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Rabu, 07 November 2012

Eat Bulaga Philipines

Eat Bulaga sangat terkenal di negaranya .... Acara ini sangat mengandung kebersamaan , gotong royongnya , dan sifat-sifat baik lainnya .... wes ... terus lanjutkan acara ini agar bisa ditiru oleh negara lain ... ok 

Sumber : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_Bulaga!

Eat Bulaga! is a noon-time variety show in the Philippines produced by Television And Production Exponents Inc. (TAPE) and aired by GMA Network. The show broadcasts from The New TAPE Studios (Eastside Studio) at the GMA Broadway Centrum in New Manila, Quezon City. Eat Bulaga! is aired Weekdays at 12:00pm to 2:30pm and Saturdays at 11:30am to 3:00pm (PHT). The show is also broadcast worldwide through GMA Pinoy TV. The show celebrated its 33rd year on Philippine television last August 18,2012.[1] Eat Bulaga! holds the record of being the longest-running noontime variety program on air in the history of local television.[2]
Its first overseas version was Eat Bulaga! Indonesia, which premiered on Indonesia's SCTV network on July 16, 2012.[3][4][5][6] Eat Bulaga! became the first Philippine show, variety show in particular, to be franchised by another country.

Contents

History

The RPN years (1979-1989)


The hosts form the letters T and Y to thank the viewers for making them number one in the ratings.
Production Specialists, Inc., a company owned by Romy Jalosjos, brought the idea of creating a noontime show for Radio Philippines Network or RPN.[7] Antonio Tuviera, who was the working for the company, thought that the comic troika of Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon or TVJ (who had gained fame through GMA Network's Discorama and as pinch-hitters for Student Canteen, but subsequently left both)[8][9] would be the perfect hosts for the new program.[9] At a meeting at the InterContinental Manila parking lot, Tuviera made the offer to them, which they accepted.[9][10]
De Leon coined the title of the show: Eat represents lunchtime while Bulaga (which means "surprise" in English) represents their plan to fill the show with lots of big surprises.[10] The title is also a play on two children's games: Eat is the transliteration of It! from the game Tag while Bulaga refers to Peek-a-boo!. Because of this, the slogan "Hangga't May Bata, May Eat Bulaga!" ("While There Are Children, There will be Eat Bulaga!") was coined, also by de Leon.[10] Vic Sotto, on the other hand, composed the theme song.[9]
Eat Bulaga! premiered on July 30, 1979.[11] TVJ, along with Chiqui Hollman[9] and Richie Reyes (a.k.a. Richie d' Horsie) were the original hosts of the show.[12] During its first few months on the air, the show was in danger of cancellation. Not only did it face competition against the longest-running noontime show at that time, Student Canteen, but it also lacked advertisers.[9][13] In addition, TVJ did not receive their salaries for six months.[9]
Eat Bulaga! slowly gained top-rating status in 1980 after the introduction of the segment "Mr. Macho".[9] Production Specialists soon handed production of the show to Tuviera's TAPE, Inc.[7] In May 1982, the Domestic Satellite was launched, allowing Eat Bulaga! and other RPN programs to be aired nationwide.[13] During the same time, Coney Reyes joined the show while Hollman moved to Student Canteen.[14][13] In 1987, Aiza Seguerra joined the show after finishing as a runner-up in the show's "Little Miss Philippines" segment.[9][15]

The ABS-CBN years (1989-1995)

In 1989, Eat Bulaga moved to ABS-CBN[14] (under a co-production agreement) along with other TAPE-produced shows Agila, Coney Reyes on Camera and Okey Ka Fairy Ko! (from Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation) due to problems brought about by the sequestration of RPN.[12] To drum up the shows' move to ABS-CBN, the then-Star Network came up with "..." ("three dots") which stood for the three top-rating daytime shows (Eat Bulaga, Agila and Coney Reyes on Camera) that would air on Channel 2.[citation needed] The three dots are also included in the show's title at the time, Eat...Bulaga!.[citation needed] On January 28, 1989, the show premiered on its new home, which was staged at the Araneta Coliseum.
Reyes left the noontime show in 1991.[14] She was replaced by swimming champion Christine Jacob.[14] By 1992, Tito Sotto started appearing only on weekends after topping the senatorial elections that May.

First decade on GMA and silver anniversary (1995-2004)

By the 1990s, ABS-CBN wanted to buy the airing rights of Eat Bulaga from TAPE, Inc. However, Tuviera and Malou Choa-Fagar rejected the deal, leading ABS-CBN to remove Eat...Bulaga! and its sister shows Valiente and Okay Ka, Fairy Ko from its roster of shows and to reformat its Sunday show Sa Linggo nAPO Sila into a week-long show, 'Sang Linggo nAPO Sila.[12]
Eat...Bulaga! moved to GMA, whose efforts to dethrone the show through Lunch Date and Salo-Salo Together (SST) had failed.[12] The show made its premiere telecast on its new home on January 28, 1995, again at the Araneta Coliseum.[12][16] Prior to this, month-long promotions were made by coming up with the catchy advertisement, "9-2=7" ("nine minus two equals seven")[citation needed], alluding to the show's move from Channel 9 (RPN) to Channel 2 (ABS-CBN) to Channel 7 (GMA). It was also a homecoming for TVJ, who hosted Discorama and pinch-hitted for Student Canteen on GMA[8] before leaving the network for Eat...Bulaga!.
In 2001, Eat...Bulaga! became the first to give away the first millions on the Philippine television. When Magandang Tanghali Bayan, then the noontime show of ABS-CBN, introduced Pera o Bayong to its audience, it became an instant hit, causing MTB to top the ratings of Eat Bulaga for two years. This forced the Eat...Bulaga! management to give the first millions, through its segment Laban o Bawi (Fight or Back Out)[17], "to get the audience interest back."[18]
Eat...Bulaga! celebrated its 25th year on television in November 19, 2004 at the Expo Amphitheater in Clarkfield, Angeles City, Pampanga[19], making it the longest-running noontime show in the Philippines. The television special was attended by an estimated 50,000 spectators[19] and enjoyed the highest daytime TV rating in the Philippines.[citation needed] The special won the Best Entertainment (One-Off/Annual) Special at the Asian Television Awards in Singapore on December 1, 2005.[20] The said event was also hailed as the most successful television event on Philippine television, narrowly matched only by the 1st Starstruck Final Judgement.[citation needed] The special presentation, entitled Eat Bulaga Silver Special was broadcast on November 28, 2004.[19] By this time, Eat Bulaga! had modified its title, dropping the three dots.[citation needed]
In December 2004, GMA signed a five-year contract extension to keep the show on their network until December 29, 2009.[citation needed] After celebrating its 25th anniversary, it was incidentally the 10th anniversary of Eat Bulaga's start in GMA the following year.

Second decade on GMA, 30th anniversary and Eat Bulaga! Indonesia (2004-present)

In 2006, the SexBomb Girls left the show due to a dispute with the show's producers.[21] The show, in turn, opened auditions for new in-house dancers, under the name "EB Babes", in the form of a reality competition.[22][21] The group officially debuted on August of that year.[21] On March 2007, the SexBomb Girls returned as regular cast members.[23]
On September 2007, a series of word wars occurred between Joey de Leon and Willie Revillame, the host of Eat Bulaga!'s rival show Wowowee as a result of the Hello Pappy scandal.[24][25]
On March 6, 2009, Francis Magalona, one of the show's long-time co-hosts, succumbed to leukemia. The following day, the show produced a tribute episode in which the whole cast performed his past songs dedicated in his memory. During the tribute, it was revealed that Magalona coined the word Dabarkads, a popular name to the Eat Bulaga family.[26]
In 2009, Eat Bulaga! celebrated its 30th Anniversary, which was dubbed as Tatlong Dekads ng Dabarkads (Three Decades of the Dabarkads). The show focused on honoring and helping remarkable people, including thirty poor but hard-working students and other everyday heroes as a gesture of paying back to the public who has supported them all these years.[13][27][28] On December 18 of that year, the show renewed its contract with GMA Network.[citation needed] In addition, the show signed an extended contract with GMA Network on March 2011 which would last until 2016.[29]
In 2011, the SexBomb Girls along with the group's choreographer Joy Cancio left the show once more, this time for ABS-CBN's Happy Yipee Yehey!.[30]
On October 6, 2011, Eat Bulaga! launched its coffee table book called Ang Unang Tatlong Dekada (The First Three Decades). The book was written by Butch Francisco (a veteran columnist and TV host) with Jako de Leon (son of Joey de Leon) behind the entire design concept of the book.[31] Alongside the book, Eat Bulaga also gave away 3000 limited edition CDs of the 2004 Silver Special Anniversary celebration.[32][33][34] Additionally, GMA News and Public Affairs produced a documentary entitled Kuwentong Dabarkads hosted by Dingdong Dantes.[9]
On July 16, 2012, Indonesia's SCTV Network started airing the show's first international version, Eat Bulaga! Indonesia. The network, which had considered securing the rights for a local version of the show for the past five years, started formal negotiations with TAPE in April 2012, with approval given in June 2012.[35][36]
On August 18, 2012, Eat Bulaga aired a special episode celebrating its 33rd anniversary without commercial breaks. Guests include Marian Rivera, Lovi Poe, Ogie Alcasid and Gary Valenciano.

Cast

Main Hosts

Co-Hosts

Featuring

  • EB Babes (2006-present)
  • Boom Boom Pow Boys / Sugod Bahay Gang in Juan for All, All for Juan (2009–present)
  • Boy Katawan (2011-present)
  • Ha & Ho (2007-present)
  • Mr. Pogi Hunks/Heartthrobs (2012-present)

Current Segments in Eat Bulaga (as of November 2012)

PNV: Pambato ng Videoke

Wally and Jose and Paolo will go to the same barangay to be part of Juan for All, All for Juan. The contestants were chosen by the team of Eat Bulaga who were registering people for their chance to be part of the Juan for All segment on the previous day. Once selected, they will sing a specific song and will be judged by 5 EB Dabarkads judges who can give a score from the range of 15-20 points, the one with the highest points, wins PhP 15,000 while the other contestant wins PhP 2,000, both with consolation prizes.

Kaliwa o Kanan? Wave! Wave! Wave! Win! Win! Win!

This interactive game is for the studio audience. There are three teams playing in this game by waving their hands to control the vehicle. The game lasts for one minute each team; the objective of the game is to control the vehicle to earn coins that adds a point on the score and to avoid cones that deducts a point otherwise. The winning team is the team that score the highest. In case of a tie, the lowest number of cones hit in the game will determine the winner. Only three from the audience of the winning team are selected to earn a cash prize.

Pinoy Henyo or Filipino Genius (currently "Pamilyang Pinoy Henyo & Pinoy Henyo High")

Dubbed as the "Pambansang Laro ng Bayan" (the National Game of the Country), this game is similar to 20 Questions, but instead of limiting the number of questions, the game limits the time to only 2 minutes. Everyday, three teams with two players each must guess the word they pick before or within the time limit. The guesser must only reply Oo (Yes), Hindi (No) and Pwede (Can Be). Other replies will incur a 3-second penalty for every wrong reply, which will be added in their official time.
In the qualifying round, the player chosen to sit on the dubbed "Henyo seat", will have to guess whatever the answer is, while the other player answers with those three words mentioned before. Four Dabarkads play, each holding 10,000 pesos, 15,000 pesos and 20,000 pesos. The Dabarkads chosen by the host will go into a "flushroom". If the pair answers correctly, they win whatever the prize the Dabarkads chosen for them is holding. The pair who answered fastest than the other pairs, will head to the Jackpot round. Also, if the contestants answer the "Pinoy Henyo Word of the Day", they will receive an additional 5,000 pesos, while the Henyo word sender will receive a limited-edition Pinoy Henyo t-shirt.
In the Jackpot round, the winning pair will play again following the same concepts. Except this time, both of them would have to guess 5 words each, taking turns. Also, they are only given one category and answer three out of the ten provided words correctly in under 3 minutes. If they answer one correctly, they get an additional 10,000 pesos on top of their early winning prize, two words, an additional 20,000 pesos, and if they answer a third word, the win the Jackpot prize of 50,000 pesos, plus their early winning prize.

Juan for All, All for Juan: Bayanihan of d' Pipol (One for All, All for One)

Dubbed by Joey de Leon as "Bayanihan na may kasamang Swerte", this is the segment of the show that really shows the true purpose of Eat Bulaga, helping poor people and giving "happiness" to every Juan, as a sign of their thanks and gratitude to their "fans" who supported them throughout the years.
Also included in this segment is the "Plastic ni Juan Project, where the plastic bottles they collect from the barangays they visit are turned into school armchairs, to be given to their chosen school in a specific barangay.
Everyday, Jose, Wally and Paolo visit a chosen barangay, where people have registered from 12pm to 4pm of the previous day. On certain days, their sponsor, Coca-Cola will have a feasting in that barangay, as a celebration of their 100 years in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the host (usually Bossing) will draw an entry from a box containing registration forms from that barangay, and will call the person to confirm their name & address. Jose, Wally and Paolo will then go to that winner's house. There, the host will congratulate the winning contestant, and will instantly be given the food of the day, courtesy of Coca-Cola. Usually two plates of dishes with a bowl of rice, a dessert, and Coca-Cola products plus 10,000 pesos. They will also receive gift packs from a variety of sponsors, primarily from Puregold, plus cash and gift checks. After that, they will have a small conversation with their contestant, usually about their family background & present situations, along with Jose's humorous antics.
There the host will hand them a "Bossing Savings" account, courtesy of BPI & Globe's BanKo micro savings bank, containing a certain amount for the contestant to use. The hosts also reminds them to deposit any amount of cash as much as they can. This is where they first coined the phrase: "Kapag may isinuksok, may madudukot...". Before they go, Jose, Wally & Paolo give their final cash prize that usually go between 25,000 to 40,000 pesos.
After that, the "Sugod-Bahay Gang" boys will lay out numbers in the streets from 1-140, and all who wish to be eligible to win 10,000 pesos have to bring 10 plastic bottles, a product of one of their sponsors, and a specific thing that the hosts will ask them, then they will race to the numbers in under a minute. Then the hosts will pick a random number, the chosen number and the number next to it will then receive the winning prize money worth 10,000 pesos, an S.O.S (Sandata on Sakuna), along with other consolation prizes from sponsors. Then the line with the most behaved people, dubbed the "Bayanihan Line", will win 500 pesos each and additional 20,000 pesos total (P1,000 each). In the event of bad weather, the hosts will select a number of entries from the chosen barangay, and they will receive 10,000 pesos each from the hosts.
This segment is done every week, from Mondays thru Fridays and Saturdays. Their location ranges nationwide, from different barangays and subdivisions across Metro Manila, all the way to provinces in Visayas and Mindanao. There, they usually have their selected contestant registered the previous day, with a copy of their entries sent back to the studio to be drawn the next day.

Barangay Bayanihan

Next to Juan for All, All for Juan is a special segment called Barangay Bayanihan. This applies to the chosen barangay of the day. For it to qualify, it first MUST be well-organized, clean and well-behaved to be included. Everyday a barangay is added to the list of "qualified" barangays, eventually summing up to more or less 20 barangays for the month. Otherwise, even just one violation of the said requirements meant the disqualification of that barangay.
After each month, the hosts will choose 3 barangays who will win a special prize based on their rank, the no. 1 getting the grand prize and the title of being a Barangay Bayanihan. This is a way of gratitude by the hosts for all barangays to follow, the winning barangay being the best example of a well-disciplined community.

Bulagaan

EB Concert Stage

This segment introduces the hosts and co-hosts of the show in singing funny versions of songs in different occasions. Tito, Vic and Joey and the rest of the dabarkads perform their versions of different songs that they selected. Usually, this segment is included every Saturday, where they held specials every week.

Discontinued/Seasonal Segments

Awards

PMPC Star Awards for Television

  • 1989-2008 Winner, Best Variety Show (tied with ABS-CBN's Wowowee in 2008)
  • 2003 & 2008 Winner, Best Variety Male Host - Vic Sotto
  • 1987-2008 Best Male TV Host - Tito Sotto
  • 1990-2008 Best Male Host - Joey de Leon
  • 2009 PMPC Star Awards Hall of Fame
  • 2010 PMPC Star Awards Ading Fernando Lifetime Achievement - Tony Tuviera
  • 2011 Best Male Host - Allan K

Asian Television Awards - Singapore

  • 2005 Winner, Best Entertainment Program "Eat Bulaga Silver Special"[38]

Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Inc. Awards

  • 2007,HALL OF FAMER, Sex Bomb Dancers
  • 2002-2008, Most Popular Dance Group, Sex Bomb Dancers
  • 2009, Most Popular Dance Group, EB Babes
  • 2009-2010, Box Office Comedy King, Vic Sotto

Anak TV Seal Awards

  • 2009 Most Admired Male TV Personalities, Vic Sotto & Ryan Agoncillo

Aliw Awards

  • 2010 Best Emcee Hall Of Fame, Ryan Agoncillo

Golden Screen Awards

  • 2011 Winner, Best Variety Show
  • 2011 Best Male Variety Show, Vic Sotto
  • 2011 Best Female Variety Show, Julia Clarete
  • 2011 Helen Vela's Lifetime Achievement Award for Entertainment/Comedy - Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon

USTV Students' Choice Awards

  • 2012 Best Variety Show[39]

Studios used by Eat Bulaga

RPN years

ABS-CBN years

  • ABS-CBN Studio 1 (now Dolphy Theatre) (January 28, 1989–January 28, 1995)
  • ABS-CBN Studio 2, ABS-CBN Broadcast Centre (during special occasions)

GMA years

  • Celebrity Sports Plaza (first home studio on GMA) at Capitol Hills, Quezon City (January 28, 1995-August 31, 1995)
  • TAPE Studio (Eastside Studio), GMA Broadway Centrum (September 1, 1995-December 31, 2009; March 6, 2010–present)
  • Westside Studio, GMA Broadway Centrum (GMA Broadway Live Studio; used while Eastside Studio was renovated) (January 1, 2010–March 5, 2010)

See also

References

  1. ^ [1] eat bulaga celebrates 33rd anniversary on pep.com.ph
  2. ^ GMA Pinoy TV: Eat Bulaga! on gmapinoytv.com
  3. ^ Eat Bulaga! Indonesia to start on SCTV this July 16
  4. ^ Eat Bulaga Indonesia premieres July 16
  5. ^ Indonesian Network Obtains Franchise Of Eat Bulaga! retrieved via www.mb.com.ph 07-16-2012
  6. ^ Indonesian Network Obtains Franchise Of ‘Eat Bulaga!’
  7. ^ a b http://www.philstar.com/funfare/exclusivesarticle.aspx?articleid=66532&publicationsubcategoryid=70
  8. ^ a b Tito, Vic, and Joey Recall Their Road to Success (Page 1)
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kuwentong Dabarkads hosted by Dingdong Dantes
  10. ^ a b c Tito, Vic, and Joey Recall Their Road to Success (Page 2) on pep.ph
  11. ^ EatBulaga.TV: About the Show on eatbulaga.tv
  12. ^ a b c d e Longest Running Television Shows on pep.ph
  13. ^ a b c d Changing the Lives of 30 Young People on newsflash.org
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=142834
  15. ^ Little Miss Philippines 1987: Aiza Seguerra
  16. ^ Eat Bulaga premieres on GMA-7, Manila Standard, January 28, 1995.
  17. ^ http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20080202-116454/A-serious-conversation-with-Willie
  18. ^ The Ups-and-Downs of Eat Bulaga (Bottom Section of the Article) on inquirer.net[dead link]
  19. ^ a b c http://www.mb.com.ph/node/188188
  20. ^ Eat Bulaga: Silver Anniversary Special on eatbulaga.tv
  21. ^ a b c EB Babes Makes Impressive Debut on Eat Bulaga on mb.com.ph
  22. ^ EB Babes: Boobtube's Latest Darlings on mb.com.ph
  23. ^ SexBomb Girls Back In Eat Bulaga! on gmanews.tv
  24. ^ "Joey: It's impossible to live without a heart" (in Tagalog). GMA News and Current Affairs. 29 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
  25. ^ "Joey tells Willie: Explain before you Complain" (in English). GMA News and Public Affairs. August 30, 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  26. ^ Eat Bulaga Pays Tribute to Francis Magalona on pep.ph
  27. ^ E-BEST Honors 30 Elementary Students on philstar.com
  28. ^ 3 Decades: A Different Approach to Anniversary Celebrations on philstar.com
  29. ^ Eat Bulaga! Extends Contract to 2015 With GMA-7 on philstar.com
  30. ^ http://entertainment.inquirer.net/3269/no-bad-blood-between-these-sexbombs
  31. ^ Why It Took 8 Years to Finish the Bulaga! Book on philstar.ph
  32. ^ Joey de Leon Gets Emotional As Eat Bulaga Launches Book Chronicling Its First 30 Years on pep.ph
  33. ^ Vic Sotto Says Eat Bulaga! Makes Him Feel Like A Historical Figure on pep.ph
  34. ^ Eat Bulaga! launches Coffee Table Book on pep.ph
  35. ^ http://getitfromboy.net/eat-bulaga-franchise-in-indonesia/
  36. ^ http://www.pep.ph/news/pepalerts
  37. ^ Gera o Mayong? by Joey de Leon
  38. ^ Eat Bulaga Winner in Singapore! on eatbulaga.tv
  39. ^ GMA Network Bags Honors at the 8th USTV Awards on gmanetwork.com 
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Kamis, 01 November 2012

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes -_- The Final Problem

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
The Final Problem
 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


     It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished. In an incoherent and, as I deeply feel, an entirely inadequate fashion, I have endeavored to give some account of my strange experiences in his company from the chance which first brought us together at the period of the "Study in Scarlet," up to the time of his interference in the matter of the "Naval Treaty"—and interference which had the unquestionable effect of preventing a serious international complication.
      It was my intention to have stopped there, and to have said nothing of that event which has created a void in my life which the lapse of two years has done little to fill. My hand has been forced, however, by the recent letters in which Colonel James Moriarty defends the memory of his brother, and I have no choice but to lay the facts before the public exactly as they occurred.
I alone know the absolute truth of the matter, and I am satisfied that the time has come when on good purpose is to be served by its suppression.

      As far as I know, there have been only three accounts in the public press: that in the Journal de Genève on May 6th, 1891, the Reuters dispatch in the English papers on May 7th, and finally the recent letter to which I have alluded. Of these the first and second were extremely condensed, while the last is, as I shall now show, an absolute perversion of the facts.
      It lies with me to tell for the first time what really took place between Professor Moriarty and Mr. Sherlock Holmes. It may be remembered that after my marriage, and my subsequent start in private practice, the very intimate relations which had existed between Holmes and myself became to some extent modified. He still came to me from time to time when he desired a companion in his investigation, but these occasions grew more and more seldom, until I find that in the year 1890 there were only three cases of which I retain any record. During the winter of that year and the early spring of 1891, I saw in the papers that he had been engaged by the French government upon a matter of supreme importance, and I received two notes from Holmes, dated from Narbonne and from Nimes, from which I gathered that his stay in France was likely to be a long one.
      It was with some surprise, therefore, that I saw him walk into my consulting-room upon the evening of April 24th. It struck me that he was looking even paler and thinner than usual. "Yes, I have been using myself up rather too freely," he remarked, in answer to my look rather than to my words; "I have been a little pressed of late. Have you any objection to my closing your shutters?"
      The only light in the room came from the lamp upon the table at which I had been reading. Holmes edged his way round the wall and flinging the shutters together, he bolted them securely.
      "You are afraid of something?" I asked.
      "Well, I am."
      "Of what?"
      "Of air-guns."
      "My dear Holmes, what do you mean?"
      "I think that you know me well enough, Watson, to understand that I am by no means a nervous man. At the same time, it is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you. Might I trouble you for a match?" He drew in the smoke of his cigarette as if the soothing influence was grateful to him.
      "I must apologize for calling so late," said he, "and I must further beg you to be so unconventional as to allow me to leave your house presently by scrambling over your back garden wall."
      "But what does it all mean?" I asked.
      He held out his hand, and I saw in the light of the lamp that two of his knuckles were burst and bleeding. "It is not an airy nothing, you see," said he, smiling. "On the contrary, it is solid enough for a man to break his hand over. Is Mrs. Watson in?"
      "She is away upon a visit."
      "Indeed! You are alone?"
      "Quite."
      "Then it makes it the easier for me to propose that you should come away with me for a week to the Continent."
      "Where?"
      "Oh, anywhere. It's all the same to me."
      There was something very strange in all this. It was not Holmes's nature to take an aimless holiday, and something about his pale, worn face told me that his nerves were at their highest tension.
      He saw the question in my eyes, and, putting his fingertips together and his elbows upon his knees, he explained the situation. "You have probably never heard of Professor Moriarty?" said he.
      "Never."
      "Aye, there's the genius and the wonder of the thing!" he cried. "The man pervades London, and no one has heard of him. That's what puts him on a pinnacle in the records of crime. I tell you, Watson, in all seriousness, that if I could beat that man, if I could free society of him, I should feel that my own career had reached its summit, and I should be prepared to turn to some more placid line in life. Between ourselves, the recent cases in which I have been of assistance to the royal family of Scandinavia, and to the French republic, have left me in such a position that I could continue to live in the quiet fashion which is most congenial to me, and to concentrate my attention upon my chemical researches. But I could not rest, Watson, I could not sit quiet in my chair, if I thought that such a man as Professor Moriarty were walking the streets of London unchallenged."
      "What has he done, then?"
      "His career has been an extraordinary one. He is a man of good birth and excellent education, endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the age of twenty-one he wrote a treatise upon the Binomial Theorem, which has had a European vogue. On the strength of it he won the Mathematical Chair at one of our smaller universities, and had, to all appearance, a most brilliant career before him. But the man had hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind. A criminal strain ran in his blood, which, instead of being modified, was increased and rendered infinitely more dangerous by his extraordinary mental powers. Dark rumors gathered round him in the university town, and eventually he was compelled to resign his chair and to come down to London, where he set up as an army coach. So much is known to the world, but what I am telling you now is what I have myself discovered.
      "As you are aware, Watson, there is no one who knows the higher criminal world of London so well as I do. For years past I have continually been conscious of some power behind the malefactor, some deep organizing power which forever stands in the way of the law, and throws its shield over the wrongdoer. Again and again in cases of the most varying sorts—forgery cases, robberies, murders—I have felt the presence of this force, and I have deduced its action in many of those undiscovered crimes in which I have not been personally consulted. For years I have endeavored to break through the veil which shrouded it, and at last the time came when I seized my thread and followed it, until it led me, after a thousand cunning windings, to ex-Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity.
      "He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed—the word is passed to the Professor, the matter is organized and carried out. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defense But the central power which uses the agent is never caught—never so much as suspected. This was the organization which I deduced, Watson, and which I devoted my whole energy to exposing and breaking up.
      "But the Professor was fenced round with safeguards so cunningly devised that, do what I would, it seemed impossible to get evidence which would convict in a court of law. You know my powers, my dear Watson, and yet at the end of three months I was forced to confess that I had at last met an antagonist who was my intellectual equal. My horror at his crimes was lost in my admiration at his skill. But at last he made a trip—only a little, little trip—but it was more than he could afford when I was so close upon him. I had my chance, and, starting from that point, I have woven my net round him until now it is all ready to close. In three days—that is to say, on Monday next—matters will be ripe, and the Professor, with all the principal members of his gang, will be in the hands of the police. Then will come the greatest criminal trial of the century, the clearing up of over forty mysteries, and the rope for all of them; but if we move at all prematurely, you understand, they may slip out of our hands even at the last moment.
      "Now, if I could have done this without the knowledge of Professor Moriarty, all would have been well. But he was too wily for that. He saw every step which I took to draw my toils round him. Again and again he strove to break away, but I as often headed him off. I tell you, my friend, that if a detailed account of that silent contest could be written, it would take its place as the most brilliant bit of thrust-and-parry work in the history of detection. Never have I risen to such a height, and never have I been so hard pressed by an opponent. He cut deep, and yet I just undercut him. This morning the last steps were taken, and three days only were wanted to complete the business. I was sitting in my room thinking the matter over, when the door opened and Professor Moriarty stood before me.
      "My nerves are fairly proof, Watson, but I must confess to a start when I saw the very man who had been so much in my thoughts standing there on my threshold. His appearance was quite familiar to me. He is extremely tall and thin, his forehead domes out in a white curve, and his two eyes are deeply sunken in this head. He is clean-shaven, pale, and ascetic-looking, retaining something of the professor in his features. His shoulders are rounded from much study, and his face protrudes forward, and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion. He peered at me with great curiosity in his puckered eyes.
      "'You have less frontal development that I should have expected,' said he, at last. 'It is a dangerous habit to finger loaded firearms in the pocket of one's dressing-gown.'
      "The fact is that upon his entrance I had instantly recognized the extreme personal danger in which I lay. The only conceivable escape for him lay in silencing my tongue. In an instant I had slipped the revolved from the drawer into my pocket, and was covering him through the cloth. At his remark I drew the weapon out and laid it cocked upon the table. He still smiled and blinked, but there was something about his eyes which made me feel very glad that I had it there.
      "'You evidently don't know me,' said he.
      "'On the contrary,' I answered, 'I think it is fairly evident that I do. Pray take a chair. I can spare you five minutes if you have anything to say.'
      "'All that I have to say has already crossed your mind,' said he.
      "'Then possibly my answer has crossed yours,' I replied.
      "'You stand fast?'
      "'Absolutely.'
      "He clapped his hand into his pocket, and I raised the pistol from the table. But he merely drew out a memorandum-book in which he had scribbled some dates.
      "'You crossed my patch on the 4th of January,' said he. 'On the 23d you incommoded me; by the middle of February I was seriously inconvenienced by you; at the end of March I was absolutely hampered in my plans; and now, at the close of April, I find myself placed in such a position through your continual persecution that I am in positive danger of losing my liberty. The situation is becoming an impossible one.'
      "'Have you any suggestion to make?' I asked.
      "'You must drop it, Mr. Holmes,' said he, swaying his face about. 'You really must, you know.'
      "'After Monday,' said I.
      "'Tut, tut,' said he. 'I am quite sure that a man of your intelligence will see that there can be but one outcome to this affair. It is necessary that you should withdraw. You have worked things in such a fashion that we have only one resource left. It has been an intellectual treat to me to see the way in which you have grappled with this affair, and I say, unaffectedly, that it would be a grief to me to be forced to take any extreme measure. You smile, sir, abut I assure you that it really would.'
      "'Danger is part of my trade,' I remarked.
      "'That is not danger,' said he. 'It is inevitable destruction. You stand in the way not merely of an individual, but of a mighty organization, the full extent of which you, with all your cleverness, have been unable to realize. You must stand clear, Mr. Holmes, or be trodden under foot.'
      "'I am afraid,' said I, rising, 'that in the pleasure of this conversation I am neglecting business of importance which awaits me elsewhere.'
      "He rose also and looked at me in silence, shaking his head sadly.
      "'Well, well,' said he, at last. 'It seems a pity, but I have done what I could. I know every move of your game. You can do nothing before Monday. It has been a duel between you and me, Mr. Holmes. You hope to place me in the dock. I tell you that I will never stand in the dock. You hope to beat me. I tell you that you will never beat me. If you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you.'
      "'You have paid me several compliments, Mr. Moriarty,' said I. 'Let me pay you one in return when I say that if I were assured of the former eventuality I would, in the interests of the public, cheerfully accept the latter.'
      "'I can promise you the one, but not the other,' he snarled, and so turned his rounded back upon me, and went peering and blinking out of the room.
      "That was my singular interview with Professor Moriarty. I confess that it left an unpleasant effect upon my mind. His soft, precise fashion of speech leaves a conviction of sincerity which a mere bully could not produce. Of course, you will say: 'Why not take police precautions against him?' the reason is that I am well convinced that it is from his agents the blow will fall. I have the best proofs that it would be so."
      "You have already been assaulted?"
      "My dear Watson, Professor Moriarty is not a man who lets the grass grow under his feet. I went out about midday to transact some business in Oxford Street. As I passed the corner which leads from Bentinck Street on to the Welbeck Street crossing a two-horse van furiously driven whizzed round and was on me like a flash. I sprang for the footpath and saved myself by the fraction of a second. The van dashed round by Marylebone Lane and was gone in an instant. I kept to the pavement after that, Watson, but as I walked down Vere Street a brick came down from the roof of one of the houses, and was shattered to fragments at my feet. I called the police and had the place examined. There were slates and bricks piled up on the roof preparatory to some repairs, and they would have me believe that the wind had toppled over one of these. Of course I knew better, but I could prove nothing. I took a cab after that and reached my brother's rooms in Pall Mall, where I spent the day. Now I have come round to you, and on my way I was attacked by a rough with a bludgeon. I knocked him down, and the police have him in custody; but I can tell you with the most absolute confidence that no possible connection will ever be traced between the gentleman upon whose front teeth I have barked my knuckles and the retiring mathematical coach, who is, I dare say, working out problems upon a blackboard ten miles away. You will not wonder, Watson, that my first act on entering your rooms was to close your shutters, and that I have been compelled to ask your permission to leave the house by some less conspicuous exit than the front door."
      I had often admired my friend's courage, but never more than now, as he sat quietly checking off a series of incidents which must have combined to make up a day of horror.
      "You will spend the night here?" I said.
      "No, my friend, you might find me a dangerous guest. I have my plans laid, and all will be well. Matters have gone so far now that they can move without my help as far as the arrest goes, though my presence is necessary for a conviction. It is obvious, therefore, that I cannot do better than get away for the few days which remain before the police are at liberty to act. It would be a great pleasure to me, therefore, if you could come on to the Continent with me."
      "The practice is quiet," said I, "and I have an accommodating neighbor. I should be glad to come."
      "And to start tomorrow morning?"
      "If necessary."
      "Oh yes, it is most necessary. Then these are your instructions, and I beg, my dear Watson, that you will obey them to the letter, for you are now playing a double-handed game with me against the cleverest rogue and the most powerful syndicate of criminals in Europe. Now listen! You will dispatch whatever luggage you intend to take by a trusty messenger unaddressed to Victoria tonight In the morning you will send for a hansom, desiring your man to take neither the first nor the second which may present itself. Into this hansom you will jump, and you will drive to the Strand end of the Lowther Arcade, handling the address to the cabman upon a slip of paper, with a request that he will not throw it away. Have your fare ready, and the instant that your cab stops, dash through the Arcade, timing yourself to reach the other side at a quarter-past nine. You will find a small brougham waiting close to the curb, driven by a fellow with a heavy black cloak tipped at the collar with red. Into this you will step, and you will reach Victoria in time for the Continental express."
      "Where shall I meet you?"
      "At the station. The second first-class carriage from the front will be reserved for us."
      "The carriage is our rendezvous, then?"
      "Yes."
      It was in vain that I asked Holmes to remain for the evening. It was evident to me that he though he might bring trouble to the roof he was under, and that that was the motive which impelled him to go. With a few hurried words as to our plans for the morrow he rose and came out with me into the garden, clambering over the wall which leads into Mortimer Street, and immediately whistling for a hansom, in which I heard him drive away.
      In the morning I obeyed Holmes's injunctions to the letter. A hansom was procured with such precaution as would prevent its being one which was placed ready for us, and I drove immediately after breakfast to the Lowther Arcade, through which I hurried at the top of my speed. A brougham was waiting with a very massive driver wrapped in a dark cloak, who, the instant that I had stepped in, whipped up the horse and rattled off to Victoria Station. On my alighting there he turned the carriage, and dashed away again without so much as a look in my direction.
      So far all had gone admirably. My luggage was waiting for me, and I had no difficulty in finding the carriage, which Holmes had indicated, the less so as it was the only one in the train which was marked "Engaged." My only source of anxiety now was the nonappearance of Holmes. The station clock marked only seven minutes from the time when we were due to start. In vain I searched among the groups of travelers and leave-takers for the little figure of my friend. There was no sign of him. I spent a few minutes in assisting a venerable Italian priest, who was endeavoring to make a porter understand, in his broken English, that his luggage was to be booked through to Paris.
      Then, having taken another look round, I returned to my carriage, where I found that the porter, in spite of the ticket, had given me my decrepit Italian friend as a traveling companion. It was useless for me to explain to him that his presence was an intrusion, for my Italian was even more limited than his English, so I shrugged my shoulders resignedly, and continued to look out anxiously for my friend. A chill of fear had come over me, as I thought that his absence might mean that some blow had fallen during the night. Already the doors had all been shut and the whistle blown, when—
      "My dear Watson," said a voice, "you have not even condescended to say good-morning."
      I turned in uncontrollable astonishment. The aged ecclesiastic had turned his face towards me. For an instant the wrinkles were smoothed away, the nose drew away from the chin, the lower lip ceased to protrude and the mouth to mumble, the dull eyes regained their fire, the drooping figure expanded. The next the whole frame collapsed again, and Holmes had gone as quickly as he had come.
      "Good heavens!" I cried; "how you startled me!"
      "Every precaution is still necessary," he whispered.
      "I have reason to think that they are hot upon our trail. Ah, there is Moriarty himself."
      The train had already begun to move as Holmes spoke. Glancing back, I saw a tall man pushing his way furiously through the crowd, and waving his hand as if he desired to have the train stopped. It was too late, however, for we were rapidly gathering momentum, and an instant later had shot clear of the station.
      "With all our precautions, you see that we have cut it rather fine," said Holmes, laughing. He rose, and throwing off the black cassock and hat which had formed his disguise, he packed them away in a handbag. "Have you seen the morning paper, Watson?"
      "No."
      "You haven't' seen about Baker Street, then?"
      "Baker Street?"
      "They set fire to our rooms last night. No great harm was done."
      "Good heavens, Holmes! this is intolerable."
      "They must have lost my track completely after their bludgeon-man was arrested. Otherwise they could not have imagined that I had returned to my rooms. They have evidently taken the precaution of watching you, however, and that is what has brought Moriarty to Victoria. You could not have made any slip in coming?"
      "I did exactly what you advised."
      "Did you find your brougham?"
      "Yes, it was waiting."
      "Did you recognize your coachman?"
      "No."
      "It was my brother Mycroft. It is an advantage to get about in such a case without taking a mercenary into your confidence. But we must plan what we are to do about Moriarty now."
      "As this is an express, and as the boat runs in connection with it, I should think we have shaken him off very effectively."
      "My dear Watson, you evidently did not realize my meaning when I said that this man may be taken as being quite on the same intellectual plane as myself. You do not imagine that if I were the pursuer I should allow myself to be baffled by so slight an obstacle. Why, then, should you think so meanly of him?"
      "What will he do?"
      "What I should do?"
      "What would you do, then?"
      "Engage a special."
      "But it must be late."
      "By no means. This train stops at Canterbury; and there is always at least a quarter of an hour's delay at the boat. He will catch us there."
      "One would think that we were the criminals. Let us have him arrested on his arrival."
      "It would be to ruin the work of three months. We should get the big fish, but the smaller would dart right and left out of the net. On Monday we should have them all. No, an arrest is inadmissible."
      "What then?"
      "We shall get out at Canterbury."
      "And then?"
      "Well, then we must make a cross-country journey to Newhaven, and so over to Dieppe. Moriarty will again do what I should do. He will get on to Paris, mark down our luggage, and wait for two days at the depot. In the meantime we shall treat ourselves to a couple of carpetbags, encourage the manufactures of the countries through which we travel, and make our way at our leisure into Switzerland, via Luxembourg and Basle."
      At Canterbury, therefore, we alighted, only to find that we should have to wait an hour before we could get a train to Newhaven. I was still looking rather ruefully after the rapidly disappearing luggage-van which contained my wardrobe, when Holmes pulled my sleeve and pointed up the line.
      "Already, you see," said he.
      Far away, from among the Kentish woods there rose a thin spray of smoke. A minute later a carriage and engine could be seen flying along the open curve, which leads to the station. We had hardly time to take our place behind a pile of luggage when it passed with a rattle and a roar, beating a blast of hot air into our faces.
      "There he goes," said Holmes, as we watched the carriage swing and rock over the point. "There are limits, you see, to our friend's intelligence. It would have been a coup-de-maître had he deduced what I would deduce and acted accordingly."
      "And what would he have done had he overtaken us?"
      "There cannot be the least doubt that he would have made a murderous attack upon me. It is, however, a game at which two may play. The question, now is whether we should take a premature lunch here, or run our chance of starving before we reach the buffet at Newhaven."
      We made our way to Brussels that night and spent two days there, moving on upon the third day as far as Strasburg.
      On the Monday morning Holmes had telegraphed to the London police, and in the evening we found a reply waiting for us at our hotel. Holmes tore it open, and then with a bitter curse hurled it into the grate. "I might have known it!" he groaned.
      "He has escaped!"
      "Moriarty?"
      "They have secured the whole gang with the exception of him. He has given them the slip. Of course, when I had left the country there was no one to cope with him. But I did think that I had put the game in their hands. I think that you had better return to England, Watson."
      "Why?"
      "Because you will find me a dangerous companion now. This man's occupation is gone. He is lost if he returns to London. If I read his character right he will devote his whole energies to revenging himself upon me. He said as much in our short interview, and I fancy that he meant it. I should certainly recommend you to return to your practice."
      It was hardly an appeal to be successful with one who was an old campaigner as well as an old friend. We sat in the Strasburg salle-à-manger arguing the question for half an hour, but the same night we had resumed our journey and were well on our way to Geneva. For a charming week we wandered up the Valley of the Rhone, and then, branching off at Leuk, we made our way over the Gemmi Pass, still deep in snow, and so, by way of Interlaken, to Meiringen.
      It was a lovely trip, the dainty green of the spring below, the virgin white of the winter above; but it was clear to me that never for one instant did Holmes forget the shadow which lay across him. In the homely Alpine villages or in the lonely mountain passes, I could tell by his quick glancing eyes and his sharp scrutiny of every face that passed us, that he was well convinced that, walk where we would, we could not walk ourselves clear of the danger which was dogging our footsteps.
      Once, I remember, as we passed over the Gemmi, and walked along the border of the melancholy Daubensee, a large rock which had been dislodged from the ridge upon our right clattered down and roared into the lake behind us. In an instant Holmes had raced up on to the ridge, and, standing upon a lofty pinnacle, craned his neck in every direction. It was in vain that our guide assured him that a fall of stones was a common chance in the springtime at that spot. He said nothing, but he smiled at me with the air of a man who sees the fulfillment of that which he had expected.
      And yet for all his watchfulness he was never depressed. On the contrary, I can never recollect having seen him in such exuberant spirits. Again and again he recurred to the fact that if he could be assured that society was freed from Professor Moriarty he would cheerfully bring his own career to a conclusion. "I think that I may go so far as to say, Watson, that I have not lived wholly in vain," he remarked. "If my record were closed tonight I could still survey it with equanimity. The air of London is the sweeter for my presence. In over a thousand cases I am not aware that I have ever used my powers upon the wrong side. Of late I have been tempted to look into the problems furnished by nature rather than those more superficial ones for which our artificial state of society is responsible. Your memoirs will draw to an end, Watson, upon the day that I crown my career by the capture or extinction of the most dangerous and capable criminal in Europe."
      I shall be brief, and yet exact, in the little which remains for me to tell. It is not a subject on which I would willingly dwell, and yet I am conscious that a duty devolves upon me to omit no detail.
      It was on the 3d of May that we reached the little village of Meiringen, where we put up at the Englischer Hof, then kept by Peter Steiler the elder. Our landlord was an intelligent man, and spoke excellent English, having served for three years as waiter at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. At his advice, on the afternoon of the 4th we set off together, with the intention of crossing the hills and spending the night at the hamlet of Rosenlaui. We had strict injunctions, however, on no account to pass the falls of Reichenbach, which are about halfway up the hill, without making a small detour to see them. It is indeed, a fearful place. The torrent, swollen by the melting snow, plunges into a tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up like the smoke from a burning house. The shaft into which the river hurls itself is a immense chasm, lined by glistening coal-black rock, and narrowing into a creaming, boiling pit of incalculable depth, which brims over and shoots the stream onward over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green water roaring forever down, and the thick flickering curtain of spray hissing forever upward, turn a man giddy with their constant whirl and clamor.
      We stood near the edge peering down at the gleam of the breaking water far below us against the black rocks, and listening to the half-human shout which came booming up with the spray out of the abyss. The path has been cut halfway round the fall to afford a complete view, but it ends abruptly, and the traveler has to return as he came. We had turned to do so, when we saw a Swiss lad come running along it with a letter in his hand. It bore the mark of the hotel which we had just left, and was addressed to me by the landlord. It appeared that within a very few minutes of our leaving, an English lady had arrived who was in the last stage of consumption. She had wintered at Davos Platz, and was journeying now to join her friends at Lucerne, when a sudden hemorrhage had overtaken her. It was thought that she could hardly live a few hours, but it would be a great consolation to her to see an English doctor, and, if I would only return, etc. The good Steiler assured me in a postscript that he would himself look upon my compliance as a very great favor, since the lady absolutely refused to see a Swiss physician, and he could not but feel that he was incurring a great responsibility.
      The appeal was one which could not be ignored. It was impossible to refuse the request of a fellow-countrywoman dying in a strange land. Yet I had my scruples about leaving Holmes. It was finally agreed, however, that he should retain the young Swiss messenger with him as guide and companion while I returned to Meiringen. My friend would stay some little time at the fall, he said, and would then walk slowly over the hill to Rosenlaui, where I was to rejoin him in the evening.
      As I turned away I saw Holmes, with his back against a rock and his arms folded, gazing down at the rush of the waters. It was the last that I was ever destined to see of him in this world. When I was near the bottom of the descent I looked back. It was impossible, from that position, to see the fall, but I could see the curving path which winds over the shoulder of the hill and leads to it. Along this a man was, I remember, walking very rapidly. I could see his black figure clearly outlined against the green behind him. I noted him, and the energy with which he walked but he passed from my mind again as I hurried on upon my errand.
      It may have been a little over an hour before I reached Meiringen. Old Steiler was standing at the porch of his hotel. "Well," said I, as I came hurrying up, "I trust that she is no worse?"
      A look of surprise passed over his face, and at the first quiver of his eyebrows my heart turned to lead in my breast. "You did not write this?" I said, pulling the letter from my pocket. "There is no sick Englishwoman in the hotel?"
      "Certainly not!" he cried. "But it has the hotel mark upon it! Ha, it must have been written by that tall Englishman who came in after you had gone. He said—"
      But I waited for none of the landlord's explanations. In a tingle of fear I was already running down the village street, and making for the path which I had so lately descended. It had taken me an hour to come down. For all my efforts two more had passed before I found myself at the fall of Reichenbach once more. There was Holmes's Alpine-stock still leaning against the rock by which I had left him. But there was no sign of him, and it was in vain that I shouted. My only answer was my own voice reverberating in a rolling echo from the cliffs around me.
      It was the sight of that Alpine-stock which turned me cold and sick. He had not gone to Rosenlaui, then. He had remained on that three-foot path, with sheer wall on one side and sheer drop on the other, until his enemy had overtaken him. The young Swiss had gone too. He had probably been in the pay of Moriarty, and had left the two men together.
      And then what had happened? Who was to tell us what had happened then? I stood for a minute or two to collect myself, for I was dazed with the horror of the thing. Then I began to think of Holmes's own methods and to try to practice them in reading this tragedy. It was, alas, only too easy to do. During our conversation we had not gone to the end of the path, and the Alpine-stock marked the place where we had stood. The blackish soil is kept forever soft by the incessant drift of spray, and a bird would leave its tread upon it. Two lines of footmarks were clearly marked along the farther end of the path, both leading away from me. There were none returning.
      A few yards from the end the soil was all plowed up into a patch of mud, and the branches and ferns which fringed the chasm were torn and bedraggled. I lay upon my face and peered over with the spray spouting up all around me. It had darkened since I left, and now I could only see here and there the glistening of moisture upon the black walls, and far away down at the end of the shaft the gleam of the broken water. I shouted; but only the same half-human cry of the fall was borne back to my ears.
      But it was destined that I should after all have a last word of greeting from my friend and comrade. I have said that his Alpine-stock had been left leaning against a rock which jutted on to the path. From the top of this boulder the gleam of something bright caught my eye, and, raising my hand, I found that it came from the silver cigarette-case which he used to carry. As I took it up a small square of paper upon which it had lain fluttered down on to the ground. Unfolding it, I found that it consisted of three pages torn from his notebook and addressed to me. It was characteristic of the man that the direction was a precise, and the writing as firm and clear, as though it had been written in his study.
      "My dear Watson [it said], I write these few lines through the courtesy of Mr. Moriarty, who awaits my convenience for the final discussion of those questions which lie between us. He has been giving me a sketch of the methods by which he avoided the English police and kept himself informed of our movements. They certainly confirm the very high opinion which I had formed of his abilities. I am pleased to think that I shall be able to free society from any further effects of his presence, though I fear that it is at a cost which will give pain to my friends, and especially, my dear Watson, to you. I have already explained to you, however, that my career had in any case reached its crisis, and that no possible conclusion to it could be more congenial to me than this. Indeed, if I may make a full confession to you, I was quite convinced that the letter from Meiringen was a hoax, and I allowed you to depart on that errand under the persuasion that some development of this sort would follow. Tell Inspector Patterson that the papers which he needs to convict the gang are in pigeonhole M., done up in a blue envelope and inscribed "Moriarty." I made every disposition of my property before leaving England, and handed it to my brother Mycroft. Pray give my greetings to Mrs. Watson, and believe me to be, my dear fellow,
           Very sincerely yours, Sherlock Holmes

      A few words may suffice to tell the little that remains. An examination by experts leaves little doubt that a personal contest between the two men ended, as it could hardly fail to end in such a situation, in their reeling over, locked in each other's arms. Any attempt at recovering the bodies was absolutely hopeless, and there, deep down in that dreadful caldron of swirling water and seething foam, will lie for all time the most dangerous criminal and the foremost champion of the law of their generation. The Swiss youth was never found again, and there can be no doubt that he was one of the numerous agents whom Moriarty kept in this employ.
      As to the gang, it will be within the memory of the public how completely the evidence which Holmes had accumulated exposed their organization, and how heavily the hand of the dead man weighted upon them. Of their terrible chief few details came out during the proceedings, and if I have now been compelled to make a clear statement of his career it is due to those injudicious champions who have endeavored to clear his memory by attacks upon him whom I shall ever regard as the best and the wisest man whom I have ever known.
Sumber :  http://soflmeanlife.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-memoirs-of-sherlock-holmes-final.html#more
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