in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don t know quite
what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a cigar and let me
expound.
Pray do so.
Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about young
McCarthy s narrative which struck us both instantly, although they
impressed me in his favour and you against him. One was the fact that
his father should, according to his account, cry Cooee! before seeing
him. The other was his singular dying reference to a rat. He mumbled
several words, you understand, but that was all that caught the son s
ear. Now from this double point our research must commence, and we will
begin it by presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true.
What of this Cooee! then?
Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The son, as
far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that he was within
earshot. The Cooee! was meant to attract the attention of whoever it
was that he had the appointment with. But Cooee is a distinctly
Australian cry, and one which is used between Australians. There is a
strong presumption that the person whom McCarthy expected to meet him
at Boscombe Pool was someone who had been in Australia.
What of the rat, then?
Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened it
out on the table. This is a map of the Colony of Victoria, he said.
I wired to Bristol for it last night. He put his hand over part of
the map. What do you read?
ARAT, I read.
And now? He raised his hand.
BALLARAT.
Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his son only
caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter the name of his
93