Sherlock Holmes in Russia Read Online Free PDF Page B

bivouac, which gave all the appearance of a robber encampment, was a mere two or three hundred paces from the main road. Every little sound would penetrate the deathly silence of the taiga, more so the rumble of wheels and the beat of horses’ hoofs. We left our horses behind and the three of us crouched behind bushes, near enough to see anything moving along the highway.
    Everything was quiet till one in the afternoon, but then my ears detected some sort of sounds in the distance. I glanced at Holmes. He was already on the alert. The sounds increased in volume until, at last, the rumble of wheels and the beat of hoofs increased in volume.
    A few minutes and a troika, the carriage driven by three horses, sped past.
    The coachman was on the coach box. The manager inside. He had flung himself back in his seat, apparently dozing away as if he hadn’t a care in the world. He didn’t even look in our direction. Looking at him, nobody would imagine a man with anything but a clear conscience.
    When his carriage had passed us a mile or so, Holmes threw himself into ours, motioning for us to follow. We sped in the path of the vanished manager, afraid we wouldn’t catch him in time at the next post house where he would change horses.
    Mile after mile flashed past. Our troika made a sharp turn and through the forest we spied the post house. With horror we saw that the manager’s troika had nearly completed the change-over of horses. Another minute and we would have lost him, but just in time, as his coachman was clambering up to take his seat, our troika, horses foaming at the mouth from exertion, drew up beside him.
    â€˜Mr Manager, I must detain you for just a minute,’ said the mine guard, approaching him.
    â€˜Is anything the matter?’ asked the manager in surprise. And turning towards us, he said jovially, ‘I never thought I’d overtake you! Wherever did you get stuck? Surely not in the taiga!’
    â€˜I’m afraid we got slightly involved in hunting,’ said Holmes.
    â€˜And that is to be commended. At least the mine guard will be able to carry out his errand.’ The sentence was uttered with the deliberate intention of delivering a little sting. A malevolent look appeared for a moment in his eyes. ‘Now, sir, I am all ears,’ he turned to the mine guard.
    â€˜Permit me to search you.’
    â€˜Me!’ The manager burst out laughing. ‘Do you really still think that I am carrying away my employers’ gold. In any case—’ He shrugged. ‘The laws of the taiga are rough, and anyone who has fallen into it must be reconciled to them. Do your duty, sir. I am at your service.’ He and the mine guard went into the post house.
    â€˜Oh, what a rogue!’ Sherlock Holmes exclaimed merrily. ‘I am prepared to wager anything that he guessed our identity all along. He’s laughing in my face.’
    â€˜So I see,’ I said.
    And as if to confirm our words, the manager suddenly sprang out of the post house. ‘Gentlemen, aren’t you joining us? No need to carry on with your comic act, no need to conceal your real profession. Do come in, Messrs Detectives!’ he yelled at us.
    â€˜If that is so, of course, there is no need for us to hide who we are,’ said Holmes with a smile. ‘Come along, Watson.’
    We went in and began the search. But Seltzoff had absolutely nothing except for a cotton-lined heavy coat whose pockets were empty and a suit in whose pockets all we found was a wallet and a few letters.
    We went outside. We ransacked his entire carriage, the suitcase and the bundles. A feather would not have escaped us. But, despite all our efforts, we found nothing. There was no gold.
    Holmes took me aside and said softly, ‘My dear Watson, there’s one place which we haven’t looked at so far.’
    â€˜And that is—’
    â€˜It could very well be that the gold is in the axle or the shafts,