“ ‘Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the lasttrain.’
“ ‘Where to?’
“ ‘To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders ofOxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a trainfrom Paddington which would bring you there at about 11:15.’
“ ‘Very good.’
“ ‘I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.’
“ ‘There is a drive, then?’
“ ‘Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a goodseven miles from Eyford Station.’
“ ‘Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I supposethere would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelledto stop the night.’
“ ‘Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.’
“ ‘That is very awkward. Could I not come at some moreconvenient hour?’
“ ‘We have judged it best that you should come late. It is torecompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, ayoung and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion fromthe very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would liketo draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do so.’
“I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful theywould be to me. ‘Not at all,’ said I, ‘I shall be very happy toaccommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, tounderstand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to do.’
“ ‘Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy whichwe have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity.
I have no wish to commit you to anything without your havingit all laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe fromeavesdroppers?’
“ ‘Entirely.’
“ ‘Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware thatfuller’s-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found in oneor two places in England?’
“ ‘I have heard so.’
“ ‘Some little time ago I bought a small place—a very smallplace—within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough todiscover that there was a deposit of fuller’s-earth in one of myfields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was acomparatively small one, and that it formed a link between twovery much larger ones upon the right and left—both of them,however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good peoplewere absolutely ignorant that their land contained that whichwas quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to myinterest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, butunfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I tooka few of my friends into the secret, however, and they suggestedthat we should quietly and secretly work our own little deposit andthat in this way we should earn the money which would enable usto buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been doing forsome time, and in order to help us in our operations we erected ahydraulic press. This press, as I have already explained, has got outof order, and we wish your advice upon the subject. We guard oursecret very jealously, however, and if it once became known thatwe had hydraulic engineers coming to our little house, it wouldsoon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts came out, it would begood-bye to any chance of getting these fields and carrying out ourplans. That is why I have made you promise me that you will nottell a human being that you are going to Eyford to-night. I hopethat I make it all plain?’
“ ‘I quite follow you,’ said I. ‘the only point which I could notquite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic pressin excavating fuller’s-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out likegravel from a pit.’
“ ‘Ah!’ said he carelessly, ‘we have our own process. We compressthe earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing whatthey are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully into myconfidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I trustyou.’ He rose as he spoke. ‘I shall expect you, then, at Eyford at11:15.’
“ ‘I shall certainly be there.’
“ ‘And not a word to a soul.’ He looked at me with a last long,questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dankgrasp, he hurried from the room.
“Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I wasvery much astonished, as you may both think, at this suddencommission which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, ofcourse, I was glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I shouldhave asked had I set a price upon my own services, and it waspossible that this order might lead to other ones. On the otherhand, the face and manner of my patron had made an unpleasantimpression upon me, and I could not think that his explanationof the fuller’s-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for mycoming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tellanyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate ahearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having obeyedto the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue.
“At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but mystation. However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, andI reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o’clock. I was theonly passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon theplatform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed outthrough the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of themorning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without aword he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the doorof which was standing open. He drew up the windows on eitherside, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as thehorse could go.”
“One horse?” interjected Holmes.
“Yes, only one.”
“Did you observe the colour?”
“Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into thecarriage. It was a chestnut.”
“Tired-looking or fresh?”
“Oh, fresh and glossy.”
“Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continueyour most interesting statement.”