. It was a
quarter-past ten when I moved to go. I left them all round the table, as merry as could
be."
"Who let you out?"
"Mrs. Porter had gone to bed, so I let myself out. I shut the hall door behind me. The
window of the room in which they sat was closed, but the blind was not drawn down.
There was no change in door or window this morning, or any reason to think that any
stranger had been to the house. Yet there they sat, driven clean mad with terror, and
Brenda lying dead of fright, with her head hanging over