“ ‘Never. But why?’ said I.
“ ‘Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I cannot tell where it came from – perhaps from the next room, perhaps from the park. I thought that I would ask you whether you had heard it.’
‘No, I have not. It must be those gypsies in the park[10].’
“ ‘Very likely. And if it were in the park, it is strange that you did not hear it also.’
“ ‘Ah, but I do not hear anything when I am asleep.’
She smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her key turn in the lock.”
“Did you always lock yourselves in at night?” asked Holmes.
“Always.”
“And why?”
“I think that I said that the doctor kept a cheetah and a baboon. We had no feeling of security if our doors were not locked.”
“I see. But forgive me for interrupting you. Please continue your story.”
Exercises
1. Answer the questions:
1. What did you learn about the Roylotts of Stoke Moran?
2. Why did Dr. Roylott return to England from India a gloomy and disappointed man?
3. How did it happen that Dr. Roylott lived in Stoke Moran with his two stepdaughters?
4. Who else lived in the house?
5. What were the relations between Dr. Roylott and other people in the village?
6. Why weren’t Julia and Helen happy?
7. How did it happen that Julia became engaged to be married?
8. What did you learn about the house where Julia’s tragic death occurred?
9. What did the sisters speak about before Julia’s death?
10. Why did the sisters lock their bedrooms?
Think and say
1. Was Dr. Roylott a good doctor? Would you like him to be your family doctor? Why do you think so?
2. Was it easy for the sisters to marry? Why do you think so?
2. Find the following phrases in the text and reproduce situations from the text with them. Give Russian equivalents.
1. to be left
2. to leave smth to smb
3. to make friends with smb
4. to be / become engaged to smb
engagement (to smb)
5. to open out on / upon / into
3. Paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences so as to use the phrases above.
1. Tony is a very sociable boy, he can become the friend of anybody.
2. How long before the wedding did they agree to get married?
3. It was only after his aunt’s death that Robert learned he would get her house after her death.
4. After he paid all his debts, no more money remained.
5. Their room faces the park, so they have a very nice view.
6. Have you heard that John has broken off his agreement to marry June? – I didn’t even know that they agreed to marry.
7. After Miss Stoner’s sister died, she remained alone with her stepfather.
4. Complete the sentences with phrases above in the correct form.
1. Susan doesn’t want her bedroom… the sea. She says the noise of the sea won’t let her sleep.
2. There were a lot of shops in the street a few years ago. But only two… The others have been closed.
3. I didn’t know that Alex and Anne… to be married.
4. When Bob came to a new school, he wanted… his new classmates.
5. Peter’s father… him his gold watch, and Peter always wears it.
6. Walter gave Alice an… ring. They are to be married next month.
7. After her children married, Mrs Sykes… alone in her big house.
III
“I could not sleep that night. I had a vague feeling that something bad was coming. It was a wild night. The wind was very strong outside, and the rain was beating against the windows. Suddenly, there was a wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew that it was my sister’s voice. I got out of my bed, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and a few moments later a strange sound, as if metal had fallen. As I ran down the corridor, my sister’s door was unlocked, and opened slowly. By the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear in the doorway, her face pale with terror, she could hardly stand. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that moment she fell to the ground. She seemed to be in terrible pain. As I bent over her she suddenly cried out in a voice which I shall never forget, ‘Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!’ There was something else which she wanted to say, and she pointed her finger at the door of the doctor’s room, but she could not speak. I called loudly for my stepfather, and I saw him running from his room. When he reached my sister’s side she was unconscious, and though he sent for a doctor from the village, she died without having recovered her consciousness[11].”
“One moment,” said Holmes, “are you sure about this whistle and metallic sound?”
“That was what the police asked me. I believe I heard it, but I may have made a mistake.[12]”
“Was your sister dressed?”
“No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand wе found a burnt match, and in her left a match-box.”
“It shows that she struck a light and looked about her when she heard a noise. That is important. And what conclusions did the police come to?”
“They investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott had a very bad reputation, but they were unable to find any satisfactory cause of death. The door was locked on the inside, and the windows were blocked. The walls and the floor were examined, with no result. It is clear, therefore, that my sister was alone when she met her end. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her.”
“How about poison?”
“The doctors examined her for it, but without any result.”
“What do you think your sister died of, then?”
“I believe she died of fear and nervous shock, though what frightened her I cannot imagine.”
“Were there gypsies in the park at the time?”
“Yes, there are nearly always some there.”
“Ah, and what did you think of her last words – a speckled band?”
“Sometimes I have thought that she spoke of some band of people, perhaps of the gypsies in the park. So many of them wear the speckled handkerchiefs over their heads.”
Holmes shook his head like a man who was not satisfied.
“Two years have passed since then, and my life has been lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, whom I have known for many years, asked my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage – Percy Armitage. My stepfather has nothing against the marriage, and we are to be married in spring. Two days ago some repairs were started in the house, and I had to move into the room in which my sister died, and to sleep in the bed in which she slept. Imagine, then, terror when last night I suddenly heard the low whistle which my sister had heard before her death. I got up and lit the lamp, but saw nothing unusual in the room. I was too frightened to go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was daylight I left the house, got a dog-cart and drove to the station, from where I have come on this morning to see you and to ask your advice.”
“You have done well,” said my friend. “But have you told me all?”
“Yes, all.”
“Miss Roylott, you have not.”
“Why, what do you mean?”
For answer Holmes took her hand that lay upon our visitor’s knee. The marks of a very strong hand were printed on it.