The Complete Canon - The complete Sherlock Holmes

A Study In ScarletIt was a summer evening when he came gallopingdown the road and pulled up at the gate. She was atthe doorway, and came down to meet him. He threwthe bridle over the fence and strode up the pathway.“I am off, Lucy,” he said, taking her two hands inhis, and gazing tenderly down into her face; “I won’task you to come with me now, but will you be readyto come when I am here again?”“And when will that be?” she asked, blushing andlaughing.“A couple of months at the outside. I will comeand claim you then, my darling. There’s no one whocan stand between us.”“And how about father?” she asked.“He has given his consent, provided we get thesemines working all right. I have no fear on that head.”“Oh, well; of course, if you and father have arrangedit all, there’s no more to be said,” she whispered,with her cheek against his broad breast.“Thank God!” he said, hoarsely, stooping and kissingher. “It is settled, then. The longer I stay, theharder it will be to go. They are waiting for me at thecañon. Good-bye, my own darling—good-bye. In twomonths you shall see me.”He tore himself from her as he spoke, and, flinginghimself upon his horse, galloped furiously away,never even looking round, as though afraid that hisresolution might fail him if he took one glance atwhat he was leaving. She stood at the gate, gazingafter him until he vanished from her sight. Then shewalked back into the house, the happiest girl in allUtah.CHAPTER III.John Ferrier Talks With The ProphetThree weeks had passed since Jefferson Hopeand his comrades had departed from Salt Lake City.John Ferrier’s heart was sore within him when hethought of the young man’s return, and of the impendingloss of his adopted child. Yet her bright andhappy face reconciled him to the arrangement morethan any argument could have done. He had alwaysdetermined, deep down in his resolute heart, thatnothing would ever induce him to allow his daughterto wed a Mormon. Such a marriage he regarded asno marriage at all, but as a shame and a disgrace.Whatever he might think of the Mormon doctrines,upon that one point he was inflexible. He had to sealhis mouth on the subject, however, for to express anunorthodox opinion was a dangerous matter in thosedays in the Land of the Saints.Yes, a dangerous matter—so dangerous that eventhe most saintly dared only whisper their religiousopinions with bated breath, lest something whichfell from their lips might be misconstrued, and bringdown a swift retribution upon them. The victimsof persecution had now turned persecutors on theirown account, and persecutors of the most terribledescription. Not the Inquisition of Seville, nor theGerman Vehmgericht, nor the Secret Societies of Italy,were ever able to put a more formidable machineryin motion than that which cast a cloud over the Stateof Utah.Its invisibility, and the mystery which was attachedto it, made this organization doubly terrible.It appeared to be omniscient and omnipotent, and yetwas neither seen nor heard. The man who held outagainst the Church vanished away, and none knewwhither he had gone or what had befallen him. Hiswife and his children awaited him at home, but nofather ever returned to tell them how he had faredat the hands of his secret judges. A rash word or ahasty act was followed by annihilation, and yet noneknew what the nature might be of this terrible powerwhich was suspended over them. No wonder thatmen went about in fear and trembling, and that evenin the heart of the wilderness they dared not whisperthe doubts which oppressed them.At first this vague and terrible power was exercisedonly upon the recalcitrants who, having embracedthe Mormon faith, wished afterwards to pervertor to abandon it. Soon, however, it took a widerrange. The supply of adult women was running44