Exercises

1. Was Inspector Martin happy to work with Mr. Holmes?

1) Yes, he was, it was great to work with him.

2) Yes, he was but at first he didn’t like him.

3) No, he wasn’t but at first he liked him.

4) No, he wasn’t because he could get into serious trouble.

2. Why didn’t Sherlock Holmes explain everything to his colleagues at once?

1) He liked to make mysteries.

2) He didn’t want to share it with anybody.

3) He had no time.

4) It would take time and he wanted to act immediately.

3. Who was Elrige?

1) A farmer

2) A policeman

3) A doctor

4) A cheater

4. What was the first letter that Holmes guessed?

1) K

2) M

3) I

4) E

Why?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. Why was Inspector Martin worried that Abe Slaney could escape?

1) He was responsible for this case.

2) He forgot his handcuffs.

3) He had no escort to help him.

4) Sherlock Holmes talked too much.

6. Why did Holmes call the policeman from New York?

1) He wanted to know if the name Abe Slaney was American.

2) He wanted to know if Mrs. Cubitt was known to him.

3) He wanted to ask for his advice.

4) He wanted to know if Abe Slaney was a criminal.

7. Why couldn’t Slaney escape?

1) He was in handcuffs.

2) He wanted to be sent in prison.

3) It would be a confession of guilt.

4) It wasn’t mentioned in the text.

8. Describe Abe Slaney:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

9. Choose the right verbs:

If any visitor…………… to Mrs. Cubitt, they shouldn’t…………… him anything about what…………….

1) came, told, happened

2) came, tell, had happened

3) had come, tell, had happened

4) come, told, happened

10. Complete the sentences with these words and expressions:

no doubt, difficulty, by the way, every precaution, mistaken, get into, occurred

1) In fact, if I am not……………, here he comes.

2) Even now I was in some……………, but suddenly it…………… to me that this person had been close with the lady in her past.

3) It is necessary to take…………… when you deal with such a person.

4) There is…………… that the latter as a reply is the most probable.

5) If this Abe Slaney is really the murderer and if he has escaped while I’m sitting here, I’ll…………… serious trouble.

6) I know all forms of secret writings and I am the author of some…………….

11. Insert the right prepositions:

by, into, for, in, to, with, at, without

1) He worked with them…………… some time…………… the table.

2) Finally he gave a note…………… the boy.

3) And we can assume that it was a reply written…………… the lady.

4) I think that now I can help you to spend this hour…………… an interesting way.

5) Inspector Martin was filled……… admiration and ready to follow…………… question wherever Holmes led.

6) And I came to an idea that the flags were used to break the sentence up…………… words.

12. Complete the table:

V

In a second Holmes put a pistol to the man’s head and Martin put the handcuffs on. It was all done so quickly that the man was helpless before he knew that he was attacked. He looked at us and started laughing.

“Well, gentlemen, you have caught me this time. I have no choice. But I came here in answer to a letter from Mrs. Hilton Cubitt. Don’t tell me that she is with you! Don’t tell me that she helped to set a trap for me!”

“Mrs. Hilton Cubitt was seriously injured and is dying now.”

“You’re crazy!” he cried, furiosly. “It was he who was hurt, not she! Who could hurt my little Elsie? Yes, I threatened her, God forgive me, but I didn’t touch a hair of her pretty head. Don’t say such things… you! Say that she is not hurt!”

“We found her near her dead husband, and she was terribly wounded.”

He groaned and hid his face in his hands. For five minutes he was silent. Then he raised his face and spoke with cold despair.

“I have nothing to hide from you, gentlemen,” he said. “I shot the man but he also had his shot at me, so it’s not a murder. But if you think that I could hurt that woman, then you don’t know me… and her. I always loved her. No one loved a woman more than I loved her. I had a right to her. Who was this Englishman that came between us? I tell you that I had the first right to her, and that I was here to get her back.”

“She ran away from you when she found out who you are,” said Holmes, severely. “She left America to escape from you, and she married an honourable gentleman in England. You followed and frightened her. You wanted to persuade her to leave the husband whom she loved and respected. She feared and hated you. So you killed Mr. Cubitt and nearly made Mrs. Cubitt to commit suicide. That is what you’ve done, Mr. Abe Slaney, and you will answer for it in the trial.”

“If Elsie dies I don’t care what happens,” said the American. He opened one of his hands and saw a note.

“Look, mister!”, he cried, with suspicion in his eyes, “You’re not trying to cheat me, are you? If the lady is hurt, who wrote this note?” He threw it on the table.

“I wrote it,” said Holmes.

“You? No one except us knew the secret of the dancing men! How could you write it?”

“What one man can invent another can discover,” said Holmes. “A cab is coming to escort you to Norwich, Mr. Slaney. However, you have time to make something useful. Do you know that Mrs. Hilton Cubitt has been accused of the murder of her own husband? And that it was only the knowledge which I had that has saved her from the accusation? The least that you can do for her is to say to the world that she was in no way responsible for his tragic end.”

“I’ll do it,” said the American. “I guess I should tell you the whole truth.”

“It is my duty to warn you that it will be used against you,” cried the inspector.

“I’ll try,” Slaney said. “First of all, you should understand that I have known this lady since she was a child. There were seven of us in a gang in Chicago, and Elsie’s father was the boss. He was a clever man. It was he who invented that writing. Well, Elsie found out who we were and she didn’t like it. She had some honest money and decided to leave the country and go to London. Elsie was engaged to me, and she said that she would marry me if only I had taken another profession. But she didn’t want to marry a cheater.

Only after her marriage to this Englishman I found out where she was. I wrote to her, but didn’t get an answer. After that I came to London and, as letters were useless, I wrote my messages where she could read them.”

“Well, I have been here a month now. I lived in that farm, where I had a room downstairs, and could get in and out every night, and no one could see me. I tried to persuade Elsie to come back. I knew that she read the messages, because once she wrote an answer under one of them. Then I began to threaten her. She sent me a letter then, she asked me to go away and said that it would break her heart if anyone found out something. She said that she would come down when her husband was asleep at three in the morning. She said she would speak with me through the window, if I would go away afterwards and leave her in peace. She came down and brought money with her, she tried to pay me. This made me mad, and I caught her arm and tried to pull her through the window. At that moment her husband ran in with the revolver in his hand. Elsie fainted, and we were face to face. I was armed also, and I raised my gun to frighten him and let me get away. But he fired and missed. I shot almost at the same moment, and he fell backwards. I ran across the garden and I heard that someone shut the window. That’s all, gentlemen, every word is truthful. And I heard nothing until that boy came with a note, which made me walk here and give myself into your hands.”

A cab was already here. Two policemen sat inside. Inspector Martin rose and said:

“It is time for us to go.”

“Can I see her?”

“No, she is not ready for this. Mr. Holmes, I’m pleased to work with you. I hope that if I have another important case, I’ll be lucky to meet you again.”

We stood at the window and watched the cab. I turned my back and saw a piece of paper which Slaney had thrown on the table. It was the note which Holmes had written to him.

“See if you can read it, Watson,” he said, with a smile.

There was this little line of dancing men.

“If you use the code which I have explained,” said Holmes, “you will find that it means simply ‘Come here at once’. I was sure that he wouldn’t refuse, because he couldn’t even imagine that someone else except Mrs. Cubitt could write it. So, my dear Watson, finally we’ve managed to use these dancing men for something good, when they have been so often the agents of evil. And I think that I was right, now you can add this curious story to your collection. It’s three-forty, our train is soon. We’ll be back in Baker Street for dinner.”

Only one word of epilogue. The American, Abe Slaney, was sentenced to death at Norwich. But the punishment was changed to hard labour, as it was proved that Hilton Cubitt had fired first. As for Mrs. Hilton Cubitt, I only know that she recovered completely, and that she still remains a widow. She has devoted her life to the care of the poor and to the administration of her husband’s estate.