Знак чотирьох
X. The End of the Islander
Astrangeenigmaisman!”
“Someonecallshimasoulconcealedinananimal,”Isuggested.
“WinwoodReadeisgooduponthesubject,”saidHolmes.“Heremarksthat,whiletheindividualmanisaninsolublepuzzle,intheaggregatehebecomesamathematicalcertainty.Youcan,forexample,neverforetellwhatanyonemanwilldo,butyoucansaywithprecisionwhatanaveragenumberwillbeupto.Individualsvary,butpercentagesremainconstant.Sosaysthestatistician.ButdoIseeahandkerchief?Surelythereisawhiteflutteroveryonder.”
“Yes,itisyourboy,”Icried.“Icanseehimplainly.”
“AndthereistheAurora,”exclaimedHolmes,“andgoinglikethedevil!Fullspeedahead,engineer.Makeafterthatlaunchwiththeyellowlight.Byheaven,Ishallneverforgivemyselfifsheprovestohavetheheelsofus!”
Shehadslippedunseenthroughtheyard-entranceandpassedbehindtwoorthreesmallcraft,sothatshehadfairlygotherspeedupbeforewesawher.Nowshewasflyingdownthestream,nearintotheshore,goingatatremendousrate.Joneslookedgravelyatherandshookhishead.
“Sheisveryfast,”hesaid.“Idoubtifweshallcatchher.”
“Wemustcatchher!”criedHolmes,betweenhisteeth.“Heapiton,stokers!Makeherdoallshecan!Ifweburntheboatwemusthavethem!”
Wewerefairlyafterhernow.Thefurnacesroared,andthepowerfulengineswhizzedandclanked,likeagreatmetallicheart.Hersharp,steepprowcutthroughtheriver-waterandsenttworollingwavestorightandtoleftofus.
