Adventure Sherlock Holmes A Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes she is always the women.
I have seldom heard him mention under any other name.
In his eyes Eclipses and predoraintion the whole of her sex.
It was not that she felt any emotion akin to for Irene Adler.

All emotions,
and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise,
but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most
perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has
seen; but, as a lover, he would have placed himself in a false
yosition. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with
a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the
observer—excellent for drawing the veil from men’s motives
and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions
into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament
was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw
a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument,
or 2 crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would
not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature
such as his, And yet there was but one woman to him, and
that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable
memory.
I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted
us away from each otter. My own complete happiness, and
the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who
rst finds himself master of his own establishment, were suffi

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
cient to absorb aif my attention; while Holmes, who ioatheé
every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained
in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books,
and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition,
the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of
his own keen nature. He was still, as ever, deeply attracted
by the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties
and extraordinary powers of observation in following out
those clues, and clearing up those mysteries, which had been
abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time to
time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons
to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his
clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers
at Trincomalee, and finally of the mission wnich he had accomplished
so delicately and successfully for the reigning
family of Holland. Beyond these signs of his activity, however,
which I merely shared with all the readers of the daily
press, I knew little of my former friend and companion,
One night—it was on the 2oth of March, 1888—i was returning
from a journey tu a patient (for I had now returned to
civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street,
As I passed the well-remembered door, which must always be
associated in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark
incidents of the Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen
desire to see Holmes again, and to know how he was employing
his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit,
and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass
twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing
the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest
and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his
every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own
story. He was at work again. He had arisen out of his drug:
created dreams, and was hot upon the scent of some new
problem. I rang the bell, and was shown up to the chamber

Which had formerly been in part my own.

His manner.was not etfusive. It seldom was: but he was
A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 5
glad, I think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but
with a kindly eye, he waved me to an arm-chair, threw across
his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene
in the corner. Then he stood before the fire, and looked me
over in his singular introspective fashion.
“Wedlock suits you,” he remarked. “I think, Watson, that
you have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you.”

• Seven !” I answered.
• Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle
  more, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe.
  You did not tell me that you intended to go into harness.”
  “Then, how do you know?”
  “T see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been
  getting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most
  clumsy and careless servant girl ?”
  ‘“‘My dear Holmes,” said I, “this is too much. You would
  certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago.
  It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came
  home in a dreadful mess; but, as I have changed my clothes,
  I can’t imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is
  incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice; but there,
  again, I fail to see how you work it out.”
  He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands
  together.
  “Tt is simplicity itself,” said he; “ my eyes tell me that on
  the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it,
  the leather is scored by six almost paralled cuts. Obviously
  they have been caused by some one who has very carelessly
  scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove
  crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction
  that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a
  particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London
  slavey. As to your practice, if a. gentleman walks into my
  rooms smelhng of iodoform, with a black mark of nitrate of
  silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge on the side of his
  top-hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, I
  6 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce him to be an active
  member of the medical profession.”
  I could not help laughing at the ease with which he ex:
  plained his process of deduction. “When I hear you give
  your reasons,” I remarked, “the thing always appears to me
  to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself,
  though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am
  baffled, until you explain your process. And yet I believe
  that my eyes are as good as yours.”
  “Quite so,” he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing
  himself down into an arm-chair. ‘“ You see, but you do not
  observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently
  seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room,”
  “Frequently.”
  “ How often ?”
  “Well, some hundreds of times.”
  “Then how many are there ?”
  “How many? I don’t know.”
  “Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have
  seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are
  seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed. Bythe-
  way, since you are interested in these little problems, and
  since you are good enough to chronicle one or two of my
  trifling experiences, you may be interested in this.” He threw
  over a sheet of thick, pink-tinted note-paper which had been
  lying open upon the table. “It came by the last post,” said
  he. ‘ Read it aloud.”
  The note was undated, and without either signature or
  address.
  “There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight
  o’clock,” it said, “a gentleman who desires to consult you
  upon a matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services
  to one of the royal houses of Europe have shown that
  you are one who may safely be trusted with matters which are
  of an importance which can hardly be exaggerated. This
  account of you we have from al] quarters received. Be in
  A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 4
  your chamber then at that hour, and do not take it amiss if
  your visitor wear a mask.”
  “This is indeed a mystery,” I remarked. “What do you
  imagine that it means ?”
  “T have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize
  before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to
  suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note
  itself. What do you deduce from it?”
  I careful’ examined the writing, and the paper upon which
  it was written.
  “The man who wrote it was presumably well to do,” I remarked,
  endeavoring to imitate my companion’s processes.
  ‘Such paper could not be bought under half a crown a
  packet. It is peculiarly strong and stiff.”
  “Peculiar—that is the very word,” said Holmes. “It is
  not an English paper at all. Hold it up to the light.”
  I did so, and saw a large £ with a small g,a P, and a large
  G with a small ¢ woven into the texture of the paper.
  “What do you make of that?” asked Holmes.
  “The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram,
  rather.”
  “ Not at all, The G with the small ¢ stands for ‘ Gesellschaft,’
  which is the German for ‘Company.’ It is a customary
  contraction like our ‘Co.’ /, of course, stands for
  ‘Papier.’ Now for the Zg. Let us glance at our Continental
  Gazetteer.” He took down a heavy brown volume from his
  shelves. ‘Eglow, Eglonitz—here we are, Egria. It is in a
  German-speaking country—in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad.
  ‘Remarkable as being the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and
  for its numerous glass-factories and paper-mills.’ Ha, ha, my
  boy, what do you make of that?” His eyes sparkled, and he
  sent up a great blue triumphant cloud from his cigarette.
  “The paper was made in Bohemia,” I said.
  “ Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German.
  Do you note the peculiar construction of the sentence— This
  account of you we have from all quarters received.’ A French
  8 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  man or Russian could not have written that. It is the Ger
  man who is so uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains,
  therefore, to discover what is wanted by this German whe
  writes upon Bohemian paper, and prefers wearing a mask to
  showing his face. And here he comes, if Iam not mistaken,
  to resolve all our doubts.”
  As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses’ hoofs and
  grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at
  the bell. Holmes whistled.
  “A pair, by the sound,” said he. “ Yes,” he continued,
  glancing out of the window. “A nice little brougham and a
  pair of beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There’s
  money in this case, Watson, if there is nothing else.”
  “J think that I had better go, Holmes.”
  “Not a bit, doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without
  my Boswell. And this promises to be interesting, It
  would be a pity to miss Bs t
  “ But your client—
  “Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he.
  Here he comes. Sit down in that arm-chair, doctor, and give
  us your best attention.”
  A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the
  stairs and in the passage, paused immediately outside the
  door. Then there was a loud and authoritative tap.
  “Come in!” said Holmes.
  A man entered who could hardly have been less than six
  feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a
  Hercules. His dress was rich with a richness which would,
  in England, be looked upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy
  bands of Astrakhan were slashed across the sleeves and
  fronts of his double-breasted coat, while the deep blue cloak
  which was thrown over his shoulders was lined with fame
  colored silk, and secured at the neck with a brooch which
  consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended
  half-way up his caives, and which were trimmed at the top
  with rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric
  A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA g
  opulence which was suggested by his whole appearance. He
  carried a broad-brimmed hat in his hand. while he wore across
  the upper part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones,
  a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted
  that very moment, for his hand was still raised to it as he
  entered. From the lower part of the face he appeared to be
  a man of strong character, with a thick, hanging lip, and a
  long, straight chin, suggestive of resolution pushed to the
  length of obstinacy.
  “You had my note?” he asked, with a deep harsh voice
  and a strongly marked German accent. ‘’I told you that I
  would call.” He looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain
  which to address.
  “Pray take a seat,” said Holmes. “This is my friend and
  colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to
  help me in my cases. Whom have I tke honor to address?”
  “You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian
  nobleman. I understand that this gentleman, your
  friend, is a man of honor and discretion, whom I may trust
  with a matter of the most extreme importance. If not, I
  should much prefer to communicate with you alone.”
  T rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed
  me back into my chair. “It is both, or none,” said he.
  “You may say before this gentleman anything which you may
  say to me.”
  The count shrugged his broad skoulders. “Then I must
  begin,” said he, “ by binding you both to absolute secrecy for
  two years, at the end of that time the matter will be of no
  importance. At present it is not too much to say that it is of
  such weight it may have an influence upon European history.”
  ““T promise,” said Holmes.
  And i.
  “You will excuse this mask,” continued our strange visitor.
  “The august person who employs me wishes his agent to be
  anknown to you, and I may confess at once that the title by
  which I have just called myself is not exactly my own.”
  2
  Io ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “T was aware of it,” said Holmes, dryly.
  “The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every pre:
  caution has to be taken to quench what might grow to be
  an immense scandal and seriously compromise one of the
  reigning families of Europe.. To speak plainly, the matter
  implicates the great House of Ormstein, hereditary kings of
  Bohemia.”
  “JT was also aware of that,” murmured Holmes, settling
  himself down in his arm-chair and closing his eyes.
  Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the
  languid, lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt
  depicted to him as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic
  agent in Europe. Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and
  looked impatiently at his gigantic client.
  “If your Majesty would condescend to state your case,” he
  remarked, “I should be better able to advise you.”
  The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down
  the room in uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of
  desperation, he tore the mask from his face and hurled it
  upon the ground. “You are right,” he cried; “I am the
  King. Why should I attempt to conceal it ?”
  “Why, indeed?” murmured Holmes. “Your Majesty had
  not spoken before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm
  Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-
  Felstein, and hereditary King of Bohemia.”
  “ But you can understand,” said our strange visitor, sitting
  down once more and passing his hand over his high, white
  forehead, “you can understand that I am not accustomed to
  doing such business in my own person. Yet the matter was
  so delicate that I could not confide it to an agent without
  putting myself in his power. I have come incognito from
  Prague for the purpose of consulting you.”
  “Then, pray consult,” said Holmes, shutting his eyes once
  more.
  “The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during
  a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the
  A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA Ir
  well-known adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt
  familiar to you.”
  “Kindly look her up in my index, doctor,” murmured
  Holmes, without opening his eyes. For many years he had
  adopted a system of docketing all paragraphs concerning men
  and things, so that it was difficult to name a subject or a person
  on which he could not at once furnish information. In
  this case I found her biography sandwiched in between that
  of a Hebrew Rabbi and that of a staff-commander who had
  written a monograph upon the deep-sea fishes.
  “Let me see!” said Holmes. “Hum! Born in New
  Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto—hum! La Scala, hum!
  Prima donna Imperial Opera of Warsaw—Yes! Retired from
  operatic stage—ha! Living in London—quite so! Your
  Majesty, as I understand, became entangled with this young
  person, wrote her some compromising letters, and is now desirous
  of getting those letters back.”
  “Precisely so. But how—”
  “Was there a secret marriage ?”
  None;
  “No legal papers or certificates ?”
  “ None.”
  “Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person
  should produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes,
  how is she to prove their authenticity ?”
  “There is the writing.”
  “Pooh, pooh! Forgery.”
  “ My private note-paper.”
  “Stolen.”
  “ My own seal.”
  “ Tmitated.”
  “My photograph.”
  “ Bought.”
  “We were both in the photograph.”
  “Oh dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed
  ommitted an indiscretion.”
  mie ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “T was mad—insane.”
  “Vou have compromised yourself seriously.”
  “T was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but
  thirty now.”
  “‘Tt must be recovered.”
  “We have tried and failed.”
  “Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought.”
  “ She will not sell.”
  “Stolen, then.”
  “Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my
  pay ransacked her house. Once we diverted her luggage
  when she travelled. Twice she has been waylaid. There has
  been no result.”
  “No sign of it?”
  “ Absolutely none.”
  Holmes laughed. “It is quite a pretty little problem,”
  said he.
  “But a very serious one to me,” returned the King, reproachfully.
  “Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the
  photograph?”
  “To ruin me.”
  “But how?”
  “‘T am about to be married.”
  “So I have heard.”
  “To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter
  of the King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles
  of her family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy.
  A shadow of a doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter
  to an end.”
  “ And Irene Adler ?”
  “Threatens to send them the photograph. And she
  will do it. I know that she will do it. You do not know
  her, but she has a soul of steel. She has the face of
  the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most
  resolute of men. Rather than I should marry another
  A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 13
  woman, there are no lengths to which she would not go—
  none.”
  “You are sure that she has not sent it yet ?”
  “T am sure.”
  “ And why?”
  _ “Because she has said that she would send it on the day
  _ when the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be
  next Monday.”
  “Oh, then, we have three days yet,” said Holmes, with a
  yawn. “That is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters.
  of importance to look into just at present. Your Majesty will,
  of course, stay in London for the present?”
  “Certainly. You will find me at the Langham, under the
  name of the Count Von Kramm.”
  “Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we
  progress.”
  “Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety.”
  “Then, as to money?”
  “Vou have carte ’Janche.”
  “ Absolutely ?”
  “T tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my
  kingdom to have that photograph.”
  “‘ And for present expenses ?”
  The king took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his.
  cloak and laid it on the table.
  “There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred
  in notes,” he said.
  Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book
  and handed it to him.
  “ And mademoiselle’s address ?” he asked.
  “Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John’s Wood.”
  Holmes took a note of it. ‘ On other question,” said he.
  “ Was the photograph a cabinet ?”
  “Tt was.”
  “ Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall
  soon have some good news for you. And good-night. Watson,”
  14 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  he added, as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down
  the street. ‘If you will be good enough to call to-morrow
  afternoon, at three o’clock, I should like to chat this little
  matter over with you.”
  {i
  At three o’clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes
  had not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had
  left the house shortly after eight o’clock in the morning. I
  sat down beside the fire, however, with the intention of await.
  ing him, however long he might be. I was already deeply
  interested in his inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by
  none of the grim and strange features which were associated
  with the two crimes which I have already recorded, still, the
  nature of the case and the exalted station of his client gave
  it a character of its own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the
  investigation which my friend had on hand, there was something
  in his masterly grasp of a situation, and his keen, incisive
  reasoning, which made it a pleasure to me to study his
  system of work, and to follow the quick, subtle methods by
  which he disentangled the most inextricable mysteries. So
  accustomed was I to his invariable success that the very pos
  sibility of his failing had ceased to enter into my head.
  It was close upon four before the door opened, and a
  drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an
  inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room.
  Accustomed as I was to my friend’s amazing powers in the
  use of disguises, I had to look three times before I was cer.
  tain that it was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the
  bedroom, whence he emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and
  respectable, as of old. Putting his hands into his pockets, he
  stretched out his legs in front of the fire, and laughed heartily
  for some minutes.
  “Well, really !” he cried, and then he choked; and laughed
  A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 15
  again until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the
  chair.
  ‘What is it?”
  “Tt’s quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess
  how I employed my morning, or what I ended by doing.”
  “¥ can’t imagine. I suppose that you have been watching
  the habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler.”
  “Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell
  you, however. I left the house a little after eight o’clock this
  morning, in the character of a groom out of work. There is
  a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men.
  Be one of them, and you will know all that there is to know.
  I soon found Briony Lodge. It is a dz7ou villa, with a garden
  at the back, but built out in front right up to the road, two
  stories. Chubb lock to the door. Large sitting-room on the
  right side, well furnished, with long windows almost to the
  floor, and those preposterous English window fasteners which
  a child could open. Behind there was nothing remarkable,
  save that the passage window could be reached from the top
  of the coach-house. I walked round it and examined it closely
  from every point of view. but without noting anything else of
  interest.
  “JT then lounged down the street, and found, as I expected,
  that there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wali
  of the garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down
  their horses, and I received in exchange twopence, a glass of
  half-and-half, two fills of shag tobacco, and as much information
  as I could desire about Miss Adler, to say nothing of halt
  a dozen other people in the neighborhood in whom I was not
  in the least interested, but whose biographies I was conipelled
  to listen to.”
  “ And what of Irene Adler?” I asked.
• ‘Mh, she has turned all the men’s heads down in that part.
  Si. 3 the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. Se
  say the Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings
  at concerts, drives out at five every dav, and returns at seven
  £6 ADVENTU&4S OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  sharp for dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except
  when she sings. Has only one male visitor, but a good deal
  of him. He is dark, handsome, and dashing, never calls less
  than once a day, and often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton,
  of the Inner Temple. See the advantages of a cabman
  as a confidant. They had driven him home a dozen times
  from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. When I had
  listened to all that they had to tell, I began to walk up and
  down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my
  plan of campaign.
  “This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in
  the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What
  was the relation between them, and what the object of his
  repeated visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress?
  If the former, she had probably transferred the photograph to
  his keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of
  this question depended whether I should continue my work
  at Briony Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman’s
  chambers in the Temple. It was a delicate point, and it
  widened the field of my inquiry. I fear that I bore you with
  . these details, but I have to let you see my little difficulties, if
  you are to understand the situation.”
  “T am following you closely,” I answered.
  “T was still balancing the matter in my mind, when a han.
  som cab drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang
  out. He was a remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and
  mustached — evidently the man of whom I had heard. He
  appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait,
  and brushed past the maid who opened the door with the air
  of a man who was thoroughly at home.
  “He was in the house about half an hour, and I could éatch
  glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing
  up and down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms.\ Of
  her I could see nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even
  more flurried than before. As he stepped up to the cab, he
  pulled a gold watch from his pocket and looked at it earnestly,
  & SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA rtd
  ‘Drive like the devil,’ he shouted, ‘first to Gross & Hankey’s
  in Regent Street, and then to the church of St. Monica in the
  Edgware Road. Half a guinea if you do it in twenty minutes
  |’
  “‘ Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I
  should not do well to follow them, when up the lane came a
  neat little landau, the coachman with his coat only half-but-,
  toned, and his tie under his ear, while all the tags of his
  harness were sticking out of the buckles. It hadn’t pulled ur
  before she shot out of the hall door and into it. I only caught
  a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely woman,
  with a face that a man might die for.
  “¢The Church of St. Monica, John,’ she cried, ‘and half a
  sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.’
  “This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just
  balancing whether I should run for it, or whether I should
  perch behind her landau, when a cab came through the street.
  The driver looked twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped
  in before he could object. ‘The Church of St. Monica,’ said
  I, ‘and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.’
  It was twenty-five minutes to twelve, and of course it was
  clear enough what was in the wind.
  “My cabby drove fast. I don’t think I ever drove faster,
  but the others were there before us. The cab and the landau
  with their steaming horses were in front of the door when I
  arrived. I paid the man and hurried into the church. There
  was not a soul there save the two whom I had followed and a
  surpliced clergyman, who seemed to be expostulating with
  them, They were all three standing in a knot in front of the
  altar. I lounged up the side aisle like any other idler who has
  dropped into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise, the three
  at the altar faced round to me, and Godfrey Norton came
  running as hard as he could towards me.”
  «Thank God!” he cried. “ You’ll do. Come! Come!”
  “What then?” I asked.
• Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won’t be legal.”
  8 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  I was half- dragged up <o the altar, and, before I knew
  where I was, I found myself mumbling responses which were
  whispered in my ear, and vouching for things of which I knew
  nothing, and generally assisting in the secure tying up of
  Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was
  all done in an instant, and there was the gentleman thanking
  me on the one side and the lady on the other, while the
  clergyman beamed on me in front. It was the most prepos.
  _terous position in which I ever found myself in my life, and it
  was the thought of it that started me laughing just now. It
  seems that there had been some informality about their license,
  that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them without
  a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance saved
  the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in
  search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I
  mean to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion.”
  “This is a very unexpected turn of affairs,” said I; “and
  what then ?”
  “Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked
  as if the pair might take an immediate departure, and se
  necessitate very prompt and energetic measures on my part.
  At the church door, however, they separated, he driving back
  to the Temple, and she to her own house. ‘I shall drive out
  in the park at five as usual,’ she said, as she left him. I heard
  no more. They drove away in different directions, and {
  went off to make my own arrangements.”
  “Which are ?”
  “Some cold beef and a glass of beer,” he answered, ring:
  ing the bell. “TI have been too busy to think of food, and I am
  likely to be busier still this evening. By the way, doctor, I
  shall want your co-operation.”
  “T shall be delighted.”
  “You don’t mind breaking the law ?”
  “ Not in the least.”
  “ Nor running a chance of arrest ?”
  A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 19
  “Not in a good cause.”
• Oh, the cause is excellent !”
  “Then I am your man.”
  “JT was sure that I might rely on you.”
  ‘But what is it you wish ?”
  *Waen Mrs, Turner has brought in the tray I will make *
  tisur to you. Now,” he said, as he turned hungrily on thsimpl<
  fare that our landlady had provided, “I must discuss
  it while I eat, for I have not much time. It is nearly five
  now. In two hours we must be on the scene of action.
  Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns from her drive at
  seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her.”
  “ And what then ?”
  “You must leave that to me. I have already arranged
  what is to occur. There is only one point on which I must
  insist. You must not interfere, come what may. You understand
  ?”
• T am to be neutral ?”
  “To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some
  small unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my
  being conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards
  the sitting-room window will open. You are to station
  yourself close to that open window.”
  VES, 3
• You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you.”
  EY es.
  “ And when I raise my hand—so—you will throw into the
  room what I give you to throw, and will, at the same time,
  raise the cry of fire. You quite follow me?”
  “* ntirely.”
  “Tt is nothing very formidable,” he said, taking a long
  cigar-shaped roll from his pocket. “It is an ordinary plumber’s
  smoke-rocket, fitted with a cap at either end to make it
  self-lighting. Your task is confined to that. When you raise
  your cry of fire, it will be taken up by quite a number of people.
  You may then walk to the end of the street, and I will
  20 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  rejoin you in ten minutes. I hope that I have made myself
  clear ?”
  “T am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watck
  you, and, at the signal, to throw in this object, then to raise
  the cry of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street.”
  “ Precisely.”
  “Then you may entirely rely on me.”
  “ That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that
  I prepare for the new role I have to play.”
  He disappeared into his bedroom, and returned in a few
  minutes in the character of an amiable and simple-minded
  Nonconformist clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy
  trousers, his white tie, his sympathetic smile, and general
  look of peering and benevolent curiosity were such as Mr.
  John Hare alone could have equalled. It was not merely
  that Holmes changed his costume. His expression, his manner,
  his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that
  he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost
  an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime.
  It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it
  still wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves
  in Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps
  were just being lighted as we paced up and down in front of
  Briony Lodge, waiting for the coming of its occupant. The
  house was just such as I had pictured it from Sherlock
  Holmes’ succinct description, but the locality appeared to be
  less private that I expected. On the contrary, for a small
  street in a quiet neighborhood, it was remarkably animated,
  There was a group of shabbily-dressed men smoking ana
  laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his wheel, two
  guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and several
  well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with
  cigars in their mouths.
  “You see,” remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in
  front of the house, “this marriage rather simplifies matters,
  The photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The
  A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 21
  chances are that she would be as averse to its being seen by
  Mr, Godfrey Norton, as our client is to its coming to the
  eyes of his princess. Now the question is, Where are we to
  find the photograph ?”
  “Where, indeed ?”
  “Tt is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It
  is cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a
  woman’s dress. She knows that the King is capable of having
  her waylaid and searched. Two attempts of the sort have
  already been made. We may take it, then, that she does not
  carry it about with her.”
• Where, then ?”
  “Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility.
  But I am inclined to think neither. Women are
  naturally secretive, and they like to do their own secreting.
  Why should she hand it over to any one else? She could
  trust her own guardianship, but she could not tell what indirect
  or political influence might be brought to bear upon a
  business man. Besides, remember that she had resolved to
  use it within a few days. It must be where she can lay her
  hands upon it, It must be in her own house.”
  “ But it has twice been burgled.”
  “Pshaw! They did not know how to look.”
• But how will you look ?”
  *T will not look.”
  “ What then ?”
  *T will get her to show me.”
  “ But she will refuse.”
  “She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels.
  It is her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter.”
  As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came
  round the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau
  which rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled
  up, one of the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to
  open the door in the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed
  away by another loafer, who had rushed up with the
  22 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  same intention. A fierce quarrel broke out, which was im
  creased by the two guardsmen, who took sides with one of thé
  loungers, and by the scissors- grinder, who was equally hot
  upon the other side. A blow was struck, and in an instant
  the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was the centre
  of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who struck
  savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes
  dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he
  reached her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with
  the blood running freely down his face. At his fall the
  guardsmen took to their heels in one direction and the loungers
  in the other, while a number of better dressed people,
  who had watched the scuffle without taking part in it, crowded
  in to help the lady and to attend to the injured man Trene
  Adler, as I will still call her, had hurried up the c.eps; but
  she stood at the top with her superb figure outlined against
  the lights of the hall, looking back into the street.
  “Ts the poor gentleman much hurt ?” she asked.
  “ He is dead,” cried several voices.
  “No, no, there’s life in him!” shouted another. “ But he’ll
  be gone before you can get him to hospital.”
  “He’s a brave fellow,” said a woman. “They would have
  had the lady’s purse and watch if it hadn’t been for him.
  They were a gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he’s breathing
  now.”
  “He can’t lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?”
  “Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a
  comfortable sofa. This way, please !’’
  Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and
  laid out in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings
  from my post by the window. The lamps had been
  lit, but the blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see
  Holmes as he lay upon the couch. I do not know whether
  he was seized with compunction at that moment for the part
  he was playing, but I know that I never felt more heartily
  ashamed of myself in my life than when I saw the beautiful
  A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 23
  creature against whom I was conspiring, or the grace and
  kindliness with which she waited upon the injured man. And
  yet it would be the blackest treachery to Holmes to draw
  back now from the part which he had intrusted to me. I
  hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under
  my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We
  are but preventing her from injuring another.
  Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion
  like «. nan who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and
  threw open the window. At the same instant I saw him raise
  his hand, and at the signal I tossed my rocket into the room
  with a cry of “ Fire!’ The word was no sooner out of my
  mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well dressed and
  ill—gentlemen, ostlers, and servant-maids— joined in a general
  shriek of “Fire!” Thick clouds of smoke curled through
  the room and out at the open window. I caught a glimpse
  of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice of Holmes
  from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. Slipping
  through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner of
  the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my friend’s
  arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. He
  walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes, until we
  had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards
  the Edgware Road.
  “You did it very nicely, doctor,” he remarked. “ Nothing
  <ould have been better. It is all right.”
  “You have the photograph ?”
  “T know where it is.”
  “ And how did you find out ?”
  “ She showed me, as I told you that she would.”
  “Tam still in the dark.”
  “I do not wish to make a mystery,” said he, laughing.
  “The matter was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that
  every one in the street was an accomplice. They were all engaged
  for the evening.”
  “T guessed as much.”
  24 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red
  paint in the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down,
  clapped my hand to my face, and became a piteous spectacle.
  It is an old trick.”
  “That also I could fathom.”
  “Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in.
  What else could she do? And into her sitting-room, which
  was the very room which I suspected. It lay between that
  and her bedroom, and I was determined to see which. They
  laid me on a couch, I motioned for air, they were compelled
  to open the window, and you had your chance.”
  “ How did that help you?”
  “Jt was all-important. When a woman thinks that her
  house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing
  which she values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse,
  and I have more than once taken advantage of it. In
  the case of the Darlington Substitution Scandal it was of use
  to me, and also in the Arnsworth Castle business. A married
  woman grabs at her baby; an unmarried one reaches for he1
  jewel-box. Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day
  had nothing in the house more precious to her than what we
  are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. The alarm of
  fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were
  enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully.
  The photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just
  above the right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I
  caught a glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried
  out that it was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the
  rocket, rushed from the room, and I have not seen her since.
  I rose, and, making my excuses, escaped from the house. Ii
  hesitated whether to attempt to secure the photograph at
  once; but the coachman had come in, and as he was watching
  me narrowly, it seemed safer to wait. A little over-precipitance
  may ruin all.”
  “And now?” I asked.
  “Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the
  A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 25
  King to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us.
  We will be shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady,
  but it is probable that when she comes she may find neither
  us nor the photograph. It might be a satisfaction to His
  Majesty to regain it with his own hands.”
  “And when will you call?”
  “At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we
  shall have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this
  marriage may mean a complete change in her life and habits.
  I must wire to the King without delay.”
  We had reached Baker Street, and had stopped at the door.
  He was searching his pockets for the key, when some one
  passing said:
  “Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes.”
  There were several people on the pavement at the time, but
  the greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster
  who had hurried by.
  “ve heard that voice before,” said Holmes, staring down
  the dimly-lit street. ‘Now, I wonder who the deuce that
  could have been.”
  II!
  I stepr at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged
  upon our toast and coffee in the morning when the King of
  Bohemia rushed into the room.
  “You have really got it!” he cried, grasping Sherlock
  Holmes by either shoulder, and looking eagerly into his face.
  “Not yet.”
  “ But you have hopes ?”’
  *T have hopes.”
  “Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone.”
  “We must have a cab.”
  “No, my brougham is waiting.”
  “Then that will simplify matters.” We descended, and
  started off once more for Briony Lodge.
  2
  20 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Trene Adler is married,” remarked Holmes.
  “Married! When?”
  “Vesterday.”
  “ But to whom ?”
  “To an English lawyer named Norton.”
  “But she could not love him?”
  “T am in hopes that she does.”
  “ And why in hopes ?”
  “ Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future ar
  noyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love
  your Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no
  reason why she should interfere with your Majesty’s plan.”
  “It is true. And yet— Well! I wish she had been of
  my own station! What a queen she would have made!” He
  relapsed into a moody silence, which was not broken until we
  drew up in Serpentine Avenue.
  The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman
  stood upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye
  as we stepped from the brougham.
  “Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe ?-’ said she.
  “Tt am Mr. Holmes,” answered my companion, looking at
  her with a questioning and rather startled gaze.
  “Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to ‘call.
  She left this morning with her husband by the 5.15 train from
  Charing Cross for the Continent.”
  “What!” Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with
  chagrin and surprise. “Do you mean that she has left Eng:
  land ?”
  “ Never to return.”
  “And the papers?” asked the King, hoarsely. “ All is lost.”
  “We shall see.” He pushed past the servant and rushed
  into the drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The
  furniture was scattered about in every direction, with dismantled
  shelves and open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly
  ransacked them before her flight. Holmes rushed at the
  bell-pull, tore back a small sliding shutter, and, plunging in his
  A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 27
  hand, pulled out a photograph and a letter. The photograph
  was of Irene Adler herself in evening dress, the letter was
  superscribed to “ Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called
  for.” My friend tore it open, and we al! three read it togeth
  er. It was dated at midnight of the preceding night, and rar
  in this way:
  “My Dear Mr. SHERLOCK Hoitmrs,—You really did it
  very well. You took me in completely. Until after the alarm
  of fire, I had not a suspicion. But then, when I found how I
  had betrayed myself, I began to think. I had been warned
  against you months ago. I had been told that, if the King
  employed an agent, it would certainly be you. And your address
  had been given me. Yet, with all this, you made me reveal
  what you wanted to know. Even after I became suspicious,
  I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind old
  clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress
  myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take
  advantage of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the
  coachman, to watch you, ran up-stairs, got into my walkingclothes,
  as I call them, and came down just as you departed.
  “Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that
  I was really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock
  Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you goodnight,
  and started for the Temple to see my husband.
  “We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued
  by so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the
  nest empty when you call to-morrow. As to the photograph,
  your client may rest in peace. I love and am loved by a better
  man than he. The King may do what he will without
  hinderance from one whom he has cruelly wronged. I keep
  it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which
  will always secure me from any steps which he might take in
  the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to
  possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, very truly
  yours, IRENE Norton, #ée ADLER.”
  28 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “What a woman—oh, what a woman!” cried the King of
  Bohemia, when we had all three read this epistle. “Did f
  not tell you how quick and resolute she was? Would she not
  have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity that she
  was not on my level ?”
  “From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to
  be on a very different level to your Majesty,” said Holmes,
  coldly. “I am sorry that I have not been able to bring your
  Majesty’s business to a more successful conclusion.”
  “On the contrary, my dear sir,” cried the King; “nothing
  could be more successful. I know that her word is inviolate.
  The photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire.”
  “T am glad to hear your Majesty say so.”
  “T am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what
  way I can reward you. This ring—” He slipped an emerald
  snake ring from his finger and held it out upon the palm of
  his hand.
  “Your Majesty has something which I should value even
  more highly,” said Holmes.
  “Vou have but to name it.”
  “’This photograph !” ,
  The King stared at him in amazement. .
  “Trene’s photograph!” he cried. “Certainly, if you wish it.”
  “T thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done
  in the matter. I have the honor to wish you a very goodmorning.”
  He bowed, and, turning away without observing
  the hand which the King had stretched out to him, he set off
  in my company for his chambers.
  And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the
  kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock
  Holmes were beaten by a woman’s wit. He used to make
  merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard
  him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or
  when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honorable
  title of ze woman.
  Bodventure TT
  THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE
  ) HAD called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,
  VY one day in the autumn of last year, and found him
  LEAD € in deep conversation with a very stout, florid-faced,
  BAY elderly gentleman, with fiery red hair. With an
  apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw, when
  Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the
  door behind me.
  “You could not possibly have come at a better time, my
  dear Watson,” he said, cordially.
  “T was afraid that you were engaged.”
  “Solam. Very much so.”
  “Then I can rvait in the next room.”
  “Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my
  partner and helper in many of my most successful cases, and
  I have no doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in
  yours also.”
  The stout gentleman half-rose from his chair and gave a
  bob of greeting, with a quick, little, questioning glance from
  his small, fat-encircled eyes.
  “Try the settee,” said Holmes, relapsing into his arm-chair
  and putting his finger-tips together, as was his custom when
  in judicial moods. ‘“I know, my dear Watson, that you share
  my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and
  humdrum routine of every-day life. You have shown your
  relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to
  chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to
  embellish so many of my own little adventures.”
  30 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest te
  me,” I observed.
  “You will remember that I remarked the other day, just
  gefore we went into the very simple problem presented by
  Miss Mary Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary
  combinations we must go to life itself, which is always
  far more daring than any effort of the imagination.”
  “A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.”
  “ You did, doctor, but none the less you must come round
  to my view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact
  on you, until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges
  me to be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has
  been good enough to call upon me this morning, and to begin
  a narrative which promises to be one of the most singular
  which I have listened to for some time. You have heard me
  remark that the strangest and most unique things are very
  often connected not with the larger but with the smaller
  crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for
  doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As
  far as I have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the
  present case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of
  events is certainly among the most singular that I have ever
  listened to. Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great
  kindness to recommence your narrative. I ask you, not
  merely because my friend Dr. Watson has not heard the
  opening part, but also because the peculiar nature of the story
  makes me anxious to have every possible detail from your
  lips. As a rule, when I have heard some slight indication o
  the course of events, Iam able to guide myself by the thousands
  of other similar cases which occur to my memory. Ix
  the present instance I am forced to admit that the facts are,
  to the best of my belief, unique.”
  The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of
  some little pride, and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspapez
  from the inside pocket of his great-coat. As he glanced down
  @he advertisement column, with his head thrust forward, and
  THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE al
  the paper flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at
  the man, and endeavored, after the fashion of my companion,
  to read the indications which might be presented by his dress
  or appearance.
  I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our
  visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace
  British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather
  baggy gray shepherd’s check trousers, a not over-clean black
  frock-coat, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with
  a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal
  dangling down as an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded
  brown overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair
  beside him. Altogether, lock as I would, there was nothing
  remarkable about the man save his blazing red head, and the
  expression of extreme chagrin and discontent upon his features.
  Sherlock Holmes’s quick eye took in my occupation, and he
  shook his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning
  glances. “ Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time
  done manuai labor, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason,
  that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable
  amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.”
  Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger
  upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion.
  “ How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that,
  Mr. Holmes?” he asked. ‘“ How did you know, for example,
  that I did manual labor. It’s as true as gospel, for I began
  as a ship’s carpenter.”
  “ Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size;
  larger than your left. You have worked with it, and the’
  muscles are more developed.”
  “ Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?”
  “I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you how I read
  that, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order,
  you use an arc-and-compass breastpin.”
• Ah, of course, I forgot that But the writing ?”
  32 ADVENTURES GF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very
  shiny for five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch
  near the elbow where you rest it upon the desk.”
  “Well, but China ?”
  “The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your
  right wrist could only have been done in China. I have made
  a small study of tattoo marks, and have even contributed to
  the literature of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes’
  scales of a delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in
  addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain,
  the matter becomes even more simple.”
  Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. “ Well, I never!” said
  he. “I thought at first that you had done something clever,
  but I see that there was nothing in it, after all.”
  “T begin to think, Watson,” said Holmes, “that I make a
  mistake in explaining. ‘Omne ignotum pro magnifico,’ you
  know, and my poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer
  shipwreck if I am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement,
  Mr. Wilson ?”
  “Yes, I have got it now,” he answered, with his thick, red
  finger planted half-way down the column. “ Here itis. This
  is what began it all. You just read it for yourself, sir.”
  I took the paper from him, and read as follows :
  “To THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the be:
  quest of the late Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pa., U.S-AS
  there is now another vacancy open which entitles a member
  of the League to a salary of £4 a week for purely nominal
  services. All red-headed men who are sound in body and
  mind, and above the age of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply
  in person on Monday, at eleven o’clock, to Duncan Ross,
  at the offices of the League, 7 Pope’s Court, Fleet Street.”
  “What on earth does this mean ?” I ejaculated, after I had
  twice read over the extraordinary announcement.
  Holmes chuckled, and wriggled in his chair, as was his
  habit when in high spirits, “It is a little off the beaten
  THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 33
  rack. isn’t it?” said he. “And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go
  at scratch, and tell us all about yourself, your household, and
  the effect which this advertisement had upon your fortunes,
  You will first make a note, doctor, of the paper and the
  date.”
  “Tt is Zhe Morning Chronicle, of April 27, 1890. Just twe
  months ago.”
  “Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson ?”
  “Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock
  Holmes,” said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; “I have
  a small pawnbroker’s business at Coburg Square, near the
  city. It’s not a very large affair, and of late years it has not
  done more than just give me a living. I used to be able to
  keep two assistants, but now I only keep one; and I would
  have a job to pay him, but that he is willing to come for half
  wages, so as to learn the business.”
  “What is the name of this obliging youth?” asked Sherlock
  Holmes.
  “Fig name is Vincent Spaulding, and he’s not such a youth,
  either. It’s hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter
  assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very wel! that he could
  better himself, and earn twice what I am able to give him.
  But, after all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his
  head ?”
  “ Why, indeed?” You seem most fortunate in having an
  employé who comes under the full market price. It is not a
  common experience among employers in this age. I don’t
  know that your assistant is not as remarkable as your advertisement.”
  “Ob, he has his faults, too,” said Mr. Wilson. “ Never!
  was such a fellow for photography. Snapping away with a
  camera when he ought to be improving his mind, and then
  diving down into the cellar like a rabbit into its hole to develope
  his pictures. That is his main fault; but, on the
  whole, he’s a good worker. There’s no vice in him.”
  “ He is still with you, I presume ?”
  34 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Ves, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of
  simple cooking, and keeps the place clean—that’s all I have
  in the house, for I am a widower, and never had any family.
  We live very quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof
  over our heads, and pay our debts, if we do nothing more.
  “The first thing that put us out was that advertisement.
  Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight
  weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says:
  “¢T wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed
  man.’
  “¢Why that? I asks.
  “ Why,’ says he, ‘here’s another vacancy on the League of
  the Red-headed Men. It’s worth quite a little fortune to any
  man who gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies
  than there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits’
  end what to do with the money. If my hair would only change
  color, here’s a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.’
  ““Why, what is it, then?’ I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I
  am a very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me
  instead of my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end
  without putting my foot over the door-mat. In that way I
  didn’t know much of what was going on outside, and I was
  always glad of a bit of news.
  ““ Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed
  Men?’ he asked, with his eyes open.
  “ ¢ Never.”
  “Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for
  one of the vacancies.’
  “And what are they worth ?’ I asked. “Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is
  slight, and it need not interfere very much with one’s other
  occupations.’
  “Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my
  ears, for the business has not been over-good for some years,
  and an extra couple of hundred would have been very handy.
  “ «Tell me all about it,’ said I.
  THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 35
  s¢ Well,’ said he, showing me the advertisement, ‘you can see for yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men ; so, when he died, it was found that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of that color. From all I hear it is splendid pay, and very little to do.’ “¢But,’ said I, ‘there would be millions of red-headed men who would apply.’ “‘Not so many as you might think,’ he answered, ‘You see it is really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a few hundred pounds.’ “ Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed to me that, if there was to be any competition in the matter, I stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for the day, and to come right away with me. He was very willing to have a holiday, so we shut the business up, and started off for the address that was given us in the advertisement. “J never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, 36 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES and Pope’s Court looked like a coster’s orange barrow. I should not have thought there were so many in the whole country as were brought together by that single advertisement. Every shade of color they were—straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real vivid fame-colored tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back dejected ; but we wedged in as well as we could, and soon found ourselves in the office.” “Your experience has been a most entertaining one,” remarked Holmes, as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge pinch of snuff. “ Pray continue your very interesting statement.” “There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs and a deal table, behind which sat a small man, with a head that was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn came, the little man was much more favorable to me than to any of the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he might have a private word with us. “This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,’ said my assistant, ‘and hc is
  willing to fill a vacancy in the League.’
  “And he is admirably suited for it,’ the other answered. ‘He has every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so fine.’ He took a step backward, cocked his bead on one side, and gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he plunged forward, wrung my hand, and com gratulated me warmly on my success. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 37 “It would be injustice to hestitate,’ said he. ‘You will, however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.’ With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I yelled with the pain. ‘There is water in your eyes,’ said he, as he released me. ‘I perceive that all is as it should be. But we have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler’s wax which would disgust you with human nature.” He stepped over to the window, and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, and the folk all trooped away in different directions, until there was not a red head to be seen except my own and that of the manager. “My name,’ said he, ‘is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are you a married man, Mr. Wilson? “ave you a family ?’ “T answered that I had not. “His face fell immediately. “Dear me’ he said, gravely, ‘that is very serious indeed!
  I am sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course,
  for the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for
  their maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you
  should be a bachelor.’
  “My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought
  that I was not to have the vacancy after all; but, after
  thinking it over for a few minutes, he said that it would be
  all right.
  ““In the case of another,’ said he, ‘the objection might be fatal, but we must stretch a point in favor of a man with such a head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your new duties ?” “<¢Well, itis a little awkward, for I have a business already,’ said I. “Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!’ said Vincent
  Spaulding. ‘I shall be able to look after that for you.’
  38 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  ¢ What wouid be the hours?’ I asked. “¢Ten to two.’ “ Now a pawnbroker’s business is mostly done of an even ing, Mr. Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, and that he would see to anything that turned up. “¢That would suit me very well,’ said I. ‘And the pay ?’ “Ts £4 a week.” “¢ And the work ? “Ts purely nominal.” “¢What do you call purely nominal ?
  ¢Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You don’t comply with the conditions if you budge from the office during that time.’ “«Tt’s only four hours a day, and IJ should not think of leaviag,’ said I. “No excuse will avail,’ said Mr. Duncan Ross; ‘neither sickr.ess nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose your billet.’ “¢ And the work ?” “Ts to copy out the “Encyclopedia Britannica.” There is the first volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be ready to-morrow?” “ ¢ Certainly,’ I answered. “Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratujate you once more on the important position which you have been fortunate enough to gain.’ He bowed me out of the room, and I went home with my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased at my own good fortune. “ Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 3 was in low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past belief that any one could make such a will, or that they would pay such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica.’ Vincent Spaulding did what he could to cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a quillpen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for Pope’s Court. “Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from time to time to see that all was right with me, At two o’clock he bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had written, and locked the door of the office after me. “This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my week’s work. It was the same next week, and the same the week after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at all. Still, of course, J never dared to leave the room for an instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk the loss of it. “Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about Abbots and Archery and Armor and Architecture and Attica, and hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B’s before very long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole business came to an end.” | 40 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES “To an end?” “Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as usual at ten o’clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a little square of card-board hammered on to the middle of the panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself.” He held up a piece of white card-board about the size of a sheet of note-paper. It read in this fashion: “THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED, October 9, 1890.” Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so completely overtopped every other consideration that we both burst out into a roar of laughter. “I cannot see that there is anything very funny,” cried our client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. “If you can do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go else where.” “No, no,” cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from which he had half risen. “I really wouldn’t miss your case for the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. Pray what steps did you take when. you found the card upon the door?” “T was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan Ross was. He answered shat the name was new to him. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 4 “¢ Well,’ said I, ‘the gentleman at No. 4.’ “* What, the red-headed man ?’
  SV ES?
  “Oh,’ said he, ‘his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor, and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.’ “ Where could I find him ?”
  ““Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes,
  17 King Edward Street, near St. Paul’s.’ ;
  “T started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address
  it was a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it
  had ever heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncap
  Ross.”
  “And what did you do then?” asked Holmes.
  “T went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the ad
  vice of my assistant. But he could not help me in any way.
  He could only say that if I waited I should hear by post.
  But that was not quite good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not
  wish to lose such a place without a struggle, so, as I had
  heard that you were good enough to give advice to poor folk
  who were in need of it, I came right away to you.”
  “And you did very wisely,” said Holmes. “Your case is
  an exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look
  into it. From what you have told me I think that it is possible
  that graver issues hang from it than might at first sigh
  appear.”
  “Grave enough!” said Mr. Jabez Wilson, “Why, I have
  Jost four pound a week.”
  “ As far as you are personally concerned,” remarked Holmes,
  “TY do not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary
  league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand,
  richer by some £30, to say nothing of the minute knowledge
  which you have gained on every subject which comes
  under the letter A. You have lost nothing by them.”
  “No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who
  they are, and what their object was in playing this prank—if
  4
  4z ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  it was a prank—upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for
  them, for it cost them two and thirty pounds.”
  “We shall endeavor to clear up these points for you. And,
  first, one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of
  yours who first called your attention to the advertisement—
  how long had he been with you?”
  “ About a month then.”
  “ How did he come ?”
  “In answer to an advertisement.”
  ““Was he the only applicant?”
  “No, I had a dozen.”
  “Why did you pick him ?”
  “ Because he was handy, and would come cheap.”
  “ At half-wages, in fact.”
  6 Yes.”
  “‘ What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding ?”
  “ Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his
  yace, though he’s not short of thirty. Has a white splash of
  acid upon his forehead.”
  Holmes sat up in his chair in Fantiderable excitement. “TI
  thought as much,” said he. ‘Have you ever observed that
  his ears are pierced for earrings ?”
  “Yes, sir. He told me that a gypsy had done it for him
  when he was a lad.”
  “ Hum !” said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. “He
  is still with you?”
  “Oh yes, sir; I have only just left him.”
  “ And has your business been attended to in your absence ?”
  “ Nothing to complain of, sir. ‘There’s never very much to
  do of a morning.”
  “That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you
  an opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two.
  To-day is Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may
  come to a conclusion.”
  “Well, Watson,” said Helmes, when our visitor had left us,
  “what do you make of it all?”
  “THE DOOR WAS SHUT AND LOCKED”
  rBsyte
  .
  zt :
  .
  vii
  a.
  THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 43
  “T make nothing of it,” I answered, frankly. “It is a
  most mysterious business.”
  “As a rule,” said Holmes, “the more bizarre a thing is the
  less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace.
  featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace
  face is the most difficult to identify. But I must
  be prompt over this matter.”
  “What are you going to do, then?” I asked.
  .“To smoke,” he answered. “It is quite a three- pipe
  problem, and I beg that you won’t speak to me for fifty minutes.”
  He curled himself up in his chair, with his thin knees
  drawn up to his hawk-like nose, and tnere he sat with his eyes
  closed and his black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of
  some strange bird. I had come to the conclusion that he
  had ‘dropped asleep, and indeed was nodding myself, when he
  suddenly sprang out of his chair with the gesture of a man
  who has made up his mind, and put his pipe down upon the
  mantel-piece.
  “Sarasate plays at the St. James’s Hall this afternoon,” he
  remarked. “What do you think, Watson? Could your patients
  spare you for a few hours ?”
  “T have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very
  absorbing.”
  “Then put on your hat and come. I am going through
  the city first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I
  observe that there is a good deal of German music on the
  programme, which is rather more to my taste than Italian o1
  French. It is introspective, and I want to introsper. Come
  along !”
  We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate;
  and a short walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene
  of the singular story which we had listened to in the morning.
  It was a pokey, little, shabby-genteel place, where four
  lines of dingy two-storied brick houses looked out into a
  small railed-in enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a
  few clumps of faded laurel-bushes made a hard fight against
  %
  ¥
  44 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  a smoke-laden and uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls
  and a brown board with “Jasez Witson” in white letters,
  upon a corher house, announced the place where our redheaded
  client carried on his business. Sherlock Holmes
  stopped in front of it with his head on one side, and looked
  it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between puckered
  lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down
  again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Final
  ly he returned to the pawnbroker’s, and, having thumped vigorously
  upon the pavement with his stick two or three times,
  he went up to the door and knocked. It was instantly
  opened by a bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who
  asked him to step in.
  “Thank you,” said Holmes, “I only wished to ask you
  how you would go from here to the Strand.”
  “ Third right, fourth left,” answered the assistant, promptly,
  closing the door.
  “ Smart fellow, that,” observed Holmes, as we walked away.
  “He is,i nm y judgment, the fourth smartest man in London,
  and for daring I am not sure that he has not a claim to be
  third. I have known something of him before.”
  “Evidently,” said I, “Mr. Wilson’s assistant counts for a
  good deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am
  sure that you inquired your way merely in order that you
  might see him.”
  “Not him.”
  “What then ?”
  “The knees of his trousers.”
  “ And what did you see?”
  “What I expected to see.”
  “Why did you beat the pavement ?”
  “My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for
  talk. ‘We are spies in an enemy’s country. We know some
  thing of Saxe-Coburg Square. Let us now explore the parts
  which lie behind it.”
  The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round
  THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 45
  the corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as
  great a contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the
  back. It was one of the main arteries which convey the
  traffic of the city to the north and west. The roadway was
  blocked with the immense stream of commerce flowing in a
  double tide inward and outward, while the foot-paths were
  black with the hurrying swarm of pedestrians. It was difficult
  to realize as we looked at the line of fine shops and
  stately business premises that they really abutted on the
  other side upon the faded and stagnant square which we had
  just quitted.
  “Let me see,” said Holmes, standing at the corner, and
  glancing along the line, “I should like just to remember the
  order of the houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an
  exact knowledge of London, There is Mortimer’s, the tobaccon‘
  st, the little newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the
  City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restaurant, and
  McFarlane’s carriage-building depot. That carries us right
  on to the other block. And now, doctor, we’ve done our
  work, so it’s time we had some play. A sandwich and a cup
  of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness
  and delicacy and harmony, and there are no red-headed clients
  to vex us with their conundrums.”
  My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not
  only a very capable performer, but a composer of no ordinary
  merit. All the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the
  most perfect happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers
  in time to the music, while his gently smiling face and his lanpuid,
  dreamy eyes wese as unlike those of Holmes, the sleuthhound,
  Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal
  agent, as it was possible to conceive. In his singular
  character the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and his
  extreme exactness and astuteness represented, as I have often
  thought, the reaction against the poetic and contemplative
  mood which occasionally predominated in him. The swing
  of his nature took him from extreme languor to devouring
  46 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  energy; and, as I knew well, he was never so truly formida
  ble as when, for days on end, he had been lounging in hig
  arm-chair amid his improvisations and his black-letter edi:
  tions. Then it was that the lust of the chase would suddenly
  come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning power would
  rise to the level of intuition, until those who were unacquaint:
  ed with his methods would look askance at him as on a man
  whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I
  saw him that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St,
  James’s Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming upon
  those whom he had set himself to hunt down.
  “You want to go home,” no doubt, doctor,” he remarked,
  as we emerged.
  “Yes, it would be as well.”
  “And I have some business to do which will take some
  hours. This business at Coburg Square‘is serious.”
  “Why serious ?”
  “A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every
  reason to believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But today
  being Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want
  your help to-night.”
  “At what time?”
  “Ten will be early enough.”
  “T shatl be at Baker Street at ten.”
  “Very well. And, I say, doctor, there may be some little
  danger, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket.”
  He waved his hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in
  an instant among the crowd.
  I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbors, but I
  was always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my
  dealings with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he
  had heard, I had seen what he had seen, and yet from his
  words it was evident that he saw clearly not only what had
  happened, but what was about to happen, while to me the
  whole business was still confused and grotesque, AsI drove
  home to my house in Kensington £ thought over it all, from
  THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 4)
  the extraordinary story of the red-headed copier of the “Encyclopedia”
  down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg Square, and
  the ominous words with which he had parted from me. What
  was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed?
  Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the
  hint from Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker’s assistant
  was a formidable man—a man who might play a
  deep game. I tried to puzzle it out, but gave it up in
  despair, and set the matter aside until night should bring an
  explanation.
  It was a quarter past nine when I started from home and
  made my way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street
  to Baker Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door,
  and, as I entered the pasz:age, I heard the sound of voices
  from above. On entering his room I found Holmes in animated
  conversation with two men, one of whom I recognized
  as Peter Jones, the official police agent, while the other was
  a long,’ 1in, sad-faced man, with a very shiny hat and oppressively
  respectable frock-coat.
  “Ha! our party is complete,” said Holmes, buttoning up
  his pea-jacket, and taking his heavy hunting crop from the
  rack. “Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland
  Yard? Let me introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is
  to be our companion in to-night’s adventure.”
  “We’re hunting in couples again, doctor, you see,” said
  Jones, in his consequential way. “Our friend here is a wonderful
  man for starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog
  to help him to do the running down.”
  “IT hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our
  chase,” observed Mr. Merryweather, gloomily.
  “You may place considerable confidence in Mz. Holmes,
  sir,” said the police agent, loftily. “ He has his own little
  methods, which are, if he won’t mind my saying so, just a little
  too theoretical and fantastic, but he has the makings of a
  detective in him. It is not too much to say that once or
  twice, as in that business of the Sholto murder and the Agra
  48 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  treasure, he has been more nearly correct than the official
  force.”
  “Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right,” said the
  Stranger, with deference. “Still, I confess that I miss my
  rubber. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty
  years that I have not had my rubber.”
  “T think you will find,” said Sherlock Holmes, “that you
  will play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done
  yet, and that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr.
  Merryweather, the stake will be some 430,000; and for you,
  Jones, it will be the man upon whom you wish to lay your
  hands.”
  “John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He’s
  a young man, Mr. Merryweather, hut he is at the head of his
  profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than
  on any criminal in London. He’s a remarkable man, is young
  John Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself
  has been to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning
  as his fingers, and though we meet signs of him at every turn,
  we never know where to find the man himself. He’ll crack a
  crib in Scotland one week, and be raising money to build an
  orphanage in Cornwall the next. I’ve been on his track for
  years, and have never set eyes on him yet .
  “T hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you
  to-night. I’ve had one or two little turns also with Mr. John
  Clay, and I agree with you that he is at the head of his profession.
  It is past ten, however, and quite time that we started.
  If you two will take the first hansom, Watson and I will
  follow in the second.”
  Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the
  long drive, and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which
  he had heard in the afternoon. We rattled through an endless
  labyrinth of gas-lit streets until we emerged into Farringdon
  Street.
  “We are close there now,” my friend remarked. “This fek
  fow Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested
  ‘HE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 4G
  we the matter. I thought it as well to have Tones with us
  also. He is not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in
  his profession. He has one positive virtue. He is as brave
  as a bull-dog, and as tenacious as a lobster if he gets his
  claws upon any one. Here we are, and they are waiting for
  us.”
  We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which,
  we had found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed,
  and, following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we
  passed down a narrow passage and through a side door, which
  he opened for us. Within there was a small corridor, which
  ended in a very massive iron gate. This also was opened,
  and led down a flight of winding stone steps, which terminated
  at another formidable gate. Mr. Merryweather stopped
  to light a Jantern, and then conducted us down a dark, earthsmelling
  passage, and so, after opening a third door, into a
  huge vault or cellar, which was piled all round with crates and
  massive boxes.
  “You are not very vulnerable from above,” Holmes re
  marked, as he held up the lantern and gazed about him.
  “Nor from below,” said Mr. Merryweather, striking his
  stick upon the flags which lined the floor. “Why, dear me,
  it sounds quite hollow!” he remarked, looking up in surprise.
  “TI must really ask you to be a little more quiet,” saia
  Holmes, severely. “You have already imperilled the whole
  success of our expedition. Might I beg that you would have
  the goodness to sit down upon one of those boxes, and not
  to interfere ?”
  The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a
  crate, with a very injured expression upon his face, while
  Holmes fell upon his knees upon the floor, and, with the lantern
  and a magnifying lens, began to examine minutely the
  cracks between the stones. A few seconds sufficed to satisfy
  him, for he sprang to his feet again, and put his glass in hig
  pocket.
  s¢6 We have at least an hour before us,” he remarked; “ fat
  50 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  they can hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker ig
  safely in bed. Then they will not lose a minute, for the
  sooner they do their work the longer time they will have for
  their escape. We are at present, doctor—as no doubt you
  have divined—in the cellar of the city branch of one of the
  principal London banks. Mr. Merryweather is the chairman
  of directors, and he will explain to you that there are reasons
  why the more daring criminals of London should take a cons
  siderable interest in this cellar at present.”
  “It is our French gold,” whispered the director. “We
  have had several warnings that an attempt might be made
  upon it.”
  “Your French gold ?”
  “Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen
  our resources, and borrowed, for that purpose, 30,000. napoleons
  from the Bank of France. It has become known that
  we have never had occasion to unpack the money, and that
  it is still lying in our cellar. The crate upon which I sit
  contains 2000 napoleons packed between layers of lead foil,
  Our reserve of bullion is much larger at present than is usually
  kept in a single branch office, and the directors have had mis:
  givings upon the subject.” ;
  “Which were very well justified,” observed Holmes, “And
  now it is time that we arvanged our little plans. I expect
  that within an hour matters will come to a head. In the
  mean time, Mr. Merryweather, we must put the screen over
  that dark lantern.”
  “And sit in the dark ?”
  “I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my
  pocket, and I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you
  might have your rubber afterall. But I see that the enemy’s
  preparations have gone so far that we cannot risk the presence
  of a light. And, first of all, we must choose our positions.
  These are daring men, and though we shall take them
  at a disadvantage, they may do us some harm unless we are
  careful. {i shall stand behind this crate, and do you conceal
  THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE or
  yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a light upon
  them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no com:
  punction about shooting them down.”
  I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden
  case behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across
  the front of his lantern, and left us in pitch darkness—such
  an absolute darkness as I have never before experienced.
  The smell of hot metal remained to assure us that the light
  was still there, ready to flash out at a moment’s notice. Yo
  me, with my nerves worked up to a pitch of expectancy, there
  was something depressing and subduing in the sudden gloom,
  and in the cold, dank air of the vault.
  “They have but one retreat,” whispered Holmes, “That
  is back through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope
  that you have done what I asked you, Jones ?”
  “T have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front
  door.”
  “Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must
  be silent and wait.”
  What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards
  it was but an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that
  the night must have almost gone, and the dawn be breaking
  above us. My limbs were weary and stiff, for I feared to
  change my position; yet my nerves were worked up to the
  highest pitch of tension, and my hearing was so acute that I
  could not only hear the gentle breathing of my companions,
  but I could distinguish the deeper, heavier in-breath of the
  bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note of the bank director.
  From ny position I could look over the case in the direction
  of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint of a light.
  At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement.
  Then it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, anc
  then, without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open
  and a hand appeared; a white, almost womanly hand, which
  felt about in the centre of the little area of light. For a min
  ute or more the hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out
  §2 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  of the floor. Then it was withdrawn as suddenly as it ap
  peared, and all was dark again save the single lurid spark
  which marked a chink between the stones.
  Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a
  rending, tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned
  ove upon its side, and left a square, gaping hole, through
  which streamed the light of a lantern. Over the edge there
  peeped a clean-cut, boyish face, which looked keenly about it,
  and then, with a hand on either side of the aperture, drew it:
  self shoulder-high and waist-high, until one knee rested upon
  the edge. In another instant he stood at the side of the
  hole, and was hauling after him a companion, lithe and small
  like himself, with a pale face and a shock of very red hair,
  “It’s all clear,” he whispered. ‘Have you the chisel and
  the bags. Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I’ll swing
  for it !”
  Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder
  by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard
  the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts.
  The light flashed upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes’s
  hunting crop came down on the man’s wrist, and the pistol
  clinked upon the stone floor.
  “It’s no use, John Clay,” said Holmes, blandly. “ You have
  no chance at all.”
  “So I see,” the other answered, with the utmost coolness.
  “I fancy that my pal is all right, though I see you have got
  his coat-tails,”
  “There are three men waiting for him at the door,” said
  Holmes,
  “Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very
  completely. I must compliment you.”
  “And I you,” Holmes answered. “Your red-headed idea
  was very new and effective.”
  “You’ll see your pal again presently,” said Jones. . “ He’s
  quicker at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out
  while I fix the derbies”
  THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE $93
  *¥ peg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands,”
  remarked our prisoner, as the handcuffs clattered upon his
  wrists. ‘You may not be aware that I have roval blood in
  my veins. Have the goodness, also, when yori address me always
  to say ‘sir’ and ‘please.’”
  «“ All right,” said Jones, with a stare and a snigger. “Well,
  would you please, sir, march up-stairs, where we can get a cab
  to carry your highness to the police-station ?”
  “That is better,” said John Clay,serenely. He made a
  sweeping bow to the three of us, and walked quietly off in the
  custody of the detective.
  “Really Mr. Holmes,” said Mr. Merryweather, as we followed
  them from the cellar, “I do not know how the bank can
  thank you or repay you. There is no doubt that you have
  detected and defeated in the most complete manner one of
  the most determined attempts at bank robbery that have ever
  come within my experience.”
  “T have had one or two little scores of my own to settle
  with Mr. John Clay,” said Holmes. “I have been at some
  small expense over this matter, which I shall expect the bank
  to refund, but beyond that I am amply repaid by having had
  an experience which is in many ways unique, and by hearing
  the very remarkable narrative of the Red-headed League.”
  You see, Watson,” he explained, in the early hours of the
  morning, as we sat over a glass of whiskey-and-soda in Baker
  Street, “it was perfectly obvious from the first that the only
  possible object of this rather fantastic business of the advertise.
  ment of the League, and the copying of the * Encyclopzdia,’
  must be to get this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the
  way for a number of hours every day. It was a curious way
  of managing it, but, really, it would be difficult to suggest a better.
  The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingen:
  ious mind by the color of his accomplice’s hair. The £4 a
  week was a lure which must draw him, and what was it ta
  them, who were playing for thousands? They put in the ad
  54 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  vertisement, one rogue has the temporary office, the other
  rogue incites the man to apply for it, and together they manage
  to secure his absence every morning in the week. From
  the time that I heard of the assistant having come for half
  wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive
  for securing the situation.”
  ‘“* But how could you guess what the motive was?”
  “Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected
  a mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the
  question. The man’s business was a small! one, and there
  was nothing in his house which could account for such elaborate
  preparations, and such an expenditure as they were at.
  It must, then, be something out of the house. What could it
  be? I thought of the assistant’s fondness for photography,
  and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar! There
  was the end of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as
  to this mysterious assistant, and found that I had to deal with
  one of the coolest and most daring criminals in London. He
  was doing something in the cellar—something which took
  many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once
  more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a
  tunnel to some other building.
  “So far I had got when we went to visit the scene cf
  action. I surprised you by beating upon the pavement with
  my stick. I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out
  in front or behind. It was not in front. Then I rang the bell,
  and, as I hoped, the assistant answered it. We have had
  some skirmishes, but we had never set eyes upon each cther
  before. I hardly looked at his face. His knees were what I
  wished to see. You must yourself have remarked how worn,
  wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of those hours
  of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they were
  burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw that the City
  and Suburban Bank abutted on our friend’s premises, and felt
  that I had solved my problem. When you drove home after
  the concert I called upon Scotland Yard, and upon the chair.
  THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 55
  man of the bank directors, with the result that you have
  seen.”
  “And how could you tell that they would make their avtempt
  to-night?” I asked.
  “ Well, when they closed their League offices that was a
  sign that they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson’s presence—
  in other words, that they had completed their tunnel.
  But it was essential that they should use it soon, as it might
  be discovered, or the bullion might be removed. Saturday
  would suit them better than any other day, as it would give
  them two days for their escape. For all these reasons I expected
  them to come to-night.”
  “Vou reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed, in unfeigned
  admiration. “It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings
  ue.”
  “Tt saved me from ennui,” he answered, yawning. “Alas!
  I already feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one
  long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence.
  These little problems help me to do so.”
  *‘ And you are a benefactor of the race,” said I.
  He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, perhaps, after all, it is
  of some little use,” he remarked. “‘L’homme c’est rien—
  Vceuvre c’est tout,’ as Gustave Flaubert wrote to Georges
  Sand.”
  Hoventure 11a
  A CASE OF IDENTITY
  $5, Y dear fellow,” said Sherlock Holmes, as we sat on
  either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker
  Street, “life is infinitely stranger than anything
  ree which the mind of man could invent. We would
  not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces
  of existence. If we could fly out of that window
  hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the
  roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the
  strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the
  wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and
  leading to the most oufré results, it would make all fiction
  with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale
  and unprofitable.”
  “And yet I am not convinced of it,” I answered. “The
  zases which come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald
  enough, and vulgar enough. We have in our police reports
  realism pushed to its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it
  must be confessed, neither fascinating nor artistic.”
  “A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing
  a realistic effect,” remarked Holmes. “This is wanting
  in the police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps,
  upon the platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details,
  which to an observer contain the vital essence of the whole
  matter. Depend upon it there is nothing so unnatural as the
  commonplace.”
  I smiled and shook my head. “I can quite understand you
  thinking so,” I said. “Of course. in your position of um
  A CASE OF IDENTITY $7
  official adviser and helper to everybody who is absolutely
  puzzled, throughout three continents, you are brought in con.
  tact with all that is strange and bizarre. But here ”—] picked
  up the morning paper from the ground—“ let us put it to a
  practical test. Here is the first heading upon which I come.
  ‘A husband’s cruelty to his wife.’ There is half a columr
  of print, but I know without reading it that it is all perfectly
  familiar to me. There is, of course, the other woman, the
  drink, the push, the blow, the bruise, the sympathetic sister
  or landlady. The crudest of writers could invent nothing
  moce crude.”
  “Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument,”
  said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye
  down it. “This is the Dundas separation case, and, as it
  happens, I was engaged in clearing up some small points in
  connection with it. The husband was a teetotaler, there was no
  other woman, and the conduct complained of was that he had
  drifted into the habit of winding up every meal by taking out
  his false teeth and hurling them at his wife, which, you will
  allow, is not an action likely to occur to the imagination of the
  average story-teller. Take a pinch of snuff, doctor, and acknowledge
  that I have scored over you in your example.”
  He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst
  in the centre of the lid. Its splendor was in such contrast to
  his homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting
  upon it.
  “Ah,” said he, “I forgot that I had not seen you for some
  weeks. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in
  return for my assistance in the case of the Irene Adler
  papers.”
  “ And the ring?” I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant
  which sparkled upon his finger.
  “It was from the reigning tamily of Holland, though the
  matter in which I served them was of such delicacy that I
  cannot confide it even to you, who have been good enough te
  thronicle one or two of my little problems.”
  5
  58 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “ And have you any on hand just now?” I asked, with in-
  ‘erest.
  “Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature
  of interest. They are important, you understand, without being
  interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in unimportant
  matters that there is a field for the observation,
  and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the
  charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be
  the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a
  rule, is the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate
  matter which has been referred to me from Marseilles,
  there is nothing which presents any features of interest. It is
  possible, however, that I may have something better before
  very many minutes are over, for this is one of my clients, or I
  am much mistaken.”
  He had risen from his chair, and was standing between the
  parted blinds, gazing down into the dull, neutral-tinted London
  street. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pave
  ment opposite there stood a large woman with a heavy fur
  boa round her neck, and a large curling red feather in a broad.
  brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquettish Duches-s of –
  Devonshire fashion over her ear. From under this great
  panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion’a t our
  windows, while her body oscillated backward and forward,
  and her fingers fidgetted with her glove buttons. Suddenly,
  with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves the b=7k, she
  hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp clan of the
  bell.
  “T have seen those symptoms be‘ore,” said Holmes, iar>wing
  his cigarette into the fire. “Oscillation upon the pave cat
  always means an affaire de ceur. She would like advice, out
  is not sure that the matter is not too delicate for communication.
  And yet even here we may discriminate. When a
  woman has been seriously wronged by a man she no longer
  oscillates, and the usual symptom is a broken bell wire. Here
  we may take it that there is a love matter, but that the maiden
  A CASE OF IDENTITY 59
  is not so mucn angry as perplexed, or grieved. But here she
  comes in person to resolve our doubts.”
  As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in
  buttons entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the
  lady herself loomed behind his small black figure like a fullsailed
  merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock
  Holmes welcomed her with the easy courtesy for which he was
  remarkable, and having closed the door, and bowed her into
  an arm-chair, he looked her over in the minute, and yet abstracted
  fashion which was peculiar to him.
  “Do you not find,” he said, “that with your short sight it
  is a little trying to do so much type-writing ?”
  “J did at first,” she answered, “but now I know where the
  letters are without looking.” Then, suddenly realizing’ the
  full purport of his words, she gave a violent start and looked
  up, with fear and astonishment upon her broad, good-humored
  face. “You’ve heard about me, Mr. Holmes,” she cried, “else
  how could you know all that?”
  “Never mind,” said Holmes, laughing; “it is my business
  to know things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what
  others overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?”
  “T came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs.
  Etherege, whose husband you found so easy when the police
  and every one had given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes,
  I wish you would do as much for me. I’m not rich, but still
  I have a hundred a year in my own right, besides the little
  that I make by the machine, and I would give it all to know
  what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel.”
  “Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry ?”
  asked Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together, and his
  eyes to the ceiling.
  Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face
  of Miss Mary Sutherland. “ Yes, I did bang out of the house,”
  she said, “for it made me angry to see the easy way in which
  Mr. Windibank—that is, my father—took it all. He would
  not go to the police, andhe would not go to you, and so at
  60 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  last, as he would do nothing, and kept on saying that tmere
  was no harm done, it made me mad, and I just on with my
  things and came right away to you.”
  “Your father,” said Holmes, “your step-father, eke since
  the name is different.”
  “Yes, my step-father. I call him father, though it sounas
  funny, too, for he is only five years and two months older
  than myself.”
  “ And your mother is alive?”
  “Oh yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn’t best pleased,
  Mr. Holmes, when she married again so soon after father’s
  death, and a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than
  herself. Father was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road,
  and he left a tidy business behind him, which mother carried
  on with Mr. Hardy, the foreman; but when Mr. Windibank
  came he made her sell the business, for he was very superior,
  being a traveller in wines. They got £4700 for the goodwill
  and interest, which wasn’t near as much as father could
  have got if he had been alive.”
  I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this
  rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary,
  he had listened with the greatest concentration of attention.
  “Your own little income,” he asked, “does it come out of
  the business ?”
  “Oh no, sir. It is quite separate, and was left me by my
  Uncle Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying
  44 per cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the
  amount, but I can only touch the interest.”
  “You interest me extremely,” said Holmes. “Ana since
  you draw so large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you
  earn into the bargain, you no doubt travel a little, and indulge
  yourself in every way. I believe that a single lady can get on
  very nicely upon an income of about £60.”
  “TI could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you
  understand that as long as I live at home I don’t wish to be
  a burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just
  A CASE OF IDENTITY 63
  while I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for
  the time, Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter,
  and pays it over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty
  well with what I earn at type-writing. It brings me twopence
  a sheet, and I can often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a
  day.”
  “You have made your position very clear to me,” said
  Holmes. “This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you
  can speak as freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all
  about your connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel.”
  A flush stole over Miss Sutherland’s face, and she picked
  nervously at the fringe of her jacket. “I met him first at the
  gasfitters’ ball,” she said. ‘They used to send father tickets
  when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us,
  and sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to
  go. He never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite
  mad if I wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat.
  But this time I was set on going, and I would go; for what
  right had he to prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us
  to know, when all father’s friends were to be there. And he
  said that I had nothing fit to wear, when I had my purple
  plush that I had never so much as taken out of the drawer.
  At last, when nothiny else would do, he went off to France
  upon the business of the firm, but we went, mother and I, with
  Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it was there I
  met Mr. Hosmer Angel.”
  “T suppose,” said Holmes, “ that when Mr. Windibank came
  back from France he was very annoyed at your having gone
  to the ball.”
  “Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember,
  and shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no
  use denying anything to a woman, for she would have her
  way.”
  “T see. Then at the gasfitters’ ball you met, as I understand,
  a gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel.”
  “Yes, sir, I met him that night, and he called next day to
  62 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  ask if we had got home all safe, and after that we met him—
  that is to say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but
  after that father came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel
  could not come to the house any more.”
  ING he
  “Well, you know, father didn’t like anything of the sort.
  He wouldn’t have any visitors if he could help it, and he used
  to say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle.
  But then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own
  circle to begin with, and I had not got mine yet.”
  “ But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt
  to see you?”
  “Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and
  Hosmer wrote and said that it would be safer and better not
  to see each other until he had gone. We could write in the
  mean time, and he used to write every day. I took the letters
  in in the morning, so there was no need for father to
  know.”
  “Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?”
  “Oh yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first
  walk that we took. Hosmer—Mr. Angel—was a cashier in
  an office in Leadenhall Street—and—”
  “What office ?” :
  “That’s the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don’t know.”
• Where did he live, then?”
  “He slept on the premises.”
• And you don’t know his address ?”
  “No—except that it was Leadenhall Street.”
  “Where did you address your letters, then ?”
  “To the Leadenhall Street Post-office, to be left till called
  for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be
  chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a
  lady, so I offered to type-write them, like he did his, but he
  wouldn’t have that, for he said that when I wrote them they
  seemed to come from me, but when they were type-written he
  always felt that the machine had come between us, That
  A CASE OF IDENTITY 63
  will just show you how fond he was of me, M.. Holmes, and
  the little things that he would think of.”
  “It was most suggestive,” said Holmes. “It has long been
  an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most
  important. Can you remember any other little things about
  Mr. Hosmer Angel?”
  “He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather
  walk with me in the evening than in the daylight, for he said
  that he hated to be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly
  he was. Even his voice was gentle. He’d had the
  quinsy and swollen glands when he was young, he told me,
  and it had left him with a weak throat, and a hesitating,
  whispering fashion of speech. He was always well dressed,
  very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just as mine are,
  and he wore tinted glasses against the glare.”
  “Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather,
  returned to France ?”
  “Mr, Hosmer Angel came to the house again, and proposed
  that we should marry before father came back. He was in
  dreadful earnest, and made me swear, with my hands on the
  Testament, that whatever happened I would always be true
  to him. Mother said he was quite right to make me swear,
  and that it was a sign of his passion. Mother was all in his
  favor from the first, and was even fonder of him than I was.
  Then, when they talked of marrying within the week, I began
  to ask about father; but they both said never to mind about
  father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother said she
  would make it all right with him. I didn’t quite like that, Mr.
  Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as he
  was only a few years older than me; but I didn’t want to do
  anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where
  ‘he company has its French offices, but the letter came back
  “0 me on the very morning of the wedding.”
  “Tt missed him, then ?”
  Ves, sir; for he had started to England just before it ar
  ved.”
  64 ADVENTUREs OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged,
  then, for the Friday. Was it to be in church ?”
  “Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour’s,
  near King’s Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards
  at the St. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom,
  but as there were two of us, he put us both into it, and stepped
  himself into a four-wheeler, which happened to be the only
  other cab in the street. We got to the church first, and when
  the four-wheeler drove up we waited for him to step out, but
  he never did, and when the cabman got down from the box
  and looked, there was no one there! The cabman said that
  he could not imagine what had become of him, for he had
  seen him get in with his own eyes. That was last Friday, Mr.
  Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything since then
  to throw any light upon what became of him.”
  “It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated,”
  said Holmes.
  “Oh no, sir! He was too good and kind to teave me SO.
  Why, all the morning he was saying to me that, whatever
  happened, I was to be true; and that even if something quite
  unforeseen occurred to separate us, I was alwavs to remember
  that I was pledged to him, and that he would claim his pledgr
  sooner or iater. It seemed strange talk for a wedding-morning,
  but what has happened since gives a meaning to it.”
  “Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that
  some unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him ?”
  Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he
  would not have talked so. And then I think that what he
  foresaw happened.”
  ® But you have no notion as to what it could have been?”
  None,”
  “One more question. How did your mother take the
  matter ?”
  “She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the
  matter again.”
  “ And your father? Did you tell him?”
  A CASE OF IDENTITY 6s
  “Yes , and he seemed to think, with me, that something nad
  sappened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he
  said, what interest could any one have in bringing me te the
  doors of the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had
  borrowed my money, or if he had married me and got my money
  settled on him, there might be some reason , but Hosmer
  was very independent about money, and never would look at
  a shilling of mine. And yet, what could have happened? An#
  why could he not write? Oh, it drives me half-mad to think
  of! and I can’t sleep a wink at night.” She pulled a little
  handkerchief out of her muff, and began to sob heavily into it.
  “T shall glance into the case for you,” said Holmes, rising ;
  “and I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result,
  Let the weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do
  not let your mind dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let
  Mr. Hosmer Angel vanish from your memory, as he has done
  from your life.”
  “Then you don’t think I’ll see him again ?”
  “7 fear not.”
  ‘Then what has happened to him?”
  “You will leave that question in my hands. I should like
  an accurate description of him, and any letters of his which
  you can spare.”
  “I advertised for him in last Saturday’s Chronicle,” said
  she. “Here is the slip, and here are four letters from him.”
  “Thank you. And your address?”
  No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell.”
  “Mr. Angel’s address you never had, I understand. Wheré
  is your father’s place of business ?”
  “ Fe travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret ime
  porters of Fenchurch Street.”
  “Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly.
  You will leave the papers here, and remember the advice
  which I have given you. Let the whole incident be a sealed
  book, and do not allow it to affect your life.”
  “ You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I
  66 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  shall be true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he
  comes back.”
  For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was
  something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which compelled
  our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon
  the table, and went her way, with a promise to come again
  whenever she might be summoned.
  Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his finger:
  tips still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of
  him, and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he
  took down from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was
  to him as a counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in
  his chair, with the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from
  him, and a look of infinite languor in his face.
  “Quite an interesting study, that maiden,” he observed. “I
  found her more interesting than her little problem, which, by
  the way, is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if
  you consult my index, in Andover in ’77, and there was something
  of the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea,
  however, there were one or two details which were new to me.
  But the maiden herself was most instructive.”
  “You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was
  quite invisible to me,” I remarked. ;
  “Not invisible, but unnoticed, Watson, You did not know
  where to look, and so you missed all that was important, I
  can never bring you to realize the importance of sleeves, the
  suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may
  hang from a boot-lace. Now, what did you gather from that
  woman’s appearance? Describe it.”
  “Well, she had a slate-colored, broad-brimmed straw hat,
  with a feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with
  black beads sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments.
  Her dress was brown, rather darker than coffee color,
  with a little purple plush at the neck and sleeves, Her
  gloves were grayish, and were worn through at the right forefinger.
  Her boots I didn’t observe. She had small, round,
  A CASE OF IDENTITY 67
  hanging gold ear-rings, and a general air of being fairly wellto-
  do, in a vulgar, comfortable, easy-going way.”
  Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and
  chuckled.
  “Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully.
  You have really done very well indeed. It is true that you
  have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon
  the method, and you have a quick eye for color. Never trust
  to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon
  details. My first glance is always at a woman’s sleeve. Ina
  man it is perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser.
  As you observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves,
  which is a most useful material for showing traces. The
  double line a little above the wrist, where the type-writist
  presses against the table, was beautifully defined. The sewing-
  machine, of the hand type, leaves a similar mark, but only
  on the left arm, and on the side of it farthest from the thumb,
  instead of being right across the broadest part, as this was.
  I then glanced at her face, and observing the dint of a pince.
  nez at either side of her nose, I ventured a remark upon short
  sight and type-writing, which seemed to surprise her.”
  “It surprised me.”
  “ But, surely, it was very obvious. I was then much surprised
  and interested on glancing down to observe that,
  though the boots which she was wearing were not unlike each
  other, they were really odd ones; the one having a slightly
  decorated toe-cap, and the other a plain one. One was buttoned
  only in the two lower buttons out of five, and the other
  at the first, third, and fifth, Now, when you see that a young
  lady, otherwise neatly dressed, has come away from home
  with odd boots, half-buttoned, it is no great deduction to say
  that she came away in a hurry.”
  ‘ And what else?” I asked, keenly interested, as I always
  was, by my friend’s incisive reasoning.
  “T noted, in passing, that she had written a note before
  leaving home, but after being fully dressed. You observed
  68 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  that her right glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not
  apparently see that both glove and finger were stained with
  viclet ink. She had written in a hurry, and dipped her pen
  too deep. It must have been this morning, or the mark would
  not remain clear upon the finger. All this is amusing, though
  rather elementary, but I must go back to business, Watson.
  Would you mind reading me the advertised description of Mr.
  Hosmer Angel ?”
  I held the little printed slip to the light. “ Missing,” it
  said, “on the morning of the 14th, a gentleman named Hosmer
  Angel. About 5 ft. 7 in. in height; strongly built, sallow
  complexion, black hair, a little bald in the centre, bushy,
  black side-whiskers and mustache; tinted glasses, slight infirmity
  of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, in black
  frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert chain,
  and gray Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over elasticsided
  boots. Known to have been employed in an office in
  Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing,” etc., etc.
  “That will do,” said Holmes. “As to the letters,” he continued,
  glancing over them, “ they are very commonplace.
  Absolutely no clew in them to Mr, Angel, save that he quotes
  Balzac once. There is one remarkable point, however, which
  will no doubt strike you.”
  “They are type-written,” I remarked.
  “Not only that, but the signature is type-written, Look at
  the neat little ‘Hosmer Angel’ at the bottom. There is a
  date, you see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street,
  which is rather vague. The point about the signature is very
  suggestive—in fact, we may call it conclusive.”
  “Of what ?”
  “My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly
  it bears upon the case?”
  “TI cannot say that I do, unless it were that he wished to
  be able to deny his signature if an action for breach of
  promise were instituted.”
  “No, that was not the point. However, T shall write twe
  A CASE OF IDENTITY 6g
  jetters, which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in
  the city, the other is to the young lady’s step-father, Mr.
  Windibank, asking him whether he could meet us here at six
  o’clock to-morrow evening. It is just as well that we should
  do business with the male relatives. And now, doctor, we
  can do nothing until the answers to those letters come, so we
  may put our little problem upon the shelf for the interim.” ©
  I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend’s subtle
  powers of reasoning, and extraordinary energy in action, that
  I felt that he must have some solid grounds for the assured
  and easy demeanor with which he treated the singular mystery
  which he had been called upon to fathom. Once only had
  I known him to fail, in the case of the King of Bohemia and
  of the Irene Adler photograph ; but when I looked back to the
  weird business of the Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances
  connected with the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it
  would be a strange tangle indeed which he could not unravel.
  left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the
  conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would
  find that he held in his hands all the clews which would lead
  up to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss
  Mary Sutherland.
  A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own
  attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy
  at the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon
  six o’clock that I found myself free, and was able to spring
  §nto a hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I
  might be too late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery.
  I found Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep,
  with his long, thin form curled up in the recesses of his armchair.
  A formidable array of bottles and test-tubes, with the
  pungent cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he
  had spent his day in the chemical work which was so dear to
  him.
  “Well, have you solved it?” I asked, as I entered.
  “Ves, It was the bisulphate of baryta.”
  qo ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “No, no, the mystery !” I cried.
  “Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working
  upon. There was never any mystery in the matter, though,
  as I said yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The
  only drawback is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch
  the scoundrel.”
  “Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting
  Miss Sutherland ?”
  The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes
  had not yet opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy
  footfall in the passage, and a tap at the door.
  “This is the girl’s step-father, Mr. James Windibank,” said
  Holmes. “He has written to me to say that he would be
  here at six. Come in!”
  The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow,
  some thirty years of age, clean shaven, and sallow skinned,
  with a bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully
  sharp and penetrating gray eyes. He shot a questioning
  glance at each of us, placed his shiny top hat upon the sideboard,
  and with a slight bow sidled down into the nearest
  chair.
  “ Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank,” said Holmes. “I
  think that this type-written letter is from you, in which you
  made an appointment with me for six o’clock ?”
  “Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not
  quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss
  Sutherland has troubled you about this little matter, for 1
  think it is far better not to wash linen of the sort in pubtic.
  It was quite against my wishes that she came, but she is a
  very excitable, impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and
  she is not easily controlled when she has made up her mind
  on a point. Of course, I did not mind you so much, as you
  are not connected with the official police, but it is not pleasant
  to have a family misfortune like this noised abroad. Be
  sides, it is a useless expense, for how could you possibly find
  this Hosmer Angel ?”
  A CASE OF IDENTITY 7%
  “On the contrary,” said Holmes, quietly; “I have every
  reason to believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer
  Angel.”
  Mr. Windibank gave a violent start, and dropped his gloves.
  “T am delighted to hear it,” he said. “Tt is a curious thing,” remarked Holmes, “that a typewriter has really quite as much individuality as a man’s. handwriting. Unless they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that in every case there is some © little slurring over of the ‘e,’ and a slight defect in the tail of the ‘r.’ There are fourteen other characteristics, but those are the more obvious.” “We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, and no doubt it is a little worn,” our visitor answered, glancing keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. “ And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, Mr. Windibank,” Holmes continued. “I think of writing another little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come from the missing man. They are all type-written. In each case, not only are the ‘e’s’ slurred and the ‘r’s’ tailless, but you will observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well.” Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair, and picked up his hat. “I cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes,” he said. “If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know when you have done it.” “Certainly,” said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in the door. “I let you know, then, that I have caught him !” “What! where?” shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips, and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. 92 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES “Oh, it won’t do—really it won’t,” said Holmes, suaveny, There is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It iy quite too transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That’s right! Sit down, and let us talk it over.” Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face, and a glitter of moisture on his brow. “It—it’s not actionable” be stammered. ‘I am very much afraid that it is not. But between our selves, Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong.” The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up on the corner of the mantel-piece, and, leaning back with his hands in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, than to us. “The man married a woman very much older than himself for her money,” said he, “and he enjoyed the use of the money of the daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her step-father do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of keeping her at home, and forbidding her to seek the company of people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and finaily announced her positive intention of going to a certain bali. What does her clever step-father do then? He conceives an idea more creditable to his head than to his heart A CASE OF IDENTITY 73 With the connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with a mustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the girl’s short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off other lovers by making love himself.” “Tt was only a joke at first,” groaned our visitor. ‘We never thought that she would have been so carried away.” “Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very decidedly carried away, and having quite made up her mind that her step-father was in France, the suspicion of treachery never for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the gentleman’s attentions, and the effect was increased by the loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as far as it would go, if a real effect were to be produced. There were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the girl’s affections from turning towards any one else. But the deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady’s mind, and prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a fourwheeler, and out at the other. J think that that was the chain of events, Mr. Windibank !” Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while 6 74 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES Holmes had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold sneer upon his pale face. “Tt may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes,” said he, “ but if you are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal constraint.” “The law cannot, as you say, touch you,” said Holmes, unlocking and throwing open the door, “yet there never was a man who deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!” he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon the man’s face, “it is not part of my duties to my client, but here’s a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat myself to—” He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. “There’s a cold-blooded scoundrel !” said Holmes, laughing, as he threw himself down into his chair once more. “That fellow will rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and ends on a gallows. The case has, in some re spects, been not entirely devoid of interest.” “T cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning,” I remarked. “Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the stepfather. ‘Then the fact that the two men were never together, but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curi ous voice, which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar A CASE OF IDENTITY 75 action in type-writing his signature, which, of course, inferred that his handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognize even the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same direction.” “ And how did you verify them ?” “ Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroporation. I knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed description, I eliminated everything from it which could be the result of a disguise —the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and’I sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me whether it answered to the description of any of their travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the type-writer, and I wrote to the man himself at his business address, asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his reply was type-written, and revealed the same trivial but characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, James Windibank. Voila tout /” “And Miss Sutherland ?” “Tf I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Persian saying, ‘There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman,’ There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge of the world.” Hoventure TV THE BGSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY Cp and I, when the maid brought in a telegram. It \ was from Sherlock Holmes, and ran in this way: Q “Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from the West of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. Leave Paddington by the ariz5.” “What do you say, dear?” said my wife, looking across at me. “Will you go?” “T really don’t know what to say. I have a fairly long list at present.” “Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes’s cases.” “T should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained through one of them,” I answered. “But if I am to go, I must pack at once, for I have only half an hour.” My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the effect of making. me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt figure made even gaunter and taller by his long gray travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 77 “Tt is really very good of you to come, Watson,” said he. “Tt makes a considerable difference to me, having some one with me on whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall get the tickets.” We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a gigantic ball, and tossed them up onto the rack. “Have you heard anything of the case?” he asked. “Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days.” “The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple cases which are so extremely difficult.” “That sounds a little paradoxical.” “ But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably aclew. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult is it to bring it home. In this case, however, they have established a very serious case against the son of the murdered man.” “Tt is a murder, then?” “ Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have been able to understand it, in a very few words. “Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia, and returned some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex-Australian. The mes had known each other in the colonizs, so that it was not unnat 78 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ural that when they came to settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his tenant, but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect equality, as they were frequentiy together. McCarthy had one son, a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have avoided the society of the neighboring English families, and to have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of sport, and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the neighborhood. McCarthy kept two servants—a man and a girl. Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the families. Now for the facts. “On June 3, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at Hatherley about three in the afternoon, and walked down to the Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out of the stream which runs down the Bos combe Valley. He had been out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came back alive. “From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. “The two McCarthys were seen after the time when Will iam Crowder, the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Bos THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 73 combe Pool is thickly-wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the edge. A girl of fourteen, Pa tience Moran, who is the daughter of the lodge- keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was ir: one of the woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their violence that she ran away, and told her mother when she reached home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the grass beside the Pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son’s gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the body. Under these circumstances the young man was in stantly arrested, and a verdict of ‘ Wilful Murder’ having been returned at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out before the coroner and at the police-court.” “I could hardly imagine a more damning ease) 1 res marked. “If ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so here.” « Circumstantial evidence 1s a very tricky thing,” answered Holmes, thoughtfully. “It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, 80 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising man ner to something entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people in the neighborhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighboring land-owner, who believe in his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are flying westward at fifty miles an hour, instead of quietly digesting their breakfasts at home.” “I am afraid,” said I, “that the facts are so obvious that you will find little credit to be gained out of this case.” “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact,” he answered, laughing. “ Besides, we may chance to hit upon some other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly perceive that in your bedrom the window is upon the right-hand side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted even so self-evident a thing as that.” “ How on earth—” “My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness which characterizes you. You shave every morning, and in this season you shave by the sunlight ; but since your shaving is less and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less well illuminated than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking at himself in an equal light, and being satisfied with such a result. I only quote this as a trivFHE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 8x ial example of observation and inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that it may be of some service in. the investigation which lies before us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in the inquest, and which are worth considering.” “What are they?” “Tt appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the coroner’s jury.” “Tt was a confession,” I ejaculated. ‘“‘No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence.” “Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at least a most suspicious remark.” “On the contrary,” said Holmes,” “it is the brightest rift which I can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, 1 should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so important, to raise ais hand as if to strike him. The self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind, rather than of a guilty one” 82 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES I shook my head. ‘Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence,” I remarked. “So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged.” “What is the young man’s own account of the matter ?” “It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. You will find it here, and may read it for yourself.” He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire paper, and having turned down the sheet, he pointed out the paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the corner of the carriage, and read it very carefully. It ran in this way: “Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called, and gave evidence as follows: ‘I had been away from home for three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at the time of my arrival, and ] was informed by the maid that he had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was going. I ehen took my gun, and strolled out in the direction of the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit-warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence: but he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father, I had no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards from the Pool I heard a cry of “Cooee!” which was a usual signal between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found him standing by the Pool. He appeared: to be much surprised at seeing me, and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A conversation ensued which led to hich words, an¢ almost to blows, for my THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 83 father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him, and returned towards Hatherley. Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun, and held him in my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner’s lodge-keeper, his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and forbidding in his manners; but he had, as far as I «now, no active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.’ “The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before he died ? “Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch ‘ some allusion to a rat. “The Coroner: What did you understand by that? “ Witness : It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was delirious. “The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father had this final quarrel ? “Witness : I should prefer not to answer. “ The Coroner : I am afraid that I must press it. “ Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which followed. “The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. “Witness: I must still refuse. “The Coroner: I understand that the cry of ‘ Cooee’ was a common signal between you and your father? 84 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES “Witness: It was. “The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol ? ‘Witness (with considerable confusion) : I do not know. “A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspiciens when you returned on hearing the cry, and found your father fatally injured ? “Witness : Nothing definite. “The Coroner : What do you mean ? “Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be something gray in color, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was gone. “Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for
  help ?”
  “Yes, it was gone.’
  “Vou cannot say what it was ?’
  “No, I had a feeling something was there.’ “ “How far from the body ?’ A dozen yards or so.’ “ And how far from the edge of the wood ?”
  *** About the same.’
  “Then if it was removed it was while you were within ¢
  dozen yards of it ?”
  “<Yes, but with my back towards it.’
  “This concluded the examination of the witness.”
  “T see,” said I, as I glanced down the column, “ that the
  coroner in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon
  young McCarthy. He calls attention, and with reason, to the
  discrepancy about his father having signalled to him before
  seeing him, also to his refusal to give details of his conversation
  with his father, and his singular account of his father’s
  THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 85
  dying words. They are all, as he remarks, very much against
  the son.”
  Holmes laughed softly to himself, and stretched himself out
  upon the cushioned seat. “Both you and the coroner have
  been at some pains,” said he, “to single out the very strongest
  points in the young man’s favor. Don’t you see that you
  alternately give him credit for having too much imagination
  and too little. Too little, if he could not invent a cause of
  quarrel which would give him the sympathy of the jury; too
  much, if he evolved from his own inner consciousness anything
  so outré as a dying reference to a rat, and the incident
  of the vanishing cloth. No, sir, I shall approach this case
  from the point of view that what this young man says is true,
  and we shall see whither that hypothesis will lead us. And
  now here is my pocket Petrarch, and not another word shall
  I say of this case until we are on the scene of action. We
  lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be there in twenty
  minutes.”
  It was nearly four o’clock when we at last, after passing
  through the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming
  Severn, found ourselves at the pretty little country-town
  of Ross. A lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was
  waiting for us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown
  dustcoat and leather-leggings which he wore in deference to
  his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognizing
  Lestrade, of Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the
  Hereford Arms, where a room had already been engaged
  for us.
  “T have ordered a carriage,” said Lestrade, as we sat over
  a cup of tea. ‘I knew your energetic nature, and that you
  would not be happy until you had been on the scene of the
  crime. ¢
  “Tt was very nice and complimentary of you,” Holmes
  answered. “It is entirely a question of barometric pressure.”
  Lestrade looked startled. “I do not quite follow,” he
  said,
  86 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “ How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and
  not a cloud in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here
  which need smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to
  the usual country hotel abomination. I do not think that it
  is probable that I shall use the carriage to-night.”
  Lestrade laughed indulgently. “You have, no doubt, al
  ready formed your conclusions from the newspapers,” he said,
  “The case is as plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes
  into it the plainer it becomes. Still, of course, one can’t re
  fuse a lady, and such a very positive one, too. She had heard
  of you, and would have your opinion, though I repeatedly told
  her that there was nothing which you could do which I had
  not already done. Why, bless my soul! here is her carriage
  at the door.”
  He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room
  one of the most lovely young women that I have ever seen
  in my life. Her violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink
  flush upon her cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost
  in her overpowering excitement and concern.
  “Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes !” she cried, glancing from one
  to the other of us, and finally, with a woman’s quick intuition,
  fastening upon my companion, “Iam so glad that you have
  come. I have driven down to tell you so. I know that James
  didn’t do it. I know it, and I want you to start upon your
  work knowing it, too. Never let yourself doubt upon that
  point. We have known each other since we were little children,
  and I know his faults as no one else does ; but he is too
  tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a charge is absurd to any
  one who really knows him.”
  ““T hope we may clear him, Miss Turner,” said Sherlock
  Holmes. “You may rely upon my doing all that I can.”
  “* But you have read the evidence. You have formed some
  conclusion? Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do
  you not yourself think that he is innocent?
  “T think that it is very probable.”
  “There, now!” she cried. throwing back her head, and
  THE BOSCOMBE WALLEY MYSTERY 87
  looking defiantly at Lestrade. “You hear! He gives me
  hopes.”
  “Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. “I am afraid that my
  colleague has been a little quick in forming his conclusions,”
  he said.
  “ But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James
  never did it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure
  that the reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner
  was because I was concerned in it.”
  “In what way?” asked Holmes.
  “It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his
  father had many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was
  very anxious that there should be a marriage between us.
  James and I have always loved each other as brother and siser;
  but of course he is young, and has seen very little of life
  yet, and—and—well, he naturally did not wish to do anything
  like that yet. So there were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was
  one of them.”
  “ And your father ?” asked Holmes. “ Was he in favor of
  such a union ?”
  “No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy
  was in favor of it.” A quick blush passed over her fresh
  young face as Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning
  glances at her.
  “Thank you for this information,” said he. “May I see
  your father if I call to-morrow ?”
  “ T am afraid the doctor won’t allow it.”
  “The doctor ?”
  “Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been
  strong for years back, but this has broken him down completely.
  He has taken to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that
  he is a wreck, and that his nervous system is shattered. Mr.
  McCarthy was the only man alive who had known dad in the
  old days in Victoria.”
  “Hal! In Victoria! That is important.”
  % Yes, at the mines.”
  88 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr
  Turner made his money.
  “ Yes, certainly.”
  “Thank you, Miss Turner, You have been of material
  assistance to me.”
  “You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. Neo
  doubt you will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do,
  Mr. Holmes, do tell him that I know him to be innocent.”
  “ T will, Miss Turner.”
  “I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses
  me so if I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your
  undertaking.” She hurried from the room as impulsively ag
  she had entered, and we heard the wheels of her carriage rat
  tle off down the street.
  “T am ashamed of you, Holmes,” said Lestrade, with dig:
  nity, after a few minutes’ silence. “Why should you raise up
  hopes which you are bound to disappoint? I am not overtender
  of heart, but I call it cruel.”
  “I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy,”
  said Holmes. ‘“ Have you an order ty see him in prison.”
  “Yes, but only for you and me.”
  “Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out.
  We have still time to take a train to Hereford and see him
  to-night ?”
  “ Ample.”
  “Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it
  very slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours.”
  I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered
  through the streets of the little town, finally returning to the
  hotel, where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in
  a yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin,
  however, when compared to the deep mystery through which
  we were groping, and I found my attention wander so continually
  from the fiction to the fact, that I at last flung it across
  the room, and gave myself up entirely to a consideration of
  the events of the day. Supposing that this unhappy young
  THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 89
  man’s story was absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what
  absolutely unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have
  occurred between the time when he parted from his father,
  and the moment when, drawn back by his screams, he rushed
  into the glade? It was something terrible and deadly. What
  could it be? Might not the nature of the injuries reveal
  something to my medical instincts? I rang the bell, and called
  for the weekly county paper, which contained a verbatim account
  of the inquest. In the surgeon’s deposition it was stated
  that the posterior third of the lett parietal bone and the
  ieft half of the occipital bone had been shattered by a heavy
  blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot upon my
  own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from
  behind. That was to some extent in favor of the accused, as
  when seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father.
  Still, it did not go for very much, for the older man might have
  turned his back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth
  while to call Holmes’s attention to it. Then there was the
  peculiar dying reference to a rat. What could that mean? It
  could not be delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow
  does not commonly become delirious. No, it was more likely
  to be an attempt to explain how he met his fate. But what
  could it indicate? I cudgelled my brains to find some possible
  explanation. And then the incident of the gray cloth,
  seen by young McCarthy. If that were true, the murderer
  must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his
  overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to
  return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was
  kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a
  tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was!
  I did not wonder at Lestrade’s opinion, and yet I had so much
  faith in Sherlock Holmes’s insight that I could not lose hope
  as long as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction
  of young McCarthy’s innocence.
  It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came
  back alone, for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town.
  7
  go ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “The glass still keeps very high,” he remarked, as he sat
  down. It is of importance that it should not rain before we
  are able to go over the ground. On the other hand, a maa
  should be at his very best and keenest for such nice work as
  that, and I did not wish to do it when fagged by a long
  journey. I have seen young McCarthy.”
  “ And what did you learn from him ?”
  “ Nothing.”
  “ Could he throw no light ?”
  “None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he
  knew who had done it, and was screening him or her, but I
  am convinced now that he is as puzzled as every one else. He
  is not a very quick-witted youth, though comely to look at,
  and, I should think, sound at heart.”
  “T cannot admire his taste,” I remarked, “if it is indeed a
  fact that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a
  young lady as this Miss Turner.”
  “Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is
  madly, insanely in love with her, but some two years ago,
  when he was only a lad, and before he really. knew her, for
  she had been away five years at a boarding-schcol, what does
  the idiot do but get into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol,
  and marry her at a registry office? No one knows a word of
  the matter, but you can imagine how maddening it must be to
  him to be upbraided for not doing what he would give his
  very eyes to do, but what he knows to be absolutely impossible.
  It was sheer frenzy of this sort which made him throw
  his hands up into the air when his father, at their last interview,
  was goading him on to propose to Miss Turner. On the
  other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, and his
  father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would have
  thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with
  his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in
  Bristol, and kis father did not know where he was. Mark
  that point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil,
  however, for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is
  ‘“ THE MAID SHOWED US THE BOOTS”

/ hee Pa TRE
Ca NG
j THE BOSCOmBs VALLEY MYSTERY of
in serious trouble, and likely to be hanged, has thrown him
over utterly, and has written to him to say that she has a
husband already in the Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is
really no tie between them. I think that that bit of news has
consoled young McCarthy for all that he has suffered.”
“ But if he is innocent, who has done it?”
“Ab! who? I would call your attention very particularly
to two points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment
with some one at the Pool, and that the some one
could not have been his son, for his son was away, and he did
not know when he would return. The second is that the
murdered man was heard to cry ‘Cooee!’ before he knew
that his son had returned. Those are the crucial points upon
which the case depends. And now let us talk about George
Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all minor matters
until to-morrow.”
There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning
broke bright and cloudless. At nine o’clock Lestrade
called for us with the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley
Farm and the Boscombe Pool.
“There is serious news this morning,” Lestrade observed.
“Tt is said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life
is despaired of.”
“ An elderly man, I presume?” said Holmes.
“ About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by
his life abroad, and he has been in failing health for some
time. This business has had a very bad effect upon him.
He was an old friend of McCarthy’s, and, I may add, a great
benefactor to him, for I have learned that he gave him
Hatherley Farm rent free.”
“Indeed! That is interesting,” said Holmes,
“Oh yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him.
Everybody about here speaks of his kindness to him.”
“Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that
this McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and
4o have been under such obligations to Turner, should still
92 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
talk of marrying his son to Turner’s daughter, who is, presum
ably, heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure
manner, as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else
would follow? It is the more strange, since we know that
Turner himself was averse to the idea. The daughter told us
as much. Do you not deduce something from that ?”
“We have got to the deductions and the inferences,” said
Lestrade, winking at me. “I find it hard enough to tackle
facts, Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies.”
“ Vou are right,” said Holmes, demurely; “you do find it
very hard to tackle the facts.”
“ Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it
difficult to get hold of,” replied Lestrade, with some warmth.
“ And that is—”
“That McCarthy, senior, met his death from McCarthy,
junior, and that all theories to the contrary are the merest
moonshine.”
“Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog,” said
Holmes, laughing. “But I am very much mistaken if this
is not Hatherley Farm upon the left.”
“Yes, that is it.” It was a wide-spread, comfortable-looking
building, two-storied, slate roofed, with great yellow blotches of
lichen upon the gray walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless
chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the
weight of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the
door, when the maid, at Holmes’s request, showed us the boots
which her master wore at the time of his death, and also a
pair of the son’s, though not the pair which he had then had.
Having measured these very carefully from seven or eight
different points, Holmes desired to be led to the court-yard,
from which we all followed the winding track which led to
Boscombe Pool.
Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon
such a scent at this. Men who had only known the quiet
thinker and logician of Baker Street would have failed te
recognize him. His face flushed and darkened. His brows
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 93
were drawn into two hard, black lines, while his eyes shone
out from beneath them with a steely glitter. His face was
pent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips compressed,
and the veins stood out like whip-cord in his long, sinewy
neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust
for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated
upon the matter before him, that a question or remark fell unheeded
upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick,
impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his
way along the track which ran through the meadows, and so
by way of the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp,
marshy ground, as is all that district, and there were marks
of many feet, both upon the path and amid the short grass
which bounded it on either side. Sometimes Holmes would
hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and once he made quite a little
détour into the meadow. Lestrade and I walked behind
him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while I
watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the
conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards
a definite end.
The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of
water some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between
the Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy
Mr. Turner. Above the woods which lined it upon the farther
side we could see the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the
site of the rich land-owner’s dwelling. On the Hatherley side
of the Pool the woods grew very thick, and there was a narrow
belt of sodden grass twenty paces across between the edge
of the trees and the reeds which lined the lake. Lestrade
showed us the exact spot at which the body had been found,
and, indeed, so moist was the ground, that I could plainly see
the traces which had been left by the fall of the stricken man.
To Holmes, as I could see by his eager face and peering eyes,
very many other things were to be read upon the trampled
grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking up a scent,
and then turned upon my companion. _
04 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
“ What did you go into the Pool for ?”’ he asked.
“T fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some
weapon or other trace. But how on earth—”
“Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours
with its inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace
it, and there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it
would all have been had I been here before they came like a
herd of buffalo, and wallowed all over it. Here is where the
party with the lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all
tracks for six or eight feet round the body. But here are
three separate tracks of the same feet.” He drew out a lens,
and lay down upon his waterproof to have a better view, talking
all the time rather to himself than to us. “These are
young McCarthy’s feet. Twice he was walking, and once he
ran swiftly so that the soles are deeply marked, and the heels
hardly visible. That bears out his story. He ran when he
saw his father on the ground. Then here are the father’s feet
as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It is the buttend
of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? Ha,
ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too,
quite unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again—
of course that was for the cloak. Now where did they come
from?” He ran up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes
finding the track until we were well within the edge of the
wood, and under the shadow of a great beech, the largest tree
in the neighborhood. Holmes traced his way to the farther
side of this, and lay down once more upon his face with a little
cry of satisfaction. For a long time he remained there,
turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering up what
seemed to me to be dust into an envelope, and examining
with his lens not only the ground, but even the bark of the
tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying
among the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained.
Then he followed a pathway through the wood until
he came to the high-road, where all traces were lost.
“It has been a case of considerable interest,” he remarked,
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 95
returning to his natural manner. “I fancy that this gray
house on the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go
in and have a word with Moran, and perhaps write a little
note. Having done that, we may drive back to our luncheon.
You may walk to the cab, and I shall be with you presently.”
It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab, and
drove back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the
stone which he had picked up in the wood.
“This may interest you, Lestrade,” he remarked, holding it
out. ‘The murder was done with it.”
“T see no marks.”
“There are none.”
“ How do you know, then ?”
“The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a
few days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been
taken. It corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of
any other weapon.”
“ And the murderer ?”
“Ts a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears
thick-soled shooting-boots and a gray cloak, smokes Indian
cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt penknife in his
pocket. There are several other indications, but these may
be enough to aid us in our search.”
Lestrade laughed. “I am afraid that I am still a sceptic,”
he said. “Theories are all very well, but we have to deal
with a hard-headed British jury.”
“ Nous verrons,’ answered Holmes, calmly. “You work
your own method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy
this afternoon, and shall probably return to London by the
evening train.”
“ And leave your case unfinished ?”
“No, finished.”
‘But the mystery ?”
“Tt is solved.”
“Who was the criminal, then?”
“The gentleman I describe”
96 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
“ But who is he ?”
“Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not
such a populous neighborhood.”
Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. “Iam a practical man,”
he said, “and I really cannot undertake to go about the country
looking for a left-handed gentleman with a game-leg. I
should become the laughing-stock of Scotland Yard.”
“All right,” said Holmes, quietly. “I have given you the
chance. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop
you a line before I leave.”
Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel,
where we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent
and buried in thought with a pained expression upon his face,
as one who finds himself in a perplexing position.
“Look here, Watson,” he said, when the cloth was cleared ;
‘just sit down in this chair and let me preach to you for a
little. I don’t quite know 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 in-
Stantly, although they impressed me in his favor 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 ear-shot. The ‘Cooee!’ was meant
to attract the attention of whoever it was that he had the ap:
pointment with. But ‘Cooee’ is a distinctly Australian cry,
and one which is used between Australians. There is a strong
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 97
presumption that the person whom McCarthy expected to
meet him at Boscombe Pool was some one 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?”
he asked.
“ ARAT,” I read.
“ And now?” He raised his hand.
“BALLARAT.”
“Quite so. Tha: 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 murderer. So-and-so, of Ballarat.”
“Tt is wonderful !” I exclaimed.
“It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field
down considerably. The possession of a gray garment was a
third point which, granting the son’s statement to be correct,
was a certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness
to the definite conception of an Australian from Ballarat with
a gray Cloak.”
“ Certainly.”
“ And one who was at home in the district, for the Pool
can only be approached by the farm or by the estate, where
strangers could hardly wander.”
‘Quite so.”
«Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination
of the ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that
imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal.”
“ But how did you gain them 2”
“You know my method. It is founded upon the observance
of trifles.”
“His height I know that you might roughly judge from the
length of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their
traces.”
98 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
“Yes, they were peculiar boots.”
** But his lameness ?”
“The impression of his right foot was always less distinct
than his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because
he limped—he was lame.”
“ But his left-handedness.”
“You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as
recorded by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck
from immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side.
Now, how can that be unless it were by a left-handed man?
He had stood behind that tree during the interview between
the father and son. He had even smoked there. I found the
ash of a cigar, which my special knowledge of tobacco ashes
enabled me to pronounce as an Indian cigar. I have, as you
know, devoted some attention to this, and written a little
monograph on the ashes of 140 different varieties of pipe,
cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the ash, I then
looked round and discovered the stump among the moss
where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety
which are rolled in Rotterdam.”
“ And the cigar-holder ?”
“I could see that the end had not been in his mouth.
Therefore he used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not
bitten off, but the cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a
blunt pen-knife.”’
“ Holmes,” I said, “you have drawn a net round this man
from which he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent
human life as truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging
him. I see the direction in which all this points. The
culprit is—”
“Mr. John Turner,” cried the hotel waiter, opening the door
of our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor.
The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure.
His slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance
of decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy feat:
ures, and his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 99
of unusual strength of body and of character. His tangled
beard, grizzled hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined
to give an air of dignity and power to his appearance,
but his face was of an ashen white, while his lips and the corners
of his nostrils were tinged with a shade of blue, It was
clear to me at a glance that he was in the grip of some deadly
and chronic disease.
“Pray sit down on the sofa,” said Holmes, gently. “You
had my note?”
“Ves, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that ie
wished to see me here to avoid scandal.”
“T thought people would talk if I went to the Hall.”
“ And why did you wish to see me?” He looked across at
my companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his
question was already answered.
“Yes,” said Holmes, answering the look rather than the
words. “Itisso. I know all about McCarthy.”
The old man sank his face in his hands. ‘God help me!”
he cried. “ But I would not have let the young man come to
harm. I give you my word that I would have spoken out if it
went against him at the Assizes.”
“T am glad to hear you say so,” said Holmes, gravely.
“T would have spoken now had it not been for my dear
girl. It would break her heart—it will break her heart when
she hears that I am arrested.”
“It may not come to that,” said Holmes.
“What !”
“T am no official agent. I understand that it was your
daughter who required my presence here, and I am acting in
her interests. Young McCarthy must be got off, however.”
“Tam a dying man,” said old Turner. “I have had diabetes
for years. My doctor says it is a question whether I
shall live a month. Yet I would rather die under my own
roof than in a jail.”
Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his
hand and a bundle of paper before him. “Just tell us the
100 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
truth,” he said. “I shall jot down the facts. You will sign
it, and Watson here can witness it. Then I could produce
your confession at the last extremity to save young McCarthy.
I promise you that I shall not use it unless it is absolutely
needed.”
“Tt’s as well,” said the old man; “it’s a question whether
I shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I
should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make
the thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting,
but will not take me long to tell.
“You didn’t know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a
devil incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the
clutches of such a man as he. His grip has been upon me
these twenty years, and he has blasted my life. I’ll tell you
first how I came to be in his power.
“It was in the early sixties at the diggings. I was a young
chap then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand
at anything ; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had
no luck with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became
what you would call over here a highway robber. There
were six of us, and we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a
station from time to time, or stopping the wagons on the road
to the diggings. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went
ander, and our party is still remembered in the colony as the
Ballarat Gang.
“One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne,
and we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were
six troopers and six of us,so it was a close thing, but we emptied
four of their saddles at the first volley. Three of our
boys were killed, however, before we got the swag. I put my
pistol to the head of the wagon-driver, who was this very man
McCarthy. I wish to the Lord that I had shot him then, but
I spared him, though I saw his wicked little eyes fixed on my
face, as though to remember every feature. We got away with
the gold, became wealthy men, and made our way over to
England without being suspected. There I parted from my
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 101i
old pals, and determined to settle down to a quiet and respectable
life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in the
market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money,
to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married,
too, and though my wife died young, she left me my dear little
Alice. Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed
to lead me down the right path as nothing else had ever done.
In a word, I turned over a new leaf, and did my best to make
up for the past. All was going well when McCarthy laid his
grip upon me.
“J had gone up to town about an investment, and I met
him in Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot
to his foot.
“¢‘ Here we are, Jack,’ says he, touching me on the arm;
‘we’ll be as good as a family to you. There’s two of us, me
and my son, and you can have the keeping of us. If you
don’t—it’s a fine, law-abiding country is England, and there’s
always a policeman within hail.’
“Well, down they came to the West country, there was no
shaking them off, and there they have lived rent free on my
best land ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no
forgetfwness; turn where I would, there was his cunning,
grinning face at my elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up,
for he soon saw I was more afraid of her knowing my past
than of the police. Whatever he wanted he must have, and
whatever it was I gave him without question, land, money,
houses, until at last he asked a thing which I could not give.
He asked for Alice.
“His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and
as I was known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke
to him that his lad should step into the whole property. But
there I was firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed
with mine; not that I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood
was in him, and that was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy
threatened. I braved him to do his worst. We were to meet
at the Pool midway between our houses to talk it over.
102 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
“When I went down there I found him talking with his
son, so I smoked a cigar, and waited behind a tree until he
should be alone. But as I listened to his talk all that was
black and bitter in me seemed to come uppermost. He was
urging his son to marry my daughter with as little regard for
what she might think as if she were a slut from off the streets.
It drove me mad to think that I and all that I held most dear
should be in the power of such a man as this. Could I not
snap the bond? I was already a dying and a desperate man.
Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, I knew that
my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl!
Both could be saved, if I could but silence that foul tongue.
I did it, Mr. Holmes. I would doit again. Deeply as I have
sinned, I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But
that my girl should be entangled in the same meshes which
held me was more than I could suffer. I struck him down
with no more compunction than if he had been some foul and
venomous beast. His cry brought back his son; but I had
gained the cover of the wood, though I was forced to go back
to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in my flight. That is
the true story, gentlemen, of all that occurred.”
“Well, it is not for me to judge you,” said Holmes, as the
old man signed the statement which had been drawn out,
“T pray that we may never be exposed to such a temptation.”
“T pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?”
“Tn view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware
that you will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher
court than the Assizes. I will keep your confession, and, if
McCarthy is condemned, I shall be forced to use it, If not,
it shall never be seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether
you be alive or dead, shall be safe with us.”
“Farewell, then,” said the old man, solemnly. “Your own
death-beds, when they come, will be the easier for the thought
of the peace which you have given to mine.” Tottering and
shaking in all his giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the
room.
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 103
“God help us!” said Holmes, after a long silence. “Why
does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never
hear of such a case as this that I do not think of Baxter’s
words, and say, ‘There, but for the grace of God, goes Shertock
Holmes.’ ”
James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes, on the
strength of a number of objections which had been drawn out
by Holmes, and submitted to the defending counsel. Old
Turner lived for seven months after our interview, but he is
now dead; and there is every prospect that the son and
daughter may come to live happily together, in ignorance of
the black cloud which rests upon their past.
Hodventure w
THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS
(3, Sherlock Holmes cases between the years ’82 and
\ ’go, I am faced by so many which present strange
ACA and interesting features that it is no easy matter
to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however,
have already gained publicity through the papers, and
others have not offered a field for those peculiar qualities
which my friend possessed in so high a degree, and which it
is the object of these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have
baffled his analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginhings
without an ending, while others have been but partially
cleared up, and have their explanations founded raiher upon
conjecture and surmise than on that absolute logical proof
which was so dear to him. There is, however, one of these
last which was so remarkable in its details and so startling in
its results that I am tempted to give some account of it, in
spite of the fact that there are points in connection with it
which never have been, and probably never will be, entirely
cleared up.
The year ’87 furnished us with a long series of cases of
greater or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among
my headings under this one twelve months I find an acconnt
of the adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur
Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower
vault of a furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the
loss of the British bark Sophy Anderson, of the singular ad:
ventures of the Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and
THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS fO§
finally of the Camberwell poisoning case In the latter. as
may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding
up the dead man’s watch, to prove that it had been wound up
two hours before, and that therefore the deceased had gone to
bed within that time—a deduction which was of the greatest
importance in clearing up the case. All these I may sketch
out at some future date, but none of them present such singular
features as the strange train of circumstances which I have
now taken up my pen to describe.
It was in the latter days of September, and thee el
gales had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind
had screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows,
so that even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we
were forced to raise our minds for the instant from the routine
of life, and to recognize the presence of those great elemental
forces which shriek at mankind through the bars of
his civilization, like untamed beasis in a cage. As evening
drew in, the storm grew higher and louder, and the wind cried
and sobbed like a child in the chimney. Sherlock Holmes
sat moodily at one side of the fireplace cross- indexing his
records of crime, while I at the other was deep in one of Clark
Russell’s fine sea-stories, until the howl of the gale from without
seemed to blend with the text, and the splash of the rain
to lengthen out into the long swash of the sea waves. My
wife was on a visit to her mother’s, and for a few days I was
a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street.
“Why,” said I, glancing up at my companion, “that was
surely the bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of
yours, perhaps?”
“Except yourself I have none,” he answered. “I do not en:
courage visitors.”
“ A client, then ?”
“If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a
man out on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it
that it is more likely to be some crony of the landlady’s.”
Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for
g
106 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
there came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door,
He stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from’
himself and towards the vacant chair upon which a new-comer
must sit. ‘Come in!” said he.
The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at
the outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of
refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The steaming umbrella
which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof
told of the fierce weather through which he had come.
He looked about him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and
I could see that his face was pale and his eyes heavy, like
those of a man who is weighed down with some great anxiety,
“T owe you an apology,” he said, raising his golden pincenez
to his eyes. “I trust that I am not intruding. I fear
that I have brought some traces of the storm and rain into
your snug chamber.”
“Give me your coat and umbrella,” said Holmes. “They
may rest here on the hook, and will be dry presently. You
have come up from the south-west, I see.”
“Yes, from Horsham.”
“That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe
caps is quite distinctive.”
“T have come for advice.”
“That is easily got.”
“ And help.”
“That is not always so easy.”
“TI have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major
Prendergast how you saved him in the Tankerville Club
Scandal.”
“Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at
cards.”
“He said that you could solve anything.”
“He said too much.”
“That you are never beaten.”
“T have been beaten four times—three times by men, and
once by a woman.”
THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 107
“But what is that compared with the number of your suc
cesses ?”
“Tt is true that I have been generally successful.”
“Then you may be so with me.”
*‘T beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire, and favor
me with some details as to your case.”
“Tt is no ordinary one.”
“None of those which come to me are. I am the last court
of appeal.”
“And yet I question, sir, wnether, in all your experience,
you have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable
chain of events than those which have happened in my own
family.”

• Vou fill me with interest,” said Holmes. “Pray give us
  the essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards
  question you as to those details which seem to me to be
  most important.”
  The young man pulled his chair up, and pushed his wet
  feet out towards the blaze.
  “My name,” said he, “is John Openshaw, but my own affairs
  have, as far as I can understand it, little to do with this
  awful business. It is an hereditary matter; so in order to give
  you an idea of the facts, I must go back to the commence.
  ment of the affair.
  “You must know that my grandfather had two sons—my
  uncle Elias and my father Joseph. My father had a small
  factory at Coventry, which he enlarged at the time of the in
  vention of bicycling. He was the patentee of the Openshaw
  unbreakable tire, and his business met with such success that
  he was able to sell it, and to retire upon a handsome competence.
  “My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a
  young man, and became a planter in Florida, where he was
  reported to have done very well. At the time of the war
  he fought in Jackson’s army, and afterwards under Hood,
  where he rose to be a colonel. When Lee laid down his arms
  108 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  my uncle returned to his plantation, where he remained fot
  three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came back ta
  Europe, and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham.
  He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and
  his reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes,
  and his dislike of the Republican policy in extending the
  franchise to them. He was a singular man, fierce and quicktempered,
  very foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a
  most retiring disposition. During all the years that he lived
  at Horsham I doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had
  a garden and two or three fields round his house, and there
  he would take his exercise, though very often for weeks on
  end he would never leave his room. He drank a great deal
  of brandy, and smoked very heavily, but he would see no society,
  and did not want any friends, not even his own brother.
  “He didn’t mind me, in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at
  the time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or
  so. This would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight
  or nine years in England. He begged my father to let me
  live with him, and he was very kind to me in his way. When
  he was sober he used to be fcnd of playing backgammon and
  draughts with me, and he would make me his representative
  both with the servants and with the tradespeople, so that by
  the time that I was sixteen I was quite master of the house.
  I kept all the keys, and could go where I liked and do what I
  liked, so long as I did not disturb him in his privacy. There
  was one singular exception, however, for he had a single room,
  a lumber-room up among the attics, which was invariably
  locked, and which he would never permit either me or anyone
  else to enter. With a boy’s curiosity I have peeped through
  the key-hole, but I was never able to see more than such a
  collection cf old trunks and bundles as would be expected in
  such a room,
  “One day—it was in March, 1883—a letter with a foreign
  stamp lay upon the table in front of the Colonel’s plate. It
  was not acommon thing for him to receive letters, for his bills
  THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 10g
  were all paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any
  sort. ‘From India! said he, as he took it up, ‘ Pondicherry
  postmark! What can this be?’ Opening it hurriedly, out
  there jumped five little dried orange pips, which pattered
  down upon his plate. I began to laugh at this, but the laugh
  was struck from my lips at the sight of his face. His lip had
  fallen, his eyes were protruding, his skin the color of putty,
  and he glared at the envelope which he still held in his trembling
  hand. ‘K.K. K.!’ he shrieked, and then, ‘My God, my
  God, my sins have overtaken me!’
  “¢What is it, uncle?’ I cried.
  “¢ Death,’ said he, and rising from the table he retired to
  his room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the
  envelope, and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap,
  just above the gum, the letter K three times repeated. There
  was nothing else save the five dried pips. What could be the
  reason of his overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table,
  and as I ascended the stair I met him coming down with an
  old rusty key, which must have belonged to the attic, in one
  hand, and a small brass box, like a cash-box, in the other.
  “¢They may do what they like, but I’ll checkmate them
  still,’ said he, with an oath. ‘Tell Mary that I shall want a
  fire in my room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham
  lawyer.’
  “T did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was
  asked to step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly,
  and in the grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of
  burned paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside
  it. As I glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that
  upon the lid were printed the treble K which I had read in the
  morning upon the envelope.
  **¢T wish you, John,’ said my uncle, ‘to witness my will. I
  leave my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages
  to my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend
  to you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good}
  Tf you find you cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it
• § fe) ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  to your deadliest enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two
  edged thing, but I can’t say what turn things are going te
  take. Kindly sign the paper where Mr. Fordham shows you.
  “I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it
  away with him. The singular incident made, as you may
  think, the deepest impression upon me, and I pondered over
  it, and turned it every way in my mind without being able to
  make anything of it. Yet I could not shake off the vague
  feeling of dread which it left behind though the sensation
  grew less keen as the weeks passed, and nothing happened to
  disturb the usual routine of our lives. I could see a change
  in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, and he was
  less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his time he
  would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the inside,
  but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken
  frenzy, and would burst out of the house and tear about the
  garden with a revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was
  afraid of no man, and that he was not to be cooped up, like a
  sheep in a pen, by man or devil. When these hot fits were
  over, however, he would rush tumultuously in at the door, and
  lock and bar it behind him, like a man who can brazen it out
  no longer against the terror which lies at the roots of his soul,
  At such times I.have seen his face, even on a cold day, glisten
  with moisture, as though it were new raised from a
  basin. ;
  “Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and
  not to abuse your patience, there came a night when he made
  one of those drunken sallies from which he never came back.
  We found him, when we went to search for him, face downward
  in a little green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of
  the garden. There was no sign of any violence, and the water
  was but two feet deep, so that the jury, having regard to
  his known eccentricity, brought in a verdict of suicide. But
  I, who knew how he winced from the very thought of death,
  had much ado to persuade myself that he had gone out of his
  way to meet it. The matter passed, however, and my father
  THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS Irl
  entered into possession of the estate, and of some £14,000,
  which lay to his credit at the bank.”
  “One moment,” Holmes interposed. “ Your statement is,
  I foresee, one of the most remarkable to which I have ever
  listened. Let me have the date of the reception by your uncle
  of the letter, and the date of his supposed suicide.”
  “The latter arrived on March 1o, 1883. His death was
  seven weeks later, upon the night of May 2d.”
  “Thank you. Pray proceed.”
  “When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at
  my request, made a careful examination of the attic, which
  had been always locked up. We found the brass box there,
  although its contents had been destroyed. On the inside of
  the cover was a paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated
  upon it, and ‘ Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register’
  written beneath. These, we presume, indicated the
  nature of the papers which had been destroyed by Colonel
  Openshaw. For the rest, there was nothing of much importance
  in the attic, save a great many scattered papers and
  note-books bearing upon my uncle’s life in America. Some of
  them were of the war time, and showed that he had done his
  duty well, and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. Others
  were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern
  States, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had
  evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag politicians
  who had been sent down from the North.
  “Well, it was the beginning of ’84 when my father came to
  live at Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until
  the January of 8s. On the fourth day after the new year I
  heard my father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together
  at the breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a
  newly-opened envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips
  in the outstretched palm of the other one. He had always
  laughed at what he called my cock-and-a-bull story about the
  Colonel, but he looked very scared and puzzled now that the
  same thing had come upon himself.
  112 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Why, what on earth does this mean, John? ne stam
  mered.
  “My heart had turned to lead. ‘It is K. K. K.,: said I.
  “He looked inside the envelope. ‘So it is,’ he cried,
  “Here are the very letters. But what is this written above
  them ?’
  “Put the papers on the sundial,’ I read, peeping over his .
  shoulder.
  “What papers? What sundial?’ he asked.
  “The sundial in the garden. There is no other,’ said I;
  “but the papers must be those that are destroyed.’
  “Pooh! said he, gripping hard at his courage. ‘We are
  in a civilized land here, and we can’t have tomfoolery of this
  kind. Where does the thing come from ?’
  “From Dundee,’ I answered, glancing at the post-mark. “Some preposterous practical joke,’ said he. ‘What have I to do with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such nonsense.’ “T should certainly speak to the police,’ I said.
  “* And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.’
  “<Then let me do so?’
  “*No, I forbid you. I won’t have a fuss made about such
  nonsense.”
  “Tt was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate
  man. I went about, however, with a heart which was.
  full of forebodings.
  “On the third day after the coming of the letter my father
  went from home to visit an old friend of his, Major F reebody,
  who is in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill.
  I was glad that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was
  farther from danger when he was away from home. In that,
  however, I was in error. Upon the’second day of his absence
  I received a telegram from the Major, imploring me to come
  at once. My father had fallen over one of the deep chalkpits
  which abound in the neighborhood, and was lying senseless,
  with a shatterea skull. I hurried to him, but he passed
  ‘THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 1i3
  away without having ever recovered his consciousness. He
  had, as it appears, been returning from Fareham in the twilight,
  and as the country was unknown to him, and the chalkpit
  unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in bringing in a verdict
  of ‘Death from accidental causes.’ Carefully as I examined
  every fact connected with his death, I was unable to
  find anything which could suggest the idea of murder. There
  were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no robbery, no record
  of strangers having been seen upon the roads. And yet I
  need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, and that
  I was wellnigh certain that some foul plot had been woven
  round him.
  ‘In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will
  ask me why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was
  well convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent
  upon an incident in my uncle’s life, and that the danger would
  be as pressing in one house as in another.
  “Tt was in January, 85, that my poor father met his end,
  and two years and eight months have elapsed since then.
  During that time I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had
  begun to hope that this curse had passed away from the family,
  and that it had ended with the last generation. I had begun
  to take comfort too soon, however; yesterday morning the
  blow fell in the very shape in which it had come upon my
  father.”
  The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope,
  and, turning to the table, he shook out upon it five
  little dried orange pips.
  “This is the envelope,” he continued. “The post-mark is
  London—eastern division. Within are the very words which
  were upon my father’s last message: ‘K, K. K.’; and then
  *Put the papers on the sundial.’”
  “ What have you done?” asked Holmes.
  “ Nothing.”
  “ Nothing ?”
  “To tell the truth”—he sank his face into his thin, white
  i1I4 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  hands—“T have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those
  poor rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem
  to be in the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which
  no foresight and no precautions can guard against.”
  “Tut! tut!” cried Sherlock Holmes. “You must act, man,
  or you are lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is
  no time for despair.”
  “T have seen the police.”
  CARL
  “But they listened to my story with a smile. I am con
  vinced that the inspector has formed the opinion that the
  letters are all practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations
  were really accidents, as the jury stated, and were not
  to be connected with the warnings.”
  Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. “Incredible
  imbecility !” he cried.
  “They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may
  remain in the house with me.”
  “Has he come with you to-night ?”
  “No. His orders were to stay in the house.”
  Again Holmes raved in the air.
  “Why did you come to me?” he said; “and, above all,
  why did you not come at once?” |
  “T did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Majoi
  Prendergast about my troubles, and was advised by him to
  come to you.”
  “It is really two days since you had the letter. We should
  have acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose,
  than that which you have placed before us—no suggestive
  detail which might help us ?” .
  “There is one thing,” said John Openshaw. He rummaged
  in his coat pocket, and drawing out a piece of discolored,
  blue-tinted paper, he laid it out upon the table. “I have
  some remembrance,” said he, “that on the day when my uncle
  burned the papers I observed that the small, unburned margins
  which lay amid the ashes were of this particular color:
  THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS IIs
  I found this single sheet upon the floor of his room, and I am
  inclined to think that it may be one of the papers which has,
  perhaps, fluttered out from among the others, and in that way
  have escaped destruction. Beyond the mention of pips, I do
  not see that it helps us much. I think myself that it is a
  page from some private diary. The writing is undoubtedly
  my uncle’s.”
  Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet
  of paper, which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed
  been torn from a book. It was headed, “ March, 1869,” and
  beneath were the following enigmatical notices:
  “ath. Hudson came. Same old platform.
  “th, Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and John
  Swain, of St. Augustine.
  “oth. McCauley cleared.
  “oth. John Swain cleared.
  “‘y2th. Visited Paramore. All well.”
  “Thank you!” said Holmes, folding up the paper, and returning
  it to our visitor. ‘ And now you must on no account
  lose another instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss
  what you have told me. You must get home instantly and
  act.”
  ‘What shall I do?”
  “There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once.
  You must put this piece of paper which you have shown us
  into the brass box which you have described. You must also
  put in a note to say that all the other papers were burned by
  your uncle, and that this is the only one which remains. You
  must assert that in such words as will carry conviction with
  them. Having done this, you must at once put the box out
  upon the sundial, as directed. Do you understand?”
  “ Entirely.”
  “Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present.
  J think that we may gain that by means of the law; but
  we have our web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The
  first consideration is to remove the pressing danger which
  ik aye
  116 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *
  threatens you. The second is to clear up the mystery
  punish the guilty parties.”
  “T thank you,” said the young man, rising, and pulling on
  his overcoat. “You have given me fresh life and hope. I
  shall certainly do as you advise.”
  “Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself
  in the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a
  doubt that you are threatened by a very real and imminent
  danger. How do you go back ?”
  “ By train from Waterloo.” eS
  “It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust
  that you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself
  too closely.”
  “T am armed.”
  . “That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your
  case.”
  “T shall see you at Horsham, then?”
  “No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall ~
  seek it.”
  “Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with
  news as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice
  in every particular.” He shook hands with us, and took his
  leave. Outside the wind still screamed, and the rain splashed _
  and pattered against the windows. This strange, wild story —
  seemed to have come to us from amid the mad elements—
  blown in upon us like a sheet of sea-weed in a gale—and now
  tu have been reabsorbed by them once more.
  Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head
  sunk forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire.
  Then he lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched |
  the blue smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the 5
  ceiling. :
  “T think, Watson,” he remarked at last, “that of ali our _
  eases we have had none more fantastic than this.”
  “Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four.”
  “Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Oper
  a ae
  F yt OR Brat
  eee ae 4 ,
  , ha. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 117
  es
  shaw seems to me to be walking amid even greater perils than
  ‘did the Sholtos.”
  af “But have you,” I asked, “formed any definite conception
  » as to what these perils are ?”
  “There can be no question as to their nature,” he answered,
  “Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why
  does he pursue this unhappy family ?”
  Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows
  upon the arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together.
  eS “The ideal reasoner,” he remarked, “would, when he had
  once been shown a single fact in all its bearings, deduce
  from it not only all the chain of events which led up to it, but
  also all the results which would follow from it. As Cuvier
  could correctly describe a whole animal by the contemplation
  of a single bone, so the observer who has thoroughly understood
  one link in a series of incidents, should be able to accurately
  state all the other ones, both before and after. We
  have not yet grasped the results which the reason alone can
  attain to. Problems may be solved in the study which have
  baffled all those who have sought a solution by the aid of
  their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest pitch,
  it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to utilize all
  the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this in itself
  _ implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all knowledge,
  ~ which, even in these days of free education and encyclopedias,
  is asomewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so impossible,
  however, that a man should possess all knowledge which is
  likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have endeavoi
  _ored ii n my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one
  ‘a occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits
  in a very precise fashion.”
  “Yes,” I answered, laughing. “It was a singular document.
  Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at
  ike, I remember. Botany variable, geology profound as re-
  Bards the mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of
  ‘town, ey eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational
  ‘a
  118 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  literature and crime records unique, violin- player, boxer,
  swordsman, lawyer, and self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco.
  Those, I think, were the main points of my analysis.”
  Holmes grinned at the last item. “Well,” he said, “I say
  now, as I said then, that a man should keep his little brainattic
  stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and
  the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library,
  where he can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as
  the one which has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly
  to muster all our resources. Kindly hand me down the
  letter K of the American Encyclopedia which stands upon
  the shelf beside you. ‘Thank you. Now let us consider the
  situation, and see what may be deduced from it. In the first
  place, we may start with a strong presumption that Colonel
  Openshaw had some very strong reason for leaving America.
  Men at his time of life do not change all their habits, and exchange
  willingly the charming climate of Florida for the lonely
  life of an English provincial town. His extreme love of solitude
  in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of some
  one or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis
  that it was fear of some one or something which drove him
  from America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce
  that by considering the formidable letters which were
  received by himself and his successors. Did you remark the
  post-marks of those letters ?”
  “The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee,
  and the third from London.”
  “From East London. What do you deduce from that ?”
  “They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of
  a ship.”
  “Excellent. We have already a clew. There can be no
  doubt that the probability—the strong probability—is that the
  writer was on board of a ship. And now let us consider another
  point. In the case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed
  between the threat and its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only
  some three or four days. Does that suggest anything ?”
  THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS IIg
• A greater distance to travel.”
  “But the letter had also a greater distance to come.”
  “Then I do not see the point.”
  “There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which
  the man or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always
  sent their singular warning or token before them when
  starting upon their mission. You see how quickly the deed
  followed the sign when it came from Dundee. If they had
  come from Pondicherry in a steamer they would have arrived
  almost as soon as their letter. But as a matter of fact seven
  weeks elapsed. I think that those seven weeks represented
  the difference between the mail-boat which brought the letter,
  and the sailing-vessel which brought the writer.”
  “Tt is possible.”
  “More than that. It is probable. And now you see the
  deadly urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw
  to caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of
  the time which it would take the senders to travel the distance.
  But this one comes from London, and therefore we cannot
  count upon delay.”
  “Good God!” I cried; “what can it mean, this relentless
  persecution ?”
  “The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vita]
  importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I
  think that it is quite clear that there must be more than one
  of them. A single man could not have carried out two deaths
  in such a way as to deceive a coroner’s jury. There mus»
  have been several in it, and they must have been men of re
  source and determination. Their papers they mean to have,
  be the holder of them who it may. In this way you see K.
  K. K. ceases to be the initials of an individual, and becomes
  the badge of a society.”
  “But of what society ?”
  “Have you never—” said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward
  and sinking his voice—-‘have you never heard of the
  Ku Klux Klan?”
  120 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ¢ Bay
  iy ee
  “T never have.” eles
  Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee,
  “Here it is,” said he, presently, “‘Ku Klux Klan. A name
  derived from the fanciful resemblance to the sound produced
  by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret society was formed by
  some ex-Confederate soldiers in the Southern States after the
  Civil War, and it rapidly formed local branches in different
  parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, the
  Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was used for political
  purposes, principally for the terrorizing of the negro
  voters, and the murdering and driving from the country of
  those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually
  preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some
  fantastic but generally recognized shape—a sprig of oak-leaves
  in some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving
  this the victim might either openly abjure his former
  ways, or might fly from the country. If he braved the matter
  out, death would unfailingly come upon him, and usually in
  some strange and unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organization
  of the society, and so systematic its methods, that
  there is hardly a case upon record where any man succeeded
  in braving it with impunity, or in which any of its outrages
  were traced home to the perpetrators. For some years
  the organization flourished, in spite of the efforts of the
  United States Government and of the better classeso f the
  community in the South. Eventually, in the year 1869,
  the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there
  have been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that
  date.’
  “You will observe,” said Holmes, laying down the volume,
  “that the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident
  with the disappearance of Openshaw from America with their
  papers. It may well have been cause and effect. It is no
  wonder that he and his family have some of the more implacable
  spirits upon their track. You can understand that this
  register and diary may implicate some of the first men in the
  «
  &
  >
  ie Ps THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS I2!t
  sot iend that there may be many who will not sleep easy at
  night until it is recovered.”
  “Then the page we have seen—”
  “Ts such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right,
  ‘sent the pips to A, B, and C,’—that is, sent the society’s
  warning to them. Then there are successive entries that A
  and B cleared, or left the country, and finally that C was visjited,
  with, I fear, a sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor,
  that we may let some light into this dark place, and I
  believe that the only chance young Openshaw has in the
  mean time is to do what I have told him. There is nothing
  more to be said or to be done to-night, so hand me over my
  violin, and let us try to forget for half an hour the miserable
  weather and the still more miserable ways of our fellowmen.”
  It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining
  with a subdued brightness through the dim veil wrich hangs
  over the great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast
  when I came down.
  “Vou will excuse me for not waiting for you,” said he; “TI
  have, I foresee, a very busy day before me in locking into this
  case of young Openshaw’s.”
  “ What steps will you take?” I asked.
  “Tt will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries.
  I may have to go down to Horsham, after all.”
  “Vou will not go there first ?”
  “No, I shall commence with the city. Just ring the bell,
  and the maid will bring up your coffee.”
  As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table
  and glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which
  sent a chill to my heart.
  “Holmes,” I cried, “ you are too late.”
  “ Ah!” said he, laying down his cup, “I feared as much.
  How was it done?” He spoke calmly, but I could see that
  le was deeply moved. _
  +
  3122 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading,
  ‘Tragedy near Waterloo Bridge.’ Here is the account; ‘Between
  nine and ten last night Police-constable Cook, of the H
  Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help
  and a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely
  dark and stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several
  passers-by, it was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The
  alarm, however, was given, and, by the aid of the water-police,
  the body was eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a
  young gentleman whose name, as it appears from an envelope
  which was found in his pocket, was John Openshaw, and
  whose residence is near Horsham. It is conjectured that he
  may have been hurrying down to catch the last train from
  Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and the extreme darkness
  he missed his path and walked over the edge of one of
  the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body exhibited
  no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that
  the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident,
  which should have the effect of calling the attention of the
  authorities to the condition of the river-side landingstages.’”’
  We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed
  and shaken than I had ever seen him.
  “That hurts my pride, Watson,” he said, at last. “It is a
  petty feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a
  personal matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I
  shall set my hand upon this gang. That he should come
  to me for help, and that I should send him away to his
  death—!” He sprang from his chair and paced about the
  room in uncontrollable agitation, with a flush upon his sallow
  cheeks, and a nervous clasping and unclasping of his long,
  thin hands.
  “They must be cunning devils,” he exclaimed, at last.
  “How could they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment
  is not on the direct line to the station. The bridge,
  no doubt, was too crowded, even on such a night, for thei
  THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 128
  purpose. Well, Watson, we shall see who will win in the
  song run. I am going out now!”
  “To the police ?”
  “No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the
  web they may take the flies, but not before.”
  All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was
  late in the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock
  Holmes had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o’clock
  before he entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to
  the sideboard, and, tearing a piece from the loaf, he devoured
  it voraciously, washing it down with a long draught cf water.
• You are hungry,” I remarked.
  “Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing
  since breakfast.”
  “ Nothing ?”
  “Not a bite. I had no time to think of it.”
• And how have you succeeded ?”
  “Well.”
• You have a clew?”
  “T have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw
  shall not long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put
  their own devilish trade-mark upon them. It is well thought
  of !”
  “What do you mean ?”
  He took an orange from the cupboard, and, tearing it to
  pieces, he squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he
  took five, and thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of
  the flap he wrote “S. H. for J. O.” Then he sealed it and
  addressed it to “ Captain James Calhoun, Bark Lone Star, Savannah,
  Georgia.”
  “That will await him when he enters port,” said he, chuckling.
  “It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as
  sure a precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him.”
  “ And who is this Captain Calhoun?”
  “The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he
  first.”
  124 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “ How did you trace it, then ?” ;
  He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered
  with dates and names.
  “T have spent the whole day,” said he, “over Lloyd’s reg:
  isters and the files of the old papers, following the future ca
  reer of every vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January
  and February in ’83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage
  which were reported there during those months. Of
  these, one, the Zone Star, instantly attracted my attention,
  since, although it was reported as having cleared from London,
  the name is that which is given to one of the States of
  the Union.”
  “Texas, J think.’
  “T was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the
  ship must have an American origin.”
  “What then ?”
  “T searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the
  bark Zone Star was there in January, ’85, my suspicion became
  a certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at
  present in the port of London.”
  ves?
  “The Lone Star had arrived here last week. I went down
  to the Albert Dock, and found that she had been taken down
  the river by the early tide this morning, homeward bound to
  Savannah. I wired to Gravesend, and learned that she had
  passed some time ago; and as the wind is easterly, I have no
  doubt that she is now past the Goodwins, and not very far
  from the Isle of Wight.”
  “What will you do, then ?”
  “Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates,
  are, as I learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship.
  The others are Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they
  were all three away from the ship last night. I had it from
  the stevedore who has been loading their cargo. By the time
  that their sailing-ship reaches Savannah the mail-boat will
  have carried this letter, and the cable will have informed the
  THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 125
  police of Savannah that these three gentlemen are badly wanted
  here upon a charge of murder.”
  There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human
  plans, and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive
  the orange pips which would show them that another, as
  cunning and as resolute as themselves, was upon their track.
  Very long and very severe were the equinoctial gales that
  year. We waited long for news of the Zone Star of Savannah,
  but none ever reached us. We did at last hear that
  somewhere far out in the Atlantic a shattered stern-post of a
  boat was seen swinging in the trough of a wave, with the letters
  L. S.” carved upon it, and that is all which we shall ever know of the fate of the Zone Star. Hodventure Wt THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP ney, D.D., Principal of the Theological College of St. George’s, was much addicted to opium. = The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some fookah freak when he was at college; for having read De Quincey’s description of his dreams and sensations, he had drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble man. One night—it was in June, ’8g—there came a ring to my bell, about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. “A patient!” said she. “You’ll have to go out.” I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in some dark-colored stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. “You will excuse my calling so late,” she began, and then, suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 127 arms about my wife’s neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. “Oh, I’m in such trouble!” she cried; “I do so want a little help.” “Why,” said my wife, pulling up her veil, “it is Kate Whitney. How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when you came in.” “J didn’t know what to do, so I came straight to you.” That was always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds to a light-house. “Tt was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or should you rather that I sent James off to bed ie! “Oh, no, no! I want the Doctor’s advice and help, too. It’s about Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about him!” It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her husband’s trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it possible that we could bring him back to her? It seemed that it was. She had the surest information that of late he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the farthest east of the city. Hitherto his orgies had always been confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the “ Bar of Gold,” in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place, and pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, 128 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES as a second thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney’s medical adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left my arm-chair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at the time, though the prtare only could show how strange it was to be. But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet, and by the light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch, and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the forecastle of an emigrant ship. Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads thrown back and chins pointing upward, with here and there a dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own thoughts, and paying little heed to the words of his neighbor. At the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside which ou a three THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 129 legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon his knees, staring into the fire. As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. “Thank you. I have not come to stay,” said I. “ There is a friend of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him.” There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and, peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and unkempt, staring out at me. “My God! It’s Watson,” said he. He was in a pitiable state of reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. “I say, Watson, what o’clock is it?” “‘ Nearly eleven.” “Of what day?” “Of Friday, June 19th.” “Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It zs Wednesday. What d’you want to frighten a chap for?” He sank his face onto his arms, and began to sob in a high treble key. “T tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!” “So Iam, But you’ve got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here a few hours, three pipes, four pipes—I forget how many. But I’ll go home with you. I wouldn’t frighten Kate —poor little Kate. Give me your hand! Have you a cab?” “Yes, I have one waiting.” “Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I owe, Watson. I am all off color. I can do nothing for myself.” I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden 130 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES pluck at my skirt, and a low voice whispered, “ Walk past me, and then look back at me.” The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire, and grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. “Holmes !” I whispered, “what on earth are you doing in this den ?” “ As low as you can,” he answered; “I have excellent ears. If you would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with you.” “T have a cab outside.” “Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he appears to be too limp to get into any mischief, I should recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait outside, I shall be with you in five minutes.” It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes’s requests, for they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney was once confined in the cab my mission was practically accomplished ; and for the rest, I could not wish any thing better than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a few minutes I had written my note, paid THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 131 Whitney’s bill, led him out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and burst into a hearty fit of laughter. “T suppose, Watson,” said he, “that you imagine that I have added opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little weaknesses on which you have favored me with your medical views.” “I was certainly surprised to find you there.” “But not more so than I to find you.” “TI came to find a friend.” “ And I to find an enemy.” “ An enemy ?” “Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clew in the incoherent ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been recognized in that den my life would not have ~ been worth an hour’s purchase ; for I have used it before now for my own purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that building, near the corner of Paul’s Wharf, which could tell some strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless nights.” «What! You do not mean bodies?” “ Aye, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had £1000 for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It is the vilest murder-trap on the whole river-side, and I fear that Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our trap should be here.” He put his two forefingers between his teeth and whistled shrilly—a signal which was answered by a similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle of wheels and the clink of horses’ hoofs. 132 ’ ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES “Now, Watson,” said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from its side lanterns. “Youw’ll come with me, won’t you?” “Tf I can be of use.” “Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still more so. My room at ‘The Cedars’ is a double-bedded one.”’ “The Cedars?”
  “Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair’s house. I am staying there
  while I conduct the inquiry.”
  “Where is it, then ?”
  “Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before
  us.”
  “But I am all in the dark.”
  “Of course you are. You’ll know all about it presently,
  Jump up here. All right, John; we shall not need you.
  Here’s half a crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about
  eleven. Give her her head. So long, then !”
  He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away
  through the endless successior: af sombre and deserted streets,
  which widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad
  balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly
  beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks
  and mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall
  of the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated
  party of revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across
  the sky, and a star or two twinkled dimly here and there
  through the rifts of the clouds. Holmes drove in silence,
  with his head sunk upon his breast, and the air of a man who
  is lost in thought, while I sat beside him, curious to learn
  what this new quest might be which seemed to tax his powers
  so sorely, and yet afraid to break in upon the current of his
  thoughts. We had driven several miles, and were beginning
  to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban villas, when he
  shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up his pipe
  THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 133
  with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he is acting
  for the best.
  “You have a grand gift of silence, Watson,” said he. “It
  makes you quite invaluable as a companion. ’Pon my word,
  it is a great thing for me to have some one to talk to, for my
  own thoughts are not over pleasant. I was wondering what I
  should say to this dear little woman to-night when she meets
  me at the door.”
  “You forget that I know nothing about it.”
  “T shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before
  we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow,
  I can get nothing to goupon. ‘There’s plenty of thread,
  no doubt, but I can’t get the end of it into my hand. Now,
  Tl state the case clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and
  maybe you can see a spark where all is dark to me.”
  “ Proceed, then.”
  “Some years ago—to be definite, in May, 1884—there came
  to Lee a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared
  to have plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the
  grounds very nicely, and lived generally in good style. By
  degrees he made friends in the neighborhood, and in 1887 he
  married the daughter of a local brewer, by whom he now has
  two children. He had no occupation, but was interested in
  several companies, and went into town as a rule in the morning,
  returning by the 5.14 from Cannon Street every night.
  Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of age, is a man of
  temperate habits, a good husband, a very affectionate fatha,
  and a man who is popular with all who know him. I may
  add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far as we
  have been able to ascertain, amount to £88 tos., while he
  has £220 standing to his credit in the Capital and Counties
  Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money
  troubles have been weighing upon his mind.
  “Tast Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather
  earlier than usual, remarking before he started that he had
  two important commissions to perform, and that he would
  134 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  bring his little boy home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest
  chance, his wife received a telegram upon this same Monday,
  very shortly after his departure, to the effect that a small parcel
  of considerable value which she had been expecting was
  waiting for her at the offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company.
  Now, if you are well up in your London, you will
  know that the offices of the company is in Fresno Street,
  which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where you
  found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for
  the city, did some shopping, proceeded to the company’s of:
  fice, got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4.35 walking
  through Swandam Lane on her way back to the station.
  Have you followed me so far?”
  ‘Tt is very clear.”
  “Tf you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day,
  and Mrs. St. Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope
  of secing a cab, as she did not like the neighborhood in
  which she found herself. While she was walking in this way
  down Swandam Lane, she suddenly heard an ejaculation or
  cry, and was struck cold to see her husband looking down at
  her, and, as it seemed to her, beckoning to her from a second:
  floor window. The window was open, and she distinctly saw
  his face, which she describes as being terribly agitated. He
  waved his hands frantically to her, and then vanished from
  the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that he had
  been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind.
  One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was
  that, although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started
  to town in, he had on neither collar nor necktie.
  “Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed
  down the steps—for the house was none other than the opium
  den in which you found me to-night—and, running through
  the front room, she attempted to ascend the stairs which led
  to the first floor. At the foot of the Stairs, however, she met
  this Lascar scoundrel of whom I have spoken, who thrust her
  back, and, aided by a Dane. who acts as assistant there.
  THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIr 135
  pushea her out into the street. Filled with the most maddening
  doubts and fears, she rushed down the lane, and, by
  rare good-fortune, met, in Fresno Street, a number of constables
  with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The
  inspector and two men accompanied her back, and, in spite of
  the continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their
  way to the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen.
  There was no sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that
  floor there was no one to be found, save a crippled wretch of
  hideous aspect, who, it seems, made his home there. Both he
  and the Lascar stoutly swore that no one else had been in the
  front room during the afternoon. So determined was their
  denial that the inspector was staggered, and had almost come
  to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had been deluded, when, with a
  cry, she sprang at a small deal box which lay upon the table,
  and tore the lid from it. Out there fell a cascade of children’s
  bricks. It was the toy which he had promised to
  bring home.
  “This discovery, and the evident confusien which the cripple
  showed, made the inspector realize that the matter was
  serious. The rooms were carefully examined, and results all
  pointed to an abominable crime. The front room was plainly
  furnished as a sitting-room, and led into a small bedroom,
  which looked out upon the back of one of the wharves. Between
  the wharf and the bedroom window is a narrow strip,
  which is dry at low tide, but is covered at high tide with at
  least four and a half feet of water. The bedroom window was
  a broad one, and opened from below. On examination traces
  of blood were to be seen upon the window-sill, and several
  scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of the bedroom.
  Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were
  all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of
  his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch—all
  were there. There were no signs of violence upon any of
  these garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville
  St. Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone,
  136 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  for no other exit could be discovered, and the ominous blood
  stains upon the sill gave little promise that he could save hime
  self by swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the
  moment of the tragedy.
  “And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately
  implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a
  man of the vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair’s sto.
  ry, he was known to have been at the foot of the stair within
  a very few seconds of her husband’s appearance at the window,
  he could hardly have been more than an accessory to
  the crime. His defense was one of absolute ignorance, and
  he protested that he had no knowledge as to the doings of
  Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he could not account in any
  way for the presence of the missing gentleman’s clothes.
  “So much for the Lascar manager, Now for the sinister
  cripple who lives upon the second floor of the opium den,
  and who was certainly the last human being whose eyes rested
  upon Neville St. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his
  hideous face is one which is familiar to every man who goes
  much to the city. He is a professional beggar, though, in
  order to avoid the police regulations, he pretends to a small
  trade in wax vestas. Some little distance down Threadneedle
  Street, upon the left-hand side, there is, aS you may have remarked,
  a small angle in the wall. Here it is that this creature
  takes his daily seat, cross-legged, with his tiny stock of
  matches on his lap, and, as he is a piteous spectacle, a small
  rain of charity descends into the greasy leather cap which lies
  upon the pavement beside him. I have watched the fellow
  more than once, before ever I thought of making his profes.
  sional acquaintance, and I have been surprised at the harvest
  which he has reaped in a short time. His appearance, you
  see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him without observing
  him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face disfigured
  by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has turned up
  the outer edge of his upper lip, a bull-dog chin, and a pair of
  very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular contrast
  THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 137
  to the color of his hair, all mark him out from amid the com:
  mon crowd of mendicants, and so, too, does his wit, for he is
  ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be
  thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we
  now learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to
  have been the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are
  in quest.”
• But a cripple!” said I. “What could he have done
  single-handed against a man in the prime of life ?”
  “ He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp;
  but in other respects he appears to be a powerful and wellnurtured
  man. Surely your medical experience would tell
  you, Watson, that weakness in one limb is often compensated
  for by exceptional strength in the others.”
  ‘“‘ Pray continue your narrative.”
  ‘Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon
  the window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police,
  as her presence could be of no help to them in their investigations.
  Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case,
  made a very careful examination of the premises, but without
  finding anything which threw any light upon the matter. One
  mistake had been made in not arresting Boone instantly, as
  he was allowed some few minutes during which he might have
  communicated with his friend the Lascar, but this fault was
  soon remedied, and he was seized and searched, without anything
  being found which could incriminate him. There were,
  it is true, some blood-stains upon his right shirt-sleeve, but he
  pointed to his ring-finger, which had been cut near the nail,
  and explained that the bleeding came from there, adding that
  he had been to the window not long before, and that the stains
  which had been observed there came doubtless from the same
  source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. Neville
  St. Clair, and swore that the presence of the clothes in his
  room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to
  Mrs. St. Clair’s assertion that she had actually seen her husband
  at the window, he declared that she must have been either
  Io
  138 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  mad or dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the
  police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises
  in the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clew,
  “ And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank
  what they had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair’s coat,
  and not Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide re
  ceded. And what do you think they found in the pockets ?”
  “T cannot imagine.”
  “No, I don’t think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed
  with pennies and half-pennies—42i pennies and 270 halfpennies.
  It was no wonder that it had nct been swept away
  by the tide. But a human body is a different matter. There
  is a fierce eddy between the wharf and the house. It seemed
  likely enough that the weighted coat had remained when the
  stripped body had been sucked away into the river.”
  “ But I understand that all the other clothes were found in
  the room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone ?”
  “No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough.
  Suppose that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair
  through the window, there is no human eye which could have
  seen the deed. What would he do then? It would of course
  instantly strike him that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments.
  He would seize the coat, then, and be in the act of
  throwing it out, when it would occur to him that it would swim
  and not sink. He has little time, for he has heard the scuffle
  down-stairs when the wife tried to force her way up, and perhaps
  he has already heard from his Lascar confederate that
  the police are hurrying up the street. There is not an instant
  to be lost. He rushes to some secret horde, where he has
  accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he stuffs all the
  coins upon which he can lay his hands into the pockets to
  make sure of the coat’s sinking. He throws it out, and would
  have done the same with the other garments had not he heard
  the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the
  window when the police appeared.”
  “ It certainly sounds feasible,”
  THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 139
  “Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want
  of a better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and
  taken to the station, but it could not be shown that there had
  ever before been anything against him. He had for years
  been known as a professional beggar, but his life appeared to
  have been a very quiet and innocent one. There the matter
  stands at present, and the questions which have to be solved—
  what Neville St. Clair was doing in the opium den, what happened
  to him when there, where is he now, and what Hugh
  Boone had to do with his disappearance—are all as far from
  a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot recall any case
  within my experience which looked at the first glance so
  simple, and yet which presented such difficulties.”
  While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular
  series of events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of
  the great town until the last straggling houses had been left
  behind, and we rattled along with a country hedge upon
  either side of us. Just as he finished, however, we drove
  through two scattered villages, where a few lights still glimmered
  in the windows.
  “We are on the outskirts of Lee,” said my companion.
  “We have touched on three English counties in our short
  drive, starting in Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey,
  and ending in Kent. See that light among the trees? That
  is ‘The Cedars,’ and beside that lamp sits a woman whose
  anxious ears have already, I have little doubt, caught the clink
• our horse’s feet.”
• But why are you not conducting the case from Baker
  reet 2?” I asked.
• Because there are many inquiries which must be made
  out here. Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at
  my disposal, and you may rest assured that she will have
  nothing but a welcome for my friend and colleague. I hate
  to meet her, Watson, when I have no news of her husband.
  Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa !”
  We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood with240
  ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ad
  in its own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse’s
  head, and, springing down, I followed Holmes up the small,
  winding gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached,
  the door flew open, and a little blonde woman stood
  in the opening, clad in some sort of light mousseline de soie,
  with a touch of fluffy pink chiffon at her neck and wrists.
  She stood with her figure outlined against the flood of
  light, one hand upon the door, one half-raised in her
  eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head and face protruded,
  with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing question.
  “Well ?” she cried, “well?” And then, seeing that there
  were two of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a
  groan as she saw that my companion shook his head and
  shrugged his shoulders.
• No good news ?”
  “ None.”
  ‘No bad?”
  “No.”
  “Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary,
  for you have had a long day.”
  “This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most
  vital use to me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance
  has made it possible for me to bring him out and associate
  him with this investigation.”
  “Tam delighted to see you,” said she, pressing my hand
  warmly. ‘You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be
  wanting in our arrangements, when you consider the blow –
  which has come so suddenly upon us.”
  “My dear madam,” said, I “I am an old campaigner, and
  if I were not, I can very well see that no apology is needed.
  If I can be of any assistance, either to you or to my friend
  here, I shall be indeed happy.”
  “Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said the lady, as we entered
  a well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper
  had been laid out, “I should very much like to ask you ons
  THE MAN WiTH THE TWISTED LIP I4t
  or two piain questions, to which I beg that you will give a
  plain answer.”
  “ Certainly, madam.”
  “ Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical,
  nor given to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real
  opinion.”
  “ Upon what point ?”
  “ In your heart of hearts do you think that Neville is alive ?”
  Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the ques:
  tion. “ Frankly, now!” she repeated, standing upon the rug
  and looking keenly down at him as he leaned back in a
  basket-chair.
  “ Frankly, then, madam, I do not.”
• You think that he is dead ?”
  T do.” “ Murdered ?” “] don’t say that. Perhaps.” And on what day did he meet his death ?” “On Monday.” “Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough ta explain how it is that I have received a letter from him to-day.” Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been galvanized. “ What!” he roared. “ Yes, to-day.” She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of paper in the air. “ May I see it ?” “ Certainly.” He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out upon the table, he drew over the lamp, and examined it intently. I had left my chair, and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The envelope was a very coarse one, and was stamped with the Gravesend post-mark, and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day before, for it was consider ably after midnight. t4a2 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES “Coarse writing,” murmured Holmes, “ Surely this is not your husband’s writing, madam.” “ No, but the enclosure is.” “T perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go and inquire as to the address.” “ How can you tell that ?” “The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried itself. The rest is of the grayish color, which shows that blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This man has written the name, and there has then been 2 pause before he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter Ha! there has been an enclosure here !” “Yes, there was aring. His signet-ring.” “And you are sure that this is your husband’s hand ?” “One of his hands.” “One ?” “His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual writing, and yet I know it well.” “ “Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. Wait in patience.—Neville.’ Written in pencil upon the flyleaf of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been chewing tobacco, And you have no doubt that it is your husband’s hand, madam ?” “None. Neville wrote those words.” “And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the danger is over.” ‘* But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes.”
  “Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong
  THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 143;
  scent. The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have beer
  taken from him.”
  “No, no; it is, it is, it is his very own writing !”
  “ Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday,
  and only posted to-day.”
  “ That is possible.”
  “Tf so, much may have happened between.”
  “ Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know
  that all is well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between
  us that I should know if evil came upon him. On the
  very day that I saw him last he cut himself in the bedroom,
  and yet I in the dining-room rushed up-stairs instantly with
  the utmost certainty that something had happened. Do you
  think that I would respond to such a trifle, and yet be ignorant
  uf his death ?”
  “T have seen too much not to know that the impression of
  a woman may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical
  reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very
  strong piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if
  your husband is alive, and able to write letters, why should he
  remain away from you?”
  “T cannot imagine. It is unthinkable.”
  “And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving
  you?”
  6 No.”
  “ And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane By
  “Very much so.”
  *6Was the window open ?”
  Ves.”
  “Then he might have called to you?”
  “He might.”
  “ He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?”
  Ces?
• A call for help, you thought ?”
  “Ves, He waved his hands.”
  “But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment
  144 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  at the unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up
  his hands?”
  “It is possible.”
  “And you thought he was pulled back ?”
  “He disappeared so suddenly.”
  “He might have leaped back. You did not see any one
  else ‘n the zoom ?”
  “No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there,
  and the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs.”
  “Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his
  ordinary clothes on?”
  “But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare
  throat.”
  “Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?”
• Never.”
  “Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium ?”
  “ Never.”
  “Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points
  about which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now
  have a little supper and then retire, for we may have a very
  busy day to-morrow.”
  A large and comfortable double- bedded room had been
  placed at our disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets,
  for I was weary after my night of adventure. Sherlock
  Holmes was a man, however, who, when he had an unsolved
  problem upon his mind, would go for days, and even for a
  week, without rest, turning it over, rearranging his facts, looking
  at it from every point of view, until he had either fathomed
  it, or convinced himself that his data were insufficient.
  It was soon evident to me that he was now preparing for an
  all-night sitting. He took off his coat and waistcoat, put on
  a large blue dressing- gown, and then wandered about the
  room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from the
  sofa and arm-chairs. With these he constructed a sort of
  Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged,
  with an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out
  THE MAN WiTH THE TWISTED LIP I45
  m front of him, In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sit.
  ting there, an old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed
  vacantly upon the corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling
  up from him, silent, motionless, with the light shining upon
  his strong-set aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off
  to sleep, and so he sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me
  to wake up, and I found the summer sun shining into the
  apartment. The pipe was still between his lips, the smoke
  still curled upward, and the room was full of a dense tobacco
  haze, but nothing remained of the heap of shag which I had
  seen upon the previous night.
  “ Awake, Watson?” he aske
  Ves.
  “Game for a morning drive ?”
• Certainly.”
  “Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the
  stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out.” He
  chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he
  seemed a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous
  night.
  As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder
  that no one was stiring. It was twenty-five minutes past
  four. I had hardly finished when Holmes returned with the
  news that the boy was putting in the horse.
  “J want to test a little theory of mine,” said he, pulling on
  his boots. “I think, Watson, that you are now standing in
  the presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. 1
  deserve to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think
  I have the key of the affair now.”
• And where is it?” I asked, smiling.
  “In the bath-room,” he answered. “Oh yes, I am not joking,”
  he continued, seeing my look of incredulity. “I have
  just been there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it
  in this Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see
  whether it will not fit the lock.”
  We made our way down-stairs as quietly as possible, and
  146 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  out into the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood out
  horse and trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the
  head. We both sprang in, and away we dashed down the
  London Road. A few country carts were stirring, bearing in
  vegetables to the metropolis, but the lines of villas on either
  side were as silent and lifeless as some city in a dream.
  “It has been in some points a singular case,” said Holmes,
  flicking the horse on into a gallop. “I confess that I have
  been as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late
  than never to learn it at all.”
  In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily
  from their windows as we drove through the streets of the
  Surrey side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we
  crossed over the river, and dashing up Wellington Street
  wheeled sharply to the right, and found ourselves in Bow
  Street. Sherlock Holmes was well known to the Force, and
  the two constables at the door saluted him. One of them
  held the horse’s head while the other led us in.
  “Who is on duty?” asked Holmes.
  “Inspector Bradstreet, sir.”
  “Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?” A tall, stout official had
  come down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and
  ‘rogged jacket. “I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet.”
  “Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here.”
  It was a small, office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the
  table, and a telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector
  sat down at his desk.
  “What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes ?”
  “T called about that beggarman, Boone—the one who was
  charged with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr,
  Neville St. Clair, of Lee.”
  “Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries.”
  “So I heard. You have him here?”
  “Tn the cells.”
  THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 147
  “Ts he quiet ?”
  “Qh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel.”
  Dirty 2
  “ Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and
  his face is as black as a tinker’s. Well, when once his case
  has been settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I
  think, if you saw him, you would agree with me that he needed
  it.”
  “TJ should like to see him very much.”
  “Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You
  can leave your bag.”
  “No, I think that I’ll take it.”
  “Very good. Come this way, if you please.” He led us
  down a passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding
  stair, and brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a
  line of doors on each side.
  “The third on the right is his,” said the inspector. “ Here
  it is!” He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the
  door and glanced through.
  “ He is asleep,” said he. ‘You can see him very well.”
  We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay
  with his face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly
  and heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as
  became his calling, with a colored shirt protruding through the
  rent in his tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said,
  extremely dirty, but the grime which covered his face could
  not conceal its repulsive ugliness, A broad wheal from an
  old scar ran right across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction
  had turned up one side of the upper lip, so that
  three teeth were exposed in a perpetual snarl. A shock of
  very bright red hair grew low over his eyes and forehead.
  “‘ He’s a beauty, isn’t he?” said the inspector.
  “ He certainly needs a wash,” remarked Holmes. SLibod
  an idea that he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the
  tools with me.” He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke,
  and took out, to my astonishment, a very large bath-sponge.
  148 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “He! he! You are a funny one,” chuckled the inspector.
  ““Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that
  door very quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable
  figure.”
  “Well, I don’t know why not,” said the inspector. “He
  doesn’t look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?” He
  slipped his key into the lock, and we very all quietly entered
  the cell. The sleeper half turned, and then settled down once
  more into a deep slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug,
  moistened his sponge, and then rubbed it twice vigorously
  across and down the prisoner’s face.
  “Let me introduce you,” he shouted, “to Mr. Neville St.
  Clair, of Lee, in the county of Kent.”
  Never in my life have I seen sucha sight. The man’s face
  peeled off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone
  was the coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar
  which had seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had
  given the repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away
  the tangled red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a
  pale, sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smoothskinned.
  rubbing his eyes, and staring about him with sleepy
  bewilderment. Then suddenly realizing the exposure, hé broke
  into a scream, and threw himself down with his face to the
  pillow.
  “Great heavens!” cried the inspector, “it is, indeed, the
  missing man. I know him from the photograph.”
  The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who
  abandons himself to his destiny. “Be it so,” said he. “And
  pray, what am I charged with?”
  “With making away with Mr. Neville St. Oh, come,
  you can’t be charged with that, unless they make a case of
  attempted suicide of it,” said the inspector, with a grin.
  “Well, I have been twenty-seven years in the force, but this
  really takes the cake.”
  “Tf Iam Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no
  THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 149g
  crime has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally
  detained.”
  “No crime, but a very great error has been committed,”
  said Holmes. “You would have done better to have trusted
  your wife.”
  “Tt was not the wife, it was the children,” groaned the prisoner.
  ‘God help me, I would not have them ashamed of
  their father. My God! What an exposure! What can I
  do?”
  Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and
  patted him kindly on the shoulder.
  “Tf you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up,”
  said he, “of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the
  other hand, if you convince the police authorities that there is
  no possible case against you, I do not know that there is any
  reason that the details should find their way into the papers.
  Inspector Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything
  which you might tell us, and submit it to the proper authorities.
  ‘The case would then never go into court at all.”
  “God bless you!” cried the prisoner, passionately. “TI
  would have endured imprisonment, aye, even execution, rather
  than have left my miserable secret as a family blot to my children.”
  “You are the first who have ever heard my story. My
  father was a school-master in Chesterfield, where I received
  an excellent education. I travelled in my youth, took to the
  stage, and finally became a reporter on an evening paper in
  London. One day my editor wished to have a series of arti
  cles upon begging in the metropolis, and I volunteered to
  supply them. There was the point from which all my adventures
  started. It was only by trying begging as an amateur
  that I could get the facts upon which to base my articles.
  When an actor I had, of course, learned all the secrets of
  making up, and had been famous in the greenroom for my
  skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted
  my face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a
  {50 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  good scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of
  a small slip of flesh<olored plaster. ‘Then with a red head of
  hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the busiest
  part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller, but really as
  a beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned
  home in the evening I found, to my surprise, that I
  had received no less than 26s. 4d.
  “T wrote my articles, and thought little more of the matter
  until, some time later, I backed a bill for a friend, and had a
  writ served upon me for £25. I was at my wits’ end where
  to get the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I beggeda
  fortnight’s grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from
  my employers, and spent the time in begging in the city under
  my disguise. In ten days I had the money, and had paid the
  debt.
  “Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to
  arduous work at £2 a week, when I knew that I could earn
  as much in a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying
  my cap on the ground, and sitting still. It was a long
  fight between my pride and the money, but the dollars won at
  last, and I threw up reporting, and sat day after day in the
  corner which I had first chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly
  face, and filling my pockets with coppers. Only one man
  knew my secret. He was the keeper of a low den in which I
  used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could every morning
  emerge as a squalid beggar, and in the evenings transform
  myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, a
  Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew
  that my secret was safe in his possession.
  “Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable
  sums of money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets
  of London could earn £700 a year—which is less than my
  average takings—but I had exceptional advantages in my
  power of making up, and also in a facility of repartee, which
  improved by practice, and made me quite a recognized character
  iy the city. All day a stream of pennies, varied by sil
  THE MAN ‘WITH THE TWISTED LIP Io!
  ver, poured in upon me, and it was a very bad day in which I
  failed to take £2.
  “As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in
  the country, and eventually married, without any one having a
  suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that
  I had business in the city. She little knew what.
  “Last Monday I had finished for the day, and was dressing
  in my room above the opium den, when I looked out of my
  window, and saw, to my horror and astonishment, that my
  wife was standing in the street, with her eyes fixed full upon
  me. I gave a cry of surprise, threw up my arms to cover my
  face, and, rushing to my confidant, the Lascar, entreated him
  to prevent any one from coming up to me. I heard her voice
  down-stairs, but I knew that she could not ascend. Swiftly I
  threw off my clothes, pulled on those of a beggar, and put on
  my pigments and wig. Even a wife’s eyes could not pierce so
  complete a disguise. But then it occurred to me that there
  might be a search in the room, and that the clothes might betray
  me. I threw open the window, reopening by my violence
  a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in the bedroom
  that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was weighted
  by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from the
  leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of
  the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other
  clothes would have followed, but at that moment there was a
  rush of constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I
  found, rather, I confess, to my relief, that instead of being
  identified as Mr. Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer.
  “Ide not know that there is anything else for me to explain.
  I was determined to preserve my disguise as long as
  possible, and hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing
  that my wife would be terribly anxious, I slipped off my
  ring, and confided it to the Lascar at a moment when no
  constable was watching me, together witk a hurried scrawl,
  telling her that she had no cause te fear.”
  B52 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “That note only reached her yesterday,” said Holmes,
  “Good God! What a week she must have spent!”
  “The police have watched this Lascar,” said Inspectoé
  Bradstreet, ““and I can quite understand that he might find it
  difficult to post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it
  to some sailor customer of his, who forgot all about it for some
  days.”
  “That was it,” said Holmes, nodding approvingly; “I have
  no doubt of it. But have you never been prosecuted for
  begging ?” :
  ‘“‘Many times; but what was a fine to me?”
  “Jt must stop here, however,” said Bradstreet. “If the
  police are to hush this thing up, there must be no more of
  Hugh Boone.”
  “T have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man
  can take.”
  “In that case I think that it is probable that no further
  steps may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must
  come out. Iam sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted
  to you for having cleared the matter up. I wish I
  knew how you reach your results.”
  “T reached this one,” said my friend, “by sitting upon five
  pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson,
  that if we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for
  breakfast.”
  \
  Fodventure Wit
  YHE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE
  HAD called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes
  upon the second morning after Christmas, with
  the intention of wishing him the compliments of
  “AY the season. He was lounging upon the sofa ina
  purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the
  right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly
  studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair,
  and on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable
  hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in
  several places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of
  the chair suggested that the hat had been suspended in this
  manner for the purpose of examination.
  “You are engaged,” said 1; “perhaps I interrupt you.”
  “Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can
  discuss my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one” (he
  jerked his thumb in the direction of the old hat), “but there
  are points in connection with it which are not entirely devoid
  of interest and even of instruction.”
  I seated myself in his arm-chair and warmed my hands
  before his crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the
  windows were thick with the ice crystals. “I suppose,” I
  remarked, “that, homely as it looks, this thing has some
  deadly story linked on to it—that it is the clew which will
  guide you in the solution of some mystery and the punishment
  of some crime.”
  “No, no. No crime,” said Sherlock Holmes, laughing.
  “Only one of those whimsical little incidents which will
  x
  154 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  happen when you have four million human beings all jostling
  each other within the space of a few square miles. Amid the
  action and reaction of so dense a swarm of humanity, every
  possible combination of events may be expected to take place,
  and many a little problem will be presented which may be
  striking and bizarre without being criminal. We have al
  ready had experience of such.”
  “So much so,” I remarked, “that of the last six cases
  which I have added to my notes, three have been entirely
  free of any legal crime.”
  “Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene
  Adler papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland,
  and to the adventure of the man with the twisted lip.
  Well, I have no doubt that this small matter will fall into the
  same innocent category. You know Peterson, the commissionaire
  ?”
  raed CSo
  “Tt is to him that this trophy belongs.”
  “Tt is his hat.”
  “No, no; he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that
  you will look upon it, not as a battered billycock, but as an
  intellectual problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It
  arrived upon Christmas morning, in company with a good fat
  goose, which is, I have no doubt, roasting at this moment in
  front of Peterson’s fire. The facts are these: about four
  o’clock on Christmas morning, Peterson, who, as you know,
  is a very honest fellow, was returning from some small jollification,
  and was making his way homeward down Tottenham
  Court Road. In front of him he saw, in the gaslight, a
  tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and carrying a white
  goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the corner of
  Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger and a
  little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the man’s
  hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself, and, swinging
  it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him.
  Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 155
  assailants ;b ut the man, shocked at having broken the window,
  and seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards
  him, dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished
  amid the labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of
  Tottenham Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the
  appearance of Peterson, so that he was left in possession of
  the field of battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the
  shape of this battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas
  goose.”
  “Which surely he restored to their owner ?”
  “My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that
  ‘For Mrs. Henry Baker’ was printed upon a small card which
  was tied to the bird’s left leg, and it is also true that the initials
  ‘H. B.’ are legible upon the lining of this hat; but as
  there are some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of
  Henry Bakers in this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost
  property to any one of them.”
  “What, then, did Peterson do?”
  “He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas
  morning, knowing that even the smallest problems are of
  interest to me. ‘The goose we retained until this morning,
  when there were signs that, in spite of the slight frost, it
  would be well that it should be eaten without unnecessary
  delay. Its finder has carried it off, therefore, to fulfil the
  ultimate destiny of a goose, while I continue to retain
  the hat of the unknown gentleman who lost his Christmas
  dinner.”
  “Did he not advertise ?”
  “No.”
  “Then, what clue could you have as to his identity ?”
  “Only as much as we can deduce.”
  “From his hat?”
  “ Precisely.”
  “But you are joking. What can you gather from this old
  battered felt ?”
  “Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you
  156 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  gather yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn
  this article ?”
  I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over
  rather ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual
  round shape, hard, and much the worse for wear. The lining
  had been of red silk, but was a good deal discolored. There
  was no maker’s name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the
  initals ‘‘H. B.” were scrawled upon one side. It was pierced
  in the brim for a hat-securer, but the elastic was missing.
  For the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted
  in several places, although there seemed to have been some
  attempt to hide the discolored patches by smearing them with
  ink.
  “T can see nothing,” said I, handing it back to my friend.
  “On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You
  fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid
  in drawing your inferences.”
  “Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this
  hat ?” ‘
  He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective
  fashion which was characteristic of him. “It is perhaps
  less suggestive than it might have been,” he remarked, “and
  yet there are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a
  few others which represent at least a strong balance of probability.
  That the man was highly intellectual is of course
  obvious upon the face of it, and also that he was fairly wellto-
  do within the last three years, although he has now fallen
  upon evil days. He had foresight, but has less now than formerly,
  pointing to a moral retrogression, which, when taken
  with the decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil
  influence, probably drink, at work upon him. This may account
  also for the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love
  him,”
  “My dear Hoimes!”
  “He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect,”
  he continued, disregarding my remonstrance. “He is a man
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 157
  who leads a sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training
  entirely, is middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had
  cut within the last few days, and which he anoints with limecream.
  ‘These are the more patent facts which are to be deduced
  from his hat. Also, by-the-way, that it is extremely
  improbable that he has gas laid on in his house.”
  “You are certainly joking, Holmes.”
  “Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I
  give you these results, you are unable to see how they are
  attained ?”
  “J have no doubt that I am very stupid; but I must confess
  that I am unable to follow you. For example, how did
  you deduce that this man was intellectual ?”
  For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It
  came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of
  his nose. “It is a question of cubic capacity,” said he; “a
  man with so large a brain must have something in it.”
  “The decline of his fortunes, then ?”
  “This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at
  the edge came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality.
  Look at the band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If
  this man could afford to buy so expensive a hat three years.
  ago, and has had no hat since, then he kas assuredly gone
  down in the world.”
  “Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the
  foresight and the moral retrogression ?”
  Sherlock Holmes laughed. “Here is the foresight,” said
  he, putting his finger upon the little disk and loop of the hatsecurer.
  “They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered
  one, it is a sign of a certain amount of foresight, since
  he went out of his way to take this precaution against the
  wind. But since we see that he has broken the elastic, and
  has not troubled to replace it, it is obvious that he has less
  foresight now than formerly, which is a distinct proof of a
  weakening nature. On the other hand, he has endeavored to
  conceal some of these stains upon the felt by daubing them
  158 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  with ink, which is a sign that he has not entirely lost his selfrespect.”
  “Your reasoning is certainly plausible.”
  “The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is
  grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses limecream,
  are all to be gathered from a close examination of the
  lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number
  of hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They
  all appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odor of limecream.
  This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, gray
  dust of the street, but the fluffy brown dust of the house,
  showing that it has been hung up in-doors most of the time;
  while the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive
  that the wearer perspired very freely, and could, therefore,
  hardly be in the best of training.”
  “But his wife— you said that she had ceased to love
  him.”
  “This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see
  you, my dear Watson, with a week’s accumulation of dust
  upon your hat, and when your wife allows you to go out in
  such a state, I shall fear that you also have been unfortunate
  enough to lose your wife’s affection.”
  “But he might. be a bachelor.”
  “Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering
  to his wife. Remember the card upon the bird’s leg.”
  “You have an answer to everything. But how on earth da
  you deduce that the gas is not laid on in his house?”
  “One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; ~
  but when I see no less than five, I think that there can be
  little doubt that the individual must be brought into frequent
  contact with burning tallow—walks up-stairs at night probably
  with his hat in one hand and a guttering candle in the other.
  Anyhow, he never got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you
  satisfied ?””
  “Well, it is very ingenious,” said I, laughing; “but since,
  as you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 159
  no harm done, save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be
  rather a waste of energy.”
  Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the
  door flew open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into
  the apartment with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who
  is dazed with astonishment.
  “The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!” he gasped.
  “Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and
  flapped off through the kitchen window?” Holmes twisted
  himself round upon the sofa to get a fairer view of the man’s
  excited face.
  “See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!” He
  held out his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm
  a brilliantly scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean
  in size, but of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like
  an electric point in the dark hollow of his hand.
  Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. “ By Jove, Peterson!”
  said he, “this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you
  know what you have got?”
  “A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as
  though it were putty.”
  “Tt’s more than a precious stone. It is ¢he precious stone.”
  “Not the Countess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle!” I ejaculated.
  “Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing
  that I have read the advertisement about it in Zhe Times every
  day lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be
  conjectured, but the reward offered of £1000 is certainly not
  within a twentieth part of the market price.”
  “A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!” The commissionaire
  plumped down into a chair, and stared from one
  to the other of us.
  “That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there
  are sentimental considerations in the background which would
  induce the countess to part with half her fortune if she could
  but recover the gem.”
  160 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Tt was lost, if I remember aright, at the ‘ Hotel Cosmopolix
  tan,’” I remarked.
  “ Precisely so, on December 22d, just five days ago. John
  Horner, a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from
  the lady’s jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong
  that the case has been referred to the Assizes. I have some
  account of the matter here, I believe.” He rummaged amid
  his newspapers, glancing over the dates, until at last he
  smoothed one out, doubled it over, and read the following
  paragraph :
  “* Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26,
  plumber, was brought up upon the charge of having upon the
  22d inst. abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of
  Morcar the valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James
  Ryder, upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the
  effect that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of
  the Countess of Morcar upon the day of the robbery, in order
  that he might solder the second bar of the grate, which was
  loose. He had remained with Horner some little time, but
  had finally been called away. On returning, he found that
  Horner had disappeared, that the bureau had been forced
  open, and that the small morocco casket in which, as it afterwards
  transpired, the countess was accustomed to keep her
  jewel, was lying empty upon the dressing-table. Ryder instantly
  gave the alarm, and Horner was arrested the same
  evening ; but the stone could not be found either upon his
  person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to the
  countess, deposed to having heard Ryder’s cry of dismay on
  discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room,
  where she found matters as described by the last witness.
  Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest
  of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his
  innocence in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous
  conviction fer robbery having been given against the prisoner,
  the magistrate refused to deal summarily with the offence, but
  teferred it to the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 161
  intense emotion during the proceedings, fainted away at the
  conclusion, and was carried out of court.’
  “Hum! So much for the police-court,” said Holmes,
  thoughtfully, tossing aside the paper. “The question for us
  now to solve is the sequence of events leading from a rifled
  jewel-case at one end to the crop of a goose in Tottenham
  Court Road at the other. You see, Watson, our little deductions
  have suddenly assumed a much more important and less
  innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the stone came from the
  goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry Baker, the gentleman
  with the bad hat and all the other characteristics with
  which I have bored you. So now we must set ourselves very
  seriously to finding this gentleman, and ascertaining what part
  he has played in this little mystery. To do this, we must try
  the simplest means first, and these lie undoubtedly in an advertisement
  in all the evening papers. If this fail, I shall have
  recourse to other methods.”
  “What will you say?”
  “Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then:
  ‘Found at the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt
  hat. Mr. Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6.30
  this evening at 2218, Baker Street.’ That is clear and concise.”
  “Very. But will he see it?”
  “Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a
  poor man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared
  by his mischance in breaking the window and by the approach
  of Peterson, that he thought of nothing but flight; but
  since then he must have bitterly regretted the impulse which
  caused him to drop his bird. Then, again, the introduction of
  his name will cause him to see it, for every one who knows
  him will direct his attention to it. Here you are, Peterson,
  run down to the advertising agency, and have this put in the
  evening papers.”
  “In which, sir ?”
  “Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pail Mall, St. Fames’s, Evening
  News, Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you.”
  7162 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Very well, sir. And this stone?” |
  “ Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, f say,
  Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back, and leave it
  here with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman
  in place of the one which your family is now devouring.”
  When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the
  stone and held it against the light. “It’s a bonny thing,”
  said he. “Just see how it glints and sparkles, Of course it
  is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stoneis. They
  are the devil’s pet baits. In the larger and older jewels every
  facet may stand for a bloody deed. This stone is not yet
  twenty years old. It was found in the banks of the Amoy
  River in Southern China, and is remarkable in having every
  characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade,
  instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has already a
  sinister history. There have been two murders, a vitriolthrowing,
  a suicide, and several robberies brought about for
  the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallized charcoal.
  Who wouid think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to
  the gallows and the prison? I’ll lock it up in my strong
  box now, and drop a line to the countess to say that we
  have it.”
  “Do you think that this man Horner is innocent ?”
  “T cannot tell.”
  “Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry
  Baker, had anything to do with the matter ?”
  “Tt is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an
  absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which
  he was carrying was of considerably more value than if it
  were made of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine
  by a very simple test, if we have an answer to our advertisement.”
  “And you can do nothing until then 2?”
  “ Nothing.”
  “In that case I shall continue my professional round. But
  Y shall come back in the evening at the hour you have men:
  &
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 163
  tioned, for I should like to see the solution of so tangled a
  business.”
  “Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a wood:
  cock, I believe. By-the-way, in view of recent occurrences,
  perhaps I ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop.”
  I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after halfpast
  six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As
  I approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet
  with a coat which was buttoned up to his chin, waiting outside
  in the bright semicircle which was thrown from the fan
  light. Just as I arrived, the door was opened, and we were
  shown up together to Holmes’s room.
  “Mr, Henry Baker, I believe,” said he, rising from his armchair,
  and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality
  which he could so readily assume. “ Pray take this chair by
  the fire, Mr. Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that
  your circulation is more adapted for summer than for winter.
  Ah, Watson, you have just come at the right time. Is that
  your hat, Mr. Baker?”
  “Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat.”
  He was a large man, with rounded shoulders, a massive
  head, and a broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed
  beard of grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks,
  with a slight tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes’s
  surmise as to his habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned
  right up in front, with the collar turned up, and his lank
  syrists protruded from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or
  shirt, He spoke in a slow staccato fashion, choosing his
  words with care, and gave the impression generally of a man
  of learning and letters who had had ill-usage at the hands of
  fortune.
  “We have retained these things for some days,” said
  Holmes, ‘“ because we expected to see an advertisement from
  you giving your address. I am ata loss to know now why
  you did not advertise.”
  Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh, “ Shillings
  164 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  have not been so plentiful with me as they once were,” he re
  marked. ‘I had no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted
  me had carried off both my hat and the bird. I did
  not care to spend more money in a hopeless attempt at recovering
  them.”
  “Very naturally. By-the-way, about the bird, we were compelled
  to eat it.”
  “To eat it!” Our visitor half rose from his chair in his
  excitement.
  “Yes, it would have been of no use to any one had we not
  done so. But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard,
  which is about the same weight and perfectly fresh,
  will answer your purpose equally well ?”
  “Oh, certainly, certainly ;” answered Mr. Baker, with a sigh
  of relief.
  “Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on
  of your own bird, so if you wish—”
  The man burst into a hearty laugh. “They might be useful
  to me as relics of my adventure,” said he, “but beyond
  that I can hardly see what use the disyecta membra of my late
  acquaintance are going to be to me. No, sir, I think that,
  with your permission, I will confine my attentions to the excellent
  bird which I perceive upon the sideboard.”
  Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight
  shrug of his shoulders.
  “There is your hat, then, and there your bird,” said he.
  “ By-the-way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the
  other one from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I
  have seldom seen a better grown goose.”
  “Certainly, sir,” said Baker, who had risen and tucked his
  newly-gained property under his arm. “There are a few of
  us who frequent the ‘Alpha Inn,’ near the Museum—we are
  to be found in the Museum itself during the day, you understand.
  This year our good host, Windigate by name, instituted
  a goose club, by which, on consideration of some few
  pence every week, we were each to receive a bird at Christ:
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 165
  mas. My pence were duly paid, and the rest is familiar to
  you. Iam much indebted to you, sir, for a Scotch bonnet is
  fitted neither to my years nor my gravity.” With a comical
  pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and
  strode off upon his way.
  “So much for Mr. Henry Baker,” said Holmes, when he
  had closed the door behind him. “It is quite certain that he
  knows nothing whatever about the matter. Are you hungry,
  Watson ?”
  “ Not particularly.”
  “Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper, and
  follow up this clew while it is still hot.”
  “ By all means.”
  It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped
  cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining
  coldly in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by
  blew out into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls
  rang out crisply and loudly as we swung through the Doctors’
  quarter, Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore
  Street into Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we
  were in Bloomsbury at the “ Alpha Inn,” which is a small
  public-house at the corner of one of the streets which runs
  down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open the door of the
  private bar, and ordered two glasses of beer from the ruddyfaced,
  white-aproned landlord.
  “Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your
  geese,” said he.
  “My geese!” The man seemed surprised.
  “Yes. Iwas speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry
  Baker, who was a member of.your goose club.”
  “Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them’s not our geese.”
  “Indeed! Whose, then?”
  “Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Gar
  den.”
  “Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?”
  “ Breckinridge is his name.”
  266 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Ah! I don’t know him. Well, here’s your good health,
  landlord, and prosperity to your house. Good-night ?”
  “Now for Mr. Breckinridge,” he continued, buttoning up
  his coat, as we came out into the frosty air. ‘“ Remember,
  Watson, that though we have so homely a thing as a goose at
  one end of this chain, we have at the other a man who will
  certainly get seven years’ penal servitude unless we can establish
  his innocence. It is possible that our inquiry may
  but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we have a line of investigation
  which has been missed by the police, and which a
  singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us follow it
  out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and quick
  march !”
  We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so
  through a zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One
  of the largest stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it,
  and the proprietor, a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face
  and trim side-whiskers, was helping a boy to put up the
  shutters.
  “Good-evening. It’s a cold night,” said Holmes,
  The salesman nodded, and shot a questioning glance at my
  companion.
  “Sold out of geese, I see,” continued Holmes, pointing at
  the bare slabs of. marble.
  “Let you have soo to-morrow morning.”
  “That’s no good.”
  “Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare,”
  “Ah, but I was recommended to you.”
  “Who by?”
  “The landlord of the é Alpha.’ ”
  “Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen.”
  “Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them
  from ?”
  To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger
  from the salesman.
  “ Now, then, mister,” said he, with his head cocked and his
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 167
  arms akimbo, “what are you driving at? Let’s have it
  straight, now.”
  “Tt is straight enough. I should like to know who sold
  you the geese which you supplied to the ‘ Alpha.’”
  “Well, then, I sha’n’t tell you. So now!”
  “Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don’t know
  why you should be so warm over such a trifle.”
  “Warm! You’d be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered
  as I am. When I pay good money for a good article
  there should be an end of the business; but it’s ‘Where are
  the geese ?’ and ‘Who did you sell the geese to?’ and ‘ What will
  you take for the geese?’ One would think they were the only |
  geese in the world, to hear the fuss that is made over them.”
  “Well, I have no connection with any other people who
  have been making inquiries,” said Holmes, carelessly. “ li
  you won’t tell us the bet is off, that is all. But I’m always
  ready to back my opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a
  fiver on it that the bird I ate is country bred.”
  “Well, then, you’ve lost your fiver, for it’s town bred,”
  snapped the salesman.
  “It’s nothing of the kind.”
  “T say it is.”
  “T don’t believe it.”
  “D’you think you know more about fowls than I, who have
  handled them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those
  birds that went to the ‘ Alpha’ were town bred.”
  “ You’ll never persuade me to believe that.”
  “ Will you bet, then ?”
  “Tt’s merely taking your money, for I know that I am right.
  But I’ll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to
  be obstinate.”
  The salesman chuckled grimly. “Bring me the books,
  Bill,” said he.
  The small boy brought round a smali thin volume and a
  great greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath
  the hanging lamp.
  168 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Now then, Mr. Cocksure,” said the salesman, “I thought
  that I was out of geese, but before I finish you’ll find that
  there is still one left in my shop. You see this little book ?”
  “Well?”
  “That’s the list of the folk from whom I buy. D’you see?
  Well, then, here on this page are the country folk, and the
  numbers after their names are where their accounts are in the
  big ledger. Now, then! You see this other page in red ink?
  Well, that is a list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that
  third name. Just read it out to me.”
  “Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road—z249,” read Holmes.
  “Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger.”
  Holmes turned to the page indicated. “Here you are,
  ‘Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.’”
  “Now, then, what’s the last entry ?”
  ““* December 22. Twenty-four geese at 75. 6d.”
  “Quite so. There you are. And underneath?”
  “ “Sold to Mr. Windigate of the ‘ Alpha,’ at 12s.’ ”
  “What have you to say now?”
  Sherlock Holmes Jooked deeply chagrined. He drew a
  sovereign from his pocket and threw it down upon the slab,
  turning away with the air of a man whose disgust is too deep
  for words. A few yards off he stopped under a lamp-post,
  and laughed in the hearty, noiseless fashion which was pecul
  iar to him.
  “When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the
  ‘pink ’un’ protruding out of his pocket, you can always
  draw him by a bet,” said he. “I dare say that if I had put
  Z%100 down in front of him, that man would not have given
  me such complete information as was drawn from him by
  the idea that he was doing me on a wager. Well, Watson,
  we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our quest, and the only
  point which remains to be determined is whether we should
  go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or whether we should re
  serve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what that surly fellow
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 169
  said that there are others besides ourselves who are anxious
  about the matter, and I should—”
  His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub
  which broke out from the stall which we had just left. Turning
  round we saw a little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre
  of the circle of yellow light which was thrown by the
  swinging lamp, while Breckinridge the salesman, framed in
  the door of his stall, was shaking his fists fiercely at the
  cringing figure.
  “T’ve had enough of you and your geese,” he shouted. “I
  wish you were all at the devil together. If you come pestering
  me any more with your silly talk Ill set the dog at you.
  You bring Mrs. Oakshott here and I’ll answer her, but what
  have you to do with it? Did I buy the geese off you?”
  “No; but one of them was mine all the same,” whined the
  little man.
  “ Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it.”
  “She told me to ask you.”
  “Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care.
  I’ve had enough of it. Get out of this!’ He rushed fiercely
  forward, and the inquirer flitted away into the darkness.
  “ Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road,” whispered
  Holmes. ‘Come with me, and we will see what is to be
  made of this fellow.” Striding through the scattered knots
  of people who lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion
  speedily overtook the little man and touched him upon the
  shoulder. He sprang round, and I could see in the gaslight
  that every vestige of color had been driven from his
  face.
  “Who are you, then? What do you want?” he asked, in a
  quavering voice.
  “You will excuse me,” said Holmes, blandly, “but I could
  not help overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman
  just now. I think that I could be of assistance to you.”
  “You? Who are you? How cauld you know anything of
  the matter?”
  I?
  170 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES #
  “ My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know
  what other people don’t know.”
  “ But you can know nothing of this ?”
  “Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavoring
  to trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of
  Brixton Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in
  turn to Mr, Windigate, of the ‘ Alpha,’ and by him to his club,
  of which Mr. Henry Baker is a member.”
  “Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to
  meet,” cried the little fellow, with outstretched hands and
  quivering fingers. “I can hardly explain to you how interested
  I am in this matter.”
  Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing.
  “Tn that case we had better discuss it in a cosey room rather
  than in this windswept market-place,” said he. “ But pray
  tell me, before we go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure
  of assisting.”
  The man hesitated for an instant. “My name is John
  Robinson,” he answered, with a sidelong glance.
  “No, no; the real name,” said Holmes, sweetly. “It is
  always awkward doing business with an a/as.”
  A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. “ Well,
  then,” said he, “my real name is James Ryder.” ;
  “Precisely so. Head attendant at the ‘ Hotel Cosmopolitan.’
  Pray step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you
  everything which you would wish to know.”
  The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us
  with half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure
  whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe.
  Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were
  back in the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been
  said during our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new
  companion, and the claspings and unclaspings of his hands,
  spoke of the nervous tension within him.
  “Here we are!” said Holmes, cheerily, as we filed into the
  room. ‘“ The fire looks very seasonable in this weathe:. Yow
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 17!
  look cold, Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just
  put on my slippers before we settle this little matter of yours.
  Now, then! You want to know what became of those
  geese ?”
  “Ves, sir.”
  “ Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I im.
  agine, in which you were interested—white, with a black bar
  across the tail.”
  Ryder quivered with emotion. “Oh, sir, he cried,” can you
  tell me where it went to?”
  “Tt came here.”
  Seeresa
  “Ves, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don’t wonder
  that you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after
  it was dead—the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever
  was seen. I have it here in my museum.”
  Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece
  with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box,
  and held up the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star,
  with a cold, brilliant, many-pointed radiance, Ryder stood
  glaring with a drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to
  disown it.
  “The game’s up, Ryder,” said Holmes, quietly. “Hold
  up, man, or you’ll be into the fire! Give him an arm back
  into his chair, Watson. He’s not got blood enough to go in
  for felony with impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So!
  Now he looks a little more human, What a shrimp it is, to
  he sure |”
  For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the
  brandy brought a tinge of color into his cheeks, and he sat
  staring with frightened eyes at his accuser,
  “T have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs
  which I could possibly need, so there is little which you need
  tell me. Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make
  the case complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone
  of the Countess of Morcar’s?”
  172 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it,” said he, in @
  crackling voice.
  “‘T see—her ladyship’s waiting-maid. Well, the temptation
  of sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as
  it has been for better men before you; but you were not very
  scrupulous in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder,
  that there is the making of a very pretty villain in you. You
  knew that this man Horner, the plumber, had been concerned
  in some such matter before, and that suspicion would rest the
  more readily upon him. What did you do, then? You made
  some small job in my lady’s room—you and your confederate
  Cusack—and you managed that he should’b e the man sent
  for. Then, when he had left, you rifled the jewel-case, raised
  the alarm, and had this unfortunate man arrested. You
  then—”
  Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and
  clutched at my companion’s knees. ‘“ For God’s sake, have
  mercy!” he shrieked. “Think of my father! of my motker!
  It would break their hearts. I never went wrong before! I
  never will again. I swearit. I’ll swear it on a Bible. Oh,
  don’t bring it into court! For Christ’s sake, don’t!”
  “Get back into your chair!” said Holmes, sternly. “It is
  very well to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little
  enough of this poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which
  he knew nothing.”
  “Twill fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then
  the charge against him will break down.”
  “Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a ~
  true account of the next act. How came the stone into the
  goose, and how came the goose into the open market? Tell
  us the truth, for there lies your only hope of safety.”
  Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. “TI will tell
  you it just as it happened, sir,” said he. “When Horner had
  been arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me
  to get away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what
  moment the police might not take it into their heads to search
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 173
  me and my room. There was no place about the hotel where
  it would be safe. I went out, as if on some commission, and
  I made for my sister’s house. She had married a man named
  Oakshott, and lived in Brixton Road, where she fattened fowls
  for the market. All the way there every man I met seemed to
  me to be a policeman or a detective; and, for all that it was
  a cold night, the sweat was pouring down my face before I
  came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me what was the
  matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I had been
  upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went into the
  back yard and smoked a pipe, and wondered what it would
  be best to do.
  “J had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad,
  and has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day
  he had met me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves,
  and how they could get rid of what they stole. 1 knew that
  he would be true to me, for I knew one or two things about
  him; so I made up my mind to go right on to Kilburn, where
  he lived, and take him into my confidence. He would show
  me how to turn the stone into money. But how to get to him
  in safety? I thought of the agonies I had gone through in
  coming from the hotel. I might at «ny moment be seized and
  searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat pocket.
  I was leaning against the wall at the time, and looking at the
  geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly
  an idea came into my head which showed me how I could
  beat the best detective that ever lived.
  “My sister had told me some weeks before that I might
  have the pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew
  that she was always as good as her word. I would take my
  goose now, and in it I would carry my stone to Kilburn.
  There was a little shed in the yard, and behind this I drove
  one of the birds—a fine big one, white, with a barred tail. I
  caught it, and, prying its bill open, I thrust the stone down
  its throat as far as my finger could reach. The bird gave a
  174 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  its crop. But the creature flapped and struggled, and out
  came my sister to know what was the matter. As I turned
  to speak to her the brute broke loose and fluttered off among
  the others.
  “Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?’ says she.
  “¢Well,’ said I, ‘you said you’d give me one for Christmas,
  and I was feeling which was the fattest.’
  “¢Qh,’ says she, ‘we’ve set yours aside for you—Jem’s bird,
  we call it. It’s the big white one over yonder. There’s twenty-
  six of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and
  two dozen for the market.’
  “<«Thank you, Maggie,’ says I; ‘but if it is all the same to
  you, I’d rather have that one I was handling just now.’
  “<The other is a good three pound heavier,’ said she, ‘and
  we fattened it expressly for you.’
  “Never mind. Ill have the other, and I’ll take it now,’
  said I,
  “¢QOh, just as you like,’ said she, a little huffed. ‘Which is
  it you want, then ?”
  “That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the flock.’ “Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.’
  “Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the
  bird all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done,
  for he was a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to.
  He laughed until he choked, and we got a knife and opened
  the goose. My heart turned to water, for there was no sign
  of the stone, and I knew that some terrible mistake had occurred.
  I left the bird, rushed back to my sister’s, and hurried
  into the back yard. There was not a bird to be seen there.
  “* Where are they all, Maggie?’ I cried.
  “Gone to the dealer’s, Jim,’ “Which dealer’s ?’ “ Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.’
  “But was there another with a barred tail ? I asked, ‘tha
  same as the one I chose?’
  THE ADVENTURE UF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 175
  “<-Ves, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could
  never tell them apart.’
  “Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as
  my feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge ; but he had
  sold the lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to
  where they had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night.
  Well, he has always answered me like that. My sister thinks
  that Iam going mad. Sometimes I think that I am myself.
  And now—and now I am myself a branded thief, without ever
  having touched the wealth for which I sold my character.
  God help me! God help me!” He burst into convulsive
  sobbing, with his face buried in his hands.
  There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathjng,
  and by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes’s finger-
  tips upon the edge of the table. Then my friend rose and
  threw open the door.
  “Get out!” said he.
  “What, sir! Oh, heaven bless you!”
  ‘‘No more words. Get out!”
  And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a
  clatter upon the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle
  of running footfalls from the street.
  “ After all, Watson,” said Holmes, reaching up his hand
  for his clay pipe, “I am not retained by the police to supply
  their deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another
  thing; but this fellow will not appear against him, and
  the case must collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a
  felony, but it is just possible that I am saving a soul. This
  fellow will not go wrong again; he is too terribly frightened.
  Send him to jail now, and you make him a jail-bird for life.
  Besides, it is the season of forgiveness. Chance has put in
  our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its solution
  is its own reward. If you will have the goodness te
  touch the bell, doctor, we will begin another investigation, in
  which, also, a bird will be the chief feature.”
  Moventure WITT
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND
  SAVYEN glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases
  _ in which I have during the last eight years studied
  Pais AY the methods of my friend Sherlock Holmes, I find
  SP SG many tragic, some comic, a large number merely
  strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did rather
  for the love of his art than for the acquirement of wealth,
  he refused to associate himself with any investigation which
  did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic.
  Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which
  presented more singular features than that which was associated
  with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of
  Stoke Moran. The events in question occurred in the early
  days of my association with Holmes, when we were sharing
  rooms as bachelors in Baker Street. It is possible that I
  might have placed them upon record before, but a promise of
  secrecy was made at the time, from which I have only been
  freed during the last month by the untimely death of the lady
  to whom the pledge was given. It is perhaps as well that the
  facts should now come to light, for I have reasons to know
  that there are wide-spread rumors as to the death of Dr.
  Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even more
  terrible than the truth.
  It was early in April in the year ’83 that I woke one morning
  to find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the
  side of my bed. He was a late riser as a rule, and as the
  clock on the mantel-piece showed me that it was only a quarter
  past seven, I blinked up at him in some surprise, and per:
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 177
  haps just a little resentment, for I was myself regular in my
  habits.
  “Very sorry to knock you up, Watson,” said he, “but it’s
  the common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked
  up, she retorted upon me, and I on you.”
  “‘ What is it, then—a fire ?”
  “No; aclient. It seems that a young lady has arrived in
  a considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing
  me. She is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when
  young ladies wander about the metropolis at this hour of the
  morning, and knock sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume
  that it is something very pressing which they have to
  communicate. Should it prove to be an interesting case, you
  would, I am sure, wish to follow it from the outset. I thought,
  at any rate, that I should call you and give you the chance.”
  “My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything.”
  I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his
  professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions,
  as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical
  basis, with which he unravelled the problems which were
  submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes, and was
  ready in a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the
  sitting-room. A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled,
  who had been sitting in the window, rose as we entered.
  “Good-morning, madam,” said Holmes, cheerily. “My
  name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate friend and
  associate, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely
  as before myself. Ha! I am glad to see that Mrs. Hudson
  has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up to it,
  and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that
  you are shivering.”
  “Tt ig not cold which makes me shiver,” said the woman,
  in a low voice, changing her seat as requested.
  “ What, then?”
  “Tt is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.” She raised her
  veil as she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a
  178 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and gray, with
  restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal.
  Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but
  her hair was shot with premature gray, and her expression
  was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with
  one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.
  “You must not fear,” said he, soothingly, bending forward
  and patting her forearm. ‘We shall soon set matters right,
  I have no doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I
  see.”
  “You know me, then ?”
  “No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the
  palm of your left glove. You must have started early, and
  yet you had a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before
  you reached the station.”
  The lady gave a violent start, and stared in bewilderment
  at my companion.
  “There is no mystery, my dear madam,” said he, smiling.
  “The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less
  than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is
  no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way,
  and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the
  driver.”
  “Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,”
  said she. “I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead
  at twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo.
  Sir, I can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if
  it continues. I have no one to turn to—none, save only one,
  who cares for me, and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I
  have heard of you, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from
  Mrs. Farintosh, whom you helped in the hour of her sore need.
  It was from her that I had your address. Oh, sir, do you not
  think that you could help me, too, and at least throw a little
  light through the dense darkness vhich surrounds me? At
  present it is out of my power to reward you for your services,
  but in a month or six weeks I shall be married, with the con:
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 179
  trol of my own income, and then at least you shall not find
  me ungrateful.”
• Holmes turned to his desk, and unlocking it, drew out a
  small case-book, which he consulted.
  “Farintosh,” said he. “Ah yes, I recall the case; it was
  concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your
  time, Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy
  to devote the same care to your case as I did to that of your
  “friend. As to reward, my profession is its own reward; but
  vou are at liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be put
  to, at the time which suits you best. And now I beg that you
  will lay before us everything that may help us in forming an
  opinion upon the matter.”
  “ Alas!” replied our visitor, “the very horror of my situation
  lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions
  depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem
  trivial to another, that even he to whom of all others I have a
  right to look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him
  about it as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not
  say so, but I can read it from his soothing answers and averted
  eyes. But I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see
  deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart.
  You may advise me how to walk amid the dangers which en-
  Sompass me.”
  “T am all attention, madam.”
  “My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather,
  who is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families
  in England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western
  border of Surrey.”
  Holmes nodded his head. “The name is familiar to me,”
  said he.
  “The family was at one time among the richest in England,
  and the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in
  the north, and Hampshire in the west. In the last century,
  however, four successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful
  disposition, and the family ruin was eventually completed
  180 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  by a gambler in the days of the Regency. Nothing was left
  save a few acres of ground, and the two-hundred- year-old
  house, which is itself crushed under a heavy mortgage. The
  last squire dragged out his existence there, living the horrible
  life of an aristocratic pauper ; but his only son, my step-father,
  seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions, obtained
  an advance from a relative, which enabled him to take
  a medical degree, and went out to Calcutta, where, by his professional
  skill and his force of character, he established @
  large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused by some
  robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat
  his native butler to death, and narrowly escaped a capital sentence.
  As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment,
  and afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed
  man.
  “When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother,
  Mrs. Stoner, the young widow of Major-general Stoner, of the
  Bengal Artillery. My sister Julia and I were twins, and we
  were only two years old at the time of my mother’s re-marriage.
  She had a considerable sum of money—not less than

1000 a year—and this she bequeathed to Dr. Roylott

entirely while we resided with him, with a provision that a
gertain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the
event of our marriage. Shortly after our return to England
my mother died—she was killed eight years ago in a railway
accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his attempts
to establish himself in practice in London, and took
us to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran.
The money which my mother had left was enough for all our
wants, and there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness.
“But a terrible change came over our step-father about this
time. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our
neighbors, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of
Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up
in his house, and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocioug
quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of tem
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 181
per approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of
the family, and in my step-father’s case it had, I believe, been
intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of
disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the
police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village,
and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of im
mense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.
“Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet
into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money
which I could gather together that I was able to avert another
public exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering
gypsies, and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp
upon the few acres of bramble-covered land which
represent the family estate, and would accept in return the
hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them sometimes
for weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian
animals, which are sent over to him by a correspondent, and
he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which wander
freely over his grounds, and are feared by the villagers almost
as much as their master.
“You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister
Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant
would stay with us, and for a long time we did all the work of
the house.. She was but thirty at the time of her death, and
yet her hair had already begun to whiten, even as mine has.”
‘“Vour sister is dead, then?”
‘“‘She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I
wish to speak to you. You can understand that, living the
life which I have described, we were little likely to see any one
of our own age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my
mother’s maiden sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives
near Harrow, and we were occasionally allowed to pay short
visits at this lady’s house. Julia went there at Christmas two
years ago, and met there a half-pay major of marines, to
whom she became engaged. My step-father learned of the
engagement when my sister returned, and offered no objec
182 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
tion to the marriage; but within a fortnight of the day which
had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event occurred
which has deprived me of my only companion.”
Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with
his eyes closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half
opened his lids now and glanced across at his visitor.
“Pray be precise as to details,” said he.
“Tt is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful
time is seared into my memory. ‘The manor-house is, as
I have already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited.
The bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor,
the sitting-rooms being in the central block of the buildings.
Of these bedrooms the first is Dr. Roylott’s, the second my
sister’s, and the third my own. There is no communication
between them, but they all open out into the same corridor.
Do I make myself plain ?”
“* Perfectly so.”
“The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn.
That fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early,
though we knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister
was troubled by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which
it was his custom to smoke. She left her room, therefore,
and came into mine, where she sat for some time, chatting
about her approaching wedding. At eleven o’clock she rose
to leave me but she paused at the door and looked back.
“Tell me, Helen,’ said she, ‘have you ever heard anv one
whistle in the dead of the night”
“¢ Never,’ said I.
“T suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your sleep ?’ “Certainly not. But why ?” “* Because during the last few nights I have always, about
three in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. 1am a light
sleeper, and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came
from—perhaps from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I
thought that I would just ask you whether you had heard it’
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 183
“¢No, I have not. It must be those wretched gypsies in
the plantation.’
“Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder
that you did not hear it also.’
“Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.’
“¢Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.’ She
smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later
I heard her key turn in the lock.”
“Indeed,” said Holmes. “Was it your custom always to
lock yourselves in at night ?”
“ Always.”
“« And why ?”
“T think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a
cheetah and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless
our doors were locked.”
“Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.”
“T could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending
misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect,
were twins, and you know how subtle are the links
which bind two souls which are so closely allied. It was a
wild night. The wind was howling outside, and the rain was
beating and splashing against the windows. Suddenly, amid
all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream
of a terrified woman. I knew that it was my sister’s voice.
I sprang from my bed, wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed
into the corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear a
low whistle, such as my sister described, and a few moments
later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen. As
I ran down the passage, my sister’s door was unlocked, and
revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken,
not knowing what was about to issue from it. By the light of
the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the opening, her
face blanched with terror, her hands groping for help, her
whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a drunkard. Iran
to her and threw my arms round her, but at that moment her
knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground, She
184 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were
dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not
recognized me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked
out in a voice which I shall never forget, ‘Oh, my God!
Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!’ There was
something else which she would fain have said, and she
stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the
doctor’s room, but a fresh convulsion seized her and choked
her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for my step-father,
and I met him hastening from his room in his dressing-gown.
When he reached my sister’s side she was unconscious, and
though he poured brandy down her throat and sent for medical
aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for she slowly
sank and died without having recovered her consciousness.
Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister.”
“One moment,” said Holmes; “are you sure about this
whistle and metallic sound? Could you swear to it ?”
“That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry.
It is my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among
the crash of the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may
possibly have been deceived.”
“Was your sister dressed ?”
“No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was
found the charred stump of a match, and in her left a matchbox.”
“Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her
when the alarm took place. That is important. And what
conclusions did the coroner come to ?”
“He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott’s
conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was
unable to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence
showed that the door had been fastened upon the inner side,
and the windows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with
broad iron bars, which were secured every night. The walls
were carefully sounded, and were shown to be quite solid all
round, and the flooring was also thoroughly examined, with
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 185
the same result. The chimney is wide, but is barred up by
four large staples. It is certain, therefore, that my sister was
quite alone when she met her end. Besides, there were no
marks of any violence upon her.”
“ How about poison ?”
“The doctors examined her for it, but without success.”
“What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of,
then ?”
“Tt is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous
shock, though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine.”
“Were there gypsies in the plantation at the time?”
“Yes, there are nearly always some there.”
“ Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band
—a speckled band ?”
“Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk
of delirum, sometimes that it may have referred to some band
of people, perhaps to these very gypsies in the plantation. I
do not know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so
many of them wear over their heads might have suggested the
‘strange adjective which she used.”
Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being
satisfied.
“These are very deep waters,” said he; “pray go on with
your narrative.”
“Two years have passed since then, and my life has been
until lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear
friend, whom I have known for many years, has done me the
honor to ask my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage—
Percy Armitage—the second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane
Water, near Reading. My step-father has offered no opposition
to the match, and we are to be married in the course of
the spring. Two days ago some repairs were started in the
west wing of the building, and my bedroom wall has been
pierced, so that I have had to move into the chamber in which
my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in which she
33
186 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last night, as I
lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I suddenly heard in
the silence of the night the low whistle which had been the
herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the lamp, but
nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to go
to »ed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was
daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the ‘Crown Inn,’
which is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence
I have come on this morning with the one object of seeing
you and asking your advice.”
“You have done wisely,” said my friend. ‘“ But have you
told me all?”
“ Ves, all.”
“Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather.”
“Why, what do you mean ?”
For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace
which fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor’s knee. Five
little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were
printed upon the white wrist.
“You have been cruelly used,” said Holmes.
The lady colored deeply and covered over her injured
wrist. ‘He is a hard man,” she said, “and perhaps he hardly
knows his own strength.”
There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned
his chin upon his hands and stared into the crackling
fire.
“This is a very deep business,” he said, at last. “There
are a thousand details which I should desire to know before I
decide upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment
to lose. If we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day,
would it be possible for us to see over these rooms without
the knowledge of your step-father ?”
“ As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon
some most important business. It is probable that he will be
away all day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 187
We have a house-keeper now, but she is old and foolish, and f
could easily get her out of the way.”
“Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson ?”
“‘ By no means.”
“Then we shall both come. What are you going to do
yourself :””
“J have one or two things which I would wish to do now
that I am in town. But I shall return by the twelve o’clock
train, so as to be there in time for your coming.”
“And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have
myself some small business matters to attend to. Will you
not wait and breakfast ?”
“No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I
have confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing
you again this afternoon.” She dropped her thick black
veil over her face and glided from the room.

• And what do you think of it all, Watson?” asked Sherlock
  Holmes, leaning back in his chair.
  “Tt seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business.”
  “ Dark enough and sinister enough.”
  “Vet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and
  walls are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are
  impassable, then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone
  when she met her mysterious end.”
  “What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what
  of the very peculiar words of the dying woman ?”
  “T cannot think.”
  “When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence
  of a band of gypsies who are on intimate terms with this
  old doctor, the fact that we have every reason to believe that
  the doctor has an interest in preventing his step-daughter’s
  marriage, the dying allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact
  that Miss Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang, which might
  have been caused by one of those metal bars which secured
  the shutters falling back into their place, I think that there is
  188 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along
  those lines.”
  “ But what, then, did the gypsies do?”
  “T cannot imagine.”
  “T see many objections to any such theory.’
  “And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are
  going to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the
  objections are fatal, or if they may be explained away. But
  what in the name of the devil!”
  The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by
  the fact that our door had been suddenly dashed open, and
  that a huge man had framed himself in the aperture. His
  costume was a peculiar mixture of the professional and of the
  agricultural, having a black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a
  pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand.
  So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross bar of
  the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span it across from
  side to side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles,
  burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion,
  was turned from one to the other of us, while his deepset,
  bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, fleshless nose, gave him
  somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey.
  “Which of you is Holmes?” asked this apparition.
  “My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me,” said
  my companion, quietly.
  “T am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.”
  “Indeed, doctor,” said Holmes, blandly. * Pray take a
  seat.”
  “T will do nothing of the kind. My step-daughter has been
  here. I have traced her. What has she been saying to you?”
  “Tt is a little cold for the time of the year,” said Holmes.
  “What has she been saying to you?” screamed the old man,
  furiously.
  “But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,” continued
  my companion, imperturbably.
  “Hal You put me off, do you?” said our new visitor,
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 189
  taking a step forward and shaking his hunting-crop. “I
  know you, you scoundrel! I have heard of you before. You
  are Holmes, the meddler.”
  My friend smiled.
  “Holmes, the busybody !”
  His smile broadened.
  “ Holmes, the Scotland-yard Jack-in-office !”
  Holmes chuckled heartily. ‘Your conversation is most
  entertaining,” said he. ‘When you go out close the door, for
  there is a decided draught.”
  “T will go when I have said my say. Don’t you dare to
  meddle with my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been
  here. I traced her! I am a dangerous man to fall foul of!
  See here.” He stepped swiftly forward, seized the poker and
  bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands.
  “See that you keep yourself out of my grip,” he snarled,
  and hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace, he strode out
  of the room.
  “He seems a very amiable person,” said Holmes, laughing.
  “Tam not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might
  have shown him that my grip was not much more feeble than
  his own.” As he spoke he picked up the steel poker, and
  with a sudden effort straightened it out again.
  “Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the
  official detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation,
  however, and I only trust that our little friend will
  not suffer from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace
  her. And now, Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards
  I shall walk down to Doctors’ Commons, where I hope
  to get some data which may help us in this matter.”
  It was nearly one o’clock when Sherlock Holmes returned
  from his excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper,
  scrawled over with notes and figures.
  “T have seen the will of the deceased wife,” said he. “Ta
  determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out
  190 ADVENTURES O¥ SHERLOCK HOLMES
  the present prices of the investments with which it is con
  cerned. The total income, which at the time of the wife’s
  death was little short of £1100, is now, through the fall in agricultural
  prices, not more than £750. Each daughter can
  claim an income of £250, in case of marriage. It is evident,
  therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty woula
  have had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple
  him to a very serious extent. My morning’s work has not
  been wasted, since it has proved that he has the very strongest
  motives for standing in the way of anything of the sort. And
  now, Watson, this is too serious for dawdling, especially as
  the old man is aware that we are interesting ourselves in his
  affairs ; so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to
  Waterloo. I should be very much obliged if you would slip
  your revolver into your pocket. An Eley’s No. 2 is an excellent
  argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers inte
  knots. That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.”
  At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for
  Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn, and
  drove for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes.
  It was a perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds
  in the heavens. The trees and way-side hedges were just
  throwing out their first green shoots, and the air was full of
  the pleasant smell of the moist earth. To me at least there
  was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the
  spring and this sinister quest upon which we were engaged.
  My companion sat in the front of the trap, his arms folded,
  his hat pulled down over his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his
  breast, buried in the deepest thought. Suddenly, however,
  he started, tapped me on the shoulder, and pointed over the
  meadows.
  Look there !” said he.
  A heavily-timbered park stretched up m a gentle slope,
  thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the
  tbranches there jutted out the gray gables and high roof-tree
  of a very old mansion.
  TIIE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND I9I
• Stoke Moran ?” said he.
  “Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,” remarked
  the driver.
  “There is some building going on there,” said Holmes;
  “that is where we are going.”
  “’There’s the village,” said the driver, pointing to a cluster
  of roofs some distance to the left; “ but if you want to get
  to the house, you’ll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so
  by the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady
  is walking.”
  “ And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,” observed Holmes,
  shading his eyes. “Yes, I think we had better do as you
  suggest.”
  We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its
  way to Leatherhead.
  “T thought it as well,” said Holmes, as we climbed the
  stile, “that this fellow should think we had come here as
  architects, or on some definite business. It may stop his
  gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have
  been as good as our word.”
  Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us
  with a face which spoke her joy. “I have been waiting so
  eagerly for you,” she cried, shaking hands with us warmly.
  “All has turned out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to
  town, and it is unlikely that he will be back before evening.”
• We have had the pleasure of making the doctor’s acquaintance,”
  said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what
  had occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she
  listened.
  “Good heavens !” she cried, “he has followed me, then.”
  “So it appears.”
  “ He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from
  him. What will he say when he returns?”
  “He must guard himself, for he may find that there is some
  one more cunning than himself upon his track. You must
  jock yourself up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shal?
  192 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  take you away tc your aunt’s at Harrow. Now, we must make
  the best use of our time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms
  which we are to examine.”
  The building was of gray, lichen-blotched stone, with a high
  central portion, and two curving wings, like the claws of a
  crab, thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the
  windows were broken, and blocked with wooden boards, while
  the roof was partly caved in, a picture of ruin. The centra
  portion was in little better repair, but the right-hand block
  was comparatively modern, and the blinds in the windows,
  with the blue smoke curling up from the chimneys, showed
  that this was where the family resided. Some scaffolding had
  been erected against the end wall, and the stone-work had
  been broken into, but there were no signs of any workmen at
  the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and down
  the ill-trimmed lawn, and examined with deep attention the
  outsides of the windows.
  “This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to
  sleep, the centre one to your sister’s, and the one next to the
  main building to Dr. Roylott’s chamber ?”
  “Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.”
  “Pending the alterations, as I understand. By-the-way,
  there does not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs
  at that end wall.”
  “There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move
  me from my room.”
  “Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this
  narrow wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms
  open. There are windows in it, of course ?”
  “Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for any one to pass
  through.”
  “As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were
  unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the
  aindness to go into your room and bar your shutters.”
  Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examina:
  tion through the open window, endeavored in every way to
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 193
  force the shutter open, but without success. There was no
  slit through which a knife could be passed to raise the bar.
  Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of
  solid iron, built firmly into the massive masonry. “Hum!”
  said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity ; “my theory
  certainly presents some difficulties. No one could pass these
  shutters if they were bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside
  throws any light upon the matter.
  A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from
  which the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused tr. examine
  the third chamber, so we passed at once to the second,
  that in which Miss Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her
  sister had met with her fate. It was a homely little room,
  with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after the fashion of
  old country-houses. A brown chest of drawers stuod in one
  corner, a narrow white-counterpaned bed in another, and a
  dressing-table on the left-hand side of the window. These
  articles, with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the
  furniture in the room, save for a square of Wilton carpet in
  the centre. The boards round and the panelling of the walls
  were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old and discolored that it
  may have dated from the original building of the house.
  Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent,
  while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down,
  taking in every detail of the apartment.
  “Where does that bell communicate with?” he asked, at
  last, pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the
  bed, the tassel actually lying upon the p llow. .
  “Tt goes to the house-keeper’s room.’
  “Jt looks newer than the other things ?”
  “Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.”
  “Your sister asked for it, I suppose?”
  “No, I never heard of her using it. We usec always to get
  what we wanted for ourselves.”
  “Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull
  there. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy
  194 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  myself as to this floor.” He threw himself down upon his
  face with his lens in his hand, and crawled swiftly backward
  and forward, examining minutely the cracks between the
  boards, Then he did the same with the wood-work with
  which the chamber was panelled. Finally he walked over to
  the bed, and spent some time in staring at it, and in running
  his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the bell-rope
  in his hand and gave it a brisk tug.
  “Why, it’s a dummy,” said he.
  “Won’t it ring ?”
  “No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting.
  You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just
  above where the little opening for the ventilator is,”
  “ How very absurd! I never noticed that before.”
  “Very strange!” muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope.
  “There are one or two very singular points about this room.
  For example, what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator
  into another room, when, with the same trouble, he might
  have communicated with the outside air!”
  “That is also quite modern,” said the lady.
  “Done about the same time as the bell-rope?” remarked
  Holmes. ;
  “Yes, there were several little changes carried out about
  that time.”
  “They seem to have been of a most interesting character—
  dummy bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate.
  With your permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our
  researches into the inner apartment.”
  Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s chamber was larger than that of his
  step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a
  small wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character,
  an arm-chair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against
  the wall, a round table, and a large iron safe were the principal
  things which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round
  and examined each and all of them with the keenest interest.
  “What’s in here?” he asked, tapping the safe.
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 195
  “My step-father’s business papers.”
  “Oh! you have seen inside, then?”
  “Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full
  of papers.”
  “There isn’t a cat in it, for example ?”
  “No. What a strange idea!”
  “ Well, look at this!” He took up a small saucer of milk
  which stood on the top of it.
  “No; we don’t keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a
  baboon.”
  “ Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and
  yet a saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its
  wants, I dare say. There is one point which I should wish to
  determine.” He squatted down in front of the wooden chair,
  and examined the seat of it with the greatest attention.
  “Thank you. That is quite settled,” said he, rising and
  putting his lens in his pocket. “Hello! Here is something
  interesting !”
  The obiect which had caught his eye was a small dog lash
  hung on one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled
  upon itself, and tied so as to make a loop of whip-cord.
  “What do you make of that, Watson ig
  “Ts a common enough lash. But I don’t know why it
  should be tied.”
  “ That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it’s a wicked
  world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is
  the worst of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss
  Stoner, and with your permission we shall walk out upon the
  lawn.”
  I had never seen my friend’s face so grim or his brow so
  dark as it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation.
  We had walked several times up and down the lawn,
  neither Miss Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his
  thoughts before he roused himself from his reverie.
  “Tt is very essential, Miss Stoner,” said he, “ that you
  should absolutely follow my advice in every respect.”
  196 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “T shall most certainly do so.”
  “The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life
  may depend upon your compliance.”
  “Y assure you that I am in your hands.”
  “In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the
  night in your room.”
  Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment.
  “Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that
  is the village inn over there?”
  “Yes, that is the ‘Crown.’”
  “Very good. Your windows would be visible from there ?”
  “ Certainly.”
  “You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a
  heauache, when your step-father comes back. Then when you
  hear him retire for the night, you must open the shutters of
  your window, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal
  to us, and then withdraw quietly with everything which you
  are likely to want into the room which you used to occupy.
  I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could manage
  there for one night.”
  “Oh yes, easily.”
  “The rest you will leave in our hands.”
  ‘But what will you do?”
  ‘We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate
  the cause of this noise which has disturbed you.”
  “T believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up
  your mind,” said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion’s
  sleeve.
  “ Perhaps I have.”
  “Then for pity’s sake tell me what was the cause of my
  sister’s death.”
  “T should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.”
  “You can at least tell me whether my own thought is cor.
  rect, and if she died from some sudden fright.”
  “No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably
  some more tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 197
  leave you, for if Dr. Roylott returned and saw us, our journey
  would be in vain. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do
  what I have told you, you may rest assured that we shall soon
  _ drive away the dangers that threaten you.
  Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom
  and sitting-room at the “Crown Inn.” They were on
  the upper floor, and from our window we could command a
  yiew of the avenue gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke
  Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby Roylott
  drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little figure
  of the lad who drove him. The boy had some slight
  difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the
  hoarse roar of the doctor’s voice, and saw the fury with which
  he shook his clinched fists at him. ‘The trap drove on, and a
  few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the
  trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.
  “Do you know, Watson,” said Holmes, as we sat together
  in the gathering darkness, “I have really some scruples as to
  taking you to-night. There is a distinct element of danger.”
  “Can I be of assistance ?”
  “Your presence might be invaluable.”
  “Then I shall certainly come.”
  “Tt is very kind of you.”
  “You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in
  these rooms than was visible to me.”
  “No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more.
  I imagine that you saw all that I did.”
  “T saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what
  purpose that could answer I confess is more than I can
  imagine.”
  “You saw the ventilator, too?”
  “Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing
  to have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small
  that a rat could hardly pass through.”
  “1 knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we
  came to Stoke Moran.”
  198 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “ My dear Holmes !”
  “Oh yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said
  that her sister could smell Dr. Roylott’s cigar. Now, of course
  that suggested at once that there must be a communication
  between the two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it
  would have been remarked upon at the coroner’s inquiry. 1
  deduced a ventilator.”
  “ But what harm can there be in that ?”
  “‘ Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A
  ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in
  the bed dies. Does not that strike you?”
  “T cannot as yet see any connection.”
  “Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed ?”
  “No.”
  “Tt was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed
  fastened like that before ?”
  “T cannot say that I have.”
  “The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in
  the same relative position to the ventilator and to the rope—
  for so we may call it, since it was clearly never meant for a
  bell-pul!.”
  “Holmes,” I cried, “I seem to see dimly what you are
  hinting at. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle
  and horrible crime.”
  “Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor
  does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has nerve
  and he has knowledge. Palmer and Pritchard were among
  the heads of their profession. This man strikes even deeper,
  but I think, Watson, that we shall be able to strike deeper
  still. But we shall have horrors enough before the night is
  over; for goodness’ sake let us have a quiet pipe, and turn
  our minds for a few hours to something more cheerful.”
  About nine o’clock the light among the trees was extinguished,
  and all was dark in the direction of the Manor
  House. Two hours passed slowly away, and then, suddenly,
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 199
  just at the stroke of eleven, a single bright light shone out
  right in front of us.
  “That is our signal,” said Holmes, springing to his feet;
  “it comes from the middle window.”
  As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord,
  explaining that we were going on a late visit to an ac.
  quaintance, and that it was possible that we might spend the
  night there. A moment later we were out on the dark road,
  a chill wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling
  in front of us through tne gloom to guide us on our sombre
  errand.
  There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unrepaired
  breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way
  among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were
  about to enter through the window, when out from a clump
  of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous
  and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass with
  writhing limbs, and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the
  darkness.
  ““My God!” I whispered ; “did you see it?”
  Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand
  closed like a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he
  broke into a low laugh, and put his lips to my ear,
  “Tt is a nice household,” he murmured. “That is the
  baboon.”
  I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected.
  There was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our
  shoulders at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my
  mind when, after following Holmes’s example and slipping off
  my shoes, I found myself inside the bedroom. My companion
  noiseiessly closed the shutters, moved the lamp onto the
  table, and cast his eyes round the room. All was as we had
  seen it in the taytime. Then creeping up to me and making
  a trumpet of his hand, he whispered into my ear again so
  gently that it was all that I could do to distinguish the words:
  “The least sound would be fatal to our plans.”
  200 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  I nodded to show that I had heard.
  “We must sit without light. He would see it through the
  ventilator.
  I nodded again.
  “Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it.
  Have your pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit
  on the side of the bed, and you in that chair.”
  I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table.
  Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he
  placed upon the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of
  matches and the stump of a candle. Then he turned down
  the lamp, and we were left in darkness.
  How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not
  hear a sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I
  knew that my companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of
  me, in the same state of nervous tension in which I was myself.
  The shutters cut off the least ray of light, and we
  waited in absolute darkness. From outside came the occa:
  sional cry of a night-bird, and once at our very window a long
  drawn cat-like whine, which told us that the cheetah was indeed
  at liberty. Far away we could hear the deep tones of
  the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour.
  How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and
  one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for ©
  for whatever might befall.
  Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in
  the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately,
  but was succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated
  metal. Some one in the next room had lit a dark-lantern.
  I heard a gentle sound of movement, and then all was silent
  once more, though the smell grew stronger. For half an hour
  I sat with straining ears. Then suddenly another sound became
  audible—a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a
  small jet of steam escaping continually from a kettle. The
  instant that we heard it, Holmes sprang from the bed, struck
  a match, and lashed furiously with his cane at the bell-pull,
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 204
• You see it, Watson?” he yelled. ‘“ You see it?”
  But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck
  the light I heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare
  flashing into my weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell
  what it was at which my friend lashed so savagely. I could,
  however, see that his face was deadly pale, and filled with
  horror and loathing.
  He had ceased to strike, and was gazing up at the ventilator,
  when suddenly there broke from the silence of the night
  the most horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It
  swelled up louder and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and feat
  and anger all mingled in the one dreadful shriek. They say
  that away down in the village, and even in the distant parson
  age, that cry raised the sleepers from their beds. It struck
  cold to our hearts, and I stood gazing at Holmes, and he at
  me, until the last echoes of it had died away into the silence
  from which it rose.
  “ What can it mean?” I gasped.
  “It means that it is all over,” Holmes answered. “And
  perhaps, after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we
  wil! enter Dr. Roylott’s room.”
  With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down
  the corrider. Twice he struck at the chamber door without
  any reply from within. Then he turned the handle and entered,
  I at his heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand.
  It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table
  stood a dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a
  brilliant beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which
  was ajar. Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr.
  Grimesby Roylott, clad in a long gray dressing-gown, his bare
  ankles protruding beneath, and his feet thrust into red heeliess
  Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the short stock with
  the long lash which we had noticed during the day. His chin
  was cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful,
  rigid stare at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he
  had a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, which
  14
  202 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  seemed to be bound tightly round his head. As we entered
  he made neither sound nor motion.
  “The band! the speckled band !” whispered Holmes.
  I took a step forward. In an instant his strange head-geat
  began to move, and there reared itself from among nis hait
  the squat diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome
  serpent.
  “Tt is a swamp adder!” cried Holmes; “the deadlies:
  snake in India. He has died within ten seconds of being
  bitten. Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and
  the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another. Let
  us thrust this creature back into its den, and we cam then remove
  Miss Stoner to some place of shelter, and let the county
  police know what has happened.”
  As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead
  man’s lap, ane throwing the noose round the reptile’s neck, he
  drew it from its horrid perch, and carrying it at arm’s Jength,
  threw it into the iron safe, which he closed upon it.
  Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,
  of Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should pre
  long a narrative which has already run to too great a iengtn,
  by telling how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how
  we conveyed her by the morning train to the care of her good
  aunt at Harrow, of how the slow process of official inquiry
  came to the conclusion that the doctor met his fate while in.
  discreetly playing with a dangerous pet. The iittle which I
  had yet to learn of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes
  as we travelled back next day.
  *f ad,” said he, “come to an entirely erroneous conclusion
  which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is ie
  reason from insufficient data. The presence of the gypsies,
  and the use of the word ~ oand,’ which was used by the poor
  girl, no doubt to explain the appearance which she had caught
  a hurried glimpse of by the light of her match, were sufficient
  to put me upon an entirely wrong scent. I can only claim
  ———
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 203
  he merit that I instantly reconsidered my position when,
  however, it became clear to me that whatever danger threat
  ened an occupant of the room could not come either from the
  window or the door. My attention was speedily drawn, as ]
  have already remarked to you, to this ventilator, and to the
  bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The discovery that
  this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to the floor,
  ‘ustantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was there as
  ovidge for something passing through the hole, and coming to
  the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, and
  when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was
  furnished with a supply of creatmes from India, I felt that 1
  was probably on the right track. Tne idea of using a form
  of poison which could not possibly be discovered by any
  chemical test was just such a one as would occur to a clever
  and ruthless man who had had an Eastern training, The
  rapidity with which such a poison would take effect would
  also, from his point of view, be an advantage. It would be a
  sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could distinguish the two little
  dark punctures which would show where the poison fangs
  had done their work. Then I thought of the whistle. Of
  course he must recall the snake before the morning light revealed
  it to the victim, He had trained it, probably by the
  ise of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned.
  He would put it through this ventilator at the hour
  that he thought best, with the certainty that it wouid crawl
  down the rope and land on the bed. It might or might not
  bite the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a
  week, but sooner or later she must fall a victim.
  “T had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered
  his room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had
  been in the habit of standing on it, which of course would be
  necessary in order that he should reach the ventilator. The
  sight of the safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord
  were enough to finally dispel any doubts which may
  have remained. The metallic clang heard by Miss Stoner
  204 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  was obviously caused by her step-father hastily closing the doot
  of his safe upon its terrible occupant. Having once made up
  my mind, you know the steps which I took in order to put the
  matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss as I have no
  doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the light and at
  tacked it.”
  “ With the result of driving it through the ventilator.”
  “And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its
  master at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane
  came home, and roused its snakish temper, so that it flew
  upon the first person it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly
  responsible for Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s death, and I
  cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavily upon my con:
  science.”
  Bdventure TE
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB
  notice—that of Mr. Hatherley’s thumb, and that of Colonel
  Warburton’s madness. Of these the latter may have afforded
  a finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other
  was so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details,
  that it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record,
  even if it gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive
  methods of reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable
  ’ results. The story has, I believe, been told more than once
  in the newspapers, but, like all such narratives, its effect is
  much less striking when set forth ex d/oc in a single half-column
  of print than when the facts slowly evolve before your
  own eyes, and the mystery clears gradually away as each new
  discovery furnishes a step which leads on to the complete
  truth. At the time the circumstances made a deep impression
  upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly served
  to weaken the effect.
  It was in the summer of 89, not long after my marriage,
  that the events occurred which I am now about to summarize.
  I had returned to civil practice, and had finally abandoned
  Holmes in his Baker Street rooms, although I continually
  visited him, and occasionally even persuaded him to forego
  his Bohemian habits so far as to come and visit us? My practice
  had steadily increased, and a I happened to live at no
  206 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  very great distance from Paddington Station, I got a few
  patients from among the officials. One of these, whom [
  had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was never
  weary of advertising my virtues, and of endeavoring to
  send me on every sufferer over whom he might have any in:
  fluence.
  One morning, at a little before seven o’clock, I was awakened
  by the maid tapping at the door, to announce that two
  men had come from Paddington, and were waiting in the consulting-
  room. I dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience
  that railway cases were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs,
  As I descended, my old ally, the guard, came out of
  the room and closed the door tightly behind him.
  “Tye got him here,” he whispered, jerking his thumb over
  his shoulder; “he’s all right.”
  “What is it, then?” 1 asked, for his manner suggested that
  it was some strange creature which he had caged up in my
  room.
  “It’s a new patient,” he whispered. “I thought I’d bring
  him round myself; then he couldn’t slip away. There he is,
  all safe and sound. I must go now, doctor; I have my dooties,
  just the same as you.” And off he went, this trusty
  tout, without even giving me time to thank him.
  I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated
  by the table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather
  tweed, with a soft cloth cap, which he had laid down upon
  my books. Round one of his hands he had a handkerchief
  wrapped, which was mottled all over with blood-stains. He
  was young, not more than five-and-twenty, I should say, with
  a strong, masculine face; but he was exceedingly pale, and
  gave me the impression of a man who was suffering from
  some strong agitation, which it took all his strength of mind
  to control.
  “IT am sorry to knock you up so early, doctor,” said he,
  “but I have had a very serious accident during the night. ¥
  came in by train this morning, end on inquiring at Padding:
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 207
  ton as to where I might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very
  kindly escorted me here. I gave the maid a card, but i see
  chat she has left it upon the side-table.”
  I took it up and glanced at it. “Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic
  engineer, 16a, Victoria Street (3d floor).” That was
  the name, style, and abode of my morning visitor. ‘I regret
  that I have kept you waiting,” said I, sitting down in my libra
  ry-chair. “ You are fresh from a night journey, I understand
  which is in itself a monotonous occupation.”
  “Oh, my night could not be called monotonous,” said he,
  and laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing
  note, leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my
  medical instincts rose up against that laugh.
  “Stop it!” I cried; “pull yourself together!” and I poured
  out some water from a caraffe.
  It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical
  outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some
  great crisis is over and gone. Presently he came to himself
  once more, very weary and blushing hotly.
  “1 have been making a fool of myself,” he gasped.
  “Not at all. Drink this.” I dashed some brandy into the
  water, and the color began to come back to his bloodless
  cheeks.
  “That’s better !” said he. “ And now, doctor, perhaps you
  would kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where
  my thumb used to be.”
  He unwound the handkerchief and held out his band. It
  gave even my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There
  were four protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface
  where the thumb should have been. It had been hacked or
  torn right out from the roots.
  “Good heavens!” I cried, “this is a terrible injury. It
  must have bled considerably.”
  “Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that
  I must have been senseless for a long time. When I came
  to I found that it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my
  208 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  handkerchief very tightly round the wrist, and braced it na
  with a twig.”
  “Excellent! You should have been a surgeon.”
  “It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within
  my own province.”
  “This has been done,” said I, examining the wound, “by
  a very heavy and sharp instrument.”
  “A thing like a cleaver,” said he.
  “An accident, I presume ?”
  ““By no means.”
  “What! a murderous attack ?”
  *Very murderous indeed.”
  “You horrify me.”’
  I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally sovered
  it over with cotton wadding and carbolized bandages.
  He lay back without wincing, though he bit his lip from time
  to time,
  “How is that?” I asked, when I had finished.
  “Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel
  a newman, I was very weak, but I have had a good deat te
  go through.”
  “Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. Itis evidently
  trying to your nerves.” ,
  “Oh no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the po
  lice; but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing
  evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they
  delieved my statement ; for it is a very extraordinary one, and
  I have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up;
  and, even if they believe me, the clews which I can give them
  are so vague that it is a question whether justice will be
  done.”
  “Fa!” cried I, “if it is anything in the nature of a prob:
  lem which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend
  you to come to my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes before
  you go to the official police.”
  “Oh, I have heard of that fellow,” answered my visitor,
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 2064
  sand I should be very glad if he would take the matter up,
  though of course I must use the official police as well. Wouid
  you give me an introduction to him ?”
  “TI] do better, I’ll take you round to him myself.”
  “1 should be immensely obliged to you.”
  “We’ll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time
  to have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it 2
  “Yes; I shail not feel easy until I have told my story.”
  “Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be vith you
  jn an instant.” I rushed up-stairs, explained the matter shortly
  to my wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving
  with my new acquaintance to Baker Street.
  Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his
  sitting-room in his Cressing-gown, reading the agony column
  of Zhe Times, and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which
  was composed of all the plugs and dottels left from his smokes
  of the day before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner
  of the mantel-piece. He received us in his quietly genial
  fashion, ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a
  hearty meal. When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance
  upon the sofa, placed a pillow benvath his head,
  and laid a glass of brandy-and-water within his reach.
  “Tt is easy to see that your experience has been no common
  one, Mr. Hatherley,” said he. “Pray, lie down there
  and make yourself absolutely at home. Tell us what you can,
  but stop when you are tired, and keep up your strength with
  a little stimulant.”
  “ Thank you,” said my patient, “but I have felt another
  man since the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your
  breakfast has completed the cure. I shall take up as little of
  your valuable time as possible, so I shall start at once upon
  my peculiar experiences.”
  Holmes sat in his big arm-chair with the weary, heavy-lidded
  expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while
  I sat opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange
  story which our visitor detailed to us.
  210 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “You must know,” said he, “that I am an orphan and a
  bachelor, residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession
  I am an hydraulic engimeer, and I have had considerable
  experience of my work during the seven years that I was
  apprenticed to Venner & Matheson, the well-known firm, ot
  Greenwich. Two years ago, having served my time, and having
  also come into a fair sum of money through my poor
  father’s death, I determined to start in business for myself,
  and took professional chambers 1n Victoria Street.
  “TI suppose that every one finds his first independent start
  in business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally
  so. During two years I have had three consultations
  and one small job, and that 1s absolutely all that my profession
  has brought me. My gross takings amount to £ 2727 Os.
  Every day, from nine in the morning until four in the after.
  noon, I waited in my little den, until at last my heart began
  to sink, and I came to believe that I should never have any
  practice at all.
  “Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the
  office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting
  who wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card,
  too, with the name of ‘Colonel Lysander Stark’ engraved
  upon it. Close at his heels came the colonel himself, a man
  rather over the middle size, but of an exceeding thinness, I
  do not think that I have ever seen so thin a man. His whole
  face sharpened away into nose and chin, and the skin of his
  cheeks was drawn quite tense over his outstanding bones. Yet
  this emaciation seemed to be his natural habit, and due to no
  disease, for his eye was bright, his step brisk, and his bearing
  assured. He was plainly but neatly dressed, and his age, I
  should judge, would be nearer forty than thirty.
  ““Mr. Hatherley? said he, with something of a German
  accent. ‘You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley,
  as being a man who is not only proficient in his profession,
  but is also discreet and capable of preserving a secret,’
  “T bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 21%
  such an address. ‘May I ask who it was who gave me so
  good a character ?”
  “Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that
  just at this moment. I have it from the same source that
  you are both an orphan and a bachelor, and are residing
  alone in London.’
  “That is quite correct,’ I answered; ‘but you will excuse
  me if I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional
  qualifications. I understood that it was on a profes
  sional matter that you wished to speak to me re
  “Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really
  to the point. I have a professional commission for you, but
  absolute secrecy is quite essential—abso/ute secrecy, you Understand,
  and of course we may expect that more from a man
  who 1s alone than from one who lives in the bosom of his
  family.’
  “<Tf I promise to keep a secret,’ said I, ‘you may absolutely
  depend upon my doing so.”
  «“ He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to
  me that I had never seen so suspicious and questioning an
  eye.
  “Do you promise, then ? said he, at last.
  “Ves, I promise.’ “ ¢ Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No reference to the matter at ali, either in word or writing ?” “¢T have already given you my word,’ “¢Very good.’ He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning across the room, he flung open the door. The passage outside was empty. “‘That’s all nght,’ said he, coming back. ‘I know that clerks are sometimes curious as to their master’s affairs. Now we can talk in safety.’ He drew up his chair very close to mine, and began to stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. “ A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless 212 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES man. Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from showing my impatience, “T beg that you will state your business, sir,’ said I; ‘my
  time is of value.’ Heaven forgive me for that last sentence,
  but the words came to my lips.
  ““How would fifty guineas for a night’s work suit you?”
  he asked.
  ““* Most admirably.”
  ““T say a night’s work, but an hour’s would be nearer the
  mark. I simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping
  machine which has got out of gear. If you show us what
  is wrong we shall soon set it right ourselves. What do you
  think of such a commission as that ?”
  “The work appears to be light and the pay munificent,’ “Precisely so, We shall want you to come to-night by
  the last train.’
  “¢ Where to ?’
  “* To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the
  borders of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading.
  There is a train from Paddington which would bring you
  there at about 11.15.
  “¢Very good.’
  “T shall come down in a carriage to meet you.’ “ «There is a drive, then ?’ “Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. Itisa good seven miles from Eyford Station.’ “Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I sup. pose there would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop the night.’ “Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.’
  “That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient hour ?’ / “We have judged it best that you should come late, It is
  fo recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying
  to you, a young and unknown man, a fee which wouid buy an
  opinion from the very heads of your profession. Still, of
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 213
  course, if you would like to draw out of the business, there is
  plenty of time to do so.’
  “T thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they
  would be to me. ‘Not at all,’ said I, ‘I shall be very happy
  to accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however,
  to understand a little more clearly what it is that you
  wish me to do.’
  “Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy
  which we have exacted from you should have aroused your
  curiosity. I have no wish to commit you to anything without
  your having it all laid before you. I suppose that we are
  absolutely safe from eavesdroppers ?”
  “¢ Entirely ?”
  “¢Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware
  that fuller’s-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only
  found in one or two places in England ?
  “¢T have heard so.’ “¢ Some little time ago I bought a small place—a very small place—within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to discover that there was a deposit of fuller’s-earth in one of my fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two very much larger ones upon the right and left— both of them, however, in the grounds of my neighbors. These good people were absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Na‘urally, it was to my interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value ; but, unfortunately, I had no capital by which I could do this. I took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little deposit, and that in this way we should earn the money which would enable us to buy the neighboring fields. This we have now been doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we erected an hydraulic press. This press, as I have already explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the subject. 214 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to out little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain? “T quite follow you,’ said I.. ‘The only point which I
  sould not quite understand, was what use you could make of
  an hydraulic press in excavating fuller’s-earth, which, as I understand,
  is dug out like gravel from a pit.’
  “Ah! said he, carelessly, ‘we have our own process. We compress the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I trust you.’ He rose as he spoke. ‘I shall expect you, then, at Eyford at 11.15.’ “T 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,
  dank grasp, he hurried from the room.
  “Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was
  very much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden
  commission which had been intrusted to me. On the one
  hand, of course, I was glad, for the fee was at least tenfold
  what I should have asked had I set a price upon my own
  services, and it was possible that this order might lead to
  other ones. On the other hand, the face and manner of my —
  patron had made an unpleasant impression upon me, and I
  could not think that his explanation of the fuller’s-earth was
  sufficient to explain the necessity for my coming at midnight,
  and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell any one of -ny errand.
  However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate a hearty
  supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having obeyed
  to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue.
  “At Reading I had to change not only my carriage, but my
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 215
  station. However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford,
  and I reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o’clock. I
  was the only passenger who got out there, and there was no
  one upon the platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern.
  As I passed out through the wicket gate, however, I
  founa my acquaintance of the morning waiting in the shadow
  upon the other side. Without a word he grasped my arm and
  hurried me into a carriage, the door of which was standing
  open. He drew up the windows on either side, tapped on the
  wood-work, and away we went as fast as the horse could go.”
  “One horse?” interjected Holmes.
  “Ves, only one.”
  “Did you observe the color ?”
  “Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into
  the carriage. It was a chestnut.”
  “ Tired-looking or fresh?”
  “Oh, fresh and glossy.”
  “Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray
  continue your most interesting statement.”
  “ Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour.
  Colonel Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles,
  but I should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and
  from the time that we took, that it must have been nearer
  twelve. He sat at my side in silence all the time, and I was
  aware, more than once when I glanced in his direction, that
  he was looking at me with great intensity. The country roads
  seem to be not very good in that part of the world, for we
  lurched and jolted terribly. I tried to look out of the windows
  to see something of where we were, but they were made
  of frosted glass, and I could make out nothing save the occasional
  bright blurr of a passing light. Now and then I hazarded
  some remark to break the monotony of the journey,
  but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the conversation
  soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the
  road was excnanged for the crisp smoothness of a graveldrive,
  and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander
  216 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ©
  Stark sprang out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me
  swiftly into a porch which gaped in front of us. We stepped,
  as it were, right out of the carriage and into the hall, so
  that I failed to catch the most fleeting glance of the front of
  the house. The instant that I had crossed the threshold the
  door slammed heavily behind us, and I heard faintly the rattle
  of the wheels as the carriage drove away.
  “It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled
  about looking for matches, and muttering under his
  breath. Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the
  passage, and a long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction.
  It grew broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in
  her hand, which she held above her head, pushing her face
  forward and peering at us. I could see that she was pretty,
  and from the gloss with which the light shone upon her dark
  dress I knew that it was a rich material. She spoke a few
  words in a foreign tongue in a tone as though asking a ques
  tion, and when my companion answered in a gruff monosyllable
  she gave such a start that the lamp nearly fell from her
  hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered something in
  her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room from whence
  she had come, he walked towards me again with the lamp in
  his hand.
  “* Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room
  for a few minutes,’ said he, throwing open another door. It
  was a quiet, little, plainly-furnished room, with a round table
  in the centre, on which several German books were scattered,
  Colonel Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium
  beside the door. ‘I shall not keep you waiting an instant,’
  said he, and vanished into the darkness.
  “I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my
  ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treat.
  ises on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I
  walked across to the window, hoping that I might catch some
  glimpse of the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred,
  was folded across it. It was a wonderfully silent house.
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 217
  There was an old clock ticking loudly somewhere in the pas.
  sage, but otherwise everything was deadly still. A vague
  feeling of uneasiness began to steal over me. Who were
  these German people, and what were they doing, living in this
  strange, out-of-the-way place? And where was the place? I
  was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was all I knew, but
  whether north, south, east, or west I had no idea. For that
  matter, Reading, and possibly’other large towns, were within
  that radius, so the place might not be so seclnded, after all.
  Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, that we
  were in the country. I paced up and down the room, hum:
  ming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits, and feel.
  ing that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee.
  “Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of
  the utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open.
  The woman was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the
  hall behind her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon
  her eager and beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she
  was sick with fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart.
  She held up one shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and
  she shot a few whispered words of broken English at me, her
  eyes glancing back, like those of a frightened horse, into the
  gloom behind her.
  “JT would go,’ said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to
  speak calmly; ‘I would go. I should not stay here. There
  is no good for you to do,’
  “But, madam,’ said I, ‘I have not yet done what I came for. I cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.’ “ Tt is not worth your while to wait,’ she went on. ‘You
  can pass through the door; no one hinders.’ And then, seeing
  that I smiled and shook my head, she suddenly threw
  aside her constraint and made a step forward, with her hands
  wrung together. ‘For the love of Heaven!’ she whispered,
  ‘get away from here before it is too late !’
  “ But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more
  ready to engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in
  35
  218 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  the way. I thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome
  journey, and of the unpleasant night which seemed to be before
  me. Was it all to go for nothing? Why should I slink
  away without having carried out my commission, and without
  the payment which was my due? This woman might, for all
  I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout bearing, therefore,
  though her manner had shaken me more than I cared to con:
  fess, I still shook my head, and declared my intention of remaining
  where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties,
  when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several
  footsteps were heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant,
  threw up her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished
  as suddenly and as noiselessly as she had come.
  “The new-comers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short,
  thick man with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases
  of his double chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson.
  “«This is my secretary and manager,’ said the colonel.
  ‘ By-the-way, I was under the impression that I left this door
  shut just now. I fear that you have felt the draught.’
  “On the contrary,’ said I, ‘I opened the door myself, because I felt the room to be a little close.’ “He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. ‘Perhaps we had better proceed to business, then,’ said he. ‘Mr. Ferguson and I will take you up to see the machine.’ “Y had better put my hat on, I suppose.’
  “¢QOh no, it is in the house.’
  “¢ What, you dig fuller’s-earth in the house ?’
  “No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. All we wish you to do is to examine the machine, and to let us know what is wrong with it.’ “We went up-Stairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the fat manager. and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the generations who had crossed them. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 219 There were no carpets and no signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at least a fellow-countryman. “Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, and the colonel ushered me in. ““We are now,’ said he, ‘actually within the hydraulic press, and it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if any one were to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns of water outside which re ceive the force, and which transmit and multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set it right.’ “TI took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was round the head of a drivingrod had shrunk so as not quiteto fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who followed my 220 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES remarks very carefully, and asked several practical questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller’searth was the merest fabication, for it would be absurd to suppose that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a large iron trough, and when I came to examine it 1 could see a crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was scraping at this to see exactly what it was, when I heard a muttered exclamation in German, and saw the cadaverous face of the colonel looking down at me. “<«What are you doing there?’ he asked. “T felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as that which he had told me. ‘I was admiring your fuller’searth,’ said I; I think that I should be better able to advise you as to your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it was used.’ “The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in his gray eyes. “Very well,’ said he, ‘you shall know all about the machine.’ He took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and shoves. ‘Hello!’ I yelled. ‘Hello! Colonel! Let me out!’ “And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a shapeless pulp. I threw my: fHE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 221 self, screaming, against the door, and dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope back to my heart. “T have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which broadened and broadened as a small panel was. pushed backward. For an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door which led away from death, The next instant I threw myself through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me how narrow had been my escape. “T was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. ““¢Come! come!’ she cried, breathlessly. ‘They will be here in a moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste the so-precious time, but come!’ “This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and, just as we reached it, we heard the sound of running 222 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES feet and the shouting of two voices, one answering the other, from the floor on which we were and from the one beneath, My guide stopped and looked about her like one who is at her wits’ end. Then she threw open a door which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon was shining brightly. “It is your only chance,’ said she. ‘It is high, but it may be that you can jump it.’ “As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a butcher’s cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between my savior and the ruffan who pursued me. If she were ill-used, then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance.’ The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round him and tried to hold him back. “ Fritz! Fritz! she cried, in English, ‘remember your
  promise after the last time. You said it should not be again,
  He will be silent! Oh, he will be silent !’
  “*You are mad, Elise!’ he shouted, struggling to break
  away from her. ‘You will be the ruin of us. He has seen
  too much. Let me pass, I say!’ He dashed her to one side,
  and, rushing to the window, cut at me with his heavy weapon.
  I had let myself go, and was hanging by the hands to the sill,
  when his blow fell. I was conscious of a dull pain, my grip
  loosened, and I fell into the garden below.
  “TI was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself
  up and rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run,
  for I understood that I was far from being out of danger yet.
  Suddenly, however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 223
  came over me. I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing
  painfully, and then, for the first time, saw that my thumb
  had been cut off and that the blood was pouring from my
  wound. I endeavored to tie my handkerchief round it, but
  there came a sudden buzzing in my ears, and next moment I
  fell in a dead faint among the rose-bushes.
  “How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must
  have been a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a
  bright morning was breaking when I came to myself. My
  clothes were all sodden with dew, and my coat-sleeve was
  drenched with blood from my wounded thumb. ‘The smarting
  of it recalled in an instant all the particulars of my night’s
  adventure, and I sprang to my feet with the feeling that I
  might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But, to my astonishment,
  when I came to look round me, neither house nor
  garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the
  hedge close by the high-road, and just a little lower down was
  a long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be
  the very station at which I had arrived upon the previous
  night. Were it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all
  that had passed during those dreadful hours might have been
  an evil dream.
  “ Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the
  morning train. There would be one to Reading in less than
  an hour. The same porter was on duty, I found, as had been
  there when I arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever
  heard of Colonel Lysander Stark. The name was strange to
  him. Had he observed a carriage the night before waiting
  for me? No, he had not. Was there a police-station aay-
  ‘where near? ‘There was one about three miles off.
  “Tt was too far for me to go, weak and ill as Iwas. I determined
  to wait until I got back to town before telling my
  story to the police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so
  I went first to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor
  was kind enough to bring me along here. I put the case into
  your hands, and shall do exactly what you advise.”
  224 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  We both sat in silence for some little time after, listening to
  this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled
  down from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace
  books in which he placed his cuttings.
  “Here is an advertisement which will interest you,” said
  he. “It appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen
  to this: ‘Lost, on the oth inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged
  twenty-six, an hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten
  o’clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was
  dressed in,’ etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time
  that the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I
  fancy.”
  “Good heavens !” cried my patient. “Then that explains
  what the girl said.”
  “Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a
  cool and desperate man, who was absolutely determined
  that nothing should stand in the way of his little game, like
  those out-and-out pirates who will leave no survivor from a
  captured ship. Well, every moment now is precious, so if
  you feel equal to it, we shall go down to Scotland Yard at
  once as a preliminary to starting for Eyford.”
  Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train
  together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village.
  There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector
  Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself.
  Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county
  out upon the seat, and was busy with his compasses drawing
  a circle with Eyford for its centre. .
  “There you are,” said he. “That circle is drawn at a ra:
  dius of ten miles from the village. The place we want must
  be somewhere near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir.”
  “Tt was an hour’s good drive.”
  “And you think that they brought you back all that way
  when you were unconscious ?”
  “They must have done so. I have a confused memory,
  too, of having been l?fted and conveyed somewhere.”
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 225
  ‘What I cannot understand,” said I, “is why they should
  ave spared you when they found you lying fainting in the
  garden. Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman’s
  entreaties.”
  “T hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable
  face in my life.”
  “Oh, we shall soon clear up all that,” said Bradstreet.
  “Well, I have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at
  what point upon it the folk that we are in search of are to be
  found.”
  “T think I could lay my finger on it,” said Holmes, quietly.
  “ Really, now!” cried the inspector, “you have formed your
  opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I
  say it is south, for the country is more deserted there.”
  “ And I say east,” said my patient.
  “Tam for west,” remarked the plain-clothes man. “There
  are several quiet little villages up there.”
  “ And I am for north,” said I, “because there are no hills
  there, and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage
  go up any.”
  “Come,” cried the inspector, laughing; “ it’s a very pretty
  diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us.
  Who do you give your casting vote to ye
  “You are all wrong.”
  “But we can’t a@// be.”
  “Oh yes, youcan. This is my point ;” he placed his finger
  in the centre of the circle. “This is where we shall find
  them.”
  “ But the twelve-mile drive?” gasped Hatherley.
  “ Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself
  that the horse was fresh and glossy when you got in.
  How could it be that if it had gone twelve miles over heavy
  roads ?”
  “Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough,” observed Bradstreet,
  thoughtfully. ‘Of course there can be no doubt as to the
  nature of this gang.”
  226 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “None at all,” said Holmes. “ They are coiners on a large
  scale, and have used the machine to form the amalgam which
  has taken the place of silver.” ;
  “We have known for some time that a clever gang was at
  work,” said the inspector. “They have been turning out
  half-crowns by the thousand. We even traced them as far as
  Reading, but could get no farther, for they had covered their
  traces in a way that showed that they were very old hands.
  But now, thanks to this lucky chance, I think that we have
  got them right enough.”
  But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were
  not destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled
  into Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which
  streamed up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighborhood,
  and hung like an immense ostrich feather over the
  landscape.
  “A house on fire?” asked Bradstreet, as the train steamed
  off again on its way.
  “Yes, sir!” said the station-master.
  “When did it break out ?”
  “I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got
  worse, and the whole place is in a blaze.”
  “Whose house is it ?”
  *“ Dr. Becher’s.”
  “Tell me,” broke in the engineer, “is Dr. Becher a German,
  very thin, with a long, sharp nose ?”
  The station-master laughed heartily. “No, sir, Dr. Becher
  is an Englishman, and there isn’t a man in the parish who has
  a better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with
  him, a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he
  looks as if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no
  hartn.”
  The station-master had not finished his speech before we
  were all hastening in the direction of the fire. The road
  topped a low hill, and there was a great wide-spread white
  washed building in front of us, spouting fire at every chink
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB 227
  and window, while in the garden in front three fire-engines
  were vainly striving to keep the flames under.
  “ That’s it!” cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. “There
  is the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay.
  That second window is the one that I jumped from.”
  “Well, at least,” said Holmes, “you have had your revenge
  upon them. There can be no question that it was your oillamp
  which, when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the
  wooden walls, though no doubt they were too excited in the
  chase after you to observe it at the time. Now keep your
  eyes open in this crowd for your friends of last night, though
  I very much fear that they are a good hundred miles off by
  now.”
  And Holmes’s fears came to be realized, for from that day
  to this no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful
  woman, the sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early
  that morning a peasant had met a cart containing several
  people and some very bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction
  of Reading, but there all traces of the fugitives disappeared,
  and even Holmes’s ingenuity failed ever to discover
  the least clew as to their whereabouts.
  The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements
  which they had found within, and still more so
  by discovering a newly severed human thumb upon a windowsill
  of the second floor. About sunset, however, their efforts
  were at last successful, and they subdued the flames, but not
  before the roof had fallen in, and the whole place been reduced
  to such absolute ruin that, save some twisted cylinders and
  iron piping, not a trace remained of the machinery which had
  gost our unfortunate acquaintance so dearly. Large masses
  cf nickel and of tin were discovered stored in an out-house,
  but no coins were to be found, which may have explained the
  presence of those bulky boxes which have been already referred
  to.
  How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the
  xarden to the spot where he recovered his senses might have
  228 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  remained forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould,
  which told us a very plain tale. He had evidently been carried
  down by two persons, one of whom had remarkably small
  feet and the other unusually large ones. On the whole, it was
  most probable that the silent Englishman, being less bold or
  less murderous than his companion, had assisted the woman
  to bear the unconscious man out of the way of danger.
  “Well,” said our engineer ruefully, as we took our seats to
  return once more to London, “it has been a pretty business
  forme! I have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea
  fee, and what have I gained ?”
  “ Experience,” said Holmes, laughing. “ Indirectly it may
  be of value, you know; you have only to put it into words te
  gain the reputation of ping excellent company for the remainder
  of your existence.”
  Hodventure ¥
  TW ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR
  &K&G HE Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curicus ter-
• mination, have long ceased to be a subject of inils
  terest in those exalted circles in which the unfor-
  EiGaaYD tunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have
  eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the
  gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason
  to believe, however, that the full facts have never been
  revealed to the general public, and as my friend Sherlock
  Holmes had a considerable share in clearing the matter up,
  I feel that no memoir of him would be complete without some
  little sketch of this remarkable episode.
  It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the
  days when I was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker
  Street, that he came home from an afternoon stroll to find a
  letter on the table waiting for him. I had remained in-doors
  all day, for the weather had taken a sudden turn to rain, with
  high autumnal winds, and the jezail bullet which I had brought
  back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan campaign,
  throbbed with dull persistency. With my body in one easychair
  and my legs upon another, I had surrounded myself
  with a cloud of newspapers, until at last, saturated with the
  news of the day, I tossed them all aside and lay listless,
  watching the huge crest and monogram upon the envelope
  upon the table, and wondering lazily who my friend’s noble
  correspondent could be.
  “Here is a very fashionable epistle,” I remarked, as he
  entered. “Your morning letters, if I remember right, were
  from a fish-monger and a tide-waiter.”
  230 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of va
  riety,” he answered, smiling, “and the humbler are usually
  the more interesting. This looks like one of those unwel
  come social summonses which call upon a man either to bé
  bored or to lie.”
  He broke the seal and glanced over the contents.
  “Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest after
  all.”
  “Not social, then ?”
  “No, distinctly professional.”
  “* And from a noble client ?”
  “One of the highest in England.”
  “ My dear fellow, I congratulate you.”
  “T assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status
  of my client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest
  of his case. It is just possible, however, that that also
  may not be wanting in this new investigation. You have
  been reading the papers diligently of late, have you not?”
  “Tt looks like it,” said I, ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle
  in the corner. ‘I have had nothing else to do.”
  “Tt is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up.
  I read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column.
  The latter is always instructive. But if you have followed
  recent events so closely you must have read about Lord St.
  Simon and his wedding ?”
  “Oh yes, with the deepest interest.”
  “That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is
  from Lord St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return
  you must turn over these papers and let me have whatever
  bears upon the matter. This is what he says:
  “My DEAR Mr. SHERLOCK Hoxtmes,— Lord Backwater tells me that I may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I have determined, therefore, to calf upon you, and to consult you in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in connection with my wedding THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 231 Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is acting already in the mat: ter, but he assures me that he sees no objection to your cooperation, and that he even thinks that it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o’clock in the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.’ “Tt is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink upon the outer side of his right little finger,” remarked Holmes, as he folded up the epistle. “He says four o’clock. It is three now. He will be here in an hour.” “Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon the subject. Turn over those papers, and arrange the extracts in their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client is.” He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of reference beside the mantel-piece. “ Here he is,” said he, sitting down and flattening it out upon his knee. “Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral—Hum! Arms: Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846. He’s fortyone years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was Undersecretary for the Colonies in a late Administration. The Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in all this. I think that I must turn to you, Watson, for something more solid.” “TJ have very little difficulty in finding what I want,” said 1, “for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew that you had an inquiry on hand, and that you disliked the intrusion of other matters.” “ Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square 232 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES furniture van, That is quite cleared up now—though, ins deed, it was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your newspaper selections.” “Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal column of Zhe Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks back. ‘A marriage has been arranged,’ it says, ‘and will, if rumor is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran, Esq., of San Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.’ That is all.” “Terse and to the point,” remarked Holmes, stretching his long, thin legs towards the fire. “There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the so ciety papers of the same week. Ah, here it is. ‘There will soon be a call for protection in the marriage market, for the present free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself for over twenty years proof against the little god’s arrows, has now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own, save the small estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to make the easy and common transition from a Republican tady to a British peeress.’ ” THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 223 “ Anything else?” asked Holmes, yawning. “Oh yes; plenty. Then there is another note in Zhe Morning Post to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it would be at St. George’s, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later—that is, on Wednesday last—there is a curt announcement that the wedding had taken place, and that the honey-moon would be passed at Lord Backwater’s place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices which appeared before the disappearance of the bride.” ‘“‘ Before the what?” asked Holmes, with a start. “ The vanishing of the lady.” “When did she vanish, then ?” “ At the wedding breakfast.” “Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite dramatic, in fact.” “Ves; it struck me as being a little out of the common.” “‘They often vanish before the ceremony, and occcasional. ly during the honey-moon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt as this. Pray let me have the details.” “T warn you that they are very incomplete.” “ Perhaps we may make them less so.” “ Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is headed, ‘Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding’: “¢The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to confirm the strange rumors which have been so persistently floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush the matter up, so much 16 234 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES public attention has now been drawn to it that ne good pur. pose can be served by affecting to disregard what is a common subject for conversation. “The ceremony, which was performed at St. George’s,
  Hanover Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present
  save the father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess
  of Balmoral, Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace, and Lady Clara
  St. Simon (the younger brother and sister of the bridegroom),
  and Lady Alicia Whittington. The whole party proceeded
  afterwards to the house of Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster
  Gate, where breakfast had been prepared. It appears that
  some little trouble was caused by a woman, whose name has
  not been ascertained, who endeavored to force her way into
  the house after the bridal party, alleging that she had some
  claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a painful and
  prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler and the
  footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house
  before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast
  with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition,
  and retired to herroom. Her prolonged absence having
  caused some comment, her father followed her, but learned
  from her maid that she had only come up to her chamber
  for an instant, caught up an ulster and bonnet, and hurried
  down to the passage. One of the footmen declared that he
  had seen a lady leave the house thus apparelled, but had
  refused to credit that it was his mistress, believing her to
  be with the company. On ascertaining that his daughter
  had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with the
  bridegroom, instantly put themselves into communication
  with the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made,
  which will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very
  singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however,
  nothing had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing
  lady. There are rumors of foul play in the matter, and it is
  said that the police have caused the arrest of the woman who
  had caused the original disturbance, in the belief that, from
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 235
  jealousy or some other motive, she may have been concerned
  in the strange disappearance of the bride.’ ”
  “ And is that all?”
  “Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but
  it is a suggestive one,”
  “ And it is—”
  “That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance,
  has actually been arrested. It appears that she
  was formerly a danseuse at the ‘Allegro,’ and that she has
  known the bridegroom for some years. There are no further
  particulars, and the whole case is in your hands now—so far
  as it has been set forth in the public press.”
  “And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I
  would not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at
  the bell, Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes
  after four, I have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble
  client. Do not dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer
  having a witness, if only as a check to my own memory.”
  “Lord Robert St. Simon,” announced our page-boy, throwing
  open the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant,
  cultured face, high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps
  ‘ of petulance about the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened
  eye of a man whose pleasant lot it had ever been to command
  and to be obeyed. His manner was brisk, and yet his
  general appearance gave an undue impression of age, for he
  had a slight forward stoop and a little bend of the knees as
  he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off his very curly-brimmed
  hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin upon the top.
  As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of foppishness,
  with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, yellow
  gloves, patent- leather shoes, and light-colored gaiters. He
  advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to
  right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his
  golden eye-glasses.
  “Good-day, Lord St. Simon,” said Holmes, rising and bowing.
  “Pray take the basket-chair. This is my friend and
  936 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  colleague, Dr. Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we
  will talk this matter over.”
  ““A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily
  imagine, Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand
  that you have already managed several delicate cases
  of this sort, sir, though I presume that they were hardly from
  the same class of society.”
  “No, I am descending.”
  “T beg pardon.”
  “ My last client of the sort was a king.”
  “Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king ?”
  “The King of Scandinavia.”
  “What! Had he lost his wife?”
  “You can understand,” said Holmes, suavely, “that I extend
  to the affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which
  I promise to you in yours.”
  “Of course! Very right! very right! I’m sure I beg pardon.
  As to my own case, I am ready to give you any information
  which may assist you in forming an opinion.”
  “Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the
  public prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as
  correct—this article, for example, as to the disappearance of
  the bride.”
  Lord St. Simon glanced over it. “ Yes, it is correct, as far
  as it goes.”
  “But it needs a great deal of supplementing before any one
  could offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my
  facts most directly by questioning you.” |
  “ Pray do so.”
  “When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?”
  “In San Francisco, a year ago.”
  ‘You were travelling in the States?”
  eNes.’)
  “Did you become engaged then ?”
  FINO;
  “But you were on a friendly footing ?”
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 237
  ‘I was amused by her society, and she could see that I
  was amused.”
  “Her father is very rich ?”
  “ He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope.”
  “ And how did he make his money ?”
  “Tn mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he
  struck gold, invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds.”
  “Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady’s
  —your wife’s character ?”
  The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared
  down into the fire. ‘You see, Mr. Holmes,” said he, “ my
  wife was twenty before her father became a rich man. During
  that time she ran free in a mining camp, and wandered
  through woods or mountains, so that her education has
  come from Nature rather than from the school-master. She
  is what we call in England a tomboy, with a strong nature,
  wild and free, unfettered by any sort of traditions. She
  is impetuous—volcanic, I was about to say. She is swift in
  making up her mind, and fearless in carrying out her resolutions.
  On the other hand, I would not have given her the
  name which I have the honor to bear”—he gave a little
  stately cough—“had not I thought her to be at bottom a
  noble woman. I believe that she is capable of heroic selfsacrifice,
  and that anything dishonorable would be repugnant
  to her.”
  “ Have you her photograph ?”
  “J brought this with me.” He opened a locket, and showed
  us the full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a
  photograph, but an ivory miniature, and the artist had brought
  out the full effect of the lustrous black hair, the large dark
  eyes, and the exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly
  at it. Then he closed the locket and handed it. back
  to Lord St. Simon.
  “The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed
  your acquaintance ?”
  “Yes, her father brought her over for this last London sea
  238 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  son. I met her several times, became engaged to her, and
  have now married her.”
  “She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry ?”
  “A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family.”
• And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is
  a fait accompli ?”
  “T really have made no inquiries on the subject.”
  “Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day
  before the wedding?”
  “Yes?
  “Was she in good spirits ?”
  “Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in
  our future lives.”
  “Indeed! That is very interesting, And on the morning
  of the wedding ?”
  “She was as bright as possible—at least, until after the
  ceremony.”
  “And did you observe any change in her then ?”
  “Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I
  had ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp, The
  incident, however, was too trivial to relate, and can have no
  possible bearing upon the case.”
  “Pray let us have it, for all that.”
  “Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went
  towards the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the
  time, and it fell over into the pew. There was a moment’s
  delay, but the gentleman in the pew handed it up to her
  again, and it did not appear to be the worse for the fall,
  Yet, when I spoke to her of the matter, she answered me
  abruptly; and in the carriage, on our way home, she seemed
  absurdly agitated over this trifling cause.”
  “Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew.
  Some of the general public were present, then ?”
  “Oh yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the churek
  is Open.”
  “This gentleman was not one of your wife’s friends ?”
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 239
  *No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was
  quite a common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance.
  But really I think that we are wandering rather far
  from the point.”
  “Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a
  less cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What
  did she do on re-entering her father’s house?”
  “1 saw her in conversation with her maid.”
• And who is her maid ?”
  “ Alice is her name. She is an American, and came from
  California with her.”
  “ A confidential servant ?”
  “A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress
  allowed her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America
  they look upon these things in a different way.”
  “ How long did she speak to this Alice?”
  “Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of.”
  “Vou did not overhear what they said ?”
  “Lady St. Simon said something about ‘jumping a claim.’
  She was accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea
  _ what she meant.”
  “ American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what
  did your wife do when she finished speaking to her maid ?”
  “She walked into the breakfast-room.”
  “On your arm ?”
  “No, alone. She was very independent in little matters
  like that. Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or
  0, she rose hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and
  left the room, She never came back.”
  “But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she
  went to her room, covered her bride’s dress with a long ulster,
  pui on a bonnet, and went out.”
  “ Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into
  Hyde Park m company with Flora Millar, a woman who is
  sow in custody, and who had already made a disturbance at
  Mr. Doran’s house that morning,’’_
  240 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young
  lady, and your relations to her.”
  Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows.
  “We have been on a friendly footing for some years
  —-I may say on a very friendly footing. She used to be at
  the ‘Allegro.’ I have not treated her ungenerously, and she
  has no just cause of complaint against me, but you know
  what women are, Mr. Holmes. Flora was a dear little thing,
  but exceedingly hot-headed, and devotedly attached to me.
  She wrote me dreadful letters when she heard that I was
  about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the reason why I
  had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I feared lest
  there might be a scandal in the church. She came to Mr.
  Doran’s door just after we returned, and she endeavored to
  push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards
  my wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the
  possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police fellows
  there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again,
  She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in mak:
  ing a row.”
  “ Did your wife hear all this ?”
  “No, thank goodness, she did not.”
  “And she was seen walking with this very woman after:
  wards?”
  “Yes, That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks
  upon as so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my
  wife out, and laid some terrible trap for her,”
  “Weil, it is a possible supposition.”
  You think so, too?”
  “I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself
  look upon this as likely ?”
  “T do not think Flora would hurt a fly.”
  “ Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray
  what is your own theory as to what took place ?”
  “Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one.
  1 have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however,
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 24%
  { may say that it has occurred to me as possible that the exritement
  of this affair, the consciousness that she had made
  so immense a social stride, had the effect of causing some little
  nervous disturbance in my wife.”
  “Tn short, that she had become suddenly deranged ?”
  “Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her
  back—I will not say upon me, but upon so much that many
  pave aspired to without success—I can hardly explain it in
  any other fashion.”
  “Well, certainly that 1s also a conceivable hypothesis,” said
  Holmes, smiling. ‘And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I
  have nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated
  at the breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window
  ?”
  We could see the other side of the road and the Park.”
  “Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you
  longer. I shall communicate with you.”
  “ Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem,”
  _ said our client, rising. :
  ‘‘T have solved it.”
  ‘Eh? What was that?”
  “T say that I have solved abe
  ‘Where, then, is my wife?”
  “That is a detail which I shall speedily supply.”
  Lord St. Simon shook his head. “I am afraid that it will
  take wiser heads than yours or mine,” he remarked, and bowing
  in a stately, old-fashioned manner, he departed.
  “Jt is very good of Lord St. Simon to honor my head by
  putting it on a level with his own,” said Sherlock Holmes,
  laughing. “I think that I shall have a whiskey-and-soda and
  a cigar after all this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions
  as to the case before our client came into the room.”
  “My dear Holmes!”
  “T have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I
  remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole exe
  amination served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Cir
  242 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  cumstantial evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when
  you find a trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau’s example.”
  “But I have heard all that you have heard.”
  “Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases
  which serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in
  Aberdeen some years back, and something on very much the
  same lines at Munich the year after the Franco-Prussian war.
  It is one of these cases—but, hello, here is Lestrade! Goodafternoon,
  Lestrade! You will find an extra tumbler upon
  the sideboard, and there are cigars in the box.”
  The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat,
  which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he
  carried a black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting
  he seated himself and lit the cigar which had been offered
  to him.
  “What’s up, then?” asked Holmes, with a twinkle in his
  eye. “ You look dissatisfied.”
  “And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage
  case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business.”
  “Really! You surprise me.”
  “Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clew
  seems to slip through my fingers. I have been at work upon
  it all day.”
  “And very wet it seems to have made you,” said Holmes,
  laying his hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket.
  “Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine.”
  “In Heaven’s name, what for ?”
  “In search of the body of Lady St. Simon.”
  Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed
  heartily.
  “Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain
  ?” he asked.
  “Why? What do you mean ?”
  “Because you have just as good a chance of finding this
  lady in the one as in the other.”
  THE ADVENTURE CF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 243
  Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. “TI suppose
  you know all about it,” he snarled.
  “Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is
  made up.”
  “Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays
  no part in the matter?”
  “ T think it very unlikely.”
  “Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we
  found this in it?” He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled
  onto the floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of
  white satin shoes, and a bride’s wreath and veil, all discolored
  and soaked in water. “ There,” said he, putting a new wedding-
  ring upon the top of the pile. “There is a little nut for
  you to crack, Master Holmes.”
  “ Oh, indeed !” said my friend, blowing blue rings into the
  air. ‘You dragged them from the Serpentine ?”
  “No, They were found floating near the margin by a parkkeeper.
  They have been identified as her clothes, and it
  seemed to me that if the clothes were there the body would
  not be far off.”
  _ “By the same brilliant reasoning, every man’s body is to be found in the neighborhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope to arrive at through this?” “‘ At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance.” “1 am afraid that you will find it difficult.” “Are you, indeed, now?” cried Lestrade, with some bitterness. “I am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar.” “ And how?” “In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case, In the card-case is a note. And here is the very note.” He slapped it down upon the table in front of him. “Listen to this: ‘You will see me when all is ready. Come at once. 244 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES F. H. M.’ Now my theory all along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped into her hand at the door, and which lured her within their reach.” “Very good, Lestrade,” said Holmes, laughing. “ You really are very fine indeed. Let me see it.” He took up the paper in a listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he gave a little cry of satisfaction. “This is indeed important,” said he. “Ha! you find it so ?” “Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly.” Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to Jook. “Why,” he shrieked, “ you’re looking at the wrong side!” “On the contrary, this is the right side.” “The right side? You’re mad! Here is the note written in pencil over here.” “And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel bill, which interests me deeply.” “There’s nothing in it. I looked at it before,” said Lestrade. “ ‘Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 25, 6d., cocktail rs., lunch 25, 6d., glass sherry, 8d.’ I see nothing in that.” “Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, So I congratulate you again.” “T’ve wasted time enough,” said Lestrade, rising. “I be lieve in hard work, and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom of the matter first.” He gathered up the garments, thrust them into the bag, and made for the door. “Just one hint to you, Lestrade,” drawled Holmes, before his rival vanished; “I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady St. Simon isa myth. There is not, and there never has been, any such person.” Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 245 to me, tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and hurried away. He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose and put on his overcoat. ‘There is something in what the fellow says about out-door work,” he remarked, “so I think, Watson, that I must leave you to your papers for a little.” It was after five o’clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, bur I had no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a confectioner’s man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold woodcock, a pheasant, a pate de foie gras pie, with a group of ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid for and were ordered to this address. Just before nine o’clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the room. His features were gravely set, but there wasa light in his eye which made me think that he had not been
  disappointed in his conclusions.
  “They have laid the supper, then,” he said, rubbing his
  hands.
  “You seemt o expect company. They have laid for five.”
  “Ves, I fancy we may have some company dropping in,”
  said he. “I am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already
  arrived. Ha! I fancy that I hear his step now upon
  the stairs.”
  It was indeed our visitor of the morning who came bustling
  in, dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a
  very perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features.
  “My messenger reached you, then?” asked Holmes.
  “Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond
  measure. Have you good authority for what you say ?”
  “The best possible.”
  246 ~ ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over
  his forehead.
  “What will the duke say,” he murmured, “ when he hears
  that one of the family has been subjected to such humiliation
  ?”
  “Tt is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any
  humiliation.”
  “ Ah, you look on these things from another stand-point.”
  “T fail to see that any one is to blame. I can hardly see
  how the lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt
  method of doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having
  no mother, she had no one to advise her at such a crisis.”
  “It was a slight, sir, a public slight,” said Lord St. Simon,
  tapping his fingers upon the table.
  “You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so
  unprecedented a position.”
  “I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I
  have been shamefully used.”
  “T think that I heard a ring,” said Holmes. “ Yes, there
  are steps on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a
  lenient view of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an
  advocate here who may be more successful.” He opened the
  door and ushered in a lady and gentleman. “Lord St. Simon,”
  said he, “allow me to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs,
  Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I think, you have already
  met.”
  At the sight of these new-comers our client had sprung
  from his seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down
  and his hand thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture
  of offended dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward
  and had held out her hand to him, but he still refused to
  raise his eyes. It was as well for his resolution, perhaps, for
  her pleading face was one which it was hard to resist.
  “You’re angry, Robert,” said she. “Well, I guess you
  have every cause to be.”
  Pray make no apology to me,” said Lord St. Simon, bitterly,
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 247
  “Oh yes, I know that I have treated you real bad, and that
  I should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of
  rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I
  just didn’t know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder
  I didn’t fall down and do a faint right there before the
  altar.”
  “Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me
  to leave the room while you explain this matter?”
  “Tf I may give an opinion,” remarked the strange gentleman,
  “we’ve had just a little too much secrecy over this business
  already. For my part, I should like all Europe and
  America to hear the rights of it.” He was a small, wiry,
  sunburnt man, clean shaven, with a sharp face and alert
  manner.
  “Then I’? ¢ell our story right away,” said the lady. “ Frank
  here and I met in ’84, in McQuire’s camp, near the Rockies,
  where pa was working a claim. We were engaged to each
  other, Frank and I; but then one day father struck a rich
  pocket and made a pile, while poor Frank here had a claim
  that petered out and came to nothing. The richer pa grew,
  the poorer was Frank ; so at last pa wouldn’t hear of our engagement
  lasting any longer, and he took me away to ’Frisco.
  Frank wouldn’t throw up his hand, though; so he followed
  me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything about
  it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just
  fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go
  and make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me
  until he had as much as pa. So then I promised to
  wait for him to the end of time, and pledged myself not to
  marry any one else while he lived. ‘Why shouldn’t we be
  married right away, then,’ said he, * and then I will feel sure
  of you; and I won’t claim to be your husband until I come
  back?’ Well, we talked it over, and he had fixed it all up so
  nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, that we just did
  it right there; and then Frank went off to seek his fortune,
  and I went back to pa.
  248 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana,
  and then he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of
  him trom New Mexico, After tiat came a long newspaper
  story about how a miners’ camp had been attacked by Apache
  Indians, and there was my Frank’s name among the killed,
  I fainted dead away, and I was very sick for months after.
  Pa thought I had a decline, and took me to half the doctors
  in ‘Frisco. Not a word of news came for a year and more, so
  that I never doubted that Frank was really dead. Then
  Lord St. Simon came to ’Frisco, and we came to London, and
  a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt
  all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the
  place in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank.
  “Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I’d have
  done my duty by him. We can’t command our love, but we
  can our actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention
  to make him just as good a wife as it was in me to be.
  But you may imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the
  altar rails, I glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking
  at me out of the first pew. I thought it was his ghost at
  first ; but when I looked again, there he was still, with a kind
  of question in his eyes as if to ask me whether I were glad or
  sorry to see him. I wonder I didn’t drop. I know that everything
  was turning round, and the words of the clergyman
  were just like the buzz of a bee in my ear. I didn’t know
  what to do. Should I stop the service and make a scene in
  the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to know
  what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to tell
  me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper,
  and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his
  pew on the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and
  he slipped the note into my hand when he returned me the
  flowers. It was only a line asking me to join him when he
  made the sign to me to do so. Of course I never doubted
  for a moment that my first duty was now to him, and I deter:
  mined to do just whatever he might direct.
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 249
  “When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in
  Lalifornia, and had always been his friend. I ordered her to
  say nothing, but to get a few things packed and my ulster
  ready. I know I ought to have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but
  it was dreadful hard before his mother and all those great people.
  I just made up my mind to run away and explain afterwards.
  I hadn’t been at the table ten minutes before I saw
  Frank out of the window at the other side of the road. He
  beckoned to me, and then began walking into the Park. I
  slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman
  came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to me
  —seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little
  secret of his own before marriage also—but I managed to get
  away from her, and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab
  together, and away we drove to some lodgings he had taken
  in Gordon Square, and that was my true wedding after all
  those years of waiting. Frank had been a prisoner among
  the Apaches, had escaped, came on to ’Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the very morning of my second wedding.” “T saw it in a paper,” explained the American. “It gave the name and the church, but not where the lady lived.” “Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was al! for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I should like to vanish away and never see any of them again—just sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we should have gone on to Paris to. morrow, only that this good gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very clearly and kindly an 250 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMt#s5 that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking ‘0 Lord St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very meanly of me.” Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this long narrative. “Excuse me,” he said, “ but it is not my custom to discuss my most intimate personal affairs in this public manner.” “Then you won’t forgive me? You won’t shake hands before I go?” “Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure.” He put out his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. “T had hoped,” suggested Holmes, “that you would have joined us in a friendly supper.” “T think that there you ask a little too much,” responded his lordship. ‘I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent developments, but Y can hardly be expected to make merry over them. I think that, with your permision, I will now wish you all a very good-night.” He included us all in a sweeping bow and stalked out of the room. “Then I trust that you at least will honor me with your company,” said Sherlock Holmes. “It is always a joy to meet an American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the folly of a monarch and the biundering of a minister in far-gone years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.” “The case has been an interesting one,” remarked Holmes, when our visitors had left us, “‘ because it serves to show very THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 25R clearly how simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural than the sequence of events as narrated bv this lady, and nothing stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard.” “You were not yourself at fault at all, then ?” “From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding veremony, the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that something be? She could not have spoken to any one when she was out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom, Had she seen some one, then? If she had, it must be some one from America. because she had spent so short a time in this country that she could hardly have allowed any one to acquire so deep an influence over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by 2 process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an American. Then who could this American be, and why should he possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; . it might be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in rough scenes and under strange conditions. Sa far I had got before I ever heard Lord St. Simon’s narrative, When he told us of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride’s manner, of so transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very significant allusion to claim-jumping —which in miners’ parlance means taking possession of that whica another person has a prior claim to—the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a previous husband—the shances being in favor of the latter.” “ And how in the world did you find them ?” “It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade helu in« 252 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES formation in his hands the value of which he did not himseit know. The initials were of course of the highest importance, but more valuable still was it to know that wichin a week he had settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels.” “Flow did you deduce the select ?” “By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them some paternal advice, and to point out to them that it would be better in every way that they should make their position a little clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I made him keep the appointment.” “ But with no very good result,” i remarked. “ His con duct was certainly not very gracious.” “Ah, Watson,” said Holmes, smiling, “perhaps you woudl uot be very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully, and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in the same position. Draw your chair up, and hand me my violin, for the only problem we have stiil ta solve is now to while away these bleak autumnal evenings.” Hoventure FF THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET &®) JOLMES,” said I, as I stood one morning in our ? bow-window looking down the street, “here is a madman coming along. It seems rather sad that his relatives should allow him to come cut alone.” My friend rose lazily from his arm-chair and stood with his hands in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as when it fell. The gray pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer passengers than usual, Indeed, from the direction of the Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearlgray trousers. Yet his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most extraordinary contortions, 254 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES “What on earth can be the matter with him?” I asked. — “ He is looking up at the numbers of the houses.” “T believe that he is coming here,” said Holmes, rubbing his hands. Herein” “Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I think that I recognize the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?” As he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the clanging. A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair, and, sitting beside him, patted his hand, and chatted with him in the easy, soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. “You have come to me to tell your story, have you not ?” saidhe. ‘You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into any little problem which you may submit to me.” The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. “No doubt you think me mad ?” said he. -“T see that you have had some great trouble,” responded Holmes. “God knows I have !—a trouble which is enough to unseat my reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might have faced, although I am a man whose character hag eS THE ADVENTURE OF TH# BERYL CORONET 255 never yet borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not alone. The very noblest in the land may suffer, unless some way be found out of this horrible affair.” ee Pray compose yourself, sir,” said Holmes, “and let me have a clear account of who you are, and what it is that has befallen you.” “My name,” answered our visitor, “is probably familiar to your ears. Iam Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street.” The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced himself to tell his story. “T feel that timeis of value,” said he; “that is why I hastened here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground, and hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. “Tt is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative investments for our funds as upon our increasing cur connection and the number of our depositors, One of our most lucrative means of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security is unimpeachable. We have done 2 good deal in this direction during the last few years, and there are many noble families to whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their pictures, libraries, or plate. “Yesterday morning £ was seated in my office at the bank 256 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES when a card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. 1 started when I saw the name, for it was that of none other than—well, perhaps even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name which is a household word all over the earth—one of the highest, noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the honor, and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry quickly through a disagreeable task. ““Mr. Holder,’ said he, ‘I have been informed that you are in the habit of advancing money.’ “The firm do so when the security is good,’ I answered.
  “It is absolutely essential to me,’ said he, ‘that I should have £50,000 at once. I could of course borrow so trifling a sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it a matter of business, and to carry out that business myself. In my position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place one’s self under obligations.’ “ For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?’ I asked.
  “* Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall
  then most certainly repay what you advance, with whatever
  interest you think it right to charge. But it is very essential
  to me that the money should be vaid at once,’
  ““T should be happy to advance it without further parley from my own private purse,’ said I, ‘were it not that the strain would be rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must insist that, even in your case, every business-like precaution should be taken.’ “T should much prefer to have it so,’ said he, raising up a
  square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair.
  You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet ?’ “One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,’ said I. “Precisely.’ He opened the case, and there, imbedded
  in soft, flesh-colored velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewTHE
  ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 25%
  elry which he had named. ‘There are thirty-nine enormous
  beryls,” said he, “and the price of the gold chasing is incal:
  culable. ‘ihe lowest estimate would put the worth of the
  coronet at double the sum which I have asked. I am pre
  pared to leave it with you as my security.’
  ““T took the precious case into my hands and looked in
  some perplexity from it to my illustrious client.
  “* You doubt its value?’ he asked.
  “Not at all. I only doubt—’ “¢The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your iaind at rest about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely certain that I shauld be able in four days to reclaim it, It is a pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient ?’ «< Ample,’
  ““You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof of the confidence which I have in you, founaed upon all that I have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreev and to refrain from all gossip upon the matter, but, above all, to preserve this coronet with every possible precaution, because I need rot say that a great public scandal would be caused if any harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. [ leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall call for it in person on Monday morning.’ “Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more; but, calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty £1000 notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the precious case lying upon the table in front of me. I could not but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it was a national possession, a horrible scandai would ensue if any misfortune should occur to it. J already regretted having ever consented to take charge of it. a5F ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES However, it was too late to alter the matter now, so I lockea it up in my private safe, and turned once more to my work. ‘““When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers’ safes had been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how terrible would be the position in which I shou!d find myself! I determined, therefore, that for the next -cw days I would always carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a cab, and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it up-stairs and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. “And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for 1 wish you to thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three maid-servants who have been with me a number of years, and whose absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy Parr, the second waitingmaid, has only been in my service a few months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl, and has attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. “So much fcr the servants. My family itself is so smali that it will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower, and have an only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. Holmes—a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that Iam myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very likely I have. When my dear wife died I telt that he was all I had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it would have been better ‘or both of us had I been sterner, but I meant it for the best. “Tt was naturally my intention that he should succeed me THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 259 in my business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his allowance, that he might settle his debts of honor. He tried more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend Sir George Burnwell was enough to draw him back again. “ And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his cynical speech, and the look which I have caught in his eyes, that he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman’s quick insight into character. “ And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece ; but when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house— sweet, loving, beautiful, a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know what I could do without. her. In only one matter has she ever gone against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him, I think that if any one could have drawn him into the right path 260 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES it would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his whole life; but now, alas! it is too late—for ever too late! “Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live unde my roof, and I shall continue with my miserable story. “When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night, after dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am sure, left the room, but I cannot swear that the door was closed. Mary and Arthus were much interested, and wished to see the famous coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. “¢ Where have you put it?’ asked Arthur.
  ¢Tn my own bureau.’ ““Well, I hope to goodness the house won’t be burgled during the night,’ said he. “Tt is locked up,’ I answered. “¢Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I have opened it myself with the key of the box: room cupboard.’ “He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with a very grave face. “< Jook here, dad,’ said he, with his eyes cast down, ‘can you let me have £200? “No, I cannot!’ I answered, sharply. ‘I have been far
  too generous with you in money matters.’
  ““¢ You have been very kind,’ said he: ‘but I must have
  this money, or else I can never show my face inside the club
  again.’
  “¢ And a very good thing, too!’ I cried.
  ““Ves, but you would not have me leave it a dishonored man,’ said he. ‘I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try other means.’ THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 261 “1 was very angry, for this was the third demand during the month. ‘You shall not have a farthing from me,’ I cried: on which he bowed and left the room without another word. “When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go round the house to see that all was secure—a duty which I usually leave to Mary, but which I thought it well to per form myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastezed as I approached. “¢Tell me, dad,’ said she, looking, I thought, a little disturbed, ‘did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out to-night?” “¢ Certainly not.’ “She came in just now by the back door. I have no
  doubt that she has only been to the side gate to see some one;
  but I think that it is hardly safe, and should be stopped.”
  “* You must speak to her in the morning, or I will, if you
  prefer it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?”
  “¢ Quite sure, dad.’
  “¢Then, good-night.’ I kissed her, and went up to my bedroom
  again, where I was soon asleep.
  “T am endeavoring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes,
  which may have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you
  will question me upon any point which I do not make clear.”
  “On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid.”
  “I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish
  to be particularly sv. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the
  anxiety in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less
  so than usual. About two in the morning, then, I was awakened
  by some sound in the house. It had ceased ere I was
  wide awake, but it had left an impression behind it as though
  a window had gently closed somewhere. I lay listening with
  all my ears. Suddenly, to my horror, there was a distinct
  sound of footsteps moving softly in the next room. I slipped
  out of bed, all palpitating with fear, and peeped round the
  sorner of my dressing-room door.
  262 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “Arthur! I screamed, ‘you villain! you thief! How
  dare you touch that coronet ?’
  “The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy
  boy, dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside
  the light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared
  to be wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At
  my cry he dropped it from his grasp, and turned as pale as
  death. I snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold
  corners, with three of the beryls in it, was missing.
  “*You blackguard! I shouted, beside myself with rage.
  ‘You have destroyed it! You have dishonored me for ever!
  Where are the jewels which you have stolen?”
  *¢ Stolen !’ he cried. “Yes, you thief ! I roared, shaking him by the shoulder, “There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,’
  said he.
  “There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to tear off another piece ?’ ““ You have called me names enough,’ said he; ‘I will not
  stand it any longer. I shall not say another word about this
  business since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave
  your house in the morning and make my own way in the
  world.’
  “* You shall leave it in the hands of the police!’ I cried,
  half-mad with grief and rage. ‘I shall have this matter
  probed to the bottom.’
  “You shall learn nothing from me,’ said he, with a passion such as I should not have thought was in his nature. “If you choose to call the police, let the police find what they can.’ “By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur’s face, she read the whole story, and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the ground. I sent the house-maid for the police, and THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL, CORONET 262 put the investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was national property. I was determined that the law should have its way in everything. “ At least,’ said he, ‘you will not have me arrested at once.
  Tt would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave
  the house for five minutes.’
  “¢That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal
  what you have stolen,’ said I. And then realizing the
  dreadful position in which I was placed, I implored him to
  remember that not only my honor, but that of one who was
  far greater than I was at stake; and that he threatened to
  taise a scandal which would convulse the nation. He might
  avert it all if he would but tell me what he had done with the
  three missing stones.
  “¢Vou may as well face the matter,’ saidI; ‘you have
  been caught in the act, and no confession could make your
  guilt more heinous. If you but make such reparation as is in
  your power, by telling us where the beryls are, all shall be
  forgiven and forgotten.’
  “Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,’ he answered,
  turning away from me, with a sneer. I saw that he
  was too hardened, for any words of mine to influence him.
  There was but one way for it. I called in the inspecior, and
  gave him into custody. A search was made at once, not only
  of his person, but of his room, and of every portion of the
  house where he could possibly have concealed the gems; but
  no trace of them could be found, nor would the wretched boy
  open his mouth for all our persuasions and our threats. This
  morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after going through
  all the police formalities, have hurried round to you, to implore
  you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. The
  police have openlv confessed that they can at present make;
  264 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think
  necessary. I have already offered a reward of £1000, My
  God, what shall I do! I have lost my honor, my gems, and
  my son in one night. Oh, what shall I do!”
  He put a hand on either side of his head, and rocked himself
  to and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has
  got beyond words.
  Sherlock Hoimes sat silent for some few minutes, with his
  brows knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire.
  “Do you receive much company ?” he asked.
  “None, save my partner with his family, and an occasional
  friend of Arthur’s. Sir George Burnwell has been several
  times lately. No one else, I think.”
  “Do you go out much in society ?”
  “Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of
  us care for it.”
  “ That is unusual in a young girl.”
  “She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very
  young. She is four-and-twenty.”
  “This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a
  shock to her also.”
  “Terrible! She is even more affected than I.”
  “You have neither of you any doubt as to your son’s
  guilt?”
  “How can we have, when I saw him with my own eyes
  with the coronet in his hands.”
  “TI hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder
  of the coronet at all injured ?”
  “Yes, it was twisted.”
  “Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to
  straighten it?”
  “God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and
  forme. LEut it is tooheavyatask. What was he doing there
  at all? If his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?”
  “Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a
  lie? His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 265
  severai singular points about the case. What did the police
  think ot the noise which awoke. you from your sleep ?”
  “They considered that it might be caused by Arthur’s closing
  his bedroom door,”
  “A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam
  his door so as to wake a household. What did they say, then,
  jot the disappearance of these gems ?”
  “They are still sounding the planking and probing the
  furniture in the hope of finding them.”
  “ Have they thought of looking outside the house ?”
  “ Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole
  garden has already been minutely examined.”
  “Now, my dear sir,” said Holmes, “is it not obvious to
  you now that this matter really strikes very much deeper than
  either you or the police were at first inclined to think? It
  appeared to you to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly
  complex. Consider what is involved by your theory.
  _ You suppose that your son came down from his bed, went, at
  great risk, to your dressing-room, opened your bureau, took
  out your coronet, broke off by main force a small portion of
  it, went off to some other place, concealed three gems out of
  the thirty-nine, with such skill that nobody can find them,
  and then returned with the other thirty-six into the room in
  which he exposed himself to the greatest danger of being discovered.
  I ask you now, is such a theory tenable ?”
  “ But what other is there ?” cried the banker, with a gesture
  of despair. “If his motives were innocent, why does he not
  ‘explain them ?”
  , “It is our task to find that out,” replied Holmes ; “so now,
  if you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together,
  and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely
  into details.”
  My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their
  expedition, which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity
  and sympathy were deeply stirred by the story to which we
  had listened. I confess that the guilt of the banker’s son
  266 ADVENTURES:O F SHERLOCK HOLMES
  appeared to me to be as obvious as it did to his unbapps
  father, but still I had such faith in Holmes’s judgment that I
  felt that there must be some grounds for hope as long as he
  was dissatisfied with the accepted explanation, He hardly
  spoke a word the whole way out to the southern suburb, buf
  sat with his chin upon his breast and his hat drawn over his
  eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client appeared to
  have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope which had
  been presented to him, and he even broke into a desultory
  chat with me over his business affairs, A short railway journey
  and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest
  residence of the great financier, _
  Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone,
  standing back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep?
  with a snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large
  iron gates which closed the entrance. On the right side was
  a small wooden thicket, which led into a narrow path between
  two neat hedges stretching from the road to the kitchen door,
  and forming the tradesmen’s entrance. On the left ran a lane
  which led to the stables, and was not itself within the grounds
  at all, being a public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes
  left us standing at the door, and walked slowly all round the
  house, across the front, down the tradesmen’s path, and so
  round by the garden behind into the stable lane. Sc long was
  he that Mr. Holder and I went into the dining-room and
  waited by the fire until he should return. We were sitting
  there in silence when the door opened and a young lady came
  in. She was rather above the middle height, slim, with dark
  hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against the absolute
  pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever seen such
  deadly paleness in a woman’s face. Her lips, too, were bloodless,
  but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept
  silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense
  of grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was
  the more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of
  strong character, with immense canacity for self-restraint,
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 267
  Disregarding my presence, she went straight to her uncle, and
  passed her hand over his head with a sweet womanly caress.
  “You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated,
  have you not, dad ?” she asked.
  ““No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom.”
  “But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what
  women’s instincts are. I know that he has done no harm
  and that you will be sorry for having acted so harshly.”
  “Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent ?”
  “Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you
  should suspect him.”
  “ How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw
  him with the coronet in his hand?”
  “Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh do,
  do take my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter
  drop and say no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear
  Arthur in prison !”
  “J shall never let it drop until the gems are found—never,
  Mary! Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful
  consequences to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have
  brought a gentleman down from London to inquire more
  deeply into it.”
  “This gentleman ?” she asked, facing round to me.
  “No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is
  round in the stable lane now.”
  “The stable lane?’ She raised her dark eyebrows. “What
  can he hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I
  trust, sir, that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is
  _ the truth, that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime.”
  “]T fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we
  may prove it,” returned Holmes, going back to the mat to
  knock the snow from his shoes. “TI believe I have the honor
  of addressing Miss Mary Holder, Might I ask you a question
  or two ?”
  “ Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up.”
  “Vou heard nothing yourself lar; night ?”
  268 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  “ Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. §
  heard that, and I came down.”
  “You shut up the windows and doors the night before.
  Did you fasten all the windows ?”
  COMeSs
  “Were they all fastened this morning ?”
  any €Sth;
  “Vou have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you
  remarked to your uncle last night that she had been out to
  see him?”
  “Ves, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room,
  and who may have heard uncle’s remarks about the coronet.”
  “T see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her
  sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery.”
  “But what is the good of all these vague theories,” cried
  the banker, impatiently, “when I have told you that I saw
  Arthur with the coronet in his hands ?”
  “ Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that,
  About this girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the
  kitchen door, I presume ?”
  “Ves; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the
  night I met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom.”
  “Do you know him ?” ‘
  “Oh yes; he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables
  round, His name is Francis Prosper.”
  “He stood,” said Holmes, “to the left of the door—that
  is to say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the
  door ?”
  “Yes, he did.”
  “ And he is a man with a wooden leg ?”
  Something like fear sprang up in the young lady’s expressive
  black eyes. “Why, you are like a magician,” said she.
  “How do you know that?” She smiled, but there was no
  answering smile in Holmes’s thin, eager face.
  “T should be very glad now to go up-stairs,” said he. “i
  slia:! probably wish to go over the qutside of the house again.
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 269
• Perhaps I had better take a look at the lower windows before
  1 go up.”
  He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing
  only at the large one which looked from the hall onto the
  stable lane. This he opened, and made a very careful examination
  of the sill with his powerful magnifying lens, “Now
  we shall go up-stairs,” said he, at last.
  The banker’s dressing-room was a plainly furnished little
  chamber, with a gray carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror.
  Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the
  lock.
  “ Which key was used to open it?” he asked,
  “That which my son himself indicated—that of the cupboard
  of the lumber-room.”
  “Have you it here ?”
  “That is it on the dressing-table.”
  Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau.
  “Tt is a noiseless lock,” said he. “It is no wonder that it
  did not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet.
  We must have a look at it.” He opened the case, and, taking
  out the diadem, he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent
  specimen’ of the jeweller’s art, and the thirty-six stones
  were the finest that I have ever seen. At one side of the
  coronet was a cracked edge, where a corner holding three
  gems had beea torn away.
  “Now, Mr. Holder,” said Holmes, “here is the corner
  which corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately
  lost. Might I beg that you will break it off.”
  The banker recoiled in horror. “I should not dream of
  trying,” said he.
  “Then I will.” Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon
  it, but without result. “TI feel it give a little,” said he; “but,
  though I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take
  me all my time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it.
  Now, what do you think would happen if I did break it, Mr.
  Hoider? There would be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you
  270 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  tell me that all this happened within a few yards of your bed,
  and that you heard nothing of it ?”
  “I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me.”
  “ But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you
  think, Miss Holder?”
  “T confess that I still share my uncle’s perplexity.”
  “Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw
  him ?”
  “ He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt.”
  “Thank you. We have certainly been favored with extraordinary
  luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely
  our own fault if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up
  With your permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my
  investigations outside.”
  He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that
  any unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult.
  For an hour or more he was at work, returning at last
  with his feet heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable
  as ever.
  “T think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr.
  Holder,” said he; “I can serve you best by returning to
  my rooms.”
  “But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they ?”
  “T cannot tell.”
  The banker wrung his hands. “I shall never see them
  again!” he cried. “And my son? You give me hopes ?”
  “My opinion is in no way altered.”
  “Then, for God’s sake, what was this dark business which
  was acted in my house last night ?”
  “Tf you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms tomorrow
  morning between nine and ten I shal! be happy to do
  what I can to make it clearer. I understand that you give
  me carte blanche to act for you, provided only that I get back
  the gems, and that you place no limit on the sum I may draw.”
  “T would give my fortune to have them back.”
  “Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 271
  then. Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come
  over here again before evening.”
  It was obvious to me that my companion’s mind was now
  made up about the case, although what his conclusions were
  was more than I could even dimly imagine. Several times
  during our homeward journey I endeavored to sound him
  upon the point, but he always glided away to some other topic,
  until at last I gave it over in despair. It was not yet three
  when we found ourselves in our room once more. He hurried
  to his chamber, and was down again in a few minutes dressed
  as a common loafer. With his collar turned up, his shiny.
  seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he was a perfect
  sample of the class.
  “T think that this should do,” said he, glancing into the
  glass above the fireplace. “I only wish that you could come
  with me, Watson, but I fear that it won’t do. I may be on
  the trail in this matter, or I may be following a will-of-thewisp,
  but I shall soon know whick it is. I hope that I may be
  back in a few hours.” He cut a slice of beef from the joint
  upon the sideboard, sandwiched it between two rounds of
  bread, and, thrusting this rude meal into his pocket, he started
  off upon his expedition.
  I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in
  excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his
  hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself
  to a cup of tea.
  “{ only looked in as I passed,” said he. “I am going
  right on.”
  “ Where to ?”
  “Qh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some
  time before I get back. Don’t wait up for me in case I should
  be late.”
  “ How are you getting on?”
  “Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to
  Streatham since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house.
  It is a very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed
  272 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  it for 2 good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here,
  but must get these disreputable clothes off and return to my
  highly respectable self.”
  I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for
  satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes
  twinkled, and there was even a touch of color upon his sallow
  cheeks. He hastened up-stairs, and a few minutes later I
  heard the slam of the hall door, which told me that he was off
  once more upon his congenial hunt.
  I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return,
  so I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him
  to be away for days and nights on end when he was hot upon
  a scent, so that his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not
  know at what hour he came in, but when I came down te
  breakfast in the morning, there he was with a cup of coffe
  in one hand and the paper in the other, as fresh and trim as
  possible.
  “You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson,” said
  he; “but you remember that our client has rather an early
  appointment this morning.”
  “Why, it is after nine now,” I answered. “I should not be
  surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring.”
  It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by
  the change which had come over him, for his face, which was
  naturally of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and
  fallen in, while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter,
  He entered with a weariness and lethargy which was even
  move painful than his violence of the morning before, and he
  dropped heavily into the arm-chair which I pushed forward
  for him.
  ‘I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried,”
  said he. “Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous
  man, without a care in the world. Now I am left toa lonely
  and dishonored age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels
  of another. My niece, Mary, has deserted me.”
  “ Deserted you ?”
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 273
  “Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her
  rooin was empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table,
  I had said to her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that
  if she had married my boy all might have been well with him.
  Perhaps it was thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that re
  mark that she refers in this note:
  “* My DEAREST UNCLE,—I feel that I have brought trouble
  upon you, and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune
  might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought
  in my mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel
  that I must leave you for ever. Do not worry about my ‘future,
  for that is provided for; and, above all, do not search for
  me, for it will be fruitless labor and an ill-service to me. In
  life or in death, I am ever your loving Mary.’
  “What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do
  _ you think it points to suicide?”
  “No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible
  solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the
  end of your troubles.”
  “Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr, Holmes;
  you have learned something! Where are the gems?”
• You would not think £1000 apiece an excessive sum for
  them ?”
  *T would pay ten.”
  “That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover
  the matter. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you
  your check-book? Here is a pen. Better make it out for

4000 pounds,”

With a dazed face the banker made out the required check,
Holmes walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular
piece of gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon
the table.
With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up.
“Vou have it!” he gasped. “I am saved! Iam saved!”
‘274 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been,
and he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom.
“There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder,” said
Sherlock Holmes, rather sternly.
“Owe!” He caught up a pen. “Name the sum, and I
will pay it.”
“No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble
apology to that noble lad, your son, who has carried himself
in this matter as I should be proud to see my own son do,
should I ever chance to have one.”
“Then it was not Arthur who took them ?”
“T told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not.”
“You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once, to
let him know that the truth is known.”
“He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had
an interview with him, and, finding that he would not tell me
the story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I
was right, and to add the very few details which were not yet
quite clear tome. Your news of this morning, however, may
open his lips.”
“‘For Heaven’s sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary
mystery !”
“I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I
reached it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is
hardest for me to say and for you to hear: there has been
an understanding between Sir George Burnwell and your niece
Mary. They have now fled together.”
‘““My Mary? Impossible!”
“It is, unfortunately, more than possible; it is certain,
Neither you nor your son knew the true character of this man
when you admitted him into your family circle. He is one of
the most dangerous men in England—a ruined gambler, an
absolutely desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience.
Your niece knew nothing of such men. When he
breathed his vows to her, as he had done to a hundred before
her, she flattered herself that she alone had touched his
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 275
heart. The devil knows best what he said, but at least she
became his tool, and was in the habit of seeing him nearly
every evening.”
“T cannot, and I will not, believe it!” cried the banker, with
an ashen face.
‘““T will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last
night. Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your
room, slipped down and talked to her lover through the window
which leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed
right through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told
him of the coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the
news, and he bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she
loved ycu, but there are women in whom the love of a lover
extinguishes all other loves, and I think that she must have
been one. She had hardly listened to his instructions when
she saw you coming down-stairs, on which she closed the window
rapidly, and told you about one of the servants’ escapade
with her wooden-legged lover, which was all perfectly true.
“Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with
you, but he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his
club debts. In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread
pass his door, so he rose, and looking out, was surprised to see
his cousin walking very stealthily along the passage, until she
disappeared into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment,
the lad slipped on some clothes, and waited there in the
dark to see what would come of this strange affair. Presently
she emerged from the room again, and in the light of the passage-
lamp your son saw that she carried the precious coronet
in her hands. She passed down the stairs, and he, thrilling
with horror, ran along and slipped behind the curtain near
your door, whence he could see what passed in the hall beneath.
He saw her stealthily open the window, hand out the
coronet to some one in the gloom, and then closing it once
more hurry back to her room, passing quite close to where he
stood hid behind the curtain.
“As long as she was on the scene he could not take any
276 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
action without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he
loved. But the instant that she was gone he realized how
crushing a misfortune this would be for you, and how allimportant
it was to set it right. He rushed down, just as he
was, in his bare feet, opened the window, sprang out into the
snow, and ran down the lane, where he could see a dark figure
in the moonlight. Sir George Burnwell tried to get away, but
Arthur caught him, and there was a struggle between them,
your lad tugging at one side of the coronet, and his opponent
at the other. In the scuffle, your son struck Sir George, and
cut him over the eye. Then something suddenly snapped, and
your son, finding that he had the coronet in his hands, rushed
back, closed the window, ascended to your room, and had just
observed that the coronet had been twisted in the struggle,
and was endeavoring to straighten it when you appeared upon
the scene.”
“Ts it possible?” gasped the banker.
‘You then roused his anger by calling him names at a maoment
when he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks.
He could not explain the true state of affairs without betraying
one who certainly deserved little enough consideration at
his hands. He took the more chivalrous view, however, and
preserved her secret.” 4
“And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw
the coronet,” cried Mr. Holder. “Oh, my God! what a blind
fool I have been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for
five minutes! The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing
piece were at the scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have
misjudged him !”
“When I arrived at the house,” continued Holmes, “I at
once went very carefully round it to observe if there were any
traces in the snow which might help me. I knew that none
had fallen since the evening before, and also that there had
been a strong frost to preserve impressions. I passed along
the tradesmen’s path, but found it all trampled down and indistinguishable.
Just beyond it, however, at the far side of
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 277
the kitchen door, a woman had stood and talked with a man,
whose round impressions on one side showed that he had a
wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been disturbed,
for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was shown
by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had
waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the
time that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom
you nad already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so.
I passed round the garden without seeing anything more than
random tracks, which I took to be the police ; but when I got
into the stable lane a very long and complex story was written
in the snow in front of me.
“There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and
a second double line which I saw with delight belonged to a
man with naked feet. I was at once convinced from what you
had told me that the latter was your son. The first had ©
walked both ways, but the other had run swiftly, and, as his
tread was marked in places over the depression of the boot, it
was obvious that he had passed after the other. I followed
them up, and found that they led to the hall window, where
Boots had worn all the snow away while waiting. Then I
walked to the other end, which was a hundred yards or more
down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, where
the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, and,
finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me
that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane,
and another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who
had been hurt. When he came to the high-road at the other
end, I found that the pavement had been cleared, so there
was an end to that clew.
“On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember,
the sill and framework of the hall window with my
lens, and I could at once see that some one had passed out.
I could distinguish the outline of an instep where the wet foot
had been placed in coming in. I was then beginning to be
able to form an opinion as to what had occurred. Aman had
278 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
waited outside the window, some one had brought the gems;
the deed had been overseen by your son, he had pursued the
thief, had struggled with him, they had each tugged at the
coronet, their united strength causing injuries which neither
alone could have effected. He had returned with the prize,
but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So far
[ was clear. The question now was, who was the man, and
who was it brought him the coronet ?
“Tt is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded
the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must
be the truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had
brought it down, so there only remained your niece and the
maids. But if it were the maids, why should your son allow
himself to be accused in their place? There could be no
possible reason. As he loved his cousin, however, there was
an excellent explanation why he should retain her secret—
the more so as the secret was a disgraceful one. When I remembered
that you had seen her at that window, and how she
had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture be:
came a certainty.
“And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover
evidently, for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude
which she must feel to you? I knew that you went out little,
and that your circle of friends was a very limited one. But
among them was Sir George Burnwell. I had heard of him
before as being a man of evil reputation among women. It
must have been he who wore those boots and retained the
missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur had dis- ©
covered him, he might still flatter himself that he was safe,
for the lad could not say a word without compromising his
own family.
“Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I
took next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George’s
house, managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet,
learned that his master had cut his head the night before, and,
finally, at the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 279
a pair of his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to
Streatham, and saw that they exactly fitted the tracks.”
“T saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening,”
said Mr. Holder.
“Precisely, It was I. I found that I had my man, so I
came home and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part
which I had to play then, for I saw that a prosecution must
be avoided to avert scandal, and I knew that so astute a viliain
would see that our hands were tied in the matter. 1! went
and saw him, At first, of course, he denied everything. But
when I gave him every particular that had occurred, he tried
to bluster, and took down a life-preserver from the wall. I
knew my man, however, and I clapped a pistol to his head
before he could strike. Then he became a little more reasonabie.
I told him that we would give him a price for the
stones he held — £1090 apiece. That brought out the first
signs of grief that he had shown. ‘ Why, dash it all!’ said he,

• ‘T’ve let them go at six hundred for the three!’ I soon managed
  to get the address of the receiver who had them, on
  promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I set
  to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at £1000
  apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all
  was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o’clock,
  after what I may call a really hard day’s work.”
  ““A day which has saved England from a great public
  scandal,” said the banker, rising. “Sir, I cannot find words
  to thank you, but you shall not find me ungrateful for what
  you have done. Your skill has indeed exceeded all that I
  have heard of it. And now I must fly to my dear boy to
  apologize to him for the wrong which I have done him. As
  to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my very heart.
  Not even your skill can inform me where she is now.”
  “T think that we may safely say,” returned Holmes, “that
  she is wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain,
  too, that whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more
  than sufficient punishment.” —_
  Hloventure CTF
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES
  marked Sherlock Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement
  sheet of Zhe Daily Telegraph, “it is
  frequently in its least important and lowliest
  manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It
  is pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far
  grasped this truth that in these little records of our cases
  which you have been good enough to draw up, and, I am
  bound to say, occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence
  not so much to the many causes cé/tbres and sensational
  trials in which I have figured, but rather to those incidents
  which may have been trivial in themselves, but which have
  given room for those faculties of deduction and of logical
  synthesis which I have made my special province.”
  “And yet,” said I, smiling, “I cannot quite hold fayselt
  absolved from the charge of sensationalism which has been
  urged against my records.”
  “You have erred, perhaps,” he observed, taking up a glowing
  cinder with the tongs, and lighting with it the long cherrywood
  pipe which was wont to replace his c.ay when he was ip
  a disputatious, rather than a meditative mood—‘“you have
  erred perhaps in attempting to put color and life into each of
  your statements, instead of confining yourself to the task of
  placing upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect
  which is really the only notable feature about the thing.”
  “It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the
  matter,” I remarked, with some coldness, for I was repelled
  THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 28r
  by the egotism which I had more than once observed to be a
  strony factor in my friend’s singular character.
  “No, it is not selfishness or conceit,” said he, answering, as
  was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words, “If I claim
  full justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing
  ~-a thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare.
  Therefore it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that
  -you should dwell. You have degraded what should have been
  a course of lectures into a series of tales.”
  It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after
  breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at
  Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of
  dun-colored houses, and the opposing windows loomed like
  dark, shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our
  gas was lit, and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of
  china and metal, for the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock
  Holmes had been silent all the morning, dipping continuously
  into the advertisement columns of a succession of papers,
  until at last, having apparently given up his search, he had
  emerged in no very sweet temper to lecture me upon my liter.
  ary shortcomings.
  “At the same time,” he remarked, after a pause, during
  which he had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down
  into the fire, “you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism,
  for out of these cases which you have been so kind
  as to interest yourself in, a fair proportion do not treat of
  crime, in its legal sense, at all. The small matter in which J
  endeavored to help the King of Bohemia, the singular experience
  of Miss Mary Sutherland, the problem connected with
  the man with the twisted lip, and the incident of the noble
  bachelor, were all matters which are outside the pale of the
  law. But in avoiding the sensational, I fear that you may
  have bordered on the trivial.”
  “The end may have been so,” I answered, ‘‘ but the meth
  ods I hold to have been novel and of interest.”
  “ Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unob
  t9
  282 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
  servant public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth of
  a compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of
  analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I can
  not blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man,
  or at least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality.
  As to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into
  an agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice
  to young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have
  touched bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning
  marks my zero-point, I fancy. Read it!’ He tossed a
  crumpled letter across to me.
  It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding
  evening, and ran thus:
  “DeaR Mr. Hotmes,—I am very anxious to consult you as
  to whether I should or should not accept a situation which
  has been offered to me as governess. I shall call at half-past
  ten to-morrow, if I do not inconvenience you.
  “Yours faithfully, VIOLET HUNTER.”
  “Do you know the young lady?” I asked.
  Nat s1.77
  “Tt is half-past ten now.”
  “Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring.”
  “Tt may turn out to be of more interest than you think.
  You remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which
  appeared to be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious
  investigation. It may be so in this case, also.”
  “Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be
  solved, for here, unless [am much mistaken, is the person in
  question.”
  As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the
  room. She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright,
  quick face, freckled like a plover’s egg, and with the brisk
  manner of a woman who has had her own way to make in the
  world.
  ‘‘} CLAPPED A PISTOL TO HIS HEAD®

Pa |

• THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 283
• You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure,” said she,
  as my companion rose to greet her; “but I have had a very
  strange expericnce, and as I have no parents or relations of
  any sort from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps
  you would be kind enough to tell me what I should do.”
  “Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do
  anything that I can to serve you.”
  I could see that Holmes was favorably impressed by the
  manner and speech of his new client. He looked her over in
  his searching fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids
  drooping and his finger tips together, to listen to her story.
  “T have been a governess for five years,” said she, ‘in the
  family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the
  colonel received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia,
  znd took his children over to America with him, so that I
  feand myself without a situation. I advertised, and I answered
  a’ivertisements, but without success. At last the little money
  which I had saved began to run short, and I was at my wits’
  end as to what I should do.
  “There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West
  fad called Westaway’s, and there I used to call about once a
  week in order to see whether anything had turned up which
  might suit me. Westaway was the name of the founder of

7e business, but it is really managed by Miss Stoper. She

sits in her own little office, and the ladies who are seeking
employment wait in an ante-room, and are then shown in one
by one, when she consults her ledgers, and sees whether she
has anything which would suit them.
“Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little
office as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone.
A prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face, and a great
beavy chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat,
sat at her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking
very earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he
gave quite a jump in his chair, and turned quickly to Miss
Stoper :
284 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
“That will do,’ said he; ‘I could not ask for anything better. Capital! capital’! He seemed quite enthusiastic, and rubbed his hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleas ure to look at him. “You are looking for a situation, miss ?’ he asked.
a Yes, sir.’
“* As governess ?”
“Yes, sir.’
““ And what salary do you ask?”
““T had £4 a month in my last place with Colonel Spence
Munro.’
“Oh, tut, tut! sweating—rank sweating!’ he cried, throwing his fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling passion. ‘How could any one offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with such attractions and accomplishments ?” “My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,’
said I. ‘A little French, a little German, music, and drawing—’
“Tut, tut? he cried. ‘This is all quite beside the question. The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment of a lady? There it isin a nutshell. If you have not, you are not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have, why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to accept anything under the three figures ? Your salary with me, madam, would commence at £100 a year.’ “You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I ‘was, such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, opened a pocket-book and took out a note. “Tt is also my custom,’ said he, smiling in the most pleasant
fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits
amid the white creases of his face, ‘to advance to my young
ladies half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any
little expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.’
THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 285
“It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and
so thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen,
the advance was a great convenience, and yet there was
something unnatural about the whole transaction which made
me wish to knowa little more before I quite committed myself.
“* May I ask where you live, sir?’ said I.
“Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my dear young lady, and the dearest old countryhouse.’ ““And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would be.’ “One child— one dear little romper just six years old.
Oh, if you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper!
Smack! smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink !’
He leaned back in his chair and laughed his eyes into his
head again.
“T was a little startled at the nature of the child’s amusement,
but the father’s laughter made me think that perhaps he
was joking.
“*My sole duties, then,’ I asked, ‘are to take charge of a
single child ?’
*“No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,’ he cried. ‘Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided always that they were such commands as a lady might with propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?” “T should be happy to make myself useful.’
“Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy
people, you know—faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked
to wear any dress which we might give you, you would not
object to our little whim. Heh?’
No,’ said I, considerably astonished at his words,
“Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to you?’ . “Qh, no.’ 286 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ““Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us ? “T could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather pecul: lar tint of chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of sacrificing it in this off-hand fashion. ““T am afraid that that is quite impossible,’ said I. He had been watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a shadow pass over his face as I spoke. ““T am afraid that it is quite essential,’ said he. ~-It is a
little fancy of my wife’s, and ladies’ fancies, you know, madam,
ladies’ fancies must be consulted. And so you won’t cut your
hair ?’
“No, sir, I really could not,’ I answered, firmly. “Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter, It is a pity, because in other respects you would really have done very nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more of your young ladies.’ “The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. “Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books ?”
she asked. ‘
“Tf you please, Miss Stoper.’
““Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the
most excellent offers in this fashion,’ said she, sharply. ‘You
can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such
opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.’ She struck
a gong upon the table, and I was shown out by the page.
“Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and
found little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills
upon the table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done
a very foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange
fads, and expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters,
they were at least ready to pay for their eccentricity.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 287
Very few governesses in England are getting £100 a year.
Besides, what use was my hair tome? Many people are improved
by wearing it short, and perhaps I should be among
the number. Next day I was inclined to think that I had
made a mistake, and by the day after I was sure of it. I had
almost overcome my pride, so far as to go back to the agency
and inquire whether the place was still open, when I received
this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it here, and I
will read it to you:
“‘The Copper Beeches, near Winchester.
“¢Dgar Miss Hunter,—Miss Stoper has very kindly given
me your address, and I write from here to ask you whether
you have reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious
that you should come, for she has been much attracted by my
description of you. We are willing to give £30 a quarter, or
£120 a year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience
which our fads may cause you. They are not very
exacting, after all. My wife is fond of a particular shade of
electric blue, and would like you to wear such a dress in-doors
in thé morning. You need not, however, go to the expense of
purchasing One, as we have one belonging to my dear daughter »
Alice (now in Philadelphia), which would, I should think, fit
you very well. ‘Then, as to sitting here or there, or amusing
yourself in any manner indicated, that need cause you no
inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no doubt a pity,
especially as I could not help remarking its beauty during our
short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain firm upon
this point, and I only hope that the increased salary may
recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child
is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and [ shall
meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your
train. Yours faithfully, JeEPHRO RUCASTLE.’
“ That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes,
and my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought,
288 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
however, that before taking the final step I shourd like to
submit the whole matter to your consideration.”
“Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles
the question,” said Holmes, smiling.
“But you would not advise me to refuse ?”
“T confess that it is not the situation which I should like to
see a sister of mine apply for.”
“What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes ?”
“Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have
yourself formed some opinion ?”
“Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution.
Mr. Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man, Is
it not possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to
keep the matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asy-
Jum, and that he humors her fancies in every way in order to
prevent an outbreak.”
“That is a possible solution—in fact, as matters stand, it is
the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to
be a nice household for a young lady.”
“But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money !”
“Well, yes, of course the pay is good—too good. That is
what makes me uneasy. Why should they give you £120a
year, when they could have their pick for £40? There must
be some strong reason behind.”
“T thought that if 1 told you the circumstances you would
understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so
much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me.”
“Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure
you that your little problem promises to be the most interesting
which has come my way for some months. There is
something distinctly novel about some of the features. If
you should find yourself in doubt or in danger—”
“Danger! What danger do you foresee ?”
Holmes shook his head gravely. “It would cease to be a
danger if we could define it,” said he. “But at any time, day
or night, a telegram would bring me down to your help.”
THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 289
‘That is enough.” She rose briskly from her chair with
“he anxiety all swept from her face. “I shall go down to
Hampshire quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr.
Rucastle at once, sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start
for Winchester to-morrow.” With a few grateful words to
‘Yolmes she bade us both good-night and bustled off upon
her way.
“ At least,” said I,as we heard her quick, firm step descending
the stairs, “she seems to be a young lady who is very well
able to take care of herself.”
“ And she would need to be,” said Holmes, gravely; “Iam
much mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days
are past.”
It was not very long before my friend’s prediction was fulfilled.
A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found
my thoughts turning in her direction, and wondering what
strange side-alley of human experience this lonely woman had
strayed into, The unusual salary, the curious conditions, the
light duties, all pointed to something abnormal, though whether
afad or a plot, or whether the man were a philanthropist or a
villain, it was quite beyond my powers to determine. As to
Holmes, I-observed that he sat frequently for half an hour on
end, with knitted brows and an abstracted air, but he swept
the matter away with a wave of his hand when I mentioned it.
“Data! data! data!” he cried, impatiently. “I can’t make
bricks without clay.” And yet he would always wind up by
muttering that no sister of his should ever have accepted such
a situation.
The telegram which we eventually received came late one
night, just as I was thinking of turning in, and Holmes was settling
down to one of those all-night chemical researches which
he frequently indulged in, when I would leave him stooping
over a retort and a test-tube at night, and find him in the same
position when I came down to breakfast in the morning. He
opened the yellow envelope, and then, glancing at the mes
sage, threw it across to me.
290 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
“Just look up the trains in Bradshaw,” said he, and turned
back to his chemical studies.
The summons was a brief and urgent one.
“Please be at the ‘Black Swan’ Hotel at Winchester at
mid-day to-morrow,” it said. “Do come! I am at my wits’
end. HUNTER.”
“Will you come with me?” asked Holmes, glancing up.
“T should wish to.”
“Just look it up, then.”
“There is a train at half-past nine,” said I, glancing over
my Bradshaw. “It is due at Winchester at 11.30.”
“That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better
postpone my analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be
at our best in the morning.”
By eleven o’clock the next day we were well upon our way
to the old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the
morning papers all the way down, but after we had passed the
Hampshire border he threw them down, and began to admire
the scenery. It was an ideal spring day, a light blue sky,
flecked with little fleecy white clouds drifting across from
west to east. The sun was shining very brightly, and yet
there was an exhilarating nip in the air, which set an edge to
a man’s energy. All over the country-side, away to the rolling
hills around Aldershot, the little red and gray roofs of the
farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light green of the
new foliage.
“Are they not fresh and beautiful ?” I cried, with all the
enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street.
But Holmes shook his head gravely.
“Do you know, Watson,” said he, “that it is one of the
curses of a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at
everything with reference to my own special subject. You
look at these scattered houses, and you are impressed by their
beauty. I look at them, and the only thought which comes
THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 291
to me is a feeling of their isolation and of the impunity with
which crime may be committed there.”
“Good heavens!” I cried. “ Who would associate crime
with these dear old homesteads ?”
“They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief,
Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and
vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record
of sin than does the smiling and beautiful country-side.”
“You horrify me!”
“But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public
opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish.
There is no lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or
the thud of a drunkard’s blow, does not beget sympathy and
indignation among the neighbors, and then the whole machinery
of justice is ever so close that a word of complaint can set
it going, and there is but a step between the crime and the
dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields,
filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who know little
of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden
wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places,
and none the wiser. Had this lady who appeals to us for help
gone to live in Winchester, I should never have had a fear for
her. It is the five miles of country which makes the danger.
Still, it is clear that she is not personally threatened.”
“No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can
get away.”
“Quite so. She has her freedom.”
“What can be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation
?”
“JT have devised seven separate explanations, each of which
would cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of
these is correct can only be determined by the fresh information
which we shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there
is the tower of the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that
Miss Hunter has to tell.”
The “ Black Swan” is an inn of repute in the High Street,
292 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
at no distance from the station, and there we found the young
lady waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our
lunch awaited us upon the table.
“T am so delighted that you have come,” she said, earnestly.
“It is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know
what I should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable
to me.”
“ Pray tell us what has happened to you.”
“T will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr,
Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come
into town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose.”
“Let us have everything in its due order.” Holmes thrust
his long thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself
to listen.
“In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole,
with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It
is only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand
them, and I am not easy in my mind about them.”
“What can you not understand ?”
“Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all
just as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me
here, and drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches, it
is, as he said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in
itself, for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed,
but all stained and streaked with damp and bad weather.
There are grounds round it, woods on three sides, and on the
fourth a field which slopes down to the Southampton high-road,
which curves past about a hundred yards from the front door.
This ground in front belongs to the house, but the woods all
round are part of Lord Southerton’s preserves. A clump of
copper beeches immediately in front of the hall door has given
its name to the place.
“T was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as
ever, and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and
the child. There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture
THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 203
which seemed to us to be probable in your rooms at Baker
Street. Mrs. Rucastle is not mad. I found her to be a silent,
pale-faced woman, much younger than her husband, not more
than thirty, I should think, while he can hardly be less than
forty-five. From their conversation I have gathered that they
have been married about seven years, that he was a widower,
and that his only child by the first wife was the daughter who
has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. Rucastle told me in private
that the reason why she had left them was that she had an
unreasoning aversion to her step-mother. As the daughter
could not have been less than twenty, I can quite imagine that
her position must have been uncomfortable with her father’s
young wife.
“Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colorless in mind as
well as in feature. She impressed me neither favorably nor
the reverse. She was anonentity. It was easy to see that she
was passionately devoted both to her husband and to her little
son. Her light gray eyes wandered continually from one to
the other, noting every little want and forestalling it if possible.
He was kind to her also in his bluff, boisterious fashion,
and on the whole they seemed to be a happy couple. And
yet she had some secret sorrow, this woman. She would often
be lost in deep thought, with the saddest look upon her face.
More than once I have surprised her in tears. I have thought
sometimes that it was the disposition of her child which
weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so utterly spoilt
and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small for his age,
with a head which is quite disproportionately large. His
whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between
savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking.
Giving pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to
be his one idea of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable
talent in planning the capture of mice, little birds,
and insects. But I would rather not talk about the creature,
Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he has tittle to do with my
story.”
294 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
“T am glad of all details,” remarked my friend, “ whether
they seem to you to be relevant or not.”
“T shall try not to miss anything of importance. The on¢
unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once,
was the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are
only two, a man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is
a rough, uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a
perpetual smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them
he has been quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take
no notice of it. His wife is a very tall and strong woman
with a sour face, as silent as Mrs. Rucastle, and much less
amiable. They are a most unpleasant couple, but fortunately
I spend most of my time in the nursery and my own room,
which are next to each other in one corner of the building.
“For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my
life was very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down
just after breakfast and whispered something to her husband.
“Oh yes,’ said he, turning to me ; ‘we are very much obliged to you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut your hair. ! assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should both be extremely obliged.’ “The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before, It could not have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching along the entire front of the house, with three long windows reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was asked to sit, and then Mr, Rucastle, walking up and down on the other side of the room, THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 295 began to tell me a series of the funniest stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humor, never so much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the day, and that i might change my dress and go to little Edward in the nursery. “Two days later this same performance was gone through under exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny stories of which my employer had an immense 7éfertoire, and which he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and, moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and to change my dress. “You can easily imagine, Mr. riolmes, how curious I became as to’what the meaning of this extraordinary perform ance could possibly be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, a small bearded man in a gray suit, who seemed to be looking in my direction. The road is 296 ADVENTURES OF SHEZLOCK HOLMES an important highway, and there are usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the railings which bordered our field, and was looking earnestly up. I lowered my handkerchief and ‘glanced at Mrs. Rucastle, to find her eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my hand, and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. “ Jephro,’ said she, ‘there is an impertinent fellow upon the
road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.’
“No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?’ he asked. “No; I know no one in these parts.’ “Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round
and motion to him to go away.’
«Surely it would be better to take no notice.’
“No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn round and wave him away like that.’ “I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor seen the man in the road.” “ Pray continue,” said Holmes. “ Your narrative promises to be a most interesting one.” “You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may prove to be little relation between the different incidents of which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small out-house which stands near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard | the sharp rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving about. “Look in here!’ said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit be:
tween two planks. ‘Is he not a beauty ?”
“T looked through, and was conscious of two glowing eyes,
and of a vague figure huddled up in the darkness.
“Don’t be frightened,’ said my employer, laughing at the start which I had given. ‘It’s only Carlo, my mastiff. I calJ THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 297° him mine, but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs upon. For goodness’ sake don’t you ever on any pretext set your foot over the threshold at night, for it is as much as your life is worth.’ “The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to look out of my bedroom window about two o’clock in the morning. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was standing, wrapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. That dreadful silent sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not think that any burglar could have done. “ And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two with my linen, and, as I had still much to pack away, I was naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. “T took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar 20 298 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES tint, and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles, as I felt that I had put myself in the wrong py opening a drawer which they had locked. “TI am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on his face which made him a very different person to the round, jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me without a word or a look. fs “This aroused my curiosity; so when I went out for a walk in the grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. ““Ah? said he, ‘you must not think me rude if I passed you without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with business matters.’ “T assured him that I was not offended. ‘ By-the-way,’ said THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 296 I, ‘you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one of them has the shutters up.’ “He looked surprised, and, as it seemed to me, a little startled at my remark. “Photography is one of my hobbies,’ said he. ‘I have
made my dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant
young lady we have come upon. Who would have be
lieved it? Who would have ever believed it? He spoke in
a jesting tone, but there was no jest in his eyes as he looked
at me. I read suspicion there and annoyance, but no jest.
“Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood
that there was something about that suite of rooms which I
was not to know, I was all on fire to go over them. It was not
mere curiosity, though I have my share of that. It was more
a feeling of duty—a feeling that some good might come from
my penetrating to this place They talk of woman’s instinct;
perhaps it was woman’s instinct which gave me that feeling.
At any rate, it was there, and I was keenly on the lookout
for any chance to pass the forbidden door.
“It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell
you that, besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find
something to do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him
carrying a large black linen bag with him through the door.
Recently he has been drinking hard, and yesterday evening
he was very drunk; and, when I came up-stairs, there was the
key in the door. I have no doubt at all that he had left it
there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both down-stairs, and the
child was with them, so that I had an admirable opportunity,
I turned the key gently in the lock, opened the door, and
slipped through.
“There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and
uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end.
Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and
third of which were open. They each led into an empty room,
dusty and cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in
the other, so thick with dirt tnat the evening light glimmered
300 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
dimly through them. The centre door was closed, and across
the outside of it had been fastened one of the broad bars of
an iron bed, padlocked at one end to a ring in the wail, and
fastened at the other with stout cord. The door itself was
tocked as well, and the key was not there. This barricaded
door corresponded clearly with the shuttered window outside,
and yet I could see by the glimmer from beneath it that the
room was not in darkness. Evidently there was a skylight
which let in light from above. As I stood in the passage
gazing at the sinister door, and wondering what secret it
might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the
room, and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against
the little slit of dim light which shone out from under the
door. A mad, unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight,
Mr. Holmes. My overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and
I turned and ran—ran as though some dreadful hand were behind
me clutching at the skirt of my dress. I rushed down
the passage, through the door, and straight into the arms of
Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting outside.
“So,’ said he, smiling, ‘it was you, then. I thought that it must be when I saw the door open.’ “¢QOh, I am so frightened !’ I panted. “My dear young lady! my dear young lady !’—you cannot think how caressing and soothing his manner was—‘ and what has frightened you, my dear young lady ?” “But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. { was keenly on my guard against him. “T was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,’ I answered.
‘But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I _
was frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully
atill in there !’
““Only that?’ said he, looking at me keenly.
“*Why, what did you think? I asked.
“Why do you think that I lock this door ?’
““¢T am sure that I do not know.’
““T¢ is to keep people out who have no business there.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 301
Do you see?’ He was still smiling in the most amiable
manner.
“¢T am sure if I had known—’
«Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your
foot over that threshold again—’ here in an instant the
smile hardened into a grin of rage, and he glared down
at me with the face of a demon—‘I’ll throw you to the
mastiff.’
“T was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose
that I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember
nothing until I found myself lying on my bed trembling
all over. Then I thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not
live there longer without some advice. I was frightened of
the house, of the man, of the woman, of the servants, even of
the child. They were all horrible to me. If I could only
bring you down all would be well. Of course I might have
fled from the house, but my curiosity was almost as strong as
my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would send you a
wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the office,
which is about half a mile from the house, and then returned,
feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my
mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose,
but I remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state
of insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only
one in the household who had any influence with the savage
creature, or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in
in safety, and lay awake half the night in my joy at the
thought of seeing you. I had no difficulty in getting leave to
come into Winchester this morning, but I must be back before
three o’clock, for Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit,
and will be away all the evening, so that I must look after the
child. Now I have told you all my adventures, Mr. Holmes,
and I should be very glad if you could tell me what it all
means, and, above all, what I should do.”
Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary
story. My friend rose now and paced up and down the room,
302 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
his hands in his pockets, and an expression of the most pro
found gravity upon his face.
“Ts Toller still drunk ?” he asked.
“Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could
do nothing with him.”
“That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night ?””
reveSan
“Ts there a cellar with a good strong lock ?”
“Yes, the wine-cellar.”
“You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like
a very brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think
that you could perform one more feat? I should not ask it of
you if I did not think you a quite exceptional woman.”
“T will try. What is it?”
“We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o’clock, my
friend and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and
Toller will, we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs.
Toller, who might give the alarm. If you could send her into
the cellar on some errand, and then turn the key upon her,
you would facilitate matters immensely.”
“T will do it.”
“Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair,
Of course there is only one feasible explanation. You have
been brought there to personate some one, and the real person
is imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who
this prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss
Alice Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have
gone to America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling
her in height, figure, and the color of your hair. Hers had
been cut off, very possibly in some illness through which she
has passed, and so, of course, yours had to be sacrificed also,
By a curious chance you came upon her tresses. The man in
the road was, undoubtedly, some friend of hers—possibly her
fiance—and no doubt, as you wore the girl’s dress and were so
like her, he was convinced from your laughter, whenever he
Saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, that Miss Rucastle
THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 303
was perfectly happy, and that she no longer desired his attentions.
The dog is let loose at night to prevent him from
endeavoring to communicate with her. So much is fairly
clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition
of the child.”
“What on earth has that to do with it?” I ejaculated.
“My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually
gaining light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the
parents. Don’t you see that the converse is equally valid. 1
have frequently gained my first real insight into the character
of parents by studying their children. This child’s disposition
is abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty’s sake, and whether he
derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or from
his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their power.”
“T am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes,” cried our client.
“ A thousand things come back to me which make me certain
that you have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing
help to this poor creature.”
‘We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very
cunning man. We can do nothing until seven o’clock. At
that hour we shall be with you, and it will not be long before
we solve the mystery.”
We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we
reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside
public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves
shining like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun,
were sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not
been standing smiling on the door-step.
“ Have you managed it?” asked Holmes.
A loud thudding noise came from somewhere down-stairs,
“That is Mrs. Toller in the cellar,” said she. “ Her husband
lies snoring on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are
the duplicates of Mr. Rucastle’s.”
“You have done well indeed!” cried Holmes, with enthusiasm.
“Now lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of
this black business.”
304 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on
down a passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade
which Miss Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and
removed the transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys
in the lock, but without success. No sound came from within,
and at the silence Holmes’s face clouded over.
“T trust that we are not too late,” said he. “I think, Miss
Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson,
put your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot
make our way in.”
It was an old rickety door, and gave at once before our
united strength. ‘Together we rushed into the room. It was
empty. There was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a
‘small table, and a basketful of linen. The skylight above was
open, and the prisoner gone.
“There has been some villainy here,” said Holmes; “this
beauty has guessed Miss Hunter’s intentions, and has carried
his victim off.”
“ But how ?”
“Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed
it.” He swung himself up onto the roof. “ Ah, yes,”
he cried; “here’s the end of a long light ladder against the
eaves. That is how he did it.”
“ But it is impossible,” said Miss Hunter ; “the ladder was
not there when the Rucastles went away.”
“He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a
clever and dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised
if this were he whose step I hear now upon the stair.
I think, Watson, that it would be as well for you to have your
pistol ready.”
The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man
appeared at the door of the room, a very fat and burly man,
with a heavy stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and
shrunk against the wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock
Holmes sprang forward and confronted him.
“You villain !” said he, “where’s your daughter ?”’
THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 305)
The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open
skylight.
“Tt is for me to ask you that,” he shrieked, “you thieves !
Spies and thieves! I have caught you, have 1? You are in
my power. I’ll serve you!” He turned and clattered down
the stairs as hard as he could go.
“ He’s gone for the dog!” cried Miss Hunter.
“‘T have my revolver,” said I.
“ Better close the front door,” cried Holmes, and we all
rushed down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the
hall when we heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream
of agony, with a horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful
to listen to. An elderly man with a red face and goee
limbs came staggering out at a side door.
“ My God!” he cried. “Some one has loosed the ie It’s.
not been fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it’ll be too late!”
Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house,
with Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished
brute, its black muzzle buried in Rucastle’s throat, while
he writhed and screamed upon the ground. Running up, I
blew its brains out, and it fell over with its keen white teeth
still meeting in the great creases of his neck. With much
labor we separated them, and carried him, living but horribly
mangled, into the house. We laid him upon the drawing-room
sofa, and, having despatched the sobered Toller to bear the
news to his wife, I did what I could to relieve his pain. We
were all assembled round him when the door opened, and a
tall, gaunt woman entered the room.
“Mrs. Toller!” cried Miss Hunter.
“Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back
before he went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn’t let
me know what you were planning, for I would have told you
that your pains were wasted.”
“Ha!” said Holmes, looking keenly at her “It is clear
that Mrs. Toller knows more about this matter than any one
else.”
306 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
“Ves, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what 1
Know.”
“Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it, for there are
several points on which I must confess that I am still in the
dark.”
“I will soon make it clear to you,” said she; “and I’d have
done so before now if I could ha’ got out from the cellar. If
there’s police-court business over this, you’ll remember that I
was the one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice’s
friend too.
“She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn’t, from the
time that her father married again. She was slighted like, and
had no say in anything; but it never really became bad for
her until after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend’s house. As
well as I could learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will,
but she was so quiet and patient, she was, that she never said
a word about them, but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle’s
hands. He knew he was safe with her; but when there was a
chance of a husband coming forward, who would ask for all that
the law would give him, then her father thought it time to put a
Stop on it. He wanted her to sign a paper, so that whether she
married or not, he could use her money. When she wouldn’t
do it, he kept on worrying her until she got brain-fever, and
for six weeks was at death’s door. Then she got better at
last, all worn to a shadow, and with her beautiful hair cut off;
but that didn’t make no change in her young man, and he
stuck to her as true as man could be.”
“Ah,” said Holmes, “I think that what you have been
good enough to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and thar
I can deduce all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume,
took to this system of imprisonment ?”
Se Calcite:
“And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to
get rid of the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler,”
“That was it, sir.”
“But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seas
s THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 307
man should be, blockaded the house, and, having met you,
succeeded by certain arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing
you that your interests were the same as his.”
“Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman,”
said Mrs. Toller, serenely.
“And in this way he managed that your good man should
have no want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at
the moment when your master had gone out.”
“Vou have it, sir, just as it happened.”
“T am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller,” said
Holmes, “ for you have certainly cleared up everything which
puzzled us. And here comes the country surgeon and Mrs.
Rucastle, so I think, Watson, that we had best escort Miss
Hunter back to Winchester, as it seems to me that our /ocus
standi now is rather a questionable one.”
And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with
the copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived,
but was always a broken man, kept alive solely through
the care of his devoted wife. ‘They still live with their old
servants, who probably know so much of Rucastle’s past life
that he finds it difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and
Miss Rucastle were married, by special license, in Southampton
the day after their flight, and he is now the holder of a
Government appointment in the Island of Mauritius. As to
Miss Violet Hunter, my friend Holmes, rather to my disappointment,
manifested no further interest in her when once
she had ceased to be the centre of one of his problems, and
she is now the head of a private school at Walsall, where I
believe that she has met with considerable success.
THE END

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