The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle

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Table of contents
A Scandal in Bohemia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Red-Headed League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
A Case of Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
The Boscombe Valley Mystery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The Five Orange Pips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
The Man with the Twisted Lip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
The Adventure of the Speckled Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
iii
A Scandal in Bohemia
Table of contents
Chapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Chapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3
T
CHAPTER I.
o Sherlock Holmes she is always the (for I had now returned to civil practice), when
woman. I have seldom heard him men- my way led me through Baker Street. As I passed
tion her under any other name. In his the well-remembered door, which must always be
eyes she eclipses and predominates the associated in my mind with my wooing, and with
whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emo- the dark incidents of the Study in Scarlet, I was
tion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and seized with a keen desire to see Holmes again, and
that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, to know how he was employing his extraordinary
precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as
take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing I looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in
machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing
would have placed himself in a false position. He the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon
never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me,
and a sneer. They were admirable things for the ob- who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude
server—excellent for drawing the veil from men’s and manner told their own story. He was at work
motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner again. He had risen out of his drug-created dreams
to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and and was hot upon the scent of some new problem.
finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a dis- I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber
tracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all which had formerly been in part my own.
his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or His manner was not effusive. It seldom was;
a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would but he was glad, I think, to see me. With hardly a
not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in word spoken, but with a kindly eye, he waved me
a nature such as his. And yet there was but one to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and
woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner.
Adler, of dubious and questionable memory. Then he stood before the fire and looked me over
I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage in his singular introspective fashion.
had drifted us away from each other. My own “Wedlock suits you,” he remarked. “I think,
complete happiness, and the home-centred inter- Watson, that you have put on seven and a half
ests which rise up around the man who first finds pounds since I saw you.”
himself master of his own establishment, were suf- “Seven!” I answered.
ficient to absorb all my attention, while Holmes, “Indeed, I should have thought a little more.
who loathed every form of society with his whole Just a trifle more, I fancy, Watson. And in prac-
Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker tice again, I observe. You did not tell me that you
Street, buried among his old books, and alternating intended to go into harness.”
from week to week between cocaine and ambition,
the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of “Then, how do you know?”
his own keen nature. He was still, as ever, deeply “I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you
attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his have been getting yourself very wet lately, and that
immense faculties and extraordinary powers of ob- you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?”
servation in following out those clues, and clearing “My dear Holmes,” said I, “this is too much.
up those mysteries which had been abandoned as You would certainly have been burned, had you
hopeless by the official police. From time to time lived a few centuries ago. It is true that I had a
I heard some vague account of his doings: of his country walk on Thursday and came home in a
summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff mur- dreadful mess, but as I have changed my clothes
der, of his clearing up of the singular tragedy of I can’t imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary
the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, and finally Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her
of the mission which he had accomplished so del- notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work
icately and successfully for the reigning family of it out.”
Holland. Beyond these signs of his activity, how- He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long,
ever, which I merely shared with all the readers of nervous hands together.
the daily press, I knew little of my former friend “It is simplicity itself,” said he; “my eyes tell me
and companion. that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the
One night—it was on the twentieth of March, firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost
1888—I was returning from a journey to a patient parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by
5
someone who has very carelessly scraped round “This is indeed a mystery,” I remarked. “What
the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted do you imagine that it means?”
mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction “I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to
that you had been out in vile weather, and that you theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins
had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to
of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a gen- suit facts. But the note itself. What do you deduce
tleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, from it?”
with a black mark of nitrate of silver upon his right I carefully examined the writing, and the paper
forefinger, and a bulge on the right side of his top- upon which it was written.
hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, “The man who wrote it was presumably well
I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce him to do,” I remarked, endeavouring to imitate my
to be an active member of the medical profession.” companion’s processes. “Such paper could not be
I could not help laughing at the ease with which bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly
he explained his process of deduction. “When I strong and stiff.”
hear you give your reasons,” I remarked, “the thing “Peculiar—that is the very word,” said Holmes.
always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple “It is not an English paper at all. Hold it up to the
that I could easily do it myself, though at each light.”
successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled I did so, and saw a large “E” with a small “g,”
until you explain your process. And yet I believe a “P,” and a large “G” with a small “t” woven into
that my eyes are as good as yours.” the texture of the paper.
“Quite so,” he answered, lighting a cigarette, “What do you make of that?” asked Holmes.
and throwing himself down into an armchair. “You “The name of the maker, no doubt; or his mono-
see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. gram, rather.”
For example, you have frequently seen the steps “Not at all. The ‘G’ with the small ‘t’ stands for
which lead up from the hall to this room.” ‘Gesellschaft,’ which is the German for ‘Company.’
“Frequently.” It is a customary contraction like our ‘Co.’ ‘P,’ of
“How often?” course, stands for ‘Papier.’ Now for the ‘Eg.’ Let us
glance at our Continental Gazetteer.” He took down
“Well, some hundreds of times.” a heavy brown volume from his shelves. “Eglow,
“Then how many are there?” Eglonitz—here we are, Egria. It is in a German-
speaking country—in Bohemia, not far from Carls-
“How many? I don’t know.”
bad. ‘Remarkable as being the scene of the death
“Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you of Wallenstein, and for its numerous glass-factories
have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that and paper-mills.’ Ha, ha, my boy, what do you
there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen make of that?” His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a
and observed. By-the-way, since you are interested great blue triumphant cloud from his cigarette.
in these little problems, and since you are good “The paper was made in Bohemia,” I said.
enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling expe-
“Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is
riences, you may be interested in this.” He threw
a German. Do you note the peculiar construction of
over a sheet of thick, pink-tinted note-paper which
the sentence—‘This account of you we have from all
had been lying open upon the table. “It came by
quarters received.’ A Frenchman or Russian could
the last post,” said he. “Read it aloud.”
not have written that. It is the German who is so
The note was undated, and without either sig- uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore,
nature or address. to discover what is wanted by this German who
“There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter writes upon Bohemian paper and prefers wearing
to eight o’clock,” it said, “a gentleman who desires a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if
to consult you upon a matter of the very deepest I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts.”
moment. Your recent services to one of the royal As he spoke there was the sharp sound of
houses of Europe have shown that you are one who horses’ hoofs and grating wheels against the curb,
may safely be trusted with matters which are of an followed by a sharp pull at the bell. Holmes whis-
importance which can hardly be exaggerated. This tled.
account of you we have from all quarters received. “A pair, by the sound,” said he. “Yes,” he con-
Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do not tinued, glancing out of the window. “A nice little
take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask.” brougham and a pair of beauties. A hundred and
6
fifty guineas apiece. There’s money in this case, I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist
Watson, if there is nothing else.” and pushed me back into my chair. “It is both, or
“I think that I had better go, Holmes.” none,” said he. “You may say before this gentleman
anything which you may say to me.”
“Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am
The Count shrugged his broad shoulders.
lost without my Boswell. And this promises to be
“Then I must begin,” said he, “by binding you both
interesting. It would be a pity to miss it.”
to absolute secrecy for two years; at the end of
“But your client—” that time the matter will be of no importance. At
“Never mind him. I may want your help, and so present it is not too much to say that it is of such
may he. Here he comes. Sit down in that armchair, weight it may have an influence upon European
Doctor, and give us your best attention.” history.”
“I promise,” said Holmes.
A slow and heavy step, which had been heard
upon the stairs and in the passage, paused immedi- “And I.”
ately outside the door. Then there was a loud and “You will excuse this mask,” continued our
authoritative tap. strange visitor. “The august person who employs
me wishes his agent to be unknown to you, and I
“Come in!” said Holmes. may confess at once that the title by which I have
A man entered who could hardly have been less just called myself is not exactly my own.”
than six feet six inches in height, with the chest and “I was aware of it,” said Holmes dryly.
limbs of a Hercules. His dress was rich with a rich- “The circumstances are of great delicacy, and
ness which would, in England, be looked upon as every precaution has to be taken to quench what
akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were might grow to be an immense scandal and seriously
slashed across the sleeves and fronts of his double- compromise one of the reigning families of Europe.
breasted coat, while the deep blue cloak which was To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great
thrown over his shoulders was lined with flame- House of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia.”
coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch
“I was also aware of that,” murmured Holmes,
which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots
settling himself down in his armchair and closing
which extended halfway up his calves, and which
his eyes.
were trimmed at the tops with rich brown fur, com-
Our visitor glanced with some apparent sur-
pleted the impression of barbaric opulence which
prise at the languid, lounging figure of the man
was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried
who had been no doubt depicted to him as the
a broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore
most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent
across the upper part of his face, extending down
in Europe. Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and
past the cheekbones, a black vizard mask, which
looked impatiently at his gigantic client.
he had apparently adjusted that very moment, for
his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From “If your Majesty would condescend to state your
the lower part of the face he appeared to be a man case,” he remarked, “I should be better able to ad-
of strong character, with a thick, hanging lip, and a vise you.”
long, straight chin suggestive of resolution pushed The man sprang from his chair and paced up
to the length of obstinacy. and down the room in uncontrollable agitation.
Then, with a gesture of desperation, he tore the
“You had my note?” he asked with a deep harsh
mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground.
voice and a strongly marked German accent. “I told
“You are right,” he cried; “I am the King. Why
you that I would call.” He looked from one to the
should I attempt to conceal it?”
other of us, as if uncertain which to address.
“Why, indeed?” murmured Holmes. “Your
“Pray take a seat,” said Holmes. “This is my Majesty had not spoken before I was aware that
friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasion- I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond
ally good enough to help me in my cases. Whom von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and
have I the honour to address?” hereditary King of Bohemia.”
“You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, “But you can understand,” said our strange vis-
a Bohemian nobleman. I understand that this gen- itor, sitting down once more and passing his hand
tleman, your friend, is a man of honour and discre- over his high white forehead, “you can understand
tion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most that I am not accustomed to doing such business in
extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that
to communicate with you alone.” I could not confide it to an agent without putting
7
myself in his power. I have come incognito from “It must be recovered.”
Prague for the purpose of consulting you.” “We have tried and failed.”
“Then, pray consult,” said Holmes, shutting his “Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought.”
eyes once more.
“She will not sell.”
“The facts are briefly these: Some five years
“Stolen, then.”
ago, during a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the
acquaintance of the well-known adventuress, Irene “Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars
Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you.” in my pay ransacked her house. Once we diverted
her luggage when she travelled. Twice she has been
“Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor,” mur-
waylaid. There has been no result.”
mured Holmes without opening his eyes. For many
years he had adopted a system of docketing all para- “No sign of it?”
graphs concerning men and things, so that it was “Absolutely none.”
difficult to name a subject or a person on which he Holmes laughed. “It is quite a pretty little prob-
could not at once furnish information. In this case lem,” said he.
I found her biography sandwiched in between that “But a very serious one to me,” returned the
of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a staff-commander King reproachfully.
who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea
“Very, indeed. And what does she propose to
fishes.
do with the photograph?”
“Let me see!” said Holmes. “Hum! Born in
“To ruin me.”
New Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto—hum! La
Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera of War- “But how?”
saw—yes! Retired from operatic stage—ha! Living “I am about to be married.”
in London—quite so! Your Majesty, as I under- “So I have heard.”
stand, became entangled with this young person,
“To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, sec-
wrote her some compromising letters, and is now
ond daughter of the King of Scandinavia. You may
desirous of getting those letters back.”
know the strict principles of her family. She is her-
“Precisely so. But how—” self the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a doubt
“Was there a secret marriage?” as to my conduct would bring the matter to an
“None.” end.”
“No legal papers or certificates?” “And Irene Adler?”
“None.” “Threatens to send them the photograph. And
she will do it. I know that she will do it. You do
“Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young
not know her, but she has a soul of steel. She has
person should produce her letters for blackmailing
the face of the most beautiful of women, and the
or other purposes, how is she to prove their authen-
mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I
ticity?”
should marry another woman, there are no lengths
“There is the writing.” to which she would not go—none.”
“Pooh, pooh! Forgery.” “You are sure that she has not sent it yet?”
“My private note-paper.” “I am sure.”
“Stolen.” “And why?”
“My own seal.” “Because she has said that she would send it
“Imitated.” on the day when the betrothal was publicly pro-
“My photograph.” claimed. That will be next Monday.”
“Bought.” “Oh, then we have three days yet,” said Holmes
with a yawn. “That is very fortunate, as I have
“We were both in the photograph.”
one or two matters of importance to look into just
“Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in
indeed committed an indiscretion.” London for the present?”
“I was mad—insane.” “Certainly. You will find me at the Langham
“You have compromised yourself seriously.” under the name of the Count Von Kramm.”
“I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I “Then I shall drop you a line to let you know
am but thirty now.” how we progress.”
8
“Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety.” “And Mademoiselle’s address?” he asked.

“Then, as to money?” “Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John’s
“You have carte blanche.” Wood.”
“Absolutely?” Holmes took a note of it. “One other question,”
“I tell you that I would give one of the provinces said he. “Was the photograph a cabinet?”
of my kingdom to have that photograph.” “It was.”
“And for present expenses?”
“Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust
The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from that we shall soon have some good news for you.
under his cloak and laid it on the table. And good-night, Watson,” he added, as the wheels
“There are three hundred pounds in gold and of the royal brougham rolled down the street. “If
seven hundred in notes,” he said. you will be good enough to call to-morrow after-
Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his noon at three o’clock I should like to chat this little
note-book and handed it to him. matter over with you.”
CHAPTER II.
At three o’clock precisely I was at Baker Street, Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out
but Holmes had not yet returned. The landlady in- his legs in front of the fire and laughed heartily for
formed me that he had left the house shortly after some minutes.
eight o’clock in the morning. I sat down beside the “Well, really!” he cried, and then he choked and
fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, laughed again until he was obliged to lie back, limp
however long he might be. I was already deeply and helpless, in the chair.
interested in his inquiry, for, though it was sur-
“What is it?”
rounded by none of the grim and strange features
which were associated with the two crimes which I “It’s quite too funny. I am sure you could never
have already recorded, still, the nature of the case guess how I employed my morning, or what I
and the exalted station of his client gave it a charac- ended by doing.”
ter of its own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the “I can’t imagine. I suppose that you have been
investigation which my friend had on hand, there watching the habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss
was something in his masterly grasp of a situation, Irene Adler.”
and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a “Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I
pleasure to me to study his system of work, and will tell you, however. I left the house a little af-
to follow the quick, subtle methods by which he ter eight o’clock this morning in the character of a
disentangled the most inextricable mysteries. So groom out of work. There is a wonderful sympathy
accustomed was I to his invariable success that the and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of
very possibility of his failing had ceased to enter them, and you will know all that there is to know. I
into my head. soon found Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a
garden at the back, but built out in front right up to
It was close upon four before the door opened, the road, two stories. Chubb lock to the door. Large
and a drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side- sitting-room on the right side, well furnished, with
whiskered, with an inflamed face and disreputable long windows almost to the floor, and those pre-
clothes, walked into the room. Accustomed as I posterous English window fasteners which a child
was to my friend’s amazing powers in the use of could open. Behind there was nothing remarkable,
disguises, I had to look three times before I was save that the passage window could be reached
certain that it was indeed he. With a nod he van- from the top of the coach-house. I walked round it
ished into the bedroom, whence he emerged in five and examined it closely from every point of view,
minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. but without noting anything else of interest.
9
“I then lounged down the street and found, as the sitting-room, pacing up and down, talking ex-
I expected, that there was a mews in a lane which citedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see
runs down by one wall of the garden. I lent the nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more
ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, and flurried than before. As he stepped up to the cab,
received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and he pulled a gold watch from his pocket and looked
half, two fills of shag tobacco, and as much infor- at it earnestly, ‘Drive like the devil,’ he shouted,
mation as I could desire about Miss Adler, to say ‘first to Gross & Hankey’s in Regent Street, and
nothing of half a dozen other people in the neigh- then to the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware
bourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, Road. Half a guinea if you do it in twenty minutes!’
but whose biographies I was compelled to listen “Away they went, and I was just wondering
to.” whether I should not do well to follow them when
“And what of Irene Adler?” I asked. up the lane came a neat little landau, the coachman
“Oh, she has turned all the men’s heads down with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under
in that part. She is the daintiest thing under a bon- his ear, while all the tags of his harness were stick-
net on this planet. So say the Serpentine-mews, to ing out of the buckles. It hadn’t pulled up before
a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, drives she shot out of the hall door and into it. I only
out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp caught a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was
for dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die
when she sings. Has only one male visitor, but for.
a good deal of him. He is dark, handsome, and “ ‘The Church of St. Monica, John,’ she cried,
dashing, never calls less than once a day, and often ‘and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty min-
twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner utes.’
Temple. See the advantages of a cabman as a con- “This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I
fidant. They had driven him home a dozen times was just balancing whether I should run for it, or
from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. whether I should perch behind her landau when
When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began a cab came through the street. The driver looked
to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once more, twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before
and to think over my plan of campaign. he could object. ‘The Church of St. Monica,’ said
“This Godfrey Norton was evidently an impor- I, ‘and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty
tant factor in the matter. He was a lawyer. That minutes.’ It was twenty-five minutes to twelve, and
sounded ominous. What was the relation between of course it was clear enough what was in the wind.
them, and what the object of his repeated visits? “My cabby drove fast. I don’t think I ever drove
Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If faster, but the others were there before us. The cab
the former, she had probably transferred the photo- and the landau with their steaming horses were in
graph to his keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. front of the door when I arrived. I paid the man
On the issue of this question depended whether I and hurried into the church. There was not a soul
should continue my work at Briony Lodge, or turn there save the two whom I had followed and a
my attention to the gentleman’s chambers in the surpliced clergyman, who seemed to be expostu-
Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the lating with them. They were all three standing in
field of my inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side
details, but I have to let you see my little difficulties, aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a
if you are to understand the situation.” church. Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the
“I am following you closely,” I answered. altar faced round to me, and Godfrey Norton came
running as hard as he could towards me.
“I was still balancing the matter in my mind
when a hansom cab drove up to Briony Lodge, “ ‘Thank God,’ he cried. ‘You’ll do. Come!
and a gentleman sprang out. He was a remark- Come!’
ably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and mous- “ ‘What then?’ I asked.
tached—evidently the man of whom I had heard. “ ‘Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it
He appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the won’t be legal.’
cabman to wait, and brushed past the maid who “I was half-dragged up to the altar, and be-
opened the door with the air of a man who was fore I knew where I was I found myself mumbling
thoroughly at home. responses which were whispered in my ear, and
“He was in the house about half an hour, and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and
I could catch glimpses of him in the windows of generally assisting in the secure tying up of Irene
10
Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was “You must leave that to me. I have already ar-
all done in an instant, and there was the gentleman ranged what is to occur. There is only one point on
thanking me on the one side and the lady on the which I must insist. You must not interfere, come
other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. what may. You understand?”
It was the most preposterous position in which I “I am to be neutral?”
ever found myself in my life, and it was the thought “To do nothing whatever. There will probably
of it that started me laughing just now. It seems be some small unpleasantness. Do not join in it.
that there had been some informality about their It will end in my being conveyed into the house.
license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to Four or five minutes afterwards the sitting-room
marry them without a witness of some sort, and window will open. You are to station yourself close
that my lucky appearance saved the bridegroom to that open window.”
from having to sally out into the streets in search
“Yes.”
of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and
I mean to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of “You are to watch me, for I will be visible to
the occasion.” you.”
“This is a very unexpected turn of affairs,” said “Yes.”
I; “and what then?” “And when I raise my hand—so—you will
throw into the room what I give you to throw, and
“Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced.
will, at the same time, raise the cry of fire. You
It looked as if the pair might take an immediate
quite follow me?”
departure, and so necessitate very prompt and en-
ergetic measures on my part. At the church door, “Entirely.”
however, they separated, he driving back to the “It is nothing very formidable,” he said, taking
Temple, and she to her own house. ‘I shall drive a long cigar-shaped roll from his pocket. “It is an
out in the park at five as usual,’ she said as she ordinary plumber’s smoke-rocket, fitted with a cap
left him. I heard no more. They drove away in dif- at either end to make it self-lighting. Your task is
ferent directions, and I went off to make my own confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, it
arrangements.” will be taken up by quite a number of people. You
may then walk to the end of the street, and I will
“Which are?”
rejoin you in ten minutes. I hope that I have made
“Some cold beef and a glass of beer,” he an- myself clear?”
swered, ringing the bell. “I have been too busy “I am to remain neutral, to get near the window,
to think of food, and I am likely to be busier still to watch you, and at the signal to throw in this
this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want your object, then to raise the cry of fire, and to wait you
co-operation.” at the corner of the street.”
“I shall be delighted.” “Precisely.”
“You don’t mind breaking the law?” “Then you may entirely rely on me.”
“Not in the least.” “That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost
“Nor running a chance of arrest?” time that I prepare for the new role I have to play.”
“Not in a good cause.” He disappeared into his bedroom and returned
in a few minutes in the character of an amiable
“Oh, the cause is excellent!” and simple-minded Nonconformist clergyman. His
“Then I am your man.” broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white tie,
“I was sure that I might rely on you.” his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering
and benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John
“But what is it you wish?”
Hare alone could have equalled. It was not merely
“When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I that Holmes changed his costume. His expression,
will make it clear to you. Now,” he said as he his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with ev-
turned hungrily on the simple fare that our land- ery fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine
lady had provided, “I must discuss it while I eat, actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when
for I have not much time. It is nearly five now. In he became a specialist in crime.
two hours we must be on the scene of action. Miss It was a quarter past six when we left Baker
Irene, or Madame, rather, returns from her drive at Street, and it still wanted ten minutes to the hour
seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her.” when we found ourselves in Serpentine Avenue. It
“And what then?” was already dusk, and the lamps were just being
11
lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony was a smart little landau which rattled up to the
Lodge, waiting for the coming of its occupant. The door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of the
house was just such as I had pictured it from Sher- loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open
lock Holmes’ succinct description, but the locality the door in the hope of earning a copper, but was
appeared to be less private than I expected. On elbowed away by another loafer, who had rushed
the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbour- up with the same intention. A fierce quarrel broke
hood, it was remarkably animated. There was a out, which was increased by the two guardsmen,
group of shabbily dressed men smoking and laugh- who took sides with one of the loungers, and by
ing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his wheel, the scissors-grinder, who was equally hot upon the
two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse- other side. A blow was struck, and in an instant
girl, and several well-dressed young men who were the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was
lounging up and down with cigars in their mouths. the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling
“You see,” remarked Holmes, as we paced to men, who struck savagely at each other with their
and fro in front of the house, “this marriage rather fists and sticks. Holmes dashed into the crowd
simplifies matters. The photograph becomes a to protect the lady; but just as he reached her he
double-edged weapon now. The chances are that gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the
she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. blood running freely down his face. At his fall
Godfrey Norton, as our client is to its coming to the the guardsmen took to their heels in one direction
eyes of his princess. Now the question is—Where and the loungers in the other, while a number of
are we to find the photograph?” better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle
without taking part in it, crowded in to help the
“Where, indeed?”
lady and to attend to the injured man. Irene Adler,
“It is most unlikely that she carries it about with as I will still call her, had hurried up the steps; but
her. It is cabinet size. Too large for easy conceal- she stood at the top with her superb figure outlined
ment about a woman’s dress. She knows that the against the lights of the hall, looking back into the
King is capable of having her waylaid and searched. street.
Two attempts of the sort have already been made.
We may take it, then, that she does not carry it “Is the poor gentleman much hurt?” she asked.
about with her.” “He is dead,” cried several voices.
“Where, then?” “No, no, there’s life in him!” shouted another.
“Her banker or her lawyer. There is that dou- “But he’ll be gone before you can get him to hospi-
ble possibility. But I am inclined to think neither. tal.”
Women are naturally secretive, and they like to do “He’s a brave fellow,” said a woman. “They
their own secreting. Why should she hand it over would have had the lady’s purse and watch if it
to anyone else? She could trust her own guardian- hadn’t been for him. They were a gang, and a
ship, but she could not tell what indirect or political rough one, too. Ah, he’s breathing now.”
influence might be brought to bear upon a business
“He can’t lie in the street. May we bring him in,
man. Besides, remember that she had resolved to
marm?”
use it within a few days. It must be where she
can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own “Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There
house.” is a comfortable sofa. This way, please!”
“But it has twice been burgled.” Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony
“Pshaw! They did not know how to look.” Lodge and laid out in the principal room, while
I still observed the proceedings from my post by
“But how will you look?”
the window. The lamps had been lit, but the blinds
“I will not look.” had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as
“What then?” he lay upon the couch. I do not know whether he
“I will get her to show me.” was seized with compunction at that moment for
the part he was playing, but I know that I never felt
“But she will refuse.”
more heartily ashamed of myself in my life than
“She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I
of wheels. It is her carriage. Now carry out my was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with
orders to the letter.” which she waited upon the injured man. And yet it
As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a would be the blackest treachery to Holmes to draw
carriage came round the curve of the avenue. It back now from the part which he had intrusted
12
to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke- “It was all-important. When a woman thinks
rocket from under my ulster. After all, I thought, that her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to
we are not injuring her. We are but preventing her rush to the thing which she values most. It is a
from injuring another. perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have more
Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the
him motion like a man who is in need of air. A Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me,
maid rushed across and threw open the window. and also in the Arnsworth Castle business. A mar-
At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and ried woman grabs at her baby; an unmarried one
at the signal I tossed my rocket into the room with reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to me
a cry of “Fire!” The word was no sooner out of my that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house
mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well more precious to her than what we are in quest of.
dressed and ill—gentlemen, ostlers, and servant- She would rush to secure it. The alarm of fire was
maids—joined in a general shriek of “Fire!” Thick admirably done. The smoke and shouting were
clouds of smoke curled through the room and out enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded
at the open window. I caught a glimpse of rushing beautifully. The photograph is in a recess behind
figures, and a moment later the voice of Holmes a sliding panel just above the right bell-pull. She
from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. was there in an instant, and I caught a glimpse of
Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it
way to the corner of the street, and in ten minutes was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the
was rejoiced to find my friend’s arm in mine, and rocket, rushed from the room, and I have not seen
to get away from the scene of uproar. He walked her since. I rose, and, making my excuses, escaped
swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until from the house. I hesitated whether to attempt to
we had turned down one of the quiet streets which secure the photograph at once; but the coachman
lead towards the Edgeware Road. had come in, and as he was watching me narrowly
it seemed safer to wait. A little over-precipitance
“You did it very nicely, Doctor,” he remarked.
may ruin all.”
“Nothing could have been better. It is all right.”
“And now?” I asked.
“You have the photograph?”
“Our quest is practically finished. I shall call
“I know where it is.”
with the King to-morrow, and with you, if you
“And how did you find out?” care to come with us. We will be shown into the
“She showed me, as I told you she would.” sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is probable
“I am still in the dark.” that when she comes she may find neither us nor
the photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his
“I do not wish to make a mystery,” said he,
Majesty to regain it with his own hands.”
laughing. “The matter was perfectly simple. You,
of course, saw that everyone in the street was an ac- “And when will you call?”
complice. They were all engaged for the evening.” “At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so
“I guessed as much.” that we shall have a clear field. Besides, we must
“Then, when the row broke out, I had a little be prompt, for this marriage may mean a complete
moist red paint in the palm of my hand. I rushed change in her life and habits. I must wire to the
forward, fell down, clapped my hand to my face, King without delay.”
and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick.” We had reached Baker Street and had stopped
“That also I could fathom.” at the door. He was searching his pockets for the
key when someone passing said:
“Then they carried me in. She was bound to
have me in. What else could she do? And into “Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes.”
her sitting-room, which was the very room which There were several people on the pavement at
I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, the time, but the greeting appeared to come from a
and I was determined to see which. They laid me slim youth in an ulster who had hurried by.
on a couch, I motioned for air, they were compelled “I’ve heard that voice before,” said Holmes, star-
to open the window, and you had your chance.” ing down the dimly lit street. “Now, I wonder who
“How did that help you?” the deuce that could have been.”
13
CHAPTER III.
I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were “Never to return.”
engaged upon our toast and coffee in the morning “And the papers?” asked the King hoarsely.
when the King of Bohemia rushed into the room. “All is lost.”
“You have really got it!” he cried, grasping Sher- “We shall see.” He pushed past the servant
lock Holmes by either shoulder and looking eagerly and rushed into the drawing-room, followed by
into his face. the King and myself. The furniture was scattered
“Not yet.” about in every direction, with dismantled shelves
“But you have hopes?” and open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ran-
“I have hopes.” sacked them before her flight. Holmes rushed at
the bell-pull, tore back a small sliding shutter, and,
“Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone.”
plunging in his hand, pulled out a photograph and
“We must have a cab.” a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler her-
“No, my brougham is waiting.” self in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to
“Then that will simplify matters.” We de- “Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for.” My
scended and started off once more for Briony friend tore it open and we all three read it together.
Lodge. It was dated at midnight of the preceding night
and ran in this way:
“Irene Adler is married,” remarked Holmes.
“Married! When?” “My dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes:
“Yesterday.” “You really did it very well. You took
me in completely. Until after the alarm
“But to whom?”
of fire, I had not a suspicion. But then,
“To an English lawyer named Norton.” when I found how I had betrayed my-
“But she could not love him.” self, I began to think. I had been warned
“I am in hopes that she does.” against you months ago. I had been
told that if the King employed an agent
“And why in hopes?”
it would certainly be you. And your
“Because it would spare your Majesty all fear address had been given me. Yet, with
of future annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, all this, you made me reveal what you
she does not love your Majesty. If she does not love wanted to know. Even after I became
your Majesty, there is no reason why she should suspicious, I found it hard to think evil
interfere with your Majesty’s plan.” of such a dear, kind old clergyman. But,
“It is true. And yet—Well! I wish she had been you know, I have been trained as an
of my own station! What a queen she would have actress myself. Male costume is noth-
made!” He relapsed into a moody silence, which ing new to me. I often take advantage
was not broken until we drew up in Serpentine of the freedom which it gives. I sent
Avenue. John, the coachman, to watch you, ran
The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an up stairs, got into my walking-clothes,
elderly woman stood upon the steps. She watched as I call them, and came down just as
us with a sardonic eye as we stepped from the you departed.
brougham. “Well, I followed you to your door,
“Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?” said she. and so made sure that I was really an
object of interest to the celebrated Mr.
“I am Mr. Holmes,” answered my companion, Sherlock Holmes. Then I, rather im-
looking at her with a questioning and rather star- prudently, wished you good-night, and
tled gaze. started for the Temple to see my hus-
“Indeed! My mistress told me that you were band.
likely to call. She left this morning with her hus- “We both thought the best resource
band by the 5.15 train from Charing Cross for the was flight, when pursued by so
Continent.” formidable an antagonist; so you will
“What!” Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white find the nest empty when you call to-
with chagrin and surprise. “Do you mean that she morrow. As to the photograph, your
has left England?” client may rest in peace. I love and am
14
loved by a better man than he. The “I am glad to hear your Majesty say so.”
King may do what he will without hin- “I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me
drance from one whom he has cruelly in what way I can reward you. This ring—” He
wronged. I keep it only to safeguard slipped an emerald snake ring from his finger and
myself, and to preserve a weapon which held it out upon the palm of his hand.
will always secure me from any steps
“Your Majesty has something which I should
which he might take in the future. I
value even more highly,” said Holmes.
leave a photograph which he might care
to possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sher- “You have but to name it.”
lock Holmes, “This photograph!”
— “Very truly yours, The King stared at him in amazement.
“Irene Norton, née Adler.”
“Irene’s photograph!” he cried. “Certainly, if
“What a woman—oh, what a woman!” cried the you wish it.”
King of Bohemia, when we had all three read this “I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to
epistle. “Did I not tell you how quick and resolute be done in the matter. I have the honour to wish
she was? Would she not have made an admirable you a very good-morning.” He bowed, and, turning
queen? Is it not a pity that she was not on my away without observing the hand which the King
level?” had stretched out to him, he set off in my company
“From what I have seen of the lady she seems infor his chambers.
deed to be on a very different level to your Majesty,” And that was how a great scandal threatened
said Holmes coldly. “I am sorry that I have not been to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how the
able to bring your Majesty’s business to a more suc- best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a
cessful conclusion.” woman’s wit. He used to make merry over the clev-
“On the contrary, my dear sir,” cried the King; erness of women, but I have not heard him do it of
“nothing could be more successful. I know that her late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when
word is inviolate. The photograph is now as safe he refers to her photograph, it is always under the
as if it were in the fire.” honourable title of the woman.
15
The Red-Headed League
I
had called upon my friend, Mr. Sher- whether any positive crime has been committed.
lock Holmes, one day in the autumn of As far as I have heard it is impossible for me to say
last year and found him in deep conver- whether the present case is an instance of crime or
sation with a very stout, florid-faced, el- not, but the course of events is certainly among the
derly gentleman with fiery red hair. With an apol- most singular that I have ever listened to. Perhaps,
ogy for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to
when Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely
and closed the door behind me. because my friend Dr. Watson has not heard the
“You could not possibly have come at a better opening part but also because the peculiar nature
time, my dear Watson,” he said cordially. of the story makes me anxious to have every pos-
sible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have
“I was afraid that you were engaged.” heard some slight indication of the course of events,
“So I am. Very much so.” I am able to guide myself by the thousands of other
“Then I can wait in the next room.” similar cases which occur to my memory. In the
present instance I am forced to admit that the facts
“Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has are, to the best of my belief, unique.”
been my partner and helper in many of my most
The portly client puffed out his chest with an
successful cases, and I have no doubt that he will
appearance of some little pride and pulled a dirty
be of the utmost use to me in yours also.”
and wrinkled newspaper from the inside pocket of
The stout gentleman half rose from his chair his greatcoat. As he glanced down the advertise-
and gave a bob of greeting, with a quick little ques- ment column, with his head thrust forward and the
tioning glance from his small fat-encircled eyes. paper flattened out upon his knee, I took a good
“Try the settee,” said Holmes, relapsing into his look at the man and endeavoured, after the fashion
armchair and putting his fingertips together, as was of my companion, to read the indications which
his custom when in judicial moods. “I know, my might be presented by his dress or appearance.
dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is I did not gain very much, however, by my in-
bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum spection. Our visitor bore every mark of being
routine of everyday life. You have shown your rel- an average commonplace British tradesman, obese,
ish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey
you to chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying shepherd’s check trousers, a not over-clean black
so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own frock-coat, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab
little adventures.” waistcoat with a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a
“Your cases have indeed been of the greatest square pierced bit of metal dangling down as an
interest to me,” I observed. ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown
overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a
“You will remember that I remarked the other chair beside him. Altogether, look as I would, there
day, just before we went into the very simple prob- was nothing remarkable about the man save his
lem presented by Miss Mary Sutherland, that for blazing red head, and the expression of extreme
strange effects and extraordinary combinations we chagrin and discontent upon his features.
must go to life itself, which is always far more
Sherlock Holmes’ quick eye took in my occu-
daring than any effort of the imagination.”
pation, and he shook his head with a smile as he
“A proposition which I took the liberty of doubt- noticed my questioning glances. “Beyond the ob-
ing.” vious facts that he has at some time done manual
“You did, Doctor, but none the less you must labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason,
come round to my view, for otherwise I shall keep that he has been in China, and that he has done a
on piling fact upon fact on you until your reason considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce
breaks down under them and acknowledges me nothing else.”
to be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with
good enough to call upon me this morning, and his forefinger upon the paper, but his eyes upon
to begin a narrative which promises to be one of my companion.
the most singular which I have listened to for some “How, in the name of good-fortune, did you
time. You have heard me remark that the strangest know all that, Mr. Holmes?” he asked. “How did
and most unique things are very often connected you know, for example, that I did manual labour.
not with the larger but with the smaller crimes, and It’s as true as gospel, for I began as a ship’s carpen-
occasionally, indeed, where there is room for doubt ter.”
19
“Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is “What on earth does this mean?” I ejaculated
quite a size larger than your left. You have worked after I had twice read over the extraordinary an-
with it, and the muscles are more developed.” nouncement.
“Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?” Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as
was his habit when in high spirits. “It is a little off
“I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you the beaten track, isn’t it?” said he. “And now, Mr.
how I read that, especially as, rather against the Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us all about
strict rules of your order, you use an arc-and- yourself, your household, and the effect which this
compass breastpin.” advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will
“Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?” first make a note, Doctor, of the paper and the
date.”
“What else can be indicated by that right cuff “It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890.
so very shiny for five inches, and the left one with Just two months ago.”
the smooth patch near the elbow where you rest it
“Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?”
upon the desk?”
“Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr.
“Well, but China?” Sherlock Holmes,” said Jabez Wilson, mopping his
“The fish that you have tattooed immediately forehead; “I have a small pawnbroker’s business at
above your right wrist could only have been done Coburg Square, near the City. It’s not a very large
in China. I have made a small study of tattoo marks affair, and of late years it has not done more than
and have even contributed to the literature of the just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two
subject. That trick of staining the fishes’ scales of a assistants, but now I only keep one; and I would
delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in have a job to pay him but that he is willing to come
addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from your for half wages so as to learn the business.”
watch-chain, the matter becomes even more sim- “What is the name of this obliging youth?”
ple.” asked Sherlock Holmes.
“His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he’s not
Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. “Well, I
such a youth, either. It’s hard to say his age. I
never!” said he. “I thought at first that you had
should not wish a smarter assistant, Mr. Holmes;
done something clever, but I see that there was
and I know very well that he could better himself
nothing in it, after all.”
and earn twice what I am able to give him. But,
“I begin to think, Watson,” said Holmes, “that I after all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas
make a mistake in explaining. ‘Omne ignotum pro in his head?”
magnifico,’ you know, and my poor little reputation, “Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in hav-
such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I am so candid. ing an employee who comes under the full market
Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?” price. It is not a common experience among em-
“Yes, I have got it now,” he answered with his ployers in this age. I don’t know that your assistant
thick red finger planted halfway down the column. is not as remarkable as your advertisement.”
“Here it is. This is what began it all. You just read “Oh, he has his faults, too,” said Mr. Wilson.
it for yourself, sir.” “Never was such a fellow for photography. Snap-
ping away with a camera when he ought to be
I took the paper from him and read as follows: improving his mind, and then diving down into
“To the Red-headed League: On ac- the cellar like a rabbit into its hole to develop his
count of the bequest of the late Ezekiah pictures. That is his main fault, but on the whole
Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. he’s a good worker. There’s no vice in him.”
S. A., there is now another vacancy open “He is still with you, I presume?”
which entitles a member of the League “Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who
to a salary of £4 a week for purely nom- does a bit of simple cooking and keeps the place
inal services. All red-headed men who clean—that’s all I have in the house, for I am a
are sound in body and mind and above widower and never had any family. We live very
the age of twenty-one years, are eligi- quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof
ble. Apply in person on Monday, at over our heads and pay our debts, if we do nothing
eleven o’clock, to Duncan Ross, at the more.
offices of the League, 7 Pope’s Court, “The first thing that put us out was that adver-
Fleet Street.” tisement. Spaulding, he came down into the office
20
just this day eight weeks, with this very paper in London when he was young, and he wanted to do
his hand, and he says: the old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard
“ ‘I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a it is no use your applying if your hair is light red, or
red-headed man.’ dark red, or anything but real bright, blazing, fiery
red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Wilson, you
“ ‘Why that?’ I asks.
would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be
“ ‘Why,’ says he, ‘here’s another vacancy on the worth your while to put yourself out of the way for
League of the Red-headed Men. It’s worth quite the sake of a few hundred pounds.’
a little fortune to any man who gets it, and I un- “Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see
derstand that there are more vacancies than there for yourselves, that my hair is of a very full and
are men, so that the trustees are at their wits’ end rich tint, so that it seemed to me that if there was
what to do with the money. If my hair would only to be any competition in the matter I stood as good
change colour, here’s a nice little crib all ready for a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent
me to step into.’ Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that
“ ‘Why, what is it, then?’ I asked. You see, Mr. I thought he might prove useful, so I just ordered
Holmes, I am a very stay-at-home man, and as my him to put up the shutters for the day and to come
business came to me instead of my having to go right away with me. He was very willing to have a
to it, I was often weeks on end without putting holiday, so we shut the business up and started off
my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn’t for the address that was given us in the advertise-
know much of what was going on outside, and I ment.
was always glad of a bit of news. “I never hope to see such a sight as that again,
“ ‘Have you never heard of the League of the Mr. Holmes. From north, south, east, and west
Red-headed Men?’ he asked with his eyes open. every man who had a shade of red in his hair had
“ ‘Never.’ tramped into the city to answer the advertisement.
Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and
“ ‘Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible
Pope’s Court looked like a coster’s orange barrow.
yourself for one of the vacancies.’
I should not have thought there were so many in
“ ‘And what are they worth?’ I asked. the whole country as were brought together by that
“ ‘Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but single advertisement. Every shade of colour they
the work is slight, and it need not interfere very were—straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver,
much with one’s other occupations.’ clay; but, as Spaulding said, there were not many
“Well, you can easily think that that made me who had the real vivid flame-coloured tint. When I
prick up my ears, for the business has not been saw how many were waiting, I would have given it
over-good for some years, and an extra couple of up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear of it.
hundred would have been very handy. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed
and pulled and butted until he got me through the
“ ‘Tell me all about it,’ said I.
crowd, and right up to the steps which led to the
“ ‘Well,’ said he, showing me the advertisement, office. There was a double stream upon the stair,
‘you can see for yourself that the League has a va- some going up in hope, and some coming back
cancy, and there is the address where you should dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and
apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, the soon found ourselves in the office.”
League was founded by an American millionaire, “Your experience has been a most entertaining
Ezekiah Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his one,” remarked Holmes as his client paused and
ways. He was himself red-headed, and he had a refreshed his memory with a huge pinch of snuff.
great sympathy for all red-headed men; so when “Pray continue your very interesting statement.”
he died it was found that he had left his enormous
“There was nothing in the office but a couple
fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions
of wooden chairs and a deal table, behind which
to apply the interest to the providing of easy berths
sat a small man with a head that was even redder
to men whose hair is of that colour. From all I hear
than mine. He said a few words to each candidate
it is splendid pay and very little to do.’
as he came up, and then he always managed to
“ ‘But,’ said I, ‘there would be millions of red- find some fault in them which would disqualify
headed men who would apply.’ them. Getting a vacancy did not seem to be such
“ ‘Not so many as you might think,’ he an- a very easy matter, after all. However, when our
swered. ‘You see it is really confined to Londoners, turn came the little man was much more favourable
and to grown men. This American had started from to me than to any of the others, and he closed the
21
door as we entered, so that he might have a private “ ‘What would be the hours?’ I asked.
word with us. “ ‘Ten to two.’
“ ‘This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,’ said my assistant, “Now a pawnbroker’s business is mostly done
‘and he is willing to fill a vacancy in the League.’ of an evening, Mr. Holmes, especially Thursday
“ ‘And he is admirably suited for it,’ the other and Friday evening, which is just before pay-day;
answered. ‘He has every requirement. I cannot so it would suit me very well to earn a little in the
recall when I have seen anything so fine.’ He took mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a
a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and good man, and that he would see to anything that
gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then turned up.
suddenly he plunged forward, wrung my hand, “ ‘That would suit me very well,’ said I. ‘And
and congratulated me warmly on my success. the pay?’
“ ‘It would be injustice to hesitate,’ said he. ‘You “ ‘Is £4 a week.’
will, however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an
“ ‘And the work?’
obvious precaution.’ With that he seized my hair
in both his hands, and tugged until I yelled with “ ‘Is purely nominal.’
the pain. ‘There is water in your eyes,’ said he as “ ‘What do you call purely nominal?’
he released me. ‘I perceive that all is as it should
“ ‘Well, you have to be in the office, or at least
be. But we have to be careful, for we have twice
in the building, the whole time. If you leave, you
been deceived by wigs and once by paint. I could
forfeit your whole position forever. The will is very
tell you tales of cobbler’s wax which would disgust
clear upon that point. You don’t comply with the
you with human nature.’ He stepped over to the
conditions if you budge from the office during that
window and shouted through it at the top of his
time.’
voice that the vacancy was filled. A groan of dis-
appointment came up from below, and the folk all “ ‘It’s only four hours a day, and I should not
trooped away in different directions until there was think of leaving,’ said I.
not a red-head to be seen except my own and that “ ‘No excuse will avail,’ said Mr. Duncan Ross;
of the manager. ‘neither sickness nor business nor anything else.
“ ‘My name,’ said he, ‘is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I There you must stay, or you lose your billet.’
am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left “ ‘And the work?’
by our noble benefactor. Are you a married man, “ ‘Is to copy out the “Encyclopaedia Britannica.”
Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?’ There is the first volume of it in that press. You
“I answered that I had not. must find your own ink, pens, and blotting-paper,
“His face fell immediately. but we provide this table and chair. Will you be
ready to-morrow?’
“ ‘Dear me!’ he said gravely, ‘that is very serious
indeed! I am sorry to hear you say that. The fund “ ‘Certainly,’ I answered.
was, of course, for the propagation and spread of “ ‘Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me
the red-heads as well as for their maintenance. It congratulate you once more on the important posi-
is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a tion which you have been fortunate enough to gain.’
bachelor.’ He bowed me out of the room and I went home
“My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I with my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or
thought that I was not to have the vacancy after all; do, I was so pleased at my own good fortune.
but after thinking it over for a few minutes he said “Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by
that it would be all right. evening I was in low spirits again; for I had quite
“ ‘In the case of another,’ said he, ‘the objection persuaded myself that the whole affair must be
might be fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour some great hoax or fraud, though what its object
of a man with such a head of hair as yours. When might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether
shall you be able to enter upon your new duties?’ past belief that anyone could make such a will, or
that they would pay such a sum for doing any-
“ ‘Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a busi- thing so simple as copying out the ‘Encyclopaedia
ness already,’ said I. Britannica.’ Vincent Spaulding did what he could
“ ‘Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!’ said to cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned
Vincent Spaulding. ‘I should be able to look after myself out of the whole thing. However, in the
that for you.’ morning I determined to have a look at it anyhow,
22
so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a quill- “No, no,” cried Holmes, shoving him back into
pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started the chair from which he had half risen. “I really
off for Pope’s Court. wouldn’t miss your case for the world. It is most re-
“Well, to my surprise and delight, everything freshingly unusual. But there is, if you will excuse
was as right as possible. The table was set out ready my saying so, something just a little funny about it.
for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross was there to see that I Pray what steps did you take when you found the
got fairly to work. He started me off upon the letter card upon the door?”
A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from “I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to
time to time to see that all was right with me. At do. Then I called at the offices round, but none of
two o’clock he bade me good-day, complimented them seemed to know anything about it. Finally, I
me upon the amount that I had written, and locked went to the landlord, who is an accountant living
the door of the office after me. on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell
“This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and me what had become of the Red-headed League.
on Saturday the manager came in and planked He said that he had never heard of any such body.
down four golden sovereigns for my week’s work. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan Ross was. He
It was the same next week, and the same the week answered that the name was new to him.
after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every “ ‘Well,’ said I, ‘the gentleman at No. 4.’
afternoon I left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan “ ‘What, the red-headed man?’
Ross took to coming in only once of a morning, “ ‘Yes.’
and then, after a time, he did not come in at all. “ ‘Oh,’ said he, ‘his name was William Morris.
Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for He was a solicitor and was using my room as a tem-
an instant, for I was not sure when he might come, porary convenience until his new premises were
and the billet was such a good one, and suited me ready. He moved out yesterday.’
so well, that I would not risk the loss of it.
“ ‘Where could I find him?’
“Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had
“ ‘Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the ad-
written about Abbots and Archery and Armour
dress. Yes, 17 King Edward Street, near St. Paul’s.’
and Architecture and Attica, and hoped with dili-
gence that I might get on to the B’s before very “I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to
long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had that address it was a manufactory of artificial knee-
pretty nearly filled a shelf with my writings. And caps, and no one in it had ever heard of either Mr.
then suddenly the whole business came to an end.” William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross.”
“To an end?” “And what did you do then?” asked Holmes.
“I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took
“Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went
the advice of my assistant. But he could not help
to my work as usual at ten o’clock, but the door was
me in any way. He could only say that if I waited I
shut and locked, with a little square of cardboard
should hear by post. But that was not quite good
hammered on to the middle of the panel with a
enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such
tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself.”
a place without a struggle, so, as I had heard that
He held up a piece of white cardboard about you were good enough to give advice to poor folk
the size of a sheet of note-paper. It read in this who were in need of it, I came right away to you.”
fashion:
“And you did very wisely,” said Holmes. “Your
The Red-headed League case is an exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall
is be happy to look into it. From what you have told
Dissolved me I think that it is possible that graver issues hang
October 9, 1890. from it than might at first sight appear.”
Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt an- “Grave enough!” said Mr. Jabez Wilson. “Why,
nouncement and the rueful face behind it, until the I have lost four pound a week.”
comical side of the affair so completely overtopped “As far as you are personally concerned,” re-
every other consideration that we both burst out marked Holmes, “I do not see that you have any
into a roar of laughter. grievance against this extraordinary league. On the
“I cannot see that there is anything very funny,” contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some
cried our client, flushing up to the roots of his flam- £30, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which
ing head. “If you can do nothing better than laugh you have gained on every subject which comes un-
at me, I can go elsewhere.” der the letter A. You have lost nothing by them.”
23
“No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt
who they are, and what their object was in playing over this matter.”
this prank—if it was a prank—upon me. It was a “What are you going to do, then?” I asked.
pretty expensive joke for them, for it cost them two “To smoke,” he answered. “It is quite a three
and thirty pounds.” pipe problem, and I beg that you won’t speak to me
“We shall endeavour to clear up these points for for fifty minutes.” He curled himself up in his chair,
you. And, first, one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. with his thin knees drawn up to his hawk-like nose,
This assistant of yours who first called your atten- and there he sat with his eyes closed and his black
tion to the advertisement—how long had he been clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange
with you?” bird. I had come to the conclusion that he had
“About a month then.” dropped asleep, and indeed was nodding myself,
when he suddenly sprang out of his chair with the
“How did he come?”
gesture of a man who has made up his mind and
“In answer to an advertisement.” put his pipe down upon the mantelpiece.
“Was he the only applicant?” “Sarasate plays at the St. James’s Hall this after-
“No, I had a dozen.” noon,” he remarked. “What do you think, Watson?
Could your patients spare you for a few hours?”
“Why did you pick him?”
“I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is
“Because he was handy and would come never very absorbing.”
cheap.”
“Then put on your hat and come. I am going
“At half-wages, in fact.” through the City first, and we can have some lunch
“Yes.” on the way. I observe that there is a good deal of
“What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?” German music on the programme, which is rather
more to my taste than Italian or French. It is intro-
“Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no spective, and I want to introspect. Come along!”
hair on his face, though he’s not short of thirty. Has
We travelled by the Underground as far as
a white splash of acid upon his forehead.”
Aldersgate; and a short walk took us to Saxe-
Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable ex- Coburg Square, the scene of the singular story
citement. “I thought as much,” said he. “Have which we had listened to in the morning. It was a
you ever observed that his ears are pierced for ear- poky, little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines
rings?” of dingy two-storied brick houses looked out into
“Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it a small railed-in enclosure, where a lawn of weedy
for him when he was a lad.” grass and a few clumps of faded laurel-bushes
“Hum!” said Holmes, sinking back in deep made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and un-
thought. “He is still with you?” congenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown
board with “Jabez Wilson” in white letters, upon
“Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him.” a corner house, announced the place where our
“And has your business been attended to in red-headed client carried on his business. Sher-
your absence?” lock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head
“Nothing to complain of, sir. There’s never very on one side and looked it all over, with his eyes
much to do of a morning.” shining brightly between puckered lids. Then he
walked slowly up the street, and then down again
“That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to
to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Fi-
give you an opinion upon the subject in the course
nally he returned to the pawnbroker’s, and, having
of a day or two. To-day is Saturday, and I hope that
thumped vigorously upon the pavement with his
by Monday we may come to a conclusion.”
stick two or three times, he went up to the door
“Well, Watson,” said Holmes when our visitor and knocked. It was instantly opened by a bright-
had left us, “what do you make of it all?” looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him
“I make nothing of it,” I answered frankly. “It to step in.
is a most mysterious business.” “Thank you,” said Holmes, “I only wished
“As a rule,” said Holmes, “the more bizarre a to ask you how you would go from here to the
thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is Strand.”
your commonplace, featureless crimes which are “Third right, fourth left,” answered the assistant
really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the promptly, closing the door.
24
“Smart fellow, that,” observed Holmes as we time to the music, while his gently smiling face
walked away. “He is, in my judgment, the fourth and his languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those
smartest man in London, and for daring I am not of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relent-
sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have less, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as
known something of him before.” it was possible to conceive. In his singular charac-
“Evidently,” said I, “Mr. Wilson’s assistant ter the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and
counts for a good deal in this mystery of the Red- his extreme exactness and astuteness represented,
headed League. I am sure that you inquired your as I have often thought, the reaction against the
way merely in order that you might see him.” poetic and contemplative mood which occasion-
ally predominated in him. The swing of his nature
“Not him.” took him from extreme languor to devouring en-
“What then?” ergy; and, as I knew well, he was never so truly
“The knees of his trousers.” formidable as when, for days on end, he had been
lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations
“And what did you see?” and his black-letter editions. Then it was that the
“What I expected to see.” lust of the chase would suddenly come upon him,
“Why did you beat the pavement?” and that his brilliant reasoning power would rise
to the level of intuition, until those who were un-
“My dear doctor, this is a time for observation,
acquainted with his methods would look askance
not for talk. We are spies in an enemy’s country.
at him as on a man whose knowledge was not that
We know something of Saxe-Coburg Square. Let
of other mortals. When I saw him that afternoon
us now explore the parts which lie behind it.”
so enwrapped in the music at St. James’s Hall I
The road in which we found ourselves as we felt that an evil time might be coming upon those
turned round the corner from the retired Saxe- whom he had set himself to hunt down.
Coburg Square presented as great a contrast to “You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor,” he
it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was remarked as we emerged.
one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic
“Yes, it would be as well.”
of the City to the north and west. The roadway
“And I have some business to do which will
was blocked with the immense stream of commerce
take some hours. This business at Coburg Square
flowing in a double tide inward and outward, while
is serious.”
the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm
of pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we “Why serious?”
looked at the line of fine shops and stately business “A considerable crime is in contemplation. I
premises that they really abutted on the other side have every reason to believe that we shall be in
upon the faded and stagnant square which we had time to stop it. But to-day being Saturday rather
just quitted. complicates matters. I shall want your help to-
night.”
“Let me see,” said Holmes, standing at the cor-
ner and glancing along the line, “I should like just “At what time?”
to remember the order of the houses here. It is “Ten will be early enough.”
a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of “I shall be at Baker Street at ten.”
London. There is Mortimer’s, the tobacconist, the “Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be
little newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the some little danger, so kindly put your army re-
City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restaurant, volver in your pocket.” He waved his hand, turned
and McFarlane’s carriage-building depot. That car- on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among
ries us right on to the other block. And now, Doctor, the crowd.
we’ve done our work, so it’s time we had some play. I trust that I am not more dense than my neigh-
A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to bours, but I was always oppressed with a sense
violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and of my own stupidity in my dealings with Sherlock
harmony, and there are no red-headed clients to Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had
vex us with their conundrums.” seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it
My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being was evident that he saw clearly not only what had
himself not only a very capable performer but a happened but what was about to happen, while
composer of no ordinary merit. All the afternoon to me the whole business was still confused and
he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kens-
happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in ington I thought over it all, from the extraordinary
25
story of the red-headed copier of the “Encyclopae- stake will be some £30,000; and for you, Jones, it
dia” down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg Square, and will be the man upon whom you wish to lay your
the ominous words with which he had parted from hands.”
me. What was this nocturnal expedition, and why “John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and
should I go armed? Where were we going, and forger. He’s a young man, Mr. Merryweather, but
what were we to do? I had the hint from Holmes he is at the head of his profession, and I would
that this smooth-faced pawnbroker’s assistant was rather have my bracelets on him than on any crim-
a formidable man—a man who might play a deep inal in London. He’s a remarkable man, is young
game. I tried to puzzle it out, but gave it up in John Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and
despair and set the matter aside until night should he himself has been to Eton and Oxford. His brain
bring an explanation. is as cunning as his fingers, and though we meet
It was a quarter-past nine when I started from signs of him at every turn, we never know where
home and made my way across the Park, and so to find the man himself. He’ll crack a crib in Scot-
through Oxford Street to Baker Street. Two han- land one week, and be raising money to build an
soms were standing at the door, and as I entered the orphanage in Cornwall the next. I’ve been on his
passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On track for years and have never set eyes on him yet.”
entering his room I found Holmes in animated con- “I hope that I may have the pleasure of intro-
versation with two men, one of whom I recognised ducing you to-night. I’ve had one or two little turns
as Peter Jones, the official police agent, while the also with Mr. John Clay, and I agree with you that
other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a very he is at the head of his profession. It is past ten,
shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. however, and quite time that we started. If you two
“Ha! Our party is complete,” said Holmes, but- will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow
toning up his pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunt- in the second.”
ing crop from the rack. “Watson, I think you know Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative
Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me introduce you during the long drive and lay back in the cab hum-
to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion ming the tunes which he had heard in the afternoon.
in to-night’s adventure.” We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit
“We’re hunting in couples again, Doctor, you streets until we emerged into Farrington Street.
see,” said Jones in his consequential way. “Our “We are close there now,” my friend remarked.
friend here is a wonderful man for starting a chase. “This fellow Merryweather is a bank director, and
All he wants is an old dog to help him to do the personally interested in the matter. I thought it as
running down.” well to have Jones with us also. He is not a bad
fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profes-
“I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the
sion. He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as
end of our chase,” observed Mr. Merryweather
a bulldog and as tenacious as a lobster if he gets
gloomily.
his claws upon anyone. Here we are, and they are
“You may place considerable confidence in Mr. waiting for us.”
Holmes, sir,” said the police agent loftily. “He has
We had reached the same crowded thorough-
his own little methods, which are, if he won’t mind
fare in which we had found ourselves in the morn-
my saying so, just a little too theoretical and fan-
ing. Our cabs were dismissed, and, following the
tastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him.
guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a
It is not too much to say that once or twice, as in
narrow passage and through a side door, which he
that business of the Sholto murder and the Agra
opened for us. Within there was a small corridor,
treasure, he has been more nearly correct than the
which ended in a very massive iron gate. This also
official force.”
was opened, and led down a flight of winding stone
“Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right,” steps, which terminated at another formidable gate.
said the stranger with deference. “Still, I confess Mr. Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and
that I miss my rubber. It is the first Saturday night then conducted us down a dark, earth-smelling
for seven-and-twenty years that I have not had my passage, and so, after opening a third door, into
rubber.” a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all round
“I think you will find,” said Sherlock Holmes, with crates and massive boxes.
“that you will play for a higher stake to-night than “You are not very vulnerable from above,”
you have ever done yet, and that the play will be Holmes remarked as he held up the lantern and
more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, the gazed about him.
26
“Nor from below,” said Mr. Merryweather, strik- see that the enemy’s preparations have gone so far
ing his stick upon the flags which lined the floor. that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And,
“Why, dear me, it sounds quite hollow!” he re- first of all, we must choose our positions. These are
marked, looking up in surprise. daring men, and though we shall take them at a dis-
“I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!” advantage, they may do us some harm unless we
said Holmes severely. “You have already imperilled are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, and do
the whole success of our expedition. Might I beg you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when
that you would have the goodness to sit down upon I flash a light upon them, close in swiftly. If they
one of those boxes, and not to interfere?” fire, Watson, have no compunction about shooting
them down.”
The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself
upon a crate, with a very injured expression upon I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of
his face, while Holmes fell upon his knees upon the the wooden case behind which I crouched. Holmes
floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, shot the slide across the front of his lantern and left
began to examine minutely the cracks between the us in pitch darkness—such an absolute darkness
stones. A few seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for as I have never before experienced. The smell of
he sprang to his feet again and put his glass in his hot metal remained to assure us that the light was
pocket. still there, ready to flash out at a moment’s notice.
To me, with my nerves worked up to a pitch of
“We have at least an hour before us,” he re-
expectancy, there was something depressing and
marked, “for they can hardly take any steps until
subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold
the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. Then they
dank air of the vault.
will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their
work the longer time they will have for their escape. “They have but one retreat,” whispered Holmes.
We are at present, Doctor—as no doubt you have “That is back through the house into Saxe-Coburg
divined—in the cellar of the City branch of one of Square. I hope that you have done what I asked
the principal London banks. Mr. Merryweather is you, Jones?”
the chairman of directors, and he will explain to
“I have an inspector and two officers waiting at
you that there are reasons why the more daring
the front door.”
criminals of London should take a considerable
interest in this cellar at present.” “Then we have stopped all the holes. And now
we must be silent and wait.”
“It is our French gold,” whispered the direc-
tor. “We have had several warnings that an attempt What a time it seemed! From comparing notes
might be made upon it.” afterwards it was but an hour and a quarter, yet it
“Your French gold?” appeared to me that the night must have almost
gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs
“Yes. We had occasion some months ago to
were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my posi-
strengthen our resources and borrowed for that
tion; yet my nerves were worked up to the highest
purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of France.
pitch of tension, and my hearing was so acute that
It has become known that we have never had occa-
I could not only hear the gentle breathing of my
sion to unpack the money, and that it is still lying in
companions, but I could distinguish the deeper,
our cellar. The crate upon which I sit contains 2,000
heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin,
napoleons packed between layers of lead foil. Our
sighing note of the bank director. From my position
reserve of bullion is much larger at present than
I could look over the case in the direction of the
is usually kept in a single branch office, and the
floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint of a light.
directors have had misgivings upon the subject.”
At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone
“Which were very well justified,” observed
pavement. Then it lengthened out until it became
Holmes. “And now it is time that we arranged
a yellow line, and then, without any warning or
our little plans. I expect that within an hour mat-
sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand appeared,
ters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr.
a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in
Merryweather, we must put the screen over that
the centre of the little area of light. For a minute
dark lantern.”
or more the hand, with its writhing fingers, pro-
“And sit in the dark?” truded out of the floor. Then it was withdrawn as
“I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark again
my pocket, and I thought that, as we were a partie save the single lurid spark which marked a chink
carrée, you might have your rubber after all. But I between the stones.
27
Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. is no doubt that you have detected and defeated
With a rending, tearing sound, one of the broad, in the most complete manner one of the most de-
white stones turned over upon its side and left a termined attempts at bank robbery that have ever
square, gaping hole, through which streamed the come within my experience.”
light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a “I have had one or two little scores of my own
clean-cut, boyish face, which looked keenly about it, to settle with Mr. John Clay,” said Holmes. “I have
and then, with a hand on either side of the aperture, been at some small expense over this matter, which
drew itself shoulder-high and waist-high, until one I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond that
knee rested upon the edge. In another instant he I am amply repaid by having had an experience
stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after which is in many ways unique, and by hearing
him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with the very remarkable narrative of the Red-headed
a pale face and a shock of very red hair. League.”
“It’s all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the “You see, Watson,” he explained in the early
chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, hours of the morning as we sat over a glass of
jump, and I’ll swing for it!” whisky and soda in Baker Street, “it was perfectly
Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized obvious from the first that the only possible object
the intruder by the collar. The other dived down of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement
the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth of the League, and the copying of the ‘Encyclopae-
as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed dia,’ must be to get this not over-bright pawnbroker
upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes’ hunting out of the way for a number of hours every day.
crop came down on the man’s wrist, and the pistol It was a curious way of managing it, but, really, it
clinked upon the stone floor. would be difficult to suggest a better. The method
was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious mind
“It’s no use, John Clay,” said Holmes blandly. by the colour of his accomplice’s hair. The £4 a
“You have no chance at all.” week was a lure which must draw him, and what
“So I see,” the other answered with the utmost was it to them, who were playing for thousands?
coolness. “I fancy that my pal is all right, though I They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the
see you have got his coat-tails.” temporary office, the other rogue incites the man
“There are three men waiting for him at the to apply for it, and together they manage to secure
door,” said Holmes. his absence every morning in the week. From the
time that I heard of the assistant having come for
“Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing
half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some
very completely. I must compliment you.”
strong motive for securing the situation.”
“And I you,” Holmes answered. “Your red- “But how could you guess what the motive
headed idea was very new and effective.” was?”
“You’ll see your pal again presently,” said Jones. “Had there been women in the house, I should
“He’s quicker at climbing down holes than I am. have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue. That, how-
Just hold out while I fix the derbies.” ever, was out of the question. The man’s business
“I beg that you will not touch me with your was a small one, and there was nothing in his house
filthy hands,” remarked our prisoner as the hand- which could account for such elaborate prepara-
cuffs clattered upon his wrists. “You may not be tions, and such an expenditure as they were at. It
aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have must, then, be something out of the house. What
the goodness, also, when you address me always could it be? I thought of the assistant’s fondness
to say ‘sir’ and ‘please.’ ” for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the
cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled
“All right,” said Jones with a stare and a snig-
clue. Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious
ger. “Well, would you please, sir, march upstairs,
assistant and found that I had to deal with one of
where we can get a cab to carry your Highness to
the coolest and most daring criminals in London.
the police-station?”
He was doing something in the cellar—something
“That is better,” said John Clay serenely. He which took many hours a day for months on end.
made a sweeping bow to the three of us and walked What could it be, once more? I could think of noth-
quietly off in the custody of the detective. ing save that he was running a tunnel to some other
“Really, Mr. Holmes,” said Mr. Merryweather as building.
we followed them from the cellar, “I do not know “So far I had got when we went to visit the
how the bank can thank you or repay you. There scene of action. I surprised you by beating upon
28
the pavement with my stick. I was ascertaining Jabez Wilson’s presence—in other words, that they
whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. had completed their tunnel. But it was essential
It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as that they should use it soon, as it might be discov-
I hoped, the assistant answered it. We have had ered, or the bullion might be removed. Saturday
some skirmishes, but we had never set eyes upon would suit them better than any other day, as it
each other before. I hardly looked at his face. His would give them two days for their escape. For all
knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself these reasons I expected them to come to-night.”
have remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained “You reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed
they were. They spoke of those hours of burrow- in unfeigned admiration. “It is so long a chain, and
ing. The only remaining point was what they were yet every link rings true.”
burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the
“It saved me from ennui,” he answered, yawn-
City and Suburban Bank abutted on our friend’s
ing. “Alas! I already feel it closing in upon me. My
premises, and felt that I had solved my problem.
life is spent in one long effort to escape from the
When you drove home after the concert I called
commonplaces of existence. These little problems
upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the
help me to do so.”
bank directors, with the result that you have seen.”
“And you are a benefactor of the race,” said I.
“And how could you tell that they would make
He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, perhaps,
their attempt to-night?” I asked.
after all, it is of some little use,” he remarked.
“Well, when they closed their League offices “ ‘L’homme c’est rien—l’oeuvre c’est tout,’ as Gustave
that was a sign that they cared no longer about Mr. Flaubert wrote to George Sand.”
29
A Case of Identity
M
A Case of Identity
y dear fellow,” said Sherlock Holmes as occur to the imagination of the average story-teller.
we sat on either side of the fire in his Take a pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge
lodgings at Baker Street, “life is infinitely that I have scored over you in your example.”
stranger than anything which the mind He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a
of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive great amethyst in the centre of the lid. Its splen-
the things which are really mere commonplaces of dour was in such contrast to his homely ways and
existence. If we could fly out of that window hand simple life that I could not help commenting upon
in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove it.
the roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are “Ah,” said he, “I forgot that I had not seen you
going on, the strange coincidences, the plannings, for some weeks. It is a little souvenir from the King
the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains of events, of Bohemia in return for my assistance in the case
working through generations, and leading to the of the Irene Adler papers.”
most outré results, it would make all fiction with
“And the ring?” I asked, glancing at a remark-
its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most
able brilliant which sparkled upon his finger.
stale and unprofitable.”
“It was from the reigning family of Holland,
“And yet I am not convinced of it,” I answered. though the matter in which I served them was of
“The cases which come to light in the papers are, as such delicacy that I cannot confide it even to you,
a rule, bald enough, and vulgar enough. We have who have been good enough to chronicle one or
in our police reports realism pushed to its extreme two of my little problems.”
limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed,
“And have you any on hand just now?” I asked
neither fascinating nor artistic.”
with interest.
“A certain selection and discretion must be used “Some ten or twelve, but none which present
in producing a realistic effect,” remarked Holmes. any feature of interest. They are important, you
“This is wanting in the police report, where more understand, without being interesting. Indeed, I
stress is laid, perhaps, upon the platitudes of the have found that it is usually in unimportant mat-
magistrate than upon the details, which to an ob- ters that there is a field for the observation, and for
server contain the vital essence of the whole matter. the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives
Depend upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the charm to an investigation. The larger crimes
the commonplace.” are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime
I smiled and shook my head. “I can quite un- the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive. In these
derstand your thinking so.” I said. “Of course, in cases, save for one rather intricate matter which
your position of unofficial adviser and helper to has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is
everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout nothing which presents any features of interest. It
three continents, you are brought in contact with is possible, however, that I may have something
all that is strange and bizarre. But here”—I picked better before very many minutes are over, for this
up the morning paper from the ground—“let us is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken.”
put it to a practical test. Here is the first heading He had risen from his chair and was standing
upon which I come. ‘A husband’s cruelty to his between the parted blinds gazing down into the
wife.’ There is half a column of print, but I know dull neutral-tinted London street. Looking over
without reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite
me. There is, of course, the other woman, the drink, there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa
the push, the blow, the bruise, the sympathetic sis- round her neck, and a large curling red feather in
ter or landlady. The crudest of writers could invent a broad-brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquet-
nothing more crude.” tish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her ear.
“Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one From under this great panoply she peeped up in a
for your argument,” said Holmes, taking the paper nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, while
and glancing his eye down it. “This is the Dundas her body oscillated backward and forward, and her
separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons. Suddenly,
in clearing up some small points in connection with with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves the
it. The husband was a teetotaler, there was no other bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard
woman, and the conduct complained of was that he the sharp clang of the bell.
had drifted into the habit of winding up every meal “I have seen those symptoms before,” said
by taking out his false teeth and hurling them at his Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire. “Oscil-
wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely to lation upon the pavement always means an affaire
33
A Case of Identity
de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure that “Your father,” said Holmes, “your stepfather,
the matter is not too delicate for communication. surely, since the name is different.”
And yet even here we may discriminate. When a “Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it
woman has been seriously wronged by a man she sounds funny, too, for he is only five years and two
no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom is a months older than myself.”
broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is “And your mother is alive?”
a love matter, but that the maiden is not so much
“Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn’t
angry as perplexed, or grieved. But here she comes
best pleased, Mr. Holmes, when she married again
in person to resolve our doubts.”
so soon after father’s death, and a man who was
As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father
the boy in buttons entered to announce Miss Mary was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and
Sutherland, while the lady herself loomed behind he left a tidy business behind him, which mother
his small black figure like a full-sailed merchant- carried on with Mr. Hardy, the foreman; but when
man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the business,
welcomed her with the easy courtesy for which he for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines.
was remarkable, and, having closed the door and They got £4700 for the goodwill and interest, which
bowed her into an armchair, he looked her over in wasn’t near as much as father could have got if he
the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was had been alive.”
peculiar to him. I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impa-
“Do you not find,” he said, “that with your short tient under this rambling and inconsequential nar-
sight it is a little trying to do so much typewriting?” rative, but, on the contrary, he had listened with
the greatest concentration of attention.
“I did at first,” she answered, “but now I know
where the letters are without looking.” Then, sud- “Your own little income,” he asked, “does it
denly realising the full purport of his words, she come out of the business?”
gave a violent start and looked up, with fear and as- “Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left
tonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. me by my uncle Ned in Auckland. It is in New
“You’ve heard about me, Mr. Holmes,” she cried, Zealand stock, paying 41/2 per cent. Two thousand
“else how could you know all that?” five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can
only touch the interest.”
“Never mind,” said Holmes, laughing; “it is my
business to know things. Perhaps I have trained “You interest me extremely,” said Holmes.
myself to see what others overlook. If not, why “And since you draw so large a sum as a hundred
should you come to consult me?” a year, with what you earn into the bargain, you no
doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in every
“I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from way. I believe that a single lady can get on very
Mrs. Etherege, whose husband you found so easy nicely upon an income of about £60.”
when the police and everyone had given him up “I could do with much less than that, Mr.
for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do Holmes, but you understand that as long as I live
as much for me. I’m not rich, but still I have a at home I don’t wish to be a burden to them, and
hundred a year in my own right, besides the little so they have the use of the money just while I am
that I make by the machine, and I would give it all staying with them. Of course, that is only just for
to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel.” the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every
“Why did you come away to consult me in such quarter and pays it over to mother, and I find that I
a hurry?” asked Sherlock Holmes, with his finger- can do pretty well with what I earn at typewriting.
tips together and his eyes to the ceiling. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can often do
Again a startled look came over the somewhat from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day.”
vacuous face of Miss Mary Sutherland. “Yes, “You have made your position very clear to me,”
I did bang out of the house,” she said, “for it said Holmes. “This is my friend, Dr. Watson, be-
made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. fore whom you can speak as freely as before myself.
Windibank—that is, my father—took it all. He Kindly tell us now all about your connection with
would not go to the police, and he would not go Mr. Hosmer Angel.”
to you, and so at last, as he would do nothing and A flush stole over Miss Sutherland’s face, and
kept on saying that there was no harm done, it she picked nervously at the fringe of her jacket.
made me mad, and I just on with my things and “I met him first at the gasfitters’ ball,” she said.
came right away to you.” “They used to send father tickets when he was alive,
34
A Case of Identity
and then afterwards they remembered us, and sent “What office?”
them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us “That’s the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don’t
to go. He never did wish us to go anywhere. He know.”
would get quite mad if I wanted so much as to join
“Where did he live, then?”
a Sunday-school treat. But this time I was set on
going, and I would go; for what right had he to “He slept on the premises.”
prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to “And you don’t know his address?”
know, when all father’s friends were to be there. “No—except that it was Leadenhall Street.”
And he said that I had nothing fit to wear, when I “Where did you address your letters, then?”
had my purple plush that I had never so much as
taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else “To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left
would do, he went off to France upon the business till called for. He said that if they were sent to the
of the firm, but we went, mother and I, with Mr. office he would be chaffed by all the other clerks
Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it was about having letters from a lady, so I offered to
there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel.” typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn’t
have that, for he said that when I wrote them they
“I suppose,” said Holmes, “that when Mr. seemed to come from me, but when they were type-
Windibank came back from France he was very written he always felt that the machine had come
annoyed at your having gone to the ball.” between us. That will just show you how fond he
“Oh, well, he was very good about it. He was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he
laughed, I remember, and shrugged his shoulders, would think of.”
and said there was no use denying anything to a “It was most suggestive,” said Holmes. “It has
woman, for she would have her way.” long been an axiom of mine that the little things are
“I see. Then at the gasfitters’ ball you met, as infinitely the most important. Can you remember
I understand, a gentleman called Mr. Hosmer An- any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?”
gel.” “He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would
“Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called rather walk with me in the evening than in the day-
next day to ask if we had got home all safe, and light, for he said that he hated to be conspicuous.
after that we met him—that is to say, Mr. Holmes, I Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his
met him twice for walks, but after that father came voice was gentle. He’d had the quinsy and swollen
back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come glands when he was young, he told me, and it
to the house any more.” had left him with a weak throat, and a hesitating,
whispering fashion of speech. He was always well
“No?” dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were
“Well, you know father didn’t like anything of weak, just as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses
the sort. He wouldn’t have any visitors if he could against the glare.”
help it, and he used to say that a woman should be “Well, and what happened when Mr.
happy in her own family circle. But then, as I used Windibank, your stepfather, returned to France?”
to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to “Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again
begin with, and I had not got mine yet.” and proposed that we should marry before father
“But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he came back. He was in dreadful earnest and made
make no attempt to see you?” me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that
“Well, father was going off to France again in whatever happened I would always be true to him.
a week, and Hosmer wrote and said that it would Mother said he was quite right to make me swear,
be safer and better not to see each other until he and that it was a sign of his passion. Mother was
had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he all in his favour from the first and was even fonder
used to write every day. I took the letters in in the of him than I was. Then, when they talked of mar-
morning, so there was no need for father to know.” rying within the week, I began to ask about father;
but they both said never to mind about father, but
“Were you engaged to the gentleman at this just to tell him afterwards, and mother said she
time?” would make it all right with him. I didn’t quite like
“Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged af- that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should
ter the first walk that we took. Hosmer—Mr. ask his leave, as he was only a few years older than
Angel—was a cashier in an office in Leadenhall me; but I didn’t want to do anything on the sly, so
Street—and—” I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the company
35
A Case of Identity
has its French offices, but the letter came back to Hosmer again. As he said, what interest could any-
me on the very morning of the wedding.” one have in bringing me to the doors of the church,
“It missed him, then?” and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed
my money, or if he had married me and got my
“Yes, sir; for he had started to England just money settled on him, there might be some reason,
before it arrived.” but Hosmer was very independent about money
“Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was and never would look at a shilling of mine. And
arranged, then, for the Friday. Was it to be in yet, what could have happened? And why could
church?” he not write? Oh, it drives me half-mad to think
“Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. of it, and I can’t sleep a wink at night.” She pulled
Saviour’s, near King’s Cross, and we were to have a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to
breakfast afterwards at the St. Pancras Hotel. Hos- sob heavily into it.
mer came for us in a hansom, but as there were two “I shall glance into the case for you,” said
of us he put us both into it and stepped himself Holmes, rising, “and I have no doubt that we shall
into a four-wheeler, which happened to be the only reach some definite result. Let the weight of the
other cab in the street. We got to the church first, matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind
and when the four-wheeler drove up we waited for dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hos-
him to step out, but he never did, and when the mer Angel vanish from your memory, as he has
cabman got down from the box and looked there done from your life.”
was no one there! The cabman said that he could “Then you don’t think I’ll see him again?”
not imagine what had become of him, for he had “I fear not.”
seen him get in with his own eyes. That was last “Then what has happened to him?”
Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard “You will leave that question in my hands. I
anything since then to throw any light upon what should like an accurate description of him and any
became of him.” letters of his which you can spare.”
“It seems to me that you have been very shame- “I advertised for him in last Saturday’s Chron-
fully treated,” said Holmes. icle,” said she. “Here is the slip and here are four
“Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave letters from him.”
me so. Why, all the morning he was saying to me “Thank you. And your address?”
that, whatever happened, I was to be true; and “No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell.”
that even if something quite unforeseen occurred “Mr. Angel’s address you never had, I under-
to separate us, I was always to remember that I stand. Where is your father’s place of business?”
was pledged to him, and that he would claim his “He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great
pledge sooner or later. It seemed strange talk for claret importers of Fenchurch Street.”
a wedding-morning, but what has happened since “Thank you. You have made your statement
gives a meaning to it.” very clearly. You will leave the papers here, and
“Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, remember the advice which I have given you. Let
then, that some unforeseen catastrophe has oc- the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not
curred to him?” allow it to affect your life.”
“Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, “You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot
or else he would not have talked so. And then I do that. I shall be true to Hosmer. He shall find me
think that what he foresaw happened.” ready when he comes back.”
For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous
“But you have no notion as to what it could
face, there was something noble in the simple faith
have been?”
of our visitor which compelled our respect. She laid
“None.” her little bundle of papers upon the table and went
“One more question. How did your mother her way, with a promise to come again whenever
take the matter?” she might be summoned.
“She was angry, and said that I was never to Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes
speak of the matter again.” with his fingertips still pressed together, his legs
stretched out in front of him, and his gaze directed
“And your father? Did you tell him?” upward to the ceiling. Then he took down from the
“Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as
something had happened, and that I should hear of a counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his
36
A Case of Identity
chair, with the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which
up from him, and a look of infinite languor in his seemed to surprise her.”
face. “It surprised me.”
“Quite an interesting study, that maiden,” he “But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much
observed. “I found her more interesting than her surprised and interested on glancing down to ob-
little problem, which, by the way, is rather a trite serve that, though the boots which she was wearing
one. You will find parallel cases, if you consult my were not unlike each other, they were really odd
index, in Andover in ’77, and there was something ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap,
of the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the and the other a plain one. One was buttoned only
idea, however, there were one or two details which in the two lower buttons out of five, and the other
were new to me. But the maiden herself was most at the first, third, and fifth. Now, when you see that
instructive.” a young lady, otherwise neatly dressed, has come
“You appeared to read a good deal upon her away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, it
which was quite invisible to me,” I remarked. is no great deduction to say that she came away in
a hurry.”
“Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did
not know where to look, and so you missed all “And what else?” I asked, keenly interested, as
that was important. I can never bring you to re- I always was, by my friend’s incisive reasoning.
alise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness “I noted, in passing, that she had written a note
of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang before leaving home but after being fully dressed.
from a boot-lace. Now, what did you gather from You observed that her right glove was torn at the
that woman’s appearance? Describe it.” forefinger, but you did not apparently see that both
“Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She
straw hat, with a feather of a brickish red. Her had written in a hurry and dipped her pen too
jacket was black, with black beads sewn upon it, deep. It must have been this morning, or the mark
and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her dress would not remain clear upon the finger. All this is
was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go
a little purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her back to business, Watson. Would you mind read-
gloves were greyish and were worn through at the ing me the advertised description of Mr. Hosmer
right forefinger. Her boots I didn’t observe. She Angel?”
had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a I held the little printed slip to the light.
general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar,
comfortable, easy-going way.” “Missing,” it said, “on the morning
of the fourteenth, a gentleman named
Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly to- Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in.
gether and chuckled. in height; strongly built, sallow com-
“’Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along plexion, black hair, a little bald in the
wonderfully. You have really done very well in- centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and
deed. It is true that you have missed everything moustache; tinted glasses, slight infir-
of importance, but you have hit upon the method, mity of speech. Was dressed, when
and you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust last seen, in black frock-coat faced with
to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert chain,
yourself upon details. My first glance is always at and grey Harris tweed trousers, with
a woman’s sleeve. In a man it is perhaps better brown gaiters over elastic-sided boots.
first to take the knee of the trouser. As you observe, Known to have been employed in an
this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which office in Leadenhall Street. Anybody
is a most useful material for showing traces. The bringing—”
double line a little above the wrist, where the type-
writist presses against the table, was beautifully “That will do,” said Holmes. “As to the letters,”
defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, he continued, glancing over them, “they are very
leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and commonplace. Absolutely no clue in them to Mr.
on the side of it farthest from the thumb, instead Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There is one
of being right across the broadest part, as this was. remarkable point, however, which will no doubt
I then glanced at her face, and, observing the dint strike you.”
of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I ventured “They are typewritten,” I remarked.
37
A Case of Identity
“Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. spent his day in the chemical work which was so
Look at the neat little ‘Hosmer Angel’ at the bottom. dear to him.
There is a date, you see, but no superscription ex- “Well, have you solved it?” I asked as I entered.
cept Leadenhall Street, which is rather vague. The “Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta.”
point about the signature is very suggestive—in “No, no, the mystery!” I cried.
fact, we may call it conclusive.”
“Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been
“Of what?” working upon. There was never any mystery in
“My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see the matter, though, as I said yesterday, some of the
how strongly it bears upon the case?” details are of interest. The only drawback is that
there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel.”
“I cannot say that I do unless it were that he
“Who was he, then, and what was his object in
wished to be able to deny his signature if an action
deserting Miss Sutherland?”
for breach of promise were instituted.”
The question was hardly out of my mouth, and
“No, that was not the point. However, I shall Holmes had not yet opened his lips to reply, when
write two letters, which should settle the matter. we heard a heavy footfall in the passage and a tap
One is to a firm in the City, the other is to the at the door.
young lady’s stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking “This is the girl’s stepfather, Mr. James
him whether he could meet us here at six o’clock Windibank,” said Holmes. “He has written to me
tomorrow evening. It is just as well that we should to say that he would be here at six. Come in!”
do business with the male relatives. And now, Doc-
The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-
tor, we can do nothing until the answers to those
sized fellow, some thirty years of age, clean-shaven,
letters come, so we may put our little problem upon
and sallow-skinned, with a bland, insinuating man-
the shelf for the interim.”
ner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and penetrat-
I had had so many reasons to believe in my ing grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each
friend’s subtle powers of reasoning and extraordi- of us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard,
nary energy in action that I felt that he must have and with a slight bow sidled down into the nearest
some solid grounds for the assured and easy de- chair.
meanour with which he treated the singular mys- “Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank,” said
tery which he had been called upon to fathom. Holmes. “I think that this typewritten letter is from
Once only had I known him to fail, in the case you, in which you made an appointment with me
of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler for six o’clock?”
photograph; but when I looked back to the weird “Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I
business of the Sign of Four, and the extraordinary am not quite my own master, you know. I am sorry
circumstances connected with the Study in Scarlet, that Miss Sutherland has troubled you about this
I felt that it would be a strange tangle indeed which little matter, for I think it is far better not to wash
he could not unravel. linen of the sort in public. It was quite against my
I left him then, still puffing at his black clay wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable,
pipe, with the conviction that when I came again impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she
on the next evening I would find that he held in is not easily controlled when she has made up her
his hands all the clues which would lead up to the mind on a point. Of course, I did not mind you
identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss so much, as you are not connected with the offi-
Mary Sutherland. cial police, but it is not pleasant to have a family
A professional case of great gravity was engag- misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a
ing my own attention at the time, and the whole of useless expense, for how could you possibly find
next day I was busy at the bedside of the sufferer. this Hosmer Angel?”
It was not until close upon six o’clock that I found “On the contrary,” said Holmes quietly; “I have
myself free and was able to spring into a hansom every reason to believe that I will succeed in dis-
and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might covering Mr. Hosmer Angel.”
be too late to assist at the dénouement of the little Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped
mystery. I found Sherlock Holmes alone, however, his gloves. “I am delighted to hear it,” he said.
half asleep, with his long, thin form curled up in “It is a curious thing,” remarked Holmes, “that
the recesses of his armchair. A formidable array a typewriter has really quite as much individuality
of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly as a man’s handwriting. Unless they are quite new,
smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had no two of them write exactly alike. Some letters get
38
A Case of Identity
more worn than others, and some wear only on one in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as
side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. it seemed, than to us.
Windibank, that in every case there is some little “The man married a woman very much older
slurring over of the ‘e,’ and a slight defect in the tail than himself for her money,” said he, “and he en-
of the ‘r.’ There are fourteen other characteristics, joyed the use of the money of the daughter as long
but those are the more obvious.” as she lived with them. It was a considerable sum,
“We do all our correspondence with this ma- for people in their position, and the loss of it would
chine at the office, and no doubt it is a little worn,” have made a serious difference. It was worth an
our visitor answered, glancing keenly at Holmes effort to preserve it. The daughter was of a good,
with his bright little eyes. amiable disposition, but affectionate and warm-
hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that
“And now I will show you what is really a very with her fair personal advantages, and her little
interesting study, Mr. Windibank,” Holmes contin- income, she would not be allowed to remain single
ued. “I think of writing another little monograph long. Now her marriage would mean, of course,
some of these days on the typewriter and its rela- the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her
tion to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious
some little attention. I have here four letters which course of keeping her at home and forbidding her
purport to come from the missing man. They are to seek the company of people of her own age. But
all typewritten. In each case, not only are the ‘e’s’ soon he found that that would not answer forever.
slurred and the ‘r’s’ tailless, but you will observe, if She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and
you care to use my magnifying lens, that the four- finally announced her positive intention of going
teen other characteristics to which I have alluded to a certain ball. What does her clever stepfather
are there as well.” do then? He conceives an idea more creditable to
Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and his head than to his heart. With the connivance and
picked up his hat. “I cannot waste time over this assistance of his wife he disguised himself, cov-
sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes,” he said. “If you ered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked
can catch the man, catch him, and let me know the face with a moustache and a pair of bushy
when you have done it.” whiskers, sunk that clear voice into an insinuating
“Certainly,” said Holmes, stepping over and whisper, and doubly secure on account of the girl’s
turning the key in the door. “I let you know, then, short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and
that I have caught him!” keeps off other lovers by making love himself.”
“It was only a joke at first,” groaned our visitor.
“What! where?” shouted Mr. Windibank, turn- “We never thought that she would have been so
ing white to his lips and glancing about him like a carried away.”
rat in a trap.
“Very likely not. However that may be, the
“Oh, it won’t do—really it won’t,” said Holmes young lady was very decidedly carried away, and,
suavely. “There is no possible getting out of it, Mr. having quite made up her mind that her stepfather
Windibank. It is quite too transparent, and it was was in France, the suspicion of treachery never for
a very bad compliment when you said that it was an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by
impossible for me to solve so simple a question. the gentleman’s attentions, and the effect was in-
That’s right! Sit down and let us talk it over.” creased by the loudly expressed admiration of her
Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly mother. Then Mr. Angel began to call, for it was
face and a glitter of moisture on his brow. “It—it’s obvious that the matter should be pushed as far
not actionable,” he stammered. as it would go if a real effect were to be produced.
There were meetings, and an engagement, which
“I am very much afraid that it is not. But be- would finally secure the girl’s affections from turn-
tween ourselves, Windibank, it was as cruel and ing towards anyone else. But the deception could
selfish and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys
came before me. Now, let me just run over the to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do
course of events, and you will contradict me if I go was clearly to bring the business to an end in such
wrong.” a dramatic manner that it would leave a perma-
The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his nent impression upon the young lady’s mind and
head sunk upon his breast, like one who is utterly prevent her from looking upon any other suitor
crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up on the corner of for some time to come. Hence those vows of fi-
the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands delity exacted upon a Testament, and hence also
39
A Case of Identity
the allusions to a possibility of something happen- “I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your
ing on the very morning of the wedding. James reasoning,” I remarked.
Windibank wished Miss Sutherland to be so bound “Well, of course it was obvious from the first
to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to his fate, that this Mr. Hosmer Angel must have some strong
that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would object for his curious conduct, and it was equally
not listen to another man. As far as the church door clear that the only man who really profited by the
he brought her, and then, as he could go no farther, incident, as far as we could see, was the stepfather.
he conveniently vanished away by the old trick of Then the fact that the two men were never together,
stepping in at one door of a four-wheeler and out but that the one always appeared when the other
at the other. I think that was the chain of events, was away, was suggestive. So were the tinted spec-
Mr. Windibank!” tacles and the curious voice, which both hinted at a
Our visitor had recovered something of his as- disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My suspicions
surance while Holmes had been talking, and he were all confirmed by his peculiar action in type-
rose from his chair now with a cold sneer upon his writing his signature, which, of course, inferred
pale face. that his handwriting was so familiar to her that
she would recognise even the smallest sample of it.
“It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes,” said
You see all these isolated facts, together with many
he, “but if you are so very sharp you ought to be
minor ones, all pointed in the same direction.”
sharp enough to know that it is you who are break-
ing the law now, and not me. I have done nothing “And how did you verify them?”
actionable from the first, but as long as you keep “Having once spotted my man, it was easy to
that door locked you lay yourself open to an action get corroboration. I knew the firm for which this
for assault and illegal constraint.” man worked. Having taken the printed description,
“The law cannot, as you say, touch you,” said I eliminated everything from it which could be the
Holmes, unlocking and throwing open the door, result of a disguise—the whiskers, the glasses, the
“yet there never was a man who deserved punish- voice, and I sent it to the firm, with a request that
ment more. If the young lady has a brother or a they would inform me whether it answered to the
friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoul- description of any of their travellers. I had already
ders. By Jove!” he continued, flushing up at the noticed the peculiarities of the typewriter, and I
sight of the bitter sneer upon the man’s face, “it wrote to the man himself at his business address
is not part of my duties to my client, but here’s a asking him if he would come here. As I expected,
hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat his reply was typewritten and revealed the same
myself to—” He took two swift steps to the whip, trivial but characteristic defects. The same post
but before he could grasp it there was a wild clat- brought me a letter from Westhouse & Marbank, of
ter of steps upon the stairs, the heavy hall door Fenchurch Street, to say that the description tallied
banged, and from the window we could see Mr. in every respect with that of their employee, James
James Windibank running at the top of his speed Windibank. Voilà tout!”
down the road. “And Miss Sutherland?”
“There’s a cold-blooded scoundrel!” said “If I tell her she will not believe me. You may
Holmes, laughing, as he threw himself down into remember the old Persian saying, ‘There is dan-
his chair once more. “That fellow will rise from ger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger
crime to crime until he does something very bad, also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.’
and ends on a gallows. The case has, in some There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and
respects, been not entirely devoid of interest.” as much knowledge of the world.”
40
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
W
e were seated at breakfast one morning, recent papers in order to master the particulars. It
my wife and I, when the maid brought seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple
in a telegram. It was from Sherlock cases which are so extremely difficult.”
Holmes and ran in this way: “That sounds a little paradoxical.”
“Have you a couple of days to spare? “But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost
Have just been wired for from the invariably a clue. The more featureless and com-
west of England in connection with monplace a crime is, the more difficult it is to bring
Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad it home. In this case, however, they have estab-
if you will come with me. Air and lished a very serious case against the son of the
scenery perfect. Leave Paddington by murdered man.”
the 11.15.” “It is a murder, then?”
“Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take
“What do you say, dear?” said my wife, looking nothing for granted until I have the opportunity
across at me. “Will you go?” of looking personally into it. I will explain the
“I really don’t know what to say. I have a fairly state of things to you, as far as I have been able to
long list at present.” understand it, in a very few words.
“Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. “Boscombe Valley is a country district not very
You have been looking a little pale lately. I think far from Ross, in Herefordshire. The largest landed
that the change would do you good, and you are al- proprietor in that part is a Mr. John Turner, who
ways so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes’ cases.” made his money in Australia and returned some
“I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing years ago to the old country. One of the farms
what I gained through one of them,” I answered. which he held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr.
“But if I am to go, I must pack at once, for I have Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex-Australian.
only half an hour.” The men had known each other in the colonies, so
My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had that it was not unnatural that when they came to
at least had the effect of making me a prompt and settle down they should do so as near each other
ready traveller. My wants were few and simple, as possible. Turner was apparently the richer man,
so that in less than the time stated I was in a cab so McCarthy became his tenant but still remained,
with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. it seems, upon terms of perfect equality, as they
Sherlock Holmes was pacing up and down the plat- were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, a
form, his tall, gaunt figure made even gaunter and lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter
taller by his long grey travelling-cloak and close- of the same age, but neither of them had wives
fitting cloth cap. living. They appear to have avoided the society
of the neighbouring English families and to have
“It is really very good of you to come, Watson,” led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were
said he. “It makes a considerable difference to fond of sport and were frequently seen at the race-
me, having someone with me on whom I can thor- meetings of the neighbourhood. McCarthy kept
oughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless or two servants—a man and a girl. Turner had a con-
else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I siderable household, some half-dozen at the least.
shall get the tickets.” That is as much as I have been able to gather about
We had the carriage to ourselves save for an im- the families. Now for the facts.
mense litter of papers which Holmes had brought
“On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy
with him. Among these he rummaged and read,
left his house at Hatherley about three in the af-
with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, un-
ternoon and walked down to the Boscombe Pool,
til we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled
which is a small lake formed by the spreading out
them all into a gigantic ball and tossed them up
of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Val-
onto the rack.
ley. He had been out with his serving-man in the
“Have you heard anything of the case?” he morning at Ross, and he had told the man that he
asked. must hurry, as he had an appointment of impor-
“Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some tance to keep at three. From that appointment he
days.” never came back alive.
“The London press has not had very full ac- “From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe
counts. I have just been looking through all the Pool is a quarter of a mile, and two people saw
43
him as he passed over this ground. One was an “Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing,”
old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and answered Holmes thoughtfully. “It may seem to
the other was William Crowder, a game-keeper in point very straight to one thing, but if you shift
the employ of Mr. Turner. Both these witnesses your own point of view a little, you may find it
depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The pointing in an equally uncompromising manner
game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his to something entirely different. It must be con-
seeing Mr. McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. fessed, however, that the case looks exceedingly
James McCarthy, going the same way with a gun grave against the young man, and it is very possi-
under his arm. To the best of his belief, the father ble that he is indeed the culprit. There are several
was actually in sight at the time, and the son was people in the neighbourhood, however, and among
following him. He thought no more of the matter them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighbour-
until he heard in the evening of the tragedy that ing landowner, who believe in his innocence, and
had occurred. who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recol-
“The two McCarthys were seen after the time lect in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work
when William Crowder, the game-keeper, lost sight out the case in his interest. Lestrade, being rather
of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly wooded puzzled, has referred the case to me, and hence
round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are flying
round the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly
who is the daughter of the lodge-keeper of the digesting their breakfasts at home.”
Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the woods “I am afraid,” said I, “that the facts are so obvi-
picking flowers. She states that while she was there ous that you will find little credit to be gained out
she saw, at the border of the wood and close by the of this case.”
lake, Mr. McCarthy and his son, and that they ap-
peared to be having a violent quarrel. She heard Mr. “There is nothing more deceptive than an ob-
McCarthy the elder using very strong language to vious fact,” he answered, laughing. “Besides, we
his son, and she saw the latter raise up his hand as may chance to hit upon some other obvious facts
if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their which may have been by no means obvious to Mr.
violence that she ran away and told her mother Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I
when she reached home that she had left the two am boasting when I say that I shall either confirm
McCarthys quarrelling near Boscombe Pool, and or destroy his theory by means which he is quite
that she was afraid that they were going to fight. incapable of employing, or even of understanding.
She had hardly said the words when young Mr. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly
McCarthy came running up to the lodge to say that perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon
he had found his father dead in the wood, and the right-hand side, and yet I question whether Mr.
to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was Lestrade would have noted even so self-evident a
much excited, without either his gun or his hat, thing as that.”
and his right hand and sleeve were observed to be “How on earth—”
stained with fresh blood. On following him they
found the dead body stretched out upon the grass “My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the
beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by military neatness which characterises you. You
repeated blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. shave every morning, and in this season you shave
The injuries were such as might very well have been by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less and
inflicted by the butt-end of his son’s gun, which less complete as we get farther back on the left side,
was found lying on the grass within a few paces until it becomes positively slovenly as we get round
of the body. Under these circumstances the young the angle of the jaw, it is surely very clear that that
man was instantly arrested, and a verdict of ‘wilful side is less illuminated than the other. I could not
murder’ having been returned at the inquest on imagine a man of your habits looking at himself
Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the in an equal light and being satisfied with such a
magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to result. I only quote this as a trivial example of
the next Assizes. Those are the main facts of the observation and inference. Therein lies my métier,
case as they came out before the coroner and the and it is just possible that it may be of some service
police-court.” in the investigation which lies before us. There are
one or two minor points which were brought out
“I could hardly imagine a more damning case,”
in the inquest, and which are worth considering.”
I remarked. “If ever circumstantial evidence
pointed to a criminal it does so here.” “What are they?”
44
“It appears that his arrest did not take place at “Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the
once, but after the return to Hatherley Farm. On deceased, was then called and gave evidence
the inspector of constabulary informing him that as follows: ‘I had been away from home for
he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not three days at Bristol, and had only just re-
surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than turned upon the morning of last Monday,
his deserts. This observation of his had the natural the 3rd. My father was absent from home at
effect of removing any traces of doubt which might the time of my arrival, and I was informed
have remained in the minds of the coroner’s jury.” by the maid that he had driven over to Ross
“It was a confession,” I ejaculated. with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after
my return I heard the wheels of his trap
“No, for it was followed by a protestation of
in the yard, and, looking out of my win-
innocence.”
dow, I saw him get out and walk rapidly
“Coming on the top of such a damning series of out of the yard, though I was not aware in
events, it was at least a most suspicious remark.” which direction he was going. I then took
“On the contrary,” said Holmes, “it is the bright- my gun and strolled out in the direction
est rift which I can at present see in the clouds. of the Boscombe Pool, with the intention
However innocent he might be, he could not be of visiting the rabbit warren which is upon
such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the the other side. On my way I saw William
circumstances were very black against him. Had Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated
he appeared surprised at his own arrest, or feigned in his evidence; but he is mistaken in think-
indignation at it, I should have looked upon it as ing that I was following my father. I had
highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger no idea that he was in front of me. When
would not be natural under the circumstances, and about a hundred yards from the pool I heard
yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming a cry of “Cooee!” which was a usual signal
man. His frank acceptance of the situation marks between my father and myself. I then hur-
him as either an innocent man, or else as a man of ried forward, and found him standing by
considerable self-restraint and firmness. As to his the pool. He appeared to be much surprised
remark about his deserts, it was also not unnatural at seeing me and asked me rather roughly
if you consider that he stood beside the dead body what I was doing there. A conversation en-
of his father, and that there is no doubt that he had sued which led to high words and almost to
that very day so far forgotten his filial duty as to blows, for my father was a man of a very
bandy words with him, and even, according to the violent temper. Seeing that his passion was
little girl whose evidence is so important, to raise becoming ungovernable, I left him and re-
his hand as if to strike him. The self-reproach and turned towards Hatherley Farm. I had not
contrition which are displayed in his remark appear gone more than 150 yards, however, when
to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which
of a guilty one.” caused me to run back again. I found my
I shook my head. “Many men have been hanged father expiring upon the ground, with his
on far slighter evidence,” I remarked. head terribly injured. I dropped my gun
and held him in my arms, but he almost
“So they have. And many men have been instantly expired. I knelt beside him for
wrongfully hanged.” some minutes, and then made my way to
“What is the young man’s own account of the Mr. Turner’s lodge-keeper, his house being
matter?” the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no
“It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his one near my father when I returned, and
supporters, though there are one or two points in I have no idea how he came by his injuries.
it which are suggestive. You will find it here, and He was not a popular man, being somewhat
may read it for yourself.” cold and forbidding in his manners, but he
had, as far as I know, no active enemies. I
He picked out from his bundle a copy of the
know nothing further of the matter.’
local Herefordshire paper, and having turned down
the sheet he pointed out the paragraph in which “The Coroner: Did your father make any
the unfortunate young man had given his own statement to you before he died?
statement of what had occurred. I settled myself “Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I
down in the corner of the carriage and read it very could only catch some allusion to a rat.
carefully. It ran in this way: “The Coroner: What did you understand
45
by that? “ ‘Then if it was removed it was while you

“Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I were within a dozen yards of it?’
thought that he was delirious. “ ‘Yes, but with my back towards it.’
“The Coroner: What was the point upon “This concluded the examination of the
which you and your father had this final witness.”
quarrel? “I see,” said I as I glanced down the column, “that
“Witness: I should prefer not to answer. the coroner in his concluding remarks was rather
“The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press severe upon young McCarthy. He calls attention,
it. and with reason, to the discrepancy about his father
“Witness: It is really impossible for me to having signalled to him before seeing him, also to
tell you. I can assure you that it has noth- his refusal to give details of his conversation with
ing to do with the sad tragedy which fol- his father, and his singular account of his father’s
lowed. dying words. They are all, as he remarks, very
“The Coroner: That is for the court to de- much against the son.”
cide. I need not point out to you that Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched
your refusal to answer will prejudice your himself out upon the cushioned seat. “Both you
case considerably in any future proceedings and the coroner have been at some pains,” said he,
which may arise. “to single out the very strongest points in the young
“Witness: I must still refuse. man’s favour. Don’t you see that you alternately
“The Coroner: I understand that the cry of give him credit for having too much imagination
‘Cooee’ was a common signal between you and too little? Too little, if he could not invent a
and your father? cause of quarrel which would give him the sympa-
thy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from his
“Witness: It was.
own inner consciousness anything so outré as a
“The Coroner: How was it, then, that he
dying reference to a rat, and the incident of the van-
uttered it before he saw you, and before he
ishing cloth. No, sir, I shall approach this case from
even knew that you had returned from Bris-
the point of view that what this young man says is
tol?
true, and we shall see whither that hypothesis will
“Witness (with considerable confusion): I lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and
do not know. not another word shall I say of this case until we
“A Juryman: Did you see nothing which are on the scene of action. We lunch at Swindon,
aroused your suspicions when you returned and I see that we shall be there in twenty minutes.”
on hearing the cry and found your father
It was nearly four o’clock when we at last, after
fatally injured?
passing through the beautiful Stroud Valley, and
“Witness: Nothing definite. over the broad gleaming Severn, found ourselves
“The Coroner: What do you mean? at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A lean,
“Witness: I was so disturbed and excited ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was wait-
as I rushed out into the open, that I could ing for us upon the platform. In spite of the light
think of nothing except of my father. Yet I brown dustcoat and leather-leggings which he wore
have a vague impression that as I ran for- in deference to his rustic surroundings, I had no
ward something lay upon the ground to the difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of Scotland Yard.
left of me. It seemed to me to be something With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a
grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a room had already been engaged for us.
plaid perhaps. When I rose from my father “I have ordered a carriage,” said Lestrade as we
I looked round for it, but it was gone. sat over a cup of tea. “I knew your energetic nature,
“ ‘Do you mean that it disappeared before and that you would not be happy until you had
you went for help?’ been on the scene of the crime.”
“ ‘Yes, it was gone.’ “It was very nice and complimentary of you,”
“ ‘You cannot say what it was?’ Holmes answered. “It is entirely a question of baro-
“ ‘No, I had a feeling something was there.’ metric pressure.”
“ ‘How far from the body?’ Lestrade looked startled. “I do not quite follow,”
“ ‘A dozen yards or so.’ he said.
“ ‘And how far from the edge of the wood?’ “How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind,
“ ‘About the same.’ and not a cloud in the sky. I have a caseful of
46
cigarettes here which need smoking, and the sofa “It is no time for me to hide anything. James
is very much superior to the usual country hotel and his father had many disagreements about me.
abomination. I do not think that it is probable that Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that there should
I shall use the carriage to-night.” be a marriage between us. James and I have al-
Lestrade laughed indulgently. “You have, no ways loved each other as brother and sister; but of
doubt, already formed your conclusions from the course he is young and has seen very little of life
newspapers,” he said. “The case is as plain as a yet, and—and—well, he naturally did not wish to
pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer do anything like that yet. So there were quarrels,
it becomes. Still, of course, one can’t refuse a lady, and this, I am sure, was one of them.”
and such a very positive one, too. She has heard “And your father?” asked Holmes. “Was he in
of you, and would have your opinion, though I favour of such a union?”
repeatedly told her that there was nothing which “No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. Mc-
you could do which I had not already done. Why, Carthy was in favour of it.” A quick blush passed
bless my soul! here is her carriage at the door.” over her fresh young face as Holmes shot one of
He had hardly spoken before there rushed into his keen, questioning glances at her.
the room one of the most lovely young women that “Thank you for this information,” said he. “May
I have ever seen in my life. Her violet eyes shining, I see your father if I call to-morrow?”
her lips parted, a pink flush upon her cheeks, all “I am afraid the doctor won’t allow it.”
thought of her natural reserve lost in her overpow- “The doctor?”
ering excitement and concern. “Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never
“Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!” she cried, glanc- been strong for years back, but this has broken him
ing from one to the other of us, and finally, with a down completely. He has taken to his bed, and
woman’s quick intuition, fastening upon my com- Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his
panion, “I am so glad that you have come. I have nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the
driven down to tell you so. I know that James only man alive who had known dad in the old days
didn’t do it. I know it, and I want you to start in Victoria.”
upon your work knowing it, too. Never let yourself “Ha! In Victoria! That is important.”
doubt upon that point. We have known each other “Yes, at the mines.”
since we were little children, and I know his faults “Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I under-
as no one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to stand, Mr. Turner made his money.”
hurt a fly. Such a charge is absurd to anyone who
“Yes, certainly.”
really knows him.”
“Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of
“I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner,” said material assistance to me.”
Sherlock Holmes. “You may rely upon my doing “You will tell me if you have any news to-
all that I can.” morrow. No doubt you will go to the prison to
“But you have read the evidence. You have see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do tell him
formed some conclusion? Do you not see some that I know him to be innocent.”
loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself think “I will, Miss Turner.”
that he is innocent?” “I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and
“I think that it is very probable.” he misses me so if I leave him. Good-bye, and God
“There, now!” she cried, throwing back her head help you in your undertaking.” She hurried from
and looking defiantly at Lestrade. “You hear! He the room as impulsively as she had entered, and
gives me hopes.” we heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down
the street.
Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. “I am afraid “I am ashamed of you, Holmes,” said Lestrade
that my colleague has been a little quick in forming with dignity after a few minutes’ silence. “Why
his conclusions,” he said. should you raise up hopes which you are bound to
“But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I call
James never did it. And about his quarrel with his it cruel.”
father, I am sure that the reason why he would not “I think that I see my way to clearing James
speak about it to the coroner was because I was McCarthy,” said Holmes. “Have you an order to
concerned in it.” see him in prison?”
“In what way?” asked Holmes. “Yes, but only for you and me.”
47
“Then I shall reconsider my resolution about was! I did not wonder at Lestrade’s opinion, and
going out. We have still time to take a train to yet I had so much faith in Sherlock Holmes’ insight
Hereford and see him to-night?” that I could not lose hope as long as every fresh
fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young
“Ample.”
McCarthy’s innocence.
“Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned.
find it very slow, but I shall only be away a couple He came back alone, for Lestrade was staying in
of hours.” lodgings in the town.
I walked down to the station with them, and “The glass still keeps very high,” he remarked
then wandered through the streets of the little town, as he sat down. “It is of importance that it should
finally returning to the hotel, where I lay upon not rain before we are able to go over the ground.
the sofa and tried to interest myself in a yellow- On the other hand, a man should be at his very best
backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did
thin, however, when compared to the deep mys- not wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I
tery through which we were groping, and I found have seen young McCarthy.”
my attention wander so continually from the ac- “And what did you learn from him?”
tion to the fact, that I at last flung it across the “Nothing.”
room and gave myself up entirely to a considera-
“Could he throw no light?”
tion of the events of the day. Supposing that this
unhappy young man’s story were absolutely true, “None at all. I was inclined to think at one
then what hellish thing, what absolutely unforeseen time that he knew who had done it and was screen-
and extraordinary calamity could have occurred being him or her, but I am convinced now that he
tween the time when he parted from his father, and is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very
the moment when, drawn back by his screams, he quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and,
rushed into the glade? It was something terrible I should think, sound at heart.”
and deadly. What could it be? Might not the na- “I cannot admire his taste,” I remarked, “if it is
ture of the injuries reveal something to my medical indeed a fact that he was averse to a marriage with
instincts? I rang the bell and called for the weekly so charming a young lady as this Miss Turner.”
county paper, which contained a verbatim account “Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This
of the inquest. In the surgeon’s deposition it was fellow is madly, insanely, in love with her, but some
stated that the posterior third of the left parietal two years ago, when he was only a lad, and before
bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been he really knew her, for she had been away five years
shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but
I marked the spot upon my own head. Clearly get into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and
such a blow must have been struck from behind. marry her at a registry office? No one knows a
That was to some extent in favour of the accused, word of the matter, but you can imagine how mad-
as when seen quarrelling he was face to face with dening it must be to him to be upbraided for not
his father. Still, it did not go for very much, for doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but
the older man might have turned his back before what he knows to be absolutely impossible. It was
the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call sheer frenzy of this sort which made him throw
Holmes’ attention to it. Then there was the peculiar his hands up into the air when his father, at their
dying reference to a rat. What could that mean? It last interview, was goading him on to propose to
could not be delirium. A man dying from a sudden Miss Turner. On the other hand, he had no means
blow does not commonly become delirious. No, it of supporting himself, and his father, who was by
was more likely to be an attempt to explain how all accounts a very hard man, would have thrown
he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cud- him over utterly had he known the truth. It was
gelled my brains to find some possible explanation. with his barmaid wife that he had spent the last
And then the incident of the grey cloth seen by three days in Bristol, and his father did not know
young McCarthy. If that were true the murderer where he was. Mark that point. It is of importance.
must have dropped some part of his dress, pre- Good has come out of evil, however, for the bar-
sumably his overcoat, in his flight, and must have maid, finding from the papers that he is in serious
had the hardihood to return and to carry it away trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him
at the instant when the son was kneeling with his over utterly and has written to him to say that she
back turned not a dozen paces off. What a tissue has a husband already in the Bermuda Dockyard,
of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing so that there is really no tie between them. I think
48
that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy “Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you
for all that he has suffered.” seem to find it difficult to get hold of,” replied
“But if he is innocent, who has done it?” Lestrade with some warmth.
“Ah! who? I would call your attention very par- “And that is—”
ticularly to two points. One is that the murdered “That McCarthy senior met his death from Mc-
man had an appointment with someone at the pool, Carthy junior and that all theories to the contrary
and that the someone could not have been his son, are the merest moonshine.”
for his son was away, and he did not know when
he would return. The second is that the murdered “Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog,”
man was heard to cry ‘Cooee!’ before he knew that said Holmes, laughing. “But I am very much mis-
his son had returned. Those are the crucial points taken if this is not Hatherley Farm upon the left.”
upon which the case depends. And now let us talk “Yes, that is it.” It was a widespread,
about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall comfortable-looking building, two-storied, slate-
leave all minor matters until to-morrow.” roofed, with great yellow blotches of lichen upon
There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smoke-
the morning broke bright and cloudless. At nine less chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as
o’clock Lestrade called for us with the carriage, and though the weight of this horror still lay heavy
we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe upon it. We called at the door, when the maid, at
Pool. Holmes’ request, showed us the boots which her
master wore at the time of his death, and also a
“There is serious news this morning,” Lestrade pair of the son’s, though not the pair which he had
observed. “It is said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is then had. Having measured these very carefully
so ill that his life is despaired of.” from seven or eight different points, Holmes de-
“An elderly man, I presume?” said Holmes. sired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all
followed the winding track which led to Boscombe
“About sixty; but his constitution has been shat-
Pool.
tered by his life abroad, and he has been in failing
health for some time. This business has had a very Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was
bad effect upon him. He was an old friend of Mc- hot upon such a scent as this. Men who had only
Carthy’s, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, known the quiet thinker and logician of Baker
for I have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm Street would have failed to recognise him. His
rent free.” face flushed and darkened. His brows were drawn
“Indeed! That is interesting,” said Holmes. into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone out
from beneath them with a steely glitter. His face
“Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips
helped him. Everybody about here speaks of his compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord
kindness to him.” in his long, sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to
“Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular dilate with a purely animal lust for the chase, and
that this McCarthy, who appears to have had little his mind was so absolutely concentrated upon the
of his own, and to have been under such obligations matter before him that a question or remark fell
to Turner, should still talk of marrying his son to unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only pro-
Turner’s daughter, who is, presumably, heiress to voked a quick, impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly
the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, and silently he made his way along the track which
as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all ran through the meadows, and so by way of the
else would follow? It is the more strange, since we woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy
know that Turner himself was averse to the idea. ground, as is all that district, and there were marks
The daughter told us as much. Do you not deduce of many feet, both upon the path and amid the
something from that?” short grass which bounded it on either side. Some-
times Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop
“We have got to the deductions and the infer- dead, and once he made quite a little detour into
ences,” said Lestrade, winking at me. “I find it the meadow. Lestrade and I walked behind him,
hard enough to tackle facts, Holmes, without flying the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while I
away after theories and fancies.” watched my friend with the interest which sprang
“You are right,” said Holmes demurely; “you from the conviction that every one of his actions
do find it very hard to tackle the facts.” was directed towards a definite end.
49
The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt to me to be dust into an envelope and examining
sheet of water some fifty yards across, is situated at with his lens not only the ground but even the bark
the boundary between the Hatherley Farm and the of the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone
private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. Above the was lying among the moss, and this also he care-
woods which lined it upon the farther side we could fully examined and retained. Then he followed a
see the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site pathway through the wood until he came to the
of the rich landowner’s dwelling. On the Hatherley highroad, where all traces were lost.
side of the pool the woods grew very thick, and “It has been a case of considerable interest,”
there was a narrow belt of sodden grass twenty he remarked, returning to his natural manner. “I
paces across between the edge of the trees and the fancy that this grey house on the right must be the
reeds which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us lodge. I think that I will go in and have a word
the exact spot at which the body had been found, with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Hav-
and, indeed, so moist was the ground, that I could ing done that, we may drive back to our luncheon.
plainly see the traces which had been left by the fall You may walk to the cab, and I shall be with you
of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by presently.”
his eager face and peering eyes, very many other
It was about ten minutes before we regained our
things were to be read upon the trampled grass.
cab and drove back into Ross, Holmes still carrying
He ran round, like a dog who is picking up a scent,
with him the stone which he had picked up in the
and then turned upon my companion.
wood.
“What did you go into the pool for?” he asked. “This may interest you, Lestrade,” he remarked,
“I fished about with a rake. I thought there holding it out. “The murder was done with it.”
might be some weapon or other trace. But how on “I see no marks.”
earth—” “There are none.”
“Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of “How do you know, then?”
yours with its inward twist is all over the place. A “The grass was growing under it. It had only
mole could trace it, and there it vanishes among lain there a few days. There was no sign of a place
the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all have been whence it had been taken. It corresponds with the
had I been here before they came like a herd of injuries. There is no sign of any other weapon.”
buffalo and wallowed all over it. Here is where “And the murderer?”
the party with the lodge-keeper came, and they
have covered all tracks for six or eight feet round “Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right
the body. But here are three separate tracks of the leg, wears thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey
same feet.” He drew out a lens and lay down upon cloak, smokes Indian cigars, uses a cigar-holder,
his waterproof to have a better view, talking all and carries a blunt pen-knife in his pocket. There
the time rather to himself than to us. “These are are several other indications, but these may be
young McCarthy’s feet. Twice he was walking, and enough to aid us in our search.”
once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are deeply Lestrade laughed. “I am afraid that I am still a
marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears sceptic,” he said. “Theories are all very well, but
out his story. He ran when he saw his father on the we have to deal with a hard-headed British jury.”
ground. Then here are the father’s feet as he paced “Nous verrons,” answered Holmes calmly. “You
up and down. What is this, then? It is the butt-end work your own method, and I shall work mine. I
of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? Ha, shall be busy this afternoon, and shall probably
ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, return to London by the evening train.”
too, quite unusual boots! They come, they go, they “And leave your case unfinished?”
come again—of course that was for the cloak. Now
“No, finished.”
where did they come from?” He ran up and down,
sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track un- “But the mystery?”
til we were well within the edge of the wood and “It is solved.”
under the shadow of a great beech, the largest tree “Who was the criminal, then?”
in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced his way to
“The gentleman I describe.”
the farther side of this and lay down once more
upon his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For “But who is he?”
a long time he remained there, turning over the “Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This
leaves and dried sticks, gathering up what seemed is not such a populous neighbourhood.”
50
Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. “I am a prac- “Quite so. That was the word the man uttered,
tical man,” he said, “and I really cannot undertake and of which his son only caught the last two syl-
to go about the country looking for a left-handed lables. He was trying to utter the name of his
gentleman with a game leg. I should become the murderer. So and so, of Ballarat.”
laughing-stock of Scotland Yard.” “It is wonderful!” I exclaimed.
“All right,” said Holmes quietly. “I have given “It is obvious. And now, you see, I had nar-
you the chance. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. rowed the field down considerably. The possession
I shall drop you a line before I leave.” of a grey garment was a third point which, granting
the son’s statement to be correct, was a certainty.
Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to
We have come now out of mere vagueness to the
our hotel, where we found lunch upon the table.
definite conception of an Australian from Ballarat
Holmes was silent and buried in thought with a
with a grey cloak.”
pained expression upon his face, as one who finds
“Certainly.”
himself in a perplexing position.
“And one who was at home in the district, for
“Look here, Watson,” he said when the cloth the pool can only be approached by the farm or by
was cleared “just sit down in this chair and let me the estate, where strangers could hardly wander.”
preach to you for a little. I don’t know quite what “Quite so.”
to do, and I should value your advice. Light a cigar
“Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an
and let me expound.”
examination of the ground I gained the trifling de-
“Pray do so.” tails which I gave to that imbecile Lestrade, as to
“Well, now, in considering this case there are the personality of the criminal.”
two points about young McCarthy’s narrative “But how did you gain them?”
which struck us both instantly, although they im- “You know my method. It is founded upon the
pressed me in his favour and you against him. One observation of trifles.”
was the fact that his father should, according to “His height I know that you might roughly
his account, cry ‘Cooee!’ before seeing him. The judge from the length of his stride. His boots, too,
other was his singular dying reference to a rat. He might be told from their traces.”
mumbled several words, you understand, but that “Yes, they were peculiar boots.”
was all that caught the son’s ear. Now from this “But his lameness?”
double point our research must commence, and we “The impression of his right foot was always
will begin it by presuming that what the lad says is less distinct than his left. He put less weight upon
absolutely true.” it. Why? Because he limped—he was lame.”
“What of this ‘Cooee!’ then?” “But his left-handedness.”
“Well, obviously it could not have been meant “You were yourself struck by the nature of the
for the son. The son, as far as he knew, was in Bris- injury as recorded by the surgeon at the inquest.
tol. It was mere chance that he was within earshot. The blow was struck from immediately behind, and
The ‘Cooee!’ was meant to attract the attention yet was upon the left side. Now, how can that be
of whoever it was that he had the appointment unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood
with. But ‘Cooee’ is a distinctly Australian cry, and behind that tree during the interview between the
one which is used between Australians. There is father and son. He had even smoked there. I found
a strong presumption that the person whom Mc- the ash of a cigar, which my special knowledge
Carthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an
someone who had been in Australia.” Indian cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some
attention to this, and written a little monograph on
“What of the rat, then?” the ashes of 140 different varieties of pipe, cigar,
Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his and cigarette tobacco. Having found the ash, I then
pocket and flattened it out on the table. “This is a looked round and discovered the stump among the
map of the Colony of Victoria,” he said. “I wired to moss where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar,
Bristol for it last night.” He put his hand over part of the variety which are rolled in Rotterdam.”
of the map. “What do you read?” “And the cigar-holder?”
“ARAT,” I read. “I could see that the end had not been in his
mouth. Therefore he used a holder. The tip had
“And now?” He raised his hand. been cut off, not bitten off, but the cut was not a
“BALLARAT.” clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife.”
51
“Holmes,” I said, “you have drawn a net round “I am a dying man,” said old Turner. “I have
this man from which he cannot escape, and you had diabetes for years. My doctor says it is a ques-
have saved an innocent human life as truly as if tion whether I shall live a month. Yet I would rather
you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see die under my own roof than in a jail.”
the direction in which all this points. The culprit Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his
is—” pen in his hand and a bundle of paper before him.
“Mr. John Turner,” cried the hotel waiter, open- “Just tell us the truth,” he said. “I shall jot down the
ing the door of our sitting-room, and ushering in a facts. You will sign it, and Watson here can witness
visitor. it. Then I could produce your confession at the
last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise
The man who entered was a strange and im-
you that I shall not use it unless it is absolutely
pressive figure. His slow, limping step and bowed
needed.”
shoulders gave the appearance of decrepitude, and
yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and his “It’s as well,” said the old man; “it’s a question
enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of whether I shall live to the Assizes, so it matters
unusual strength of body and of character. His tan- little to me, but I should wish to spare Alice the
gled beard, grizzled hair, and outstanding, droop- shock. And now I will make the thing clear to you;
ing eyebrows combined to give an air of dignity it has been a long time in the acting, but will not
and power to his appearance, but his face was of an take me long to tell.
ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his “You didn’t know this dead man, McCarthy. He
nostrils were tinged with a shade of blue. It was was a devil incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you
clear to me at a glance that he was in the grip of out of the clutches of such a man as he. His grip
some deadly and chronic disease. has been upon me these twenty years, and he has
“Pray sit down on the sofa,” said Holmes gently. blasted my life. I’ll tell you first how I came to be
“You had my note?” in his power.
“It was in the early ’60’s at the diggings. I was a
“Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said
young chap then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready
that you wished to see me here to avoid scandal.”
to turn my hand at anything; I got among bad com-
“I thought people would talk if I went to the panions, took to drink, had no luck with my claim,
Hall.” took to the bush, and in a word became what you
“And why did you wish to see me?” He looked would call over here a highway robber. There were
across at my companion with despair in his weary six of us, and we had a wild, free life of it, stick-
eyes, as though his question was already answered. ing up a station from time to time, or stopping the
wagons on the road to the diggings. Black Jack of
“Yes,” said Holmes, answering the look rather Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party
than the words. “It is so. I know all about Mc- is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat
Carthy.” Gang.
The old man sank his face in his hands. “God “One day a gold convoy came down from Bal-
help me!” he cried. “But I would not have let the larat to Melbourne, and we lay in wait for it and
young man come to harm. I give you my word that attacked it. There were six troopers and six of us,
I would have spoken out if it went against him at so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of their
the Assizes.” saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were
“I am glad to hear you say so,” said Holmes killed, however, before we got the swag. I put my
gravely. pistol to the head of the wagon-driver, who was
this very man McCarthy. I wish to the Lord that I
“I would have spoken now had it not been for had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw
my dear girl. It would break her heart—it will his wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though
break her heart when she hears that I am arrested.” to remember every feature. We got away with the
“It may not come to that,” said Holmes. gold, became wealthy men, and made our way over
to England without being suspected. There I parted
“What?”
from my old pals and determined to settle down
“I am no official agent. I understand that it was to a quiet and respectable life. I bought this estate,
your daughter who required my presence here, and which chanced to be in the market, and I set myself
I am acting in her interests. Young McCarthy must to do a little good with my money, to make up for
be got off, however.” the way in which I had earned it. I married, too,
52
and though my wife died young she left me my already a dying and a desperate man. Though clear
dear little Alice. Even when she was just a baby her of mind and fairly strong of limb, I knew that my
wee hand seemed to lead me down the right path own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl!
as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul
over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the tongue. I did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again.
past. All was going well when McCarthy laid his Deeply as I have sinned, I have led a life of mar-
grip upon me. tyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl should be
“I had gone up to town about an investment, entangled in the same meshes which held me was
and I met him in Regent Street with hardly a coat more than I could suffer. I struck him down with
to his back or a boot to his foot. no more compunction than if he had been some
foul and venomous beast. His cry brought back
“ ‘Here we are, Jack,’ says he, touching me on his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood,
the arm; ‘we’ll be as good as a family to you. though I was forced to go back to fetch the cloak
There’s two of us, me and my son, and you can which I had dropped in my flight. That is the true
have the keeping of us. If you don’t—it’s a fine, story, gentlemen, of all that occurred.”
law-abiding country is England, and there’s always
a policeman within hail.’ “Well, it is not for me to judge you,” said
Holmes as the old man signed the statement which
“Well, down they came to the west country, had been drawn out. “I pray that we may never be
there was no shaking them off, and there they have exposed to such a temptation.”
lived rent free on my best land ever since. There
“I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to
was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; turn
do?”
where I would, there was his cunning, grinning
face at my elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, “In view of your health, nothing. You are
for he soon saw I was more afraid of her knowing yourself aware that you will soon have to answer
my past than of the police. Whatever he wanted he for your deed at a higher court than the Assizes.
must have, and whatever it was I gave him without I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is
question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it
a thing which I could not give. He asked for Alice. shall never be seen by mortal eye; and your secret,
whether you be alive or dead, shall be safe with
“His son, you see, had grown up, and so had
us.”
my girl, and as I was known to be in weak health,
it seemed a fine stroke to him that his lad should “Farewell, then,” said the old man solemnly.
step into the whole property. But there I was firm. “Your own deathbeds, when they come, will be the
I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; easier for the thought of the peace which you have
not that I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood given to mine.” Tottering and shaking in all his
was in him, and that was enough. I stood firm. giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room.
McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do his worst. “God help us!” said Holmes after a long silence.
We were to meet at the pool midway between our “Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless
houses to talk it over. worms? I never hear of such a case as this that I do
“When I went down there I found him talking not think of Baxter’s words, and say, ‘There, but for
with his son, so I smoked a cigar and waited behind the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.’ ”
a tree until he should be alone. But as I listened to James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes
his talk all that was black and bitter in me seemed on the strength of a number of objections which
to come uppermost. He was urging his son to had been drawn out by Holmes and submitted to
marry my daughter with as little regard for what the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven
she might think as if she were a slut from off the months after our interview, but he is now dead; and
streets. It drove me mad to think that I and all that there is every prospect that the son and daughter
I held most dear should be in the power of such may come to live happily together in ignorance of
a man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was the black cloud which rests upon their past.
53
The Five Orange Pips
W
hen I glance over my notes and records Holmes sat moodily at one side of the fireplace
of the Sherlock Holmes cases between cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the
the years ’82 and ’90, I am faced by so other was deep in one of Clark Russell’s fine sea-
many which present strange and inter- stories until the howl of the gale from without
esting features that it is no easy matter to know seemed to blend with the text, and the splash of
which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of the
have already gained publicity through the papers, sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother’s,
and others have not offered a field for those pecu- and for a few days I was a dweller once more in
liar qualities which my friend possessed in so high my old quarters at Baker Street.
a degree, and which it is the object of these papers “Why,” said I, glancing up at my companion,
to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his analytical “that was surely the bell. Who could come to-night?
skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings with- Some friend of yours, perhaps?”
out an ending, while others have been but partially
cleared up, and have their explanations founded “Except yourself I have none,” he answered. “I
rather upon conjecture and surmise than on that do not encourage visitors.”
absolute logical proof which was so dear to him. “A client, then?”
There is, however, one of these last which was so
“If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would
remarkable in its details and so startling in its re-
bring a man out on such a day and at such an hour.
sults that I am tempted to give some account of it in
But I take it that it is more likely to be some crony
spite of the fact that there are points in connection
of the landlady’s.”
with it which never have been, and probably never
will be, entirely cleared up. Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture,
however, for there came a step in the passage and a
The year ’87 furnished us with a long series
tapping at the door. He stretched out his long arm
of cases of greater or less interest, of which I re-
to turn the lamp away from himself and towards
tain the records. Among my headings under this
the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit.
one twelve months I find an account of the ad-
venture of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur “Come in!” said he.
Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club in The man who entered was young, some two-
the lower vault of a furniture warehouse, of the and-twenty at the outside, well-groomed and trimly
facts connected with the loss of the British barque clad, with something of refinement and delicacy in
“Sophy Anderson”, of the singular adventures of his bearing. The streaming umbrella which he held
the Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told
of the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as of the fierce weather through which he had come.
may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes was able, by He looked about him anxiously in the glare of the
winding up the dead man’s watch, to prove that lamp, and I could see that his face was pale and
it had been wound up two hours before, and that his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is weighed
therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that down with some great anxiety.
time—a deduction which was of the greatest im-
portance in clearing up the case. All these I may “I owe you an apology,” he said, raising his
sketch out at some future date, but none of them golden pince-nez to his eyes. “I trust that I am not
present such singular features as the strange train intruding. I fear that I have brought some traces of
of circumstances which I have now taken up my the storm and rain into your snug chamber.”
pen to describe. “Give me your coat and umbrella,” said Holmes.
It was in the latter days of September, and the “They may rest here on the hook and will be dry
equinoctial gales had set in with exceptional vi- presently. You have come up from the south-west,
olence. All day the wind had screamed and the I see.”
rain had beaten against the windows, so that even “Yes, from Horsham.”
here in the heart of great, hand-made London we
“That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon
were forced to raise our minds for the instant from
your toe caps is quite distinctive.”
the routine of life and to recognise the presence
of those great elemental forces which shriek at “I have come for advice.”
mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like “That is easily got.”
untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the
storm grew higher and louder, and the wind cried “And help.”
and sobbed like a child in the chimney. Sherlock “That is not always so easy.”
57
“I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard came back to Europe and took a small estate in
from Major Prendergast how you saved him in Sussex, near Horsham. He had made a very con-
the Tankerville Club scandal.” siderable fortune in the States, and his reason for
“Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and
cheating at cards.” his dislike of the Republican policy in extending the
franchise to them. He was a singular man, fierce
“He said that you could solve anything.”
and quick-tempered, very foul-mouthed when he
“He said too much.” was angry, and of a most retiring disposition. Dur-
“That you are never beaten.” ing all the years that he lived at Horsham, I doubt
“I have been beaten four times—three times by if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden
men, and once by a woman.” and two or three fields round his house, and there
he would take his exercise, though very often for
“But what is that compared with the number of weeks on end he would never leave his room. He
your successes?” drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very
“It is true that I have been generally successful.” heavily, but he would see no society and did not
“Then you may be so with me.” want any friends, not even his own brother.
“I beg that you will draw your chair up to the “He didn’t mind me; in fact, he took a fancy
fire and favour me with some details as to your to me, for at the time when he saw me first I was
case.” a youngster of twelve or so. This would be in the
year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years
“It is no ordinary one.”
in England. He begged my father to let me live
“None of those which come to me are. I am the with him and he was very kind to me in his way.
last court of appeal.” When he was sober he used to be fond of playing
“And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your backgammon and draughts with me, and he would
experience, you have ever listened to a more mys- make me his representative both with the servants
terious and inexplicable chain of events than those and with the tradespeople, so that by the time that
which have happened in my own family.” I was sixteen I was quite master of the house. I
“You fill me with interest,” said Holmes. “Pray kept all the keys and could go where I liked and
give us the essential facts from the commencement, do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him
and I can afterwards question you as to those de- in his privacy. There was one singular exception,
tails which seem to me to be most important.” however, for he had a single room, a lumber-room
up among the attics, which was invariably locked,
The young man pulled his chair up and pushed and which he would never permit either me or
his wet feet out towards the blaze. anyone else to enter. With a boy’s curiosity I have
“My name,” said he, “is John Openshaw, but peeped through the keyhole, but I was never able
my own affairs have, as far as I can understand, lit- to see more than such a collection of old trunks and
tle to do with this awful business. It is a hereditary bundles as would be expected in such a room.
matter; so in order to give you an idea of the facts, “One day—it was in March, 1883—a letter with
I must go back to the commencement of the affair. a foreign stamp lay upon the table in front of the
“You must know that my grandfather had two colonel’s plate. It was not a common thing for him
sons—my uncle Elias and my father Joseph. My to receive letters, for his bills were all paid in ready
father had a small factory at Coventry, which he money, and he had no friends of any sort. ‘From
enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. India!’ said he as he took it up, ‘Pondicherry post-
He was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable mark! What can this be?’ Opening it hurriedly, out
tire, and his business met with such success that he there jumped five little dried orange pips, which
was able to sell it and to retire upon a handsome pattered down upon his plate. I began to laugh
competence. at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at
“My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he the sight of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes
was a young man and became a planter in Florida, were protruding, his skin the colour of putty, and
where he was reported to have done very well. At he glared at the envelope which he still held in his
the time of the war he fought in Jackson’s army, trembling hand, ‘K. K. K.!’ he shrieked, and then,
and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be ‘My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!’
a colonel. When Lee laid down his arms my un- “ ‘What is it, uncle?’ I cried.
cle returned to his plantation, where he remained “ ‘Death,’ said he, and rising from the table he
for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he retired to his room, leaving me palpitating with
58
horror. I took up the envelope and saw scrawled face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as
in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the gum, though it were new raised from a basin.
the letter K three times repeated. There was noth- “Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr.
ing else save the five dried pips. What could be Holmes, and not to abuse your patience, there came
the reason of his overpowering terror? I left the a night when he made one of those drunken sallies
breakfast-table, and as I ascended the stair I met from which he never came back. We found him,
him coming down with an old rusty key, which when we went to search for him, face downward
must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a in a little green-scummed pool, which lay at the
small brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. foot of the garden. There was no sign of any vio-
“ ‘They may do what they like, but I’ll check- lence, and the water was but two feet deep, so that
mate them still,’ said he with an oath. ‘Tell Mary the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity,
that I shall want a fire in my room to-day, and send brought in a verdict of ‘suicide.’ But I, who knew
down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.’ how he winced from the very thought of death, had
much ado to persuade myself that he had gone out
“I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer ar-
of his way to meet it. The matter passed, however,
rived I was asked to step up to the room. The fire
and my father entered into possession of the estate,
was burning brightly, and in the grate there was
and of some £14,000, which lay to his credit at the
a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned paper,
bank.”
while the brass box stood open and empty beside
it. As I glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, “One moment,” Holmes interposed, “your state-
that upon the lid was printed the treble K which I ment is, I foresee, one of the most remarkable to
had read in the morning upon the envelope. which I have ever listened. Let me have the date
of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and the
“ ‘I wish you, John,’ said my uncle, ‘to witness date of his supposed suicide.”
my will. I leave my estate, with all its advantages
and all its disadvantages, to my brother, your father, “The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death
whence it will, no doubt, descend to you. If you was seven weeks later, upon the night of May 2nd.”
can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find “Thank you. Pray proceed.”
you cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to “When my father took over the Horsham prop-
your deadliest enemy. I am sorry to give you such erty, he, at my request, made a careful examination
a two-edged thing, but I can’t say what turn things of the attic, which had been always locked up. We
are going to take. Kindly sign the paper where Mr. found the brass box there, although its contents
Fordham shows you.’ had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was
“I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer a paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated
took it away with him. The singular incident made, upon it, and ‘Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a
as you may think, the deepest impression upon me, register’ written beneath. These, we presume, in-
and I pondered over it and turned it every way in dicated the nature of the papers which had been
my mind without being able to make anything of it. destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there
Yet I could not shake off the vague feeling of dread was nothing of much importance in the attic save a
which it left behind, though the sensation grew less great many scattered papers and note-books bear-
keen as the weeks passed and nothing happened to ing upon my uncle’s life in America. Some of them
disturb the usual routine of our lives. I could see a were of the war time and showed that he had done
change in my uncle, however. He drank more than his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave
ever, and he was less inclined for any sort of society. soldier. Others were of a date during the recon-
Most of his time he would spend in his room, with struction of the Southern states, and were mostly
the door locked upon the inside, but sometimes concerned with politics, for he had evidently taken
he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy and a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag politicians
would burst out of the house and tear about the who had been sent down from the North.
garden with a revolver in his hand, screaming out “Well, it was the beginning of ’84 when my fa-
that he was afraid of no man, and that he was not ther came to live at Horsham, and all went as well
to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by man or as possible with us until the January of ’85. On
devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he the fourth day after the new year I heard my father
would rush tumultuously in at the door and lock give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at
and bar it behind him, like a man who can brazen the breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a
it out no longer against the terror which lies at the newly opened envelope in one hand and five dried
roots of his soul. At such times I have seen his orange pips in the outstretched palm of the other
59
one. He had always laughed at what he called jury had no hesitation in bringing in a verdict of
my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he ‘death from accidental causes.’ Carefully as I ex-
looked very scared and puzzled now that the same amined every fact connected with his death, I was
thing had come upon himself. unable to find anything which could suggest the
“ ‘Why, what on earth does this mean, John?’ he idea of murder. There were no signs of violence,
stammered. no footmarks, no robbery, no record of strangers
having been seen upon the roads. And yet I need
“My heart had turned to lead. ‘It is K. K. K.,’ not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, and
said I. that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had
“He looked inside the envelope. ‘So it is,’ he been woven round him.
cried. ‘Here are the very letters. But what is this “In this sinister way I came into my inheritance.
written above them?’ You will ask me why I did not dispose of it? I
“ ‘Put the papers on the sundial,’ I read, peeping answer, because I was well convinced that our trou-
over his shoulder. bles were in some way dependent upon an incident
“ ‘What papers? What sundial?’ he asked. in my uncle’s life, and that the danger would be as
pressing in one house as in another.
“ ‘The sundial in the garden. There is no other,’
said I; ‘but the papers must be those that are de- “It was in January, ’85, that my poor father
stroyed.’ met his end, and two years and eight months have
elapsed since then. During that time I have lived
“ ‘Pooh!’ said he, gripping hard at his courage. happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that
‘We are in a civilised land here, and we can’t have this curse had passed away from the family, and
tomfoolery of this kind. Where does the thing come that it had ended with the last generation. I had
from?’ begun to take comfort too soon, however; yesterday
“ ‘From Dundee,’ I answered, glancing at the morning the blow fell in the very shape in which it
postmark. had come upon my father.”
“ ‘Some preposterous practical joke,’ said he. The young man took from his waistcoat a crum-
‘What have I to do with sundials and papers? I pled envelope, and turning to the table he shook
shall take no notice of such nonsense.’ out upon it five little dried orange pips.
“ ‘I should certainly speak to the police,’ I said. “This is the envelope,” he continued. “The post-
mark is London—eastern division. Within are the
“ ‘And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of
very words which were upon my father’s last mes-
the sort.’
sage: ‘K. K. K.’; and then ‘Put the papers on the
“ ‘Then let me do so?’ sundial.’ ”
“ ‘No, I forbid you. I won’t have a fuss made “What have you done?” asked Holmes.
about such nonsense.’ “Nothing.”
“It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a “Nothing?”
very obstinate man. I went about, however, with a
“To tell the truth”—he sank his face into his
heart which was full of forebodings.
thin, white hands—“I have felt helpless. I have felt
“On the third day after the coming of the letter like one of those poor rabbits when the snake is
my father went from home to visit an old friend of writhing towards it. I seem to be in the grasp of
his, Major Freebody, who is in command of one of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight
the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad that he and no precautions can guard against.”
should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther “Tut! tut!” cried Sherlock Holmes. “You must
from danger when he was away from home. In act, man, or you are lost. Nothing but energy can
that, however, I was in error. Upon the second day save you. This is no time for despair.”
of his absence I received a telegram from the major,
“I have seen the police.”
imploring me to come at once. My father had fallen
over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in “Ah!”
the neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with “But they listened to my story with a smile. I am
a shattered skull. I hurried to him, but he passed convinced that the inspector has formed the opin-
away without having ever recovered his conscious- ion that the letters are all practical jokes, and that
ness. He had, as it appears, been returning from the deaths of my relations were really accidents, as
Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was the jury stated, and were not to be connected with
unknown to him, and the chalk-pit unfenced, the the warnings.”
60
Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. described. You must also put in a note to say that
“Incredible imbecility!” he cried. all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and
“They have, however, allowed me a policeman, that this is the only one which remains. You must
who may remain in the house with me.” assert that in such words as will carry conviction
with them. Having done this, you must at once put
“Has he come with you to-night?”
the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do you
“No. His orders were to stay in the house.” understand?”
Again Holmes raved in the air. “Entirely.”
“Why did you come to me,” he cried, “and, “Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort,
above all, why did you not come at once?” at present. I think that we may gain that by means
“I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke of the law; but we have our web to weave, while
to Major Prendergast about my troubles and was theirs is already woven. The first consideration is
advised by him to come to you.” to remove the pressing danger which threatens you.
The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish
“It is really two days since you had the letter.
the guilty parties.”
We should have acted before this. You have no
further evidence, I suppose, than that which you “I thank you,” said the young man, rising and
have placed before us—no suggestive detail which pulling on his overcoat. “You have given me fresh
might help us?” life and hope. I shall certainly do as you advise.”
“Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take
“There is one thing,” said John Openshaw. He
care of yourself in the meanwhile, for I do not think
rummaged in his coat pocket, and, drawing out a
that there can be a doubt that you are threatened
piece of discoloured, blue-tinted paper, he laid it
by a very real and imminent danger. How do you
out upon the table. “I have some remembrance,”
go back?”
said he, “that on the day when my uncle burned the
papers I observed that the small, unburned margins “By train from Waterloo.”
which lay amid the ashes were of this particular “It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded,
colour. I found this single sheet upon the floor of so I trust that you may be in safety. And yet you
his room, and I am inclined to think that it may cannot guard yourself too closely.”
be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered “I am armed.”
out from among the others, and in that way has “That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work
escaped destruction. Beyond the mention of pips, I upon your case.”
do not see that it helps us much. I think myself that
“I shall see you at Horsham, then?”
it is a page from some private diary. The writing is
undoubtedly my uncle’s.” “No, your secret lies in London. It is there that
I shall seek it.”
Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over
“Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two
the sheet of paper, which showed by its ragged
days, with news as to the box and the papers. I shall
edge that it had indeed been torn from a book. It
take your advice in every particular.” He shook
was headed, “March, 1869,” and beneath were the
hands with us and took his leave. Outside the
following enigmatical notices:
wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pat-
4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. tered against the windows. This strange, wild story
7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and seemed to have come to us from amid the mad ele-
John Swain, of St. Augustine. ments—blown in upon us like a sheet of sea-weed
9th. McCauley cleared. in a gale—and now to have been reabsorbed by
10th. John Swain cleared. them once more.
12th. Visited Paramore. All well.
Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence,
“Thank you!” said Holmes, folding up the pa- with his head sunk forward and his eyes bent upon
per and returning it to our visitor. “And now you the red glow of the fire. Then he lit his pipe,
must on no account lose another instant. We cannot and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue
spare time even to discuss what you have told me. smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the
You must get home instantly and act.” ceiling.
“What shall I do?” “I think, Watson,” he remarked at last, “that of
“There is but one thing to do. It must be done at all our cases we have had none more fantastic than
once. You must put this piece of paper which you this.”
have shown us into the brass box which you have “Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four.”
61
“Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this need certainly to muster all our resources. Kindly
John Openshaw seems to me to be walking amid hand me down the letter K of the ‘American En-
even greater perils than did the Sholtos.” cyclopaedia’ which stands upon the shelf beside
“But have you,” I asked, “formed any definite you. Thank you. Now let us consider the situation
conception as to what these perils are?” and see what may be deduced from it. In the first
place, we may start with a strong presumption that
“There can be no question as to their nature,”
Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason
he answered.
for leaving America. Men at his time of life do
“Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and not change all their habits and exchange willingly
why does he pursue this unhappy family?” the charming climate of Florida for the lonely life
Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his of an English provincial town. His extreme love
elbows upon the arms of his chair, with his finger- of solitude in England suggests the idea that he
tips together. “The ideal reasoner,” he remarked, was in fear of someone or something, so we may
“would, when he had once been shown a single assume as a working hypothesis that it was fear
fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all of someone or something which drove him from
the chain of events which led up to it but also all America. As to what it was he feared, we can only
the results which would follow from it. As Cuvier deduce that by considering the formidable letters
could correctly describe a whole animal by the con- which were received by himself and his successors.
templation of a single bone, so the observer who Did you remark the postmarks of those letters?”
has thoroughly understood one link in a series of “The first was from Pondicherry, the second
incidents should be able to accurately state all the from Dundee, and the third from London.”
other ones, both before and after. We have not yet “From East London. What do you deduce from
grasped the results which the reason alone can at- that?”
tain to. Problems may be solved in the study which
“They are all seaports. That the writer was on
have baffled all those who have sought a solution
board of a ship.”
by the aid of their senses. To carry the art, however,
to its highest pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner “Excellent. We have already a clue. There can
should be able to utilise all the facts which have be no doubt that the probability—the strong prob-
come to his knowledge; and this in itself implies, as ability—is that the writer was on board of a ship.
you will readily see, a possession of all knowledge, And now let us consider another point. In the case
which, even in these days of free education and en- of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the
cyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. threat and its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only
It is not so impossible, however, that a man should some three or four days. Does that suggest any-
possess all knowledge which is likely to be useful thing?”
to him in his work, and this I have endeavoured “A greater distance to travel.”
in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on “But the letter had also a greater distance to
one occasion, in the early days of our friendship, come.”
defined my limits in a very precise fashion.” “Then I do not see the point.”
“Yes,” I answered, laughing. “It was a singu- “There is at least a presumption that the vessel
lar document. Philosophy, astronomy, and politics in which the man or men are is a sailing-ship. It
were marked at zero, I remember. Botany variable, looks as if they always send their singular warn-
geology profound as regards the mud-stains from ing or token before them when starting upon their
any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry mission. You see how quickly the deed followed
eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational litera- the sign when it came from Dundee. If they had
ture and crime records unique, violin-player, boxer, come from Pondicherry in a steamer they would
swordsman, lawyer, and self-poisoner by cocaine have arrived almost as soon as their letter. But,
and tobacco. Those, I think, were the main points as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think
of my analysis.” that those seven weeks represented the difference
Holmes grinned at the last item. “Well,” he said, between the mail-boat which brought the letter and
“I say now, as I said then, that a man should keep the sailing vessel which brought the writer.”
his little brain-attic stocked with all the furniture “It is possible.”
that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away “More than that. It is probable. And now you
in the lumber-room of his library, where he can see the deadly urgency of this new case, and why I
get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the urged young Openshaw to caution. The blow has
one which has been submitted to us to-night, we always fallen at the end of the time which it would
62
take the senders to travel the distance. But this one government and of the better classes of the
comes from London, and therefore we cannot count community in the South. Eventually, in
upon delay.” the year 1869, the movement rather sud-
“Good God!” I cried. “What can it mean, this denly collapsed, although there have been
relentless persecution?” sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since
that date.’
“The papers which Openshaw carried are obvi-
ously of vital importance to the person or persons “You will observe,” said Holmes, laying down the
in the sailing-ship. I think that it is quite clear that volume, “that the sudden breaking up of the soci-
there must be more than one of them. A single ety was coincident with the disappearance of Open-
man could not have carried out two deaths in such shaw from America with their papers. It may well
a way as to deceive a coroner’s jury. There must have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that
have been several in it, and they must have been he and his family have some of the more implaca-
men of resource and determination. Their papers ble spirits upon their track. You can understand
they mean to have, be the holder of them who it that this register and diary may implicate some of
may. In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the the first men in the South, and that there may be
initials of an individual and becomes the badge of many who will not sleep easy at night until it is
a society.” recovered.”
“But of what society?” “Then the page we have seen—”
“Have you never—” said Sherlock Holmes, “Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remem-
bending forward and sinking his voice—“have you ber right, ‘sent the pips to A, B, and C’—that is,
never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?” sent the society’s warning to them. Then there are
successive entries that A and B cleared, or left the
“I never have.”
country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear,
Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon a sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we
his knee. “Here it is,” said he presently: may let some light into this dark place, and I be-
“ ‘Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the lieve that the only chance young Openshaw has in
fanciful resemblance to the sound produced the meantime is to do what I have told him. There
by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret soci- is nothing more to be said or to be done to-night,
ety was formed by some ex-Confederate sol- so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget
diers in the Southern states after the Civil for half an hour the miserable weather and the still
War, and it rapidly formed local branches more miserable ways of our fellow-men.”
in different parts of the country, notably in It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was
Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Geor- shining with a subdued brightness through the
gia, and Florida. Its power was used for po- dim veil which hangs over the great city. Sher-
litical purposes, principally for the terroris- lock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came
ing of the negro voters and the murdering down.
and driving from the country of those who
“You will excuse me for not waiting for you,”
were opposed to its views. Its outrages were
said he; “I have, I foresee, a very busy day before
usually preceded by a warning sent to the
me in looking into this case of young Openshaw’s.”
marked man in some fantastic but generally
recognised shape—a sprig of oak-leaves in “What steps will you take?” I asked.
some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in “It will very much depend upon the results of
others. On receiving this the victim might my first inquiries. I may have to go down to Hor-
either openly abjure his former ways, or sham, after all.”
might fly from the country. If he braved the “You will not go there first?”
matter out, death would unfailingly come “No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring
upon him, and usually in some strange and the bell and the maid will bring up your coffee.”
unforeseen manner. So perfect was the or-
As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper
ganisation of the society, and so systematic
from the table and glanced my eye over it. It rested
its methods, that there is hardly a case upon
upon a heading which sent a chill to my heart.
record where any man succeeded in braving
it with impunity, or in which any of its out- “Holmes,” I cried, “you are too late.”
rages were traced home to the perpetrators. “Ah!” said he, laying down his cup, “I feared as
For some years the organisation flourished much. How was it done?” He spoke calmly, but I
in spite of the efforts of the United States could see that he was deeply moved.
63
“My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes had not come
heading ‘Tragedy Near Waterloo Bridge.’ Here is back yet. It was nearly ten o’clock before he en-
the account: tered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to
“Between nine and ten last night Police- the sideboard, and tearing a piece from the loaf he
Constable Cook, of the H Division, on duty devoured it voraciously, washing it down with a
near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help long draught of water.
and a splash in the water. The night, how- “You are hungry,” I remarked.
ever, was extremely dark and stormy, so
“Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have
that, in spite of the help of several passers-
had nothing since breakfast.”
by, it was quite impossible to effect a res-
cue. The alarm, however, was given, and, “Nothing?”
by the aid of the water-police, the body was “Not a bite. I had no time to think of it.”
eventually recovered. It proved to be that of “And how have you succeeded?”
a young gentleman whose name, as it ap-
pears from an envelope which was found in “Well.”
his pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose “You have a clue?”
residence is near Horsham. It is conjec- “I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young
tured that he may have been hurrying down Openshaw shall not long remain unavenged. Why,
to catch the last train from Waterloo Sta- Watson, let us put their own devilish trade-mark
tion, and that in his haste and the extreme upon them. It is well thought of!”
darkness he missed his path and walked
“What do you mean?”
over the edge of one of the small landing-
places for river steamboats. The body ex- He took an orange from the cupboard, and tear-
hibited no traces of violence, and there can ing it to pieces he squeezed out the pips upon the
be no doubt that the deceased had been the table. Of these he took five and thrust them into
victim of an unfortunate accident, which an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote
should have the effect of calling the atten- “S. H. for J. O.” Then he sealed it and addressed
tion of the authorities to the condition of it to “Captain James Calhoun, Barque Lone Star,
the riverside landing-stages.” Savannah, Georgia.”
We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more “That will await him when he enters port,” said
depressed and shaken than I had ever seen him. he, chuckling. “It may give him a sleepless night.
“That hurts my pride, Watson,” he said at last. He will find it as sure a precursor of his fate as
“It is a petty feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. Openshaw did before him.”
It becomes a personal matter with me now, and, “And who is this Captain Calhoun?”
if God sends me health, I shall set my hand upon “The leader of the gang. I shall have the others,
this gang. That he should come to me for help, and but he first.”
that I should send him away to his death—!” He
“How did you trace it, then?”
sprang from his chair and paced about the room in
uncontrollable agitation, with a flush upon his sal- He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket,
low cheeks and a nervous clasping and unclasping all covered with dates and names.
of his long thin hands. “I have spent the whole day,” said he, “over
“They must be cunning devils,” he exclaimed Lloyd’s registers and files of the old papers, follow-
at last. “How could they have decoyed him down ing the future career of every vessel which touched
there? The Embankment is not on the direct line to at Pondicherry in January and February in ’83.
the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too crowded, There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which
even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Wat- were reported there during those months. Of these,
son, we shall see who will win in the long run. I one, the Lone Star, instantly attracted my attention,
am going out now!” since, although it was reported as having cleared
“To the police?” from London, the name is that which is given to
one of the states of the Union.”
“No; I shall be my own police. When I have
spun the web they may take the flies, but not be- “Texas, I think.”
fore.” “I was not and am not sure which; but I knew
All day I was engaged in my professional work, that the ship must have an American origin.”
and it was late in the evening before I returned “What then?”
64
“I searched the Dundee records, and when I the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore
found that the barque Lone Star was there in Jan- who has been loading their cargo. By the time that
uary, ’85, my suspicion became a certainty. I then their sailing-ship reaches Savannah the mail-boat
inquired as to the vessels which lay at present in will have carried this letter, and the cable will have
the port of London.” informed the police of Savannah that these three
“Yes?” gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of
murder.”
“The Lone Star had arrived here last week. I
went down to the Albert Dock and found that she There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid
had been taken down the river by the early tide this of human plans, and the murderers of John Open-
morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired to shaw were never to receive the orange pips which
Gravesend and learned that she had passed some would show them that another, as cunning and as
time ago, and as the wind is easterly I have no resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very
doubt that she is now past the Goodwins and not long and very severe were the equinoctial gales that
very far from the Isle of Wight.” year. We waited long for news of the Lone Star of
Savannah, but none ever reached us. We did at
“What will you do, then?” last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a
“Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in
mates, are as I learn, the only native-born Ameri- the trough of a wave, with the letters “L. S.” carved
cans in the ship. The others are Finns and Germans. upon it, and that is all which we shall ever know
I know, also, that they were all three away from of the fate of the Lone Star.
65
The Man with the Twisted Lip
I
sa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whit- It seems that it was. She had the surest informa-
ney, D.D., Principal of the Theological tion that of late he had, when the fit was on him,
College of St. George’s, was much ad- made use of an opium den in the farthest east of
dicted to opium. The habit grew upon the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been con-
him, as I understand, from some foolish freak when fined to one day, and he had come back, twitching
he was at college; for having read De Quincey’s and shattered, in the evening. But now the spell
description of his dreams and sensations, he had had been upon him eight-and-forty hours, and he
drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt lay there, doubtless among the dregs of the docks,
to produce the same effects. He found, as so many breathing in the poison or sleeping off the effects.
more have done, that the practice is easier to attain There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at
than to get rid of, and for many years he contin- the Bar of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But
ued to be a slave to the drug, an object of mingled what was she to do? How could she, a young and
horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can timid woman, make her way into such a place and
see him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, pluck her husband out from among the ruffians
and pin-point pupils, all huddled in a chair, the who surrounded him?
wreck and ruin of a noble man. There was the case, and of course there was but
One night—it was in June, ’89—there came a one way out of it. Might I not escort her to this
ring to my bell, about the hour when a man gives place? And then, as a second thought, why should
his first yawn and glances at the clock. I sat up in she come at all? I was Isa Whitney’s medical ad-
my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work down viser, and as such I had influence over him. I could
in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. manage it better if I were alone. I promised her
“A patient!” said she. “You’ll have to go out.” on my word that I would send him home in a cab
within two hours if he were indeed at the address
I groaned, for I was newly come back from a
which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I
weary day.
had left my armchair and cheery sitting-room be-
We heard the door open, a few hurried words, hind me, and was speeding eastward in a hansom
and then quick steps upon the linoleum. Our own on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at the time,
door flew open, and a lady, clad in some dark- though the future only could show how strange it
coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. was to be.
“You will excuse my calling so late,” she be- But there was no great difficulty in the first stage
gan, and then, suddenly losing her self-control, she of my adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile al-
ran forward, threw her arms about my wife’s neck, ley lurking behind the high wharves which line the
and sobbed upon her shoulder. “Oh, I’m in such north side of the river to the east of London Bridge.
trouble!” she cried; “I do so want a little help.” Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached
“Why,” said my wife, pulling up her veil, “it is by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black
Kate Whitney. How you startled me, Kate! I had gap like the mouth of a cave, I found the den of
not an idea who you were when you came in.” which I was in search. Ordering my cab to wait, I
passed down the steps, worn hollow in the centre
“I didn’t know what to do, so I came straight to
by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the
you.” That was always the way. Folk who were in
light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found
grief came to my wife like birds to a light-house.
the latch and made my way into a long, low room,
“It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you thick and heavy with the brown opium smoke, and
must have some wine and water, and sit here com- terraced with wooden berths, like the forecastle of
fortably and tell us all about it. Or should you an emigrant ship.
rather that I sent James off to bed?”
Through the gloom one could dimly catch a
“Oh, no, no! I want the doctor’s advice and glimpse of bodies lying in strange fantastic poses,
help, too. It’s about Isa. He has not been home for bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads thrown back,
two days. I am so frightened about him!” and chins pointing upward, with here and there
It was not the first time that she had spoken to a dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer.
us of her husband’s trouble, to me as a doctor, to Out of the black shadows there glimmered little
my wife as an old friend and school companion. red circles of light, now bright, now faint, as the
We soothed and comforted her by such words as burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of
we could find. Did she know where her husband the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some mut-
was? Was it possible that we could bring him back tered to themselves, and others talked together in a
to her? strange, low, monotonous voice, their conversation
69
coming in gushes, and then suddenly tailing off dropped in sheer lassitude from his fingers. I took
into silence, each mumbling out his own thoughts two steps forward and looked back. It took all my
and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. self-control to prevent me from breaking out into
At the farther end was a small brazier of burning a cry of astonishment. He had turned his back so
charcoal, beside which on a three-legged wooden that none could see him but I. His form had filled
stool there sat a tall, thin old man, with his jaw out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had re-
resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon his gained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and
knees, staring into the fire. grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sher-
As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hur- lock Holmes. He made a slight motion to me to
ried up with a pipe for me and a supply of the approach him, and instantly, as he turned his face
drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. half round to the company once more, subsided
into a doddering, loose-lipped senility.
“Thank you. I have not come to stay,” said I.
“There is a friend of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, “Holmes!” I whispered, “what on earth are you
and I wish to speak with him.” doing in this den?”
“As low as you can,” he answered; “I have ex-
There was a movement and an exclamation from
cellent ears. If you would have the great kindness
my right, and peering through the gloom, I saw
to get rid of that sottish friend of yours I should be
Whitney, pale, haggard, and unkempt, staring out
exceedingly glad to have a little talk with you.”
at me.
“I have a cab outside.”
“My God! It’s Watson,” said he. He was in
“Then pray send him home in it. You may safely
a pitiable state of reaction, with every nerve in a
trust him, for he appears to be too limp to get into
twitter. “I say, Watson, what o’clock is it?”
any mischief. I should recommend you also to send
“Nearly eleven.” a note by the cabman to your wife to say that you
“Of what day?” have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait
“Of Friday, June 19th.” outside, I shall be with you in five minutes.”
It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes’
“Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It
requests, for they were always so exceedingly def-
is Wednesday. What d’you want to frighten a chap
inite, and put forward with such a quiet air of
for?” He sank his face onto his arms and began to
mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney was
sob in a high treble key.
once confined in the cab my mission was practi-
“I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has cally accomplished; and for the rest, I could not
been waiting this two days for you. You should be wish anything better than to be associated with my
ashamed of yourself!” friend in one of those singular adventures which
“So I am. But you’ve got mixed, Watson, for I were the normal condition of his existence. In a few
have only been here a few hours, three pipes, four minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney’s bill,
pipes—I forget how many. But I’ll go home with led him out to the cab, and seen him driven through
you. I wouldn’t frighten Kate—poor little Kate. the darkness. In a very short time a decrepit figure
Give me your hand! Have you a cab?” had emerged from the opium den, and I was walk-
“Yes, I have one waiting.” ing down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two
streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an
“Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. uncertain foot. Then, glancing quickly round, he
Find what I owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can straightened himself out and burst into a hearty fit
do nothing for myself.” of laughter.
I walked down the narrow passage between the “I suppose, Watson,” said he, “that you imagine
double row of sleepers, holding my breath to keep that I have added opium-smoking to cocaine injec-
out the vile, stupefying fumes of the drug, and look- tions, and all the other little weaknesses on which
ing about for the manager. As I passed the tall man you have favoured me with your medical views.”
who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my “I was certainly surprised to find you there.”
skirt, and a low voice whispered, “Walk past me,
“But not more so than I to find you.”
and then look back at me.” The words fell quite dis-
tinctly upon my ear. I glanced down. They could “I came to find a friend.”
only have come from the old man at my side, and “And I to find an enemy.”
yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very “An enemy?”
wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling “Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say,
down from between his knees, as though it had my natural prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst
70
of a very remarkable inquiry, and I have hoped to and a star or two twinkled dimly here and there
find a clue in the incoherent ramblings of these sots, through the rifts of the clouds. Holmes drove in
as I have done before now. Had I been recognised silence, with his head sunk upon his breast, and
in that den my life would not have been worth an the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat
hour’s purchase; for I have used it before now for beside him, curious to learn what this new quest
my own purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs might be which seemed to tax his powers so sorely,
it has sworn to have vengeance upon me. There and yet afraid to break in upon the current of his
is a trap-door at the back of that building, near thoughts. We had driven several miles, and were
the corner of Paul’s Wharf, which could tell some beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of subur-
strange tales of what has passed through it upon ban villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his
the moonless nights.” shoulders, and lit up his pipe with the air of a man
“What! You do not mean bodies?” who has satisfied himself that he is acting for the
best.
“Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if
we had £1000 for every poor devil who has been “You have a grand gift of silence, Watson,” said
done to death in that den. It is the vilest murder- he. “It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.
trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that Neville ’Pon my word, it is a great thing for me to have
St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are not
our trap should be here.” He put his two forefingers over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say
between his teeth and whistled shrilly—a signal to this dear little woman to-night when she meets
which was answered by a similar whistle from the me at the door.”
distance, followed shortly by the rattle of wheels “You forget that I know nothing about it.”
and the clink of horses’ hoofs. “I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the
“Now, Watson,” said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart case before we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple,
dashed up through the gloom, throwing out two and yet, somehow I can get nothing to go upon.
golden tunnels of yellow light from its side lanterns. There’s plenty of thread, no doubt, but I can’t get
“You’ll come with me, won’t you?” the end of it into my hand. Now, I’ll state the case
“If I can be of use.” clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe
you can see a spark where all is dark to me.”
“Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a
“Proceed, then.”
chronicler still more so. My room at The Cedars is
a double-bedded one.” “Some years ago—to be definite, in May,
1884—there came to Lee a gentleman, Neville St.
“The Cedars?”
Clair by name, who appeared to have plenty of
“Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair’s house. I am staying money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds
there while I conduct the inquiry.” very nicely, and lived generally in good style. By
“Where is it, then?” degrees he made friends in the neighbourhood, and
“Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive in 1887 he married the daughter of a local brewer,
before us.” by whom he now has two children. He had no oc-
cupation, but was interested in several companies
“But I am all in the dark.” and went into town as a rule in the morning, re-
“Of course you are. You’ll know all about it turning by the 5.14 from Cannon Street every night.
presently. Jump up here. All right, John; we shall Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of age, is a
not need you. Here’s half a crown. Look out for man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very
me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her head. So affectionate father, and a man who is popular with
long, then!” all who know him. I may add that his whole debts
He flicked the horse with his whip, and we at the present moment, as far as we have been able
dashed away through the endless succession of to ascertain, amount to £88 10s., while he has £220
sombre and deserted streets, which widened gradu- standing to his credit in the Capital and Counties
ally, until we were flying across a broad balustraded Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that
bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly money troubles have been weighing upon his mind.
beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness “Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into
of bricks and mortar, its silence broken only by town rather earlier than usual, remarking before
the heavy, regular footfall of the policeman, or the he started that he had two important commissions
songs and shouts of some belated party of revellers. to perform, and that he would bring his little boy
A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance,
71
his wife received a telegram upon this same Mon- no one else had been in the front room during the
day, very shortly after his departure, to the effect afternoon. So determined was their denial that the
that a small parcel of considerable value which she inspector was staggered, and had almost come to
had been expecting was waiting for her at the of- believe that Mrs. St. Clair had been deluded when,
fices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box which lay
you are well up in your London, you will know that upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there
the office of the company is in Fresno Street, which fell a cascade of children’s bricks. It was the toy
branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where you which he had promised to bring home.
found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch,
“This discovery, and the evident confusion
started for the City, did some shopping, proceeded
which the cripple showed, made the inspector re-
to the company’s office, got her packet, and found
alise that the matter was serious. The rooms were
herself at exactly 4.35 walking through Swandam
carefully examined, and results all pointed to an
Lane on her way back to the station. Have you
abominable crime. The front room was plainly
followed me so far?”
furnished as a sitting-room and led into a small
“It is very clear.” bedroom, which looked out upon the back of one
of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bed-
“If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly
room window is a narrow strip, which is dry at
hot day, and Mrs. St. Clair walked slowly, glancing
low tide but is covered at high tide with at least
about in the hope of seeing a cab, as she did not
four and a half feet of water. The bedroom window
like the neighbourhood in which she found herself.
was a broad one and opened from below. On ex-
While she was walking in this way down Swandam
amination traces of blood were to be seen upon the
Lane, she suddenly heard an ejaculation or cry, and
windowsill, and several scattered drops were visi-
was struck cold to see her husband looking down
ble upon the wooden floor of the bedroom. Thrust
at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning to her
away behind a curtain in the front room were all
from a second-floor window. The window was
the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the excep-
open, and she distinctly saw his face, which she
tion of his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and
describes as being terribly agitated. He waved his
his watch—all were there. There were no signs of
hands frantically to her, and then vanished from
violence upon any of these garments, and there
the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that
were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. Clair. Out
he had been plucked back by some irresistible force
of the window he must apparently have gone for
from behind. One singular point which struck her
no other exit could be discovered, and the ominous
quick feminine eye was that although he wore some
bloodstains upon the sill gave little promise that he
dark coat, such as he had started to town in, he had
could save himself by swimming, for the tide was
on neither collar nor necktie.
at its very highest at the moment of the tragedy.
“Convinced that something was amiss with him,
“And now as to the villains who seemed to be
she rushed down the steps—for the house was none
immediately implicated in the matter. The Lascar
other than the opium den in which you found me
was known to be a man of the vilest antecedents,
to-night—and running through the front room she
but as, by Mrs. St. Clair’s story, he was known
attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first
to have been at the foot of the stair within a very
floor. At the foot of the stairs, however, she met
few seconds of her husband’s appearance at the
this Lascar scoundrel of whom I have spoken, who
window, he could hardly have been more than an
thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who acts as
accessory to the crime. His defence was one of
assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled
absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had
with the most maddening doubts and fears, she
no knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his
rushed down the lane and, by rare good-fortune,
lodger, and that he could not account in any way
met in Fresno Street a number of constables with
for the presence of the missing gentleman’s clothes.
an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The
inspector and two men accompanied her back, and “So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the
in spite of the continued resistance of the propri- sinister cripple who lives upon the second floor of
etor, they made their way to the room in which Mr. the opium den, and who was certainly the last hu-
St. Clair had last been seen. There was no sign of man being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. Clair.
him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is
was no one to be found save a crippled wretch one which is familiar to every man who goes much
of hideous aspect, who, it seems, made his home to the City. He is a professional beggar, though in
there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly swore that order to avoid the police regulations he pretends
72
to a small trade in wax vestas. Some little distance and that the stains which had been observed there
down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand side, came doubtless from the same source. He denied
there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in strenuously having ever seen Mr. Neville St. Clair
the wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily and swore that the presence of the clothes in his
seat, cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches room was as much a mystery to him as to the
on his lap, and as he is a piteous spectacle a small police. As to Mrs. St. Clair’s assertion that she
rain of charity descends into the greasy leather cap had actually seen her husband at the window, he
which lies upon the pavement beside him. I have declared that she must have been either mad or
watched the fellow more than once before ever I dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to
thought of making his professional acquaintance, the police-station, while the inspector remained
and I have been surprised at the harvest which he upon the premises in the hope that the ebbing tide
has reaped in a short time. His appearance, you see, might afford some fresh clue.
is so remarkable that no one can pass him without “And it did, though they hardly found upon
observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face the mud-bank what they had feared to find. It was
disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contrac- Neville St. Clair’s coat, and not Neville St. Clair,
tion, has turned up the outer edge of his upper which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And what
lip, a bulldog chin, and a pair of very penetrating do you think they found in the pockets?”
dark eyes, which present a singular contrast to the
“I cannot imagine.”
colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid the
common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does “No, I don’t think you would guess. Every
his wit, for he is ever ready with a reply to any pocket stuffed with pennies and half-pennies—421
piece of chaff which may be thrown at him by the pennies and 270 half-pennies. It was no wonder
passers-by. This is the man whom we now learn to that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a
have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have human body is a different matter. There is a fierce
been the last man to see the gentleman of whom eddy between the wharf and the house. It seemed
we are in quest.” likely enough that the weighted coat had remained
when the stripped body had been sucked away into
“But a cripple!” said I. “What could he have the river.”
done single-handed against a man in the prime of
“But I understand that all the other clothes were
life?”
found in the room. Would the body be dressed in
“He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a coat alone?”
a limp; but in other respects he appears to be a pow- “No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously
erful and well-nurtured man. Surely your medical enough. Suppose that this man Boone had thrust
experience would tell you, Watson, that weakness Neville St. Clair through the window, there is no
in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional human eye which could have seen the deed. What
strength in the others.” would he do then? It would of course instantly
“Pray continue your narrative.” strike him that he must get rid of the tell-tale gar-
ments. He would seize the coat, then, and be in the
“Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the
act of throwing it out, when it would occur to him
blood upon the window, and she was escorted
that it would swim and not sink. He has little time,
home in a cab by the police, as her presence could
for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the
be of no help to them in their investigations. Inspec-
wife tried to force her way up, and perhaps he has
tor Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very
already heard from his Lascar confederate that the
careful examination of the premises, but without
police are hurrying up the street. There is not an
finding anything which threw any light upon the
instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret hoard,
matter. One mistake had been made in not arresting
where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary,
Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few min-
and he stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his
utes during which he might have communicated
hands into the pockets to make sure of the coat’s
with his friend the Lascar, but this fault was soon
sinking. He throws it out, and would have done
remedied, and he was seized and searched, with-
the same with the other garments had not he heard
out anything being found which could incriminate
the rush of steps below, and only just had time to
him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon
close the window when the police appeared.”
his right shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-
finger, which had been cut near the nail, and ex- “It certainly sounds feasible.”
plained that the bleeding came from there, adding “Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis
that he had been to the window not long before, for want of a better. Boone, as I have told you, was
73
arrested and taken to the station, but it could not sank into a groan as she saw that my companion
be shown that there had ever before been anything shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
against him. He had for years been known as a “No good news?”
professional beggar, but his life appeared to have “None.”
been a very quiet and innocent one. There the mat-
ter stands at present, and the questions which have “No bad?”
to be solved—what Neville St. Clair was doing in “No.”
the opium den, what happened to him when there, “Thank God for that. But come in. You must be
where is he now, and what Hugh Boone had to weary, for you have had a long day.”
do with his disappearance—are all as far from a “This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of
solution as ever. I confess that I cannot recall any most vital use to me in several of my cases, and a
case within my experience which looked at the first lucky chance has made it possible for me to bring
glance so simple and yet which presented such him out and associate him with this investigation.”
difficulties.” “I am delighted to see you,” said she, pressing
While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this my hand warmly. “You will, I am sure, forgive
singular series of events, we had been whirling anything that may be wanting in our arrangements,
through the outskirts of the great town until the when you consider the blow which has come so
last straggling houses had been left behind, and suddenly upon us.”
we rattled along with a country hedge upon either “My dear madam,” said I, “I am an old cam-
side of us. Just as he finished, however, we drove paigner, and if I were not I can very well see that
through two scattered villages, where a few lights no apology is needed. If I can be of any assistance,
still glimmered in the windows. either to you or to my friend here, I shall be indeed
“We are on the outskirts of Lee,” said my com- happy.”
panion. “We have touched on three English coun- “Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said the lady as
ties in our short drive, starting in Middlesex, pass- we entered a well-lit dining-room, upon the table
ing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. of which a cold supper had been laid out, “I should
See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, very much like to ask you one or two plain ques-
and beside that lamp sits a woman whose anxious tions, to which I beg that you will give a plain
ears have already, I have little doubt, caught the answer.”
clink of our horse’s feet.”
“Certainly, madam.”
“But why are you not conducting the case from “Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not
Baker Street?” I asked. hysterical, nor given to fainting. I simply wish to
“Because there are many inquiries which must hear your real, real opinion.”
be made out here. Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly “Upon what point?”
put two rooms at my disposal, and you may rest
“In your heart of hearts, do you think that
assured that she will have nothing but a welcome
Neville is alive?”
for my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her,
Watson, when I have no news of her husband. Here Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by
we are. Whoa, there, whoa!” the question. “Frankly, now!” she repeated, stand-
ing upon the rug and looking keenly down at him
We had pulled up in front of a large villa which
as he leaned back in a basket-chair.
stood within its own grounds. A stable-boy had run
out to the horse’s head, and springing down, I fol- “Frankly, then, madam, I do not.”
lowed Holmes up the small, winding gravel-drive “You think that he is dead?”
which led to the house. As we approached, the “I do.”
door flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in “Murdered?”
the opening, clad in some sort of light mousseline
“I don’t say that. Perhaps.”
de soie, with a touch of fluffy pink chiffon at her
neck and wrists. She stood with her figure outlined “And on what day did he meet his death?”
against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, “On Monday.”
one half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly “Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good
bent, her head and face protruded, with eager eyes enough to explain how it is that I have received a
and parted lips, a standing question. letter from him to-day.”
“Well?” she cried, “well?” And then, seeing that Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he
there were two of us, she gave a cry of hope which had been galvanised.
74
“What!” he roared. “And they were posted to-day at Gravesend.

“Yes, to-day.” She stood smiling, holding up a Well, Mrs. St. Clair, the clouds lighten, though I
little slip of paper in the air. should not venture to say that the danger is over.”
“May I see it?” “But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes.”
“Certainly.” “Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the
wrong scent. The ring, after all, proves nothing. It
He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and may have been taken from him.”
smoothing it out upon the table he drew over the
lamp and examined it intently. I had left my chair “No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!”
and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The enve- “Very well. It may, however, have been written
lope was a very coarse one and was stamped with on Monday and only posted to-day.”
the Gravesend postmark and with the date of that “That is possible.”
very day, or rather of the day before, for it was “If so, much may have happened between.”
considerably after midnight.
“Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes.
“Coarse writing,” murmured Holmes. “Surely I know that all is well with him. There is so keen
this is not your husband’s writing, madam.” a sympathy between us that I should know if evil
“No, but the enclosure is.” came upon him. On the very day that I saw him
“I perceive also that whoever addressed the en- last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in
velope had to go and inquire as to the address.” the dining-room rushed upstairs instantly with the
utmost certainty that something had happened. Do
“How can you tell that?”
you think that I would respond to such a trifle and
“The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, yet be ignorant of his death?”
which has dried itself. The rest is of the greyish
“I have seen too much not to know that the im-
colour, which shows that blotting-paper has been
pression of a woman may be more valuable than
used. If it had been written straight off, and then
the conclusion of an analytical reasoner. And in
blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This
this letter you certainly have a very strong piece of
man has written the name, and there has then been
evidence to corroborate your view. But if your hus-
a pause before he wrote the address, which can
band is alive and able to write letters, why should
only mean that he was not familiar with it. It is, of
he remain away from you?”
course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important
as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! there has “I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable.”
been an enclosure here!” “And on Monday he made no remarks before
“Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring.” leaving you?”
“No.”
“And you are sure that this is your husband’s
hand?” “And you were surprised to see him in Swan-
dam Lane?”
“One of his hands.”
“Very much so.”
“One?”
“Was the window open?”
“His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very
unlike his usual writing, and yet I know it well.” “Yes.”
“Then he might have called to you?”
“Dearest do not be frightened. All will
“He might.”
come well. There is a huge error which
it may take some little time to rectify. “He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate
Wait in patience. cry?”
— “Neville. “Yes.”
“A call for help, you thought?”
Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf of a book, “Yes. He waved his hands.”
octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day
in Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! “But it might have been a cry of surprise. As-
And the flap has been gummed, if I am not very tonishment at the unexpected sight of you might
much in error, by a person who had been chewing cause him to throw up his hands?”
tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your “It is possible.”
husband’s hand, madam?” “And you thought he was pulled back?”
“None. Neville wrote those words.” “He disappeared so suddenly.”
75
“He might have leaped back. You did not see “Certainly.”
anyone else in the room?” “Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know
“No, but this horrible man confessed to having where the stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have
been there, and the Lascar was at the foot of the the trap out.” He chuckled to himself as he spoke,
stairs.” his eyes twinkled, and he seemed a different man
to the sombre thinker of the previous night.
“Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could
see, had his ordinary clothes on?” As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no
wonder that no one was stirring. It was twenty-
“But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw five minutes past four. I had hardly finished when
his bare throat.” Holmes returned with the news that the boy was
“Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?” putting in the horse.
“Never.” “I want to test a little theory of mine,” said he,
“Had he ever showed any signs of having taken pulling on his boots. “I think, Watson, that you are
opium?” now standing in the presence of one of the most
absolute fools in Europe. I deserve to be kicked
“Never.” from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the
“Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the prin- key of the affair now.”
cipal points about which I wished to be absolutely “And where is it?” I asked, smiling.
clear. We shall now have a little supper and then “In the bathroom,” he answered. “Oh, yes, I
retire, for we may have a very busy day to-morrow.” am not joking,” he continued, seeing my look of in-
A large and comfortable double-bedded room credulity. “I have just been there, and I have taken
had been placed at our disposal, and I was quickly it out, and I have got it in this Gladstone bag. Come
between the sheets, for I was weary after my night on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will not fit
of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, how- the lock.”
ever, who, when he had an unsolved problem upon We made our way downstairs as quietly as pos-
his mind, would go for days, and even for a week, sible, and out into the bright morning sunshine. In
without rest, turning it over, rearranging his facts, the road stood our horse and trap, with the half-
looking at it from every point of view until he had clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both sprang
either fathomed it or convinced himself that his in, and away we dashed down the London Road.
data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me A few country carts were stirring, bearing in veg-
that he was now preparing for an all-night sitting. etables to the metropolis, but the lines of villas on
He took off his coat and waistcoat, put on a large either side were as silent and lifeless as some city
blue dressing-gown, and then wandered about the in a dream.
room collecting pillows from his bed and cush- “It has been in some points a singular case,”
ions from the sofa and armchairs. With these he said Holmes, flicking the horse on into a gallop. “I
constructed a sort of Eastern divan, upon which confess that I have been as blind as a mole, but it is
he perched himself cross-legged, with an ounce better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at
of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in all.”
front of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw
In town the earliest risers were just beginning
him sitting there, an old briar pipe between his
to look sleepily from their windows as we drove
lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the corner of the
through the streets of the Surrey side. Passing
ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, silent,
down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over
motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-
the river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled
set aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off
sharply to the right and found ourselves in Bow
to sleep, and so he sat when a sudden ejaculation
Street. Sherlock Holmes was well known to the
caused me to wake up, and I found the summer
force, and the two constables at the door saluted
sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still
him. One of them held the horse’s head while the
between his lips, the smoke still curled upward,
other led us in.
and the room was full of a dense tobacco haze, but
nothing remained of the heap of shag which I had “Who is on duty?” asked Holmes.
seen upon the previous night. “Inspector Bradstreet, sir.”
“Awake, Watson?” he asked. “Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?” A tall, stout of-
ficial had come down the stone-flagged passage, in
“Yes.” a peaked cap and frogged jacket. “I wish to have
“Game for a morning drive?” a quiet word with you, Bradstreet.” “Certainly, Mr.
76
Holmes. Step into my room here.” It was a small, “He certainly needs a wash,” remarked Holmes.
office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the ta- “I had an idea that he might, and I took the lib-
ble, and a telephone projecting from the wall. The erty of bringing the tools with me.” He opened the
inspector sat down at his desk. Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my
“What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?” astonishment, a very large bath-sponge.
“He! he! You are a funny one,” chuckled the
“I called about that beggarman, Boone—the one
inspector.
who was charged with being concerned in the dis-
appearance of Mr. Neville St. Clair, of Lee.” “Now, if you will have the great goodness to
open that door very quietly, we will soon make him
“Yes. He was brought up and remanded for
cut a much more respectable figure.”
further inquiries.”
“Well, I don’t know why not,” said the inspector.
“So I heard. You have him here?” “He doesn’t look a credit to the Bow Street cells,
“In the cells.” does he?” He slipped his key into the lock, and we
“Is he quiet?” all very quietly entered the cell. The sleeper half
turned, and then settled down once more into a
“Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty deep slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug,
scoundrel.” moistened his sponge, and then rubbed it twice
“Dirty?” vigorously across and down the prisoner’s face.
“Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his “Let me introduce you,” he shouted, “to Mr.
hands, and his face is as black as a tinker’s. Well, Neville St. Clair, of Lee, in the county of Kent.”
when once his case has been settled, he will have Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The
a regular prison bath; and I think, if you saw him, man’s face peeled off under the sponge like the
you would agree with me that he needed it.” bark from a tree. Gone was the coarse brown tint!
“I should like to see him very much.” Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had seamed
it across, and the twisted lip which had given the
“Would you? That is easily done. Come this
repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away
way. You can leave your bag.”
the tangled red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed,
“No, I think that I’ll take it.” was a pale, sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-
“Very good. Come this way, if you please.” haired and smooth-skinned, rubbing his eyes and
He led us down a passage, opened a barred door, staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. Then
passed down a winding stair, and brought us to a suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a
whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each scream and threw himself down with his face to
side. the pillow.
“The third on the right is his,” said the inspec- “Great heavens!” cried the inspector, “it is, in-
tor. “Here it is!” He quietly shot back a panel in deed, the missing man. I know him from the pho-
the upper part of the door and glanced through. tograph.”
“He is asleep,” said he. “You can see him very The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a
well.” man who abandons himself to his destiny. “Be it
so,” said he. “And pray what am I charged with?”
We both put our eyes to the grating. The pris-
oner lay with his face towards us, in a very deep “With making away with Mr. Neville St.—Oh,
sleep, breathing slowly and heavily. He was a come, you can’t be charged with that unless they
middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his call- make a case of attempted suicide of it,” said the
ing, with a coloured shirt protruding through the inspector with a grin. “Well, I have been twenty-
rent in his tattered coat. He was, as the inspec- seven years in the force, but this really takes the
tor had said, extremely dirty, but the grime which cake.”
covered his face could not conceal its repulsive ug- “If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvi-
liness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right ous that no crime has been committed, and that,
across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction therefore, I am illegally detained.”
had turned up one side of the upper lip, so that “No crime, but a very great error has been com-
three teeth were exposed in a perpetual snarl. A mitted,” said Holmes. “You would have done better
shock of very bright red hair grew low over his to have trusted your wife.”
eyes and forehead. “It was not the wife; it was the children,”
“He’s a beauty, isn’t he?” said the inspector. groaned the prisoner. “God help me, I would not
77
have them ashamed of their father. My God! What my face with a little paint, laying my cap on the
an exposure! What can I do?” ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between
Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the my pride and the money, but the dollars won at
couch and patted him kindly on the shoulder. last, and I threw up reporting and sat day after day
in the corner which I had first chosen, inspiring
“If you leave it to a court of law to clear the mat-
pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets with
ter up,” said he, “of course you can hardly avoid
coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was
publicity. On the other hand, if you convince the po-
the keeper of a low den in which I used to lodge
lice authorities that there is no possible case against
in Swandam Lane, where I could every morning
you, I do not know that there is any reason that
emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings
the details should find their way into the papers.
transform myself into a well-dressed man about
Inspector Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes
town. This fellow, a Lascar, was well paid by me
upon anything which you might tell us and submit
for his rooms, so that I knew that my secret was
it to the proper authorities. The case would then
safe in his possession.
never go into court at all.”
“God bless you!” cried the prisoner passionately. “Well, very soon I found that I was saving con-
“I would have endured imprisonment, ay, even exe- siderable sums of money. I do not mean that any
cution, rather than have left my miserable secret as beggar in the streets of London could earn £700 a
a family blot to my children. year—which is less than my average takings—but I
had exceptional advantages in my power of mak-
“You are the first who have ever heard my
ing up, and also in a facility of repartee, which
story. My father was a schoolmaster in Chesterfield,
improved by practice and made me quite a recog-
where I received an excellent education. I travelled
nised character in the City. All day a stream of
in my youth, took to the stage, and finally became
pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, and
a reporter on an evening paper in London. One
it was a very bad day in which I failed to take £2.
day my editor wished to have a series of articles
upon begging in the metropolis, and I volunteered “As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took
to supply them. There was the point from which a house in the country, and eventually married,
all my adventures started. It was only by trying without anyone having a suspicion as to my real
begging as an amateur that I could get the facts occupation. My dear wife knew that I had business
upon which to base my articles. When an actor I in the City. She little knew what.
had, of course, learned all the secrets of making
“Last Monday I had finished for the day and
up, and had been famous in the green-room for my
was dressing in my room above the opium den
skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I
when I looked out of my window and saw, to my
painted my face, and to make myself as pitiable
horror and astonishment, that my wife was stand-
as possible I made a good scar and fixed one side
ing in the street, with her eyes fixed full upon me.
of my lip in a twist by the aid of a small slip of
I gave a cry of surprise, threw up my arms to cover
flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of hair,
my face, and, rushing to my confidant, the Lascar,
and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the
entreated him to prevent anyone from coming up
business part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller
to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew
but really as a beggar. For seven hours I plied my
that she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my
trade, and when I returned home in the evening
clothes, pulled on those of a beggar, and put on my
I found to my surprise that I had received no less
pigments and wig. Even a wife’s eyes could not
than 26s. 4d.
pierce so complete a disguise. But then it occurred
“I wrote my articles and thought little more of to me that there might be a search in the room,
the matter until, some time later, I backed a bill for and that the clothes might betray me. I threw open
a friend and had a writ served upon me for £25. I the window, reopening by my violence a small cut
was at my wit’s end where to get the money, but which I had inflicted upon myself in the bedroom
a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight’s that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was
grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from weighted by the coppers which I had just trans-
my employers, and spent the time in begging in ferred to it from the leather bag in which I carried
the City under my disguise. In ten days I had the my takings. I hurled it out of the window, and it
money and had paid the debt. disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes
“Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle would have followed, but at that moment there was
down to arduous work at £2 a week when I knew a rush of constables up the stair, and a few minutes
that I could earn as much in a day by smearing after I found, rather, I confess, to my relief, that
78
instead of being identified as Mr. Neville St. Clair, I “That was it,” said Holmes, nodding approv-
was arrested as his murderer. ingly; “I have no doubt of it. But have you never
been prosecuted for begging?”
“I do not know that there is anything else for
me to explain. I was determined to preserve my dis- “Many times; but what was a fine to me?”
guise as long as possible, and hence my preference “It must stop here, however,” said Bradstreet.
for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would be “If the police are to hush this thing up, there must
terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided be no more of Hugh Boone.”
it to the Lascar at a moment when no constable “I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which
was watching me, together with a hurried scrawl, a man can take.”
telling her that she had no cause to fear.”
“In that case I think that it is probable that no
“That note only reached her yesterday,” said further steps may be taken. But if you are found
Holmes. again, then all must come out. I am sure, Mr.
Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for
“Good God! What a week she must have spent!” having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how
“The police have watched this Lascar,” said In- you reach your results.”
spector Bradstreet, “and I can quite understand that “I reached this one,” said my friend, “by sitting
he might find it difficult to post a letter unobserved. upon five pillows and consuming an ounce of shag.
Probably he handed it to some sailor customer of I think, Watson, that if we drive to Baker Street we
his, who forgot all about it for some days.” shall just be in time for breakfast.”
79
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
I
had called upon my friend Sherlock “No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I
Holmes upon the second morning after beg that you will look upon it not as a battered
Christmas, with the intention of wishing billycock but as an intellectual problem. And, first,
him the compliments of the season. He as to how it came here. It arrived upon Christmas
was lounging upon the sofa in a purple dressing- morning, in company with a good fat goose, which
gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the right, is, I have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front
and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently of Peterson’s fire. The facts are these: about four
newly studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was o’clock on Christmas morning, Peterson, who, as
a wooden chair, and on the angle of the back hung you know, is a very honest fellow, was returning
a very seedy and disreputable hard-felt hat, much from some small jollification and was making his
the worse for wear, and cracked in several places. A way homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In
lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair front of him he saw, in the gaslight, a tallish man,
suggested that the hat had been suspended in this walking with a slight stagger, and carrying a white
manner for the purpose of examination. goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the
“You are engaged,” said I; “perhaps I interrupt corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between
you.” this stranger and a little knot of roughs. One of the
latter knocked off the man’s hat, on which he raised
“Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with
his stick to defend himself and, swinging it over his
whom I can discuss my results. The matter is a
head, smashed the shop window behind him. Pe-
perfectly trivial one”—he jerked his thumb in the
terson had rushed forward to protect the stranger
direction of the old hat—“but there are points in
from his assailants; but the man, shocked at having
connection with it which are not entirely devoid of
broken the window, and seeing an official-looking
interest and even of instruction.”
person in uniform rushing towards him, dropped
I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the
hands before his crackling fire, for a sharp frost labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of
had set in, and the windows were thick with the Tottenham Court Road. The roughs had also fled
ice crystals. “I suppose,” I remarked, “that, homely at the appearance of Peterson, so that he was left
as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked in possession of the field of battle, and also of the
on to it—that it is the clue which will guide you in spoils of victory in the shape of this battered hat
the solution of some mystery and the punishment and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose.”
of some crime.” “Which surely he restored to their owner?”
“No, no. No crime,” said Sherlock Holmes, “My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is
laughing. “Only one of those whimsical little in- true that ‘For Mrs. Henry Baker’ was printed upon
cidents which will happen when you have four a small card which was tied to the bird’s left leg,
million human beings all jostling each other within and it is also true that the initials ‘H. B.’ are legible
the space of a few square miles. Amid the action upon the lining of this hat, but as there are some
and reaction of so dense a swarm of humanity, ev- thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry
ery possible combination of events may be expected Bakers in this city of ours, it is not easy to restore
to take place, and many a little problem will be pre- lost property to any one of them.”
sented which may be striking and bizarre without
“What, then, did Peterson do?”
being criminal. We have already had experience of
such.” “He brought round both hat and goose to me on
Christmas morning, knowing that even the small-
“So much so,” I remarked, “that of the last six
est problems are of interest to me. The goose we
cases which I have added to my notes, three have
retained until this morning, when there were signs
been entirely free of any legal crime.”
that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well
“Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover that it should be eaten without unnecessary delay.
the Irene Adler papers, to the singular case of Miss Its finder has carried it off, therefore, to fulfil the
Mary Sutherland, and to the adventure of the man ultimate destiny of a goose, while I continue to
with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt that retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who lost
this small matter will fall into the same innocent his Christmas dinner.”
category. You know Peterson, the commissionaire?” “Did he not advertise?”
“Yes.” “No.”
“It is to him that this trophy belongs.” “Then, what clue could you have as to his iden-
“It is his hat.” tity?”
83
“Only as much as we can deduce.” to be deduced from his hat. Also, by the way, that
“From his hat?” it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid on
in his house.”
“Precisely.”
“You are certainly joking, Holmes.”
“But you are joking. What can you gather from “Not in the least. Is it possible that even now,
this old battered felt?” when I give you these results, you are unable to see
“Here is my lens. You know my methods. What how they are attained?”
can you gather yourself as to the individuality of “I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I
the man who has worn this article?” must confess that I am unable to follow you. For
I took the tattered object in my hands and example, how did you deduce that this man was
turned it over rather ruefully. It was a very ordinary intellectual?”
black hat of the usual round shape, hard and much For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his
the worse for wear. The lining had been of red silk, head. It came right over the forehead and settled
but was a good deal discoloured. There was no upon the bridge of his nose. “It is a question of
maker’s name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the cubic capacity,” said he; “a man with so large a
initials “H. B.” were scrawled upon one side. It brain must have something in it.”
was pierced in the brim for a hat-securer, but the “The decline of his fortunes, then?”
elastic was missing. For the rest, it was cracked, “This hat is three years old. These flat brims
exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, curled at the edge came in then. It is a hat of the
although there seemed to have been some attempt very best quality. Look at the band of ribbed silk
to hide the discoloured patches by smearing them and the excellent lining. If this man could afford
with ink. to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has
“I can see nothing,” said I, handing it back to had no hat since, then he has assuredly gone down
my friend. in the world.”
“On the contrary, Watson, you can see every- “Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how
thing. You fail, however, to reason from what you about the foresight and the moral retrogression?”
see. You are too timid in drawing your inferences.” Sherlock Holmes laughed. “Here is the fore-
“Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer sight,” said he putting his finger upon the little disc
from this hat?” and loop of the hat-securer. “They are never sold
upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a sign of a
He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his
introspective fashion which was characteristic of way to take this precaution against the wind. But
him. “It is perhaps less suggestive than it might since we see that he has broken the elastic and has
have been,” he remarked, “and yet there are a few not troubled to replace it, it is obvious that he has
inferences which are very distinct, and a few others less foresight now than formerly, which is a distinct
which represent at least a strong balance of prob- proof of a weakening nature. On the other hand,
ability. That the man was highly intellectual is of he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains
course obvious upon the face of it, and also that upon the felt by daubing them with ink, which is a
he was fairly well-to-do within the last three years, sign that he has not entirely lost his self-respect.”
although he has now fallen upon evil days. He had
“Your reasoning is certainly plausible.”
foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing
to a moral retrogression, which, when taken with “The further points, that he is middle-aged, that
the decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some his hair is grizzled, that it has been recently cut,
evil influence, probably drink, at work upon him. and that he uses lime-cream, are all to be gathered
This may account also for the obvious fact that his from a close examination of the lower part of the lin-
wife has ceased to love him.” ing. The lens discloses a large number of hair-ends,
clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all ap-
“My dear Holmes!” pear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of
“He has, however, retained some degree of self- lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the
respect,” he continued, disregarding my remon- gritty, grey dust of the street but the fluffy brown
strance. “He is a man who leads a sedentary life, dust of the house, showing that it has been hung
goes out little, is out of training entirely, is middle- up indoors most of the time, while the marks of
aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the
the last few days, and which he anoints with lime- wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore,
cream. These are the more patent facts which are hardly be in the best of training.”
84
“But his wife—you said that she had ceased to “Not the Countess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle!”
love him.” I ejaculated.
“This hat has not been brushed for weeks. “Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape,
When I see you, my dear Watson, with a week’s ac- seeing that I have read the advertisement about
cumulation of dust upon your hat, and when your it in The Times every day lately. It is absolutely
wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall unique, and its value can only be conjectured, but
fear that you also have been unfortunate enough to the reward offered of £1000 is certainly not within
lose your wife’s affection.” a twentieth part of the market price.”
“But he might be a bachelor.” “A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!”
“Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a The commissionaire plumped down into a chair
peace-offering to his wife. Remember the card upon and stared from one to the other of us.
the bird’s leg.” “That is the reward, and I have reason to know
“You have an answer to everything. But how on that there are sentimental considerations in the
earth do you deduce that the gas is not laid on in background which would induce the Countess to
his house?” part with half her fortune if she could but recover
the gem.”
“One tallow stain, or even two, might come by
chance; but when I see no less than five, I think “It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel
that there can be little doubt that the individual Cosmopolitan,” I remarked.
must be brought into frequent contact with burn- “Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days
ing tallow—walks upstairs at night probably with ago. John Horner, a plumber, was accused of hav-
his hat in one hand and a guttering candle in the ing abstracted it from the lady’s jewel-case. The
other. Anyhow, he never got tallow-stains from a evidence against him was so strong that the case
gas-jet. Are you satisfied?” has been referred to the Assizes. I have some ac-
“Well, it is very ingenious,” said I, laughing; count of the matter here, I believe.” He rummaged
“but since, as you said just now, there has been no amid his newspapers, glancing over the dates, until
crime committed, and no harm done save the loss at last he smoothed one out, doubled it over, and
of a goose, all this seems to be rather a waste of read the following paragraph:
energy.” “Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John
Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to re- Horner, 26, plumber, was brought up upon
ply, when the door flew open, and Peterson, the the charge of having upon the 22nd inst.
commissionaire, rushed into the apartment with abstracted from the jewel-case of the Count-
flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed ess of Morcar the valuable gem known as
with astonishment. the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, upper-
attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence
“The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!” he to the effect that he had shown Horner
gasped. up to the dressing-room of the Countess
“Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in
life and flapped off through the kitchen window?” order that he might solder the second bar
Holmes twisted himself round upon the sofa to get of the grate, which was loose. He had re-
a fairer view of the man’s excited face. mained with Horner some little time, but
“See here, sir! See what my wife found in its had finally been called away. On return-
crop!” He held out his hand and displayed upon ing, he found that Horner had disappeared,
the centre of the palm a brilliantly scintillating blue that the bureau had been forced open, and
stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but of that the small morocco casket in which, as
such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an it afterwards transpired, the Countess was
electric point in the dark hollow of his hand. accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying
empty upon the dressing-table. Ryder in-
Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. “By Jove,
stantly gave the alarm, and Horner was ar-
Peterson!” said he, “this is treasure trove indeed. I
rested the same evening; but the stone could
suppose you know what you have got?”
not be found either upon his person or in
“A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to the
glass as though it were putty.” Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder’s
“It’s more than a precious stone. It is the pre- cry of dismay on discovering the robbery,
cious stone.” and to having rushed into the room, where
85
she found matters as described by the last “Very well, sir. And this stone?”
witness. Inspector Bradstreet, B division, “Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you.
gave evidence as to the arrest of Horner, And, I say, Peterson, just buy a goose on your way
who struggled frantically, and protested his back and leave it here with me, for we must have
innocence in the strongest terms. Evidence one to give to this gentleman in place of the one
of a previous conviction for robbery having which your family is now devouring.”
been given against the prisoner, the magis-
trate refused to deal summarily with the of- When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes
fence, but referred it to the Assizes. Horner, took up the stone and held it against the light. “It’s
who had shown signs of intense emotion a bonny thing,” said he. “Just see how it glints
during the proceedings, fainted away at the and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and focus
conclusion and was carried out of court.” of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil’s
pet baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet
“Hum! So much for the police-court,” said Holmes may stand for a bloody deed. This stone is not yet
thoughtfully, tossing aside the paper. “The ques- twenty years old. It was found in the banks of the
tion for us now to solve is the sequence of events Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable
leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to the in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save
crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite
other. You see, Watson, our little deductions have of its youth, it has already a sinister history. There
suddenly assumed a much more important and have been two murders, a vitriol-throwing, a sui-
less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the stone cide, and several robberies brought about for the
came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised char-
Henry Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and coal. Who would think that so pretty a toy would
all the other characteristics with which I have bored be a purveyor to the gallows and the prison? I’ll
you. So now we must set ourselves very seriously lock it up in my strong box now and drop a line to
to finding this gentleman and ascertaining what the Countess to say that we have it.”
part he has played in this little mystery. To do this,
we must try the simplest means first, and these lie “Do you think that this man Horner is inno-
undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening cent?”
papers. If this fail, I shall have recourse to other “I cannot tell.”
methods.” “Well, then, do you imagine that this other one,
“What will you say?” Henry Baker, had anything to do with the matter?”
“Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, “It is, I think, much more likely that Henry
then: ‘Found at the corner of Goodge Street, a Baker is an absolutely innocent man, who had no
goose and a black felt hat. Mr. Henry Baker can idea that the bird which he was carrying was of
have the same by applying at 6.30 this evening at considerably more value than if it were made of
221b, Baker Street.’ That is clear and concise.” solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a
very simple test if we have an answer to our adver-
“Very. But will he see it?”
tisement.”
“Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers,
“And you can do nothing until then?”
since, to a poor man, the loss was a heavy one. He
was clearly so scared by his mischance in breaking “Nothing.”
the window and by the approach of Peterson that “In that case I shall continue my professional
he thought of nothing but flight, but since then round. But I shall come back in the evening at the
he must have bitterly regretted the impulse which hour you have mentioned, for I should like to see
caused him to drop his bird. Then, again, the in- the solution of so tangled a business.”
troduction of his name will cause him to see it, for “Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is
everyone who knows him will direct his attention a woodcock, I believe. By the way, in view of recent
to it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the ad- occurrences, perhaps I ought to ask Mrs. Hudson
vertising agency and have this put in the evening to examine its crop.”
papers.”
I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little
“In which, sir?” after half-past six when I found myself in Baker
“Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James’s, Street once more. As I approached the house I saw
Evening News, Standard, Echo, and any others that a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a coat which
occur to you.” was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the
86
bright semicircle which was thrown from the fan- disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are going
light. Just as I arrived the door was opened, and to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permis-
we were shown up together to Holmes’ room. sion, I will confine my attentions to the excellent
“Mr. Henry Baker, I believe,” said he, rising bird which I perceive upon the sideboard.”
from his armchair and greeting his visitor with the Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me
easy air of geniality which he could so readily as- with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
sume. “Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. Baker. It “There is your hat, then, and there your bird,”
is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation said he. “By the way, would it bore you to tell me
is more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, where you got the other one from? I am somewhat
Watson, you have just come at the right time. Is of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a better
that your hat, Mr. Baker?” grown goose.”
“Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat.” “Certainly, sir,” said Baker, who had risen and
He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a tucked his newly gained property under his arm.
massive head, and a broad, intelligent face, slop- “There are a few of us who frequent the Alpha Inn,
ing down to a pointed beard of grizzled brown. near the Museum—we are to be found in the Mu-
A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight seum itself during the day, you understand. This
tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes’ sur- year our good host, Windigate by name, instituted
mise as to his habits. His rusty black frock-coat was a goose club, by which, on consideration of some
buttoned right up in front, with the collar turned few pence every week, we were each to receive a
up, and his lank wrists protruded from his sleeves bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and
without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a slow the rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to
staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and you, sir, for a Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my
gave the impression generally of a man of learning years nor my gravity.” With a comical pomposity
and letters who had had ill-usage at the hands of of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and
fortune. strode off upon his way.
“We have retained these things for some days,” “So much for Mr. Henry Baker,” said Holmes
said Holmes, “because we expected to see an ad- when he had closed the door behind him. “It is
vertisement from you giving your address. I am at quite certain that he knows nothing whatever about
a loss to know now why you did not advertise.” the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?”
“Not particularly.”
Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh.
“Shillings have not been so plentiful with me as “Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a
they once were,” he remarked. “I had no doubt supper and follow up this clue while it is still hot.”
that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had “By all means.”
carried off both my hat and the bird. I did not It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters
care to spend more money in a hopeless attempt at and wrapped cravats about our throats. Outside,
recovering them.” the stars were shining coldly in a cloudless sky, and
“Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we the breath of the passers-by blew out into smoke
were compelled to eat it.” like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out
“To eat it!” Our visitor half rose from his chair crisply and loudly as we swung through the doc-
in his excitement. tors’ quarter, Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and
so through Wigmore Street into Oxford Street. In
“Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at
had we not done so. But I presume that this other the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at
goose upon the sideboard, which is about the same the corner of one of the streets which runs down
weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your pur- into Holborn. Holmes pushed open the door of the
pose equally well?” private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from
“Oh, certainly, certainly,” answered Mr. Baker the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord.
with a sigh of relief. “Your beer should be excellent if it is as good
“Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, as your geese,” said he.
and so on of your own bird, so if you wish—” “My geese!” The man seemed surprised.
The man burst into a hearty laugh. “They might “Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to
be useful to me as relics of my adventure,” said Mr. Henry Baker, who was a member of your goose
he, “but beyond that I can hardly see what use the club.”
87
“Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them’s not our “It is straight enough. I should like to know
geese.” who sold you the geese which you supplied to the
“Indeed! Whose, then?” Alpha.”
“Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in “Well then, I shan’t tell you. So now!”
Covent Garden.” “Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don’t
“Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?” know why you should be so warm over such a
trifle.”
“Breckinridge is his name.”
“Warm! You’d be as warm, maybe, if you were
“Ah! I don’t know him. Well, here’s your as pestered as I am. When I pay good money for a
good health landlord, and prosperity to your house. good article there should be an end of the business;
Good-night.” but it’s ‘Where are the geese?’ and ‘Who did you
“Now for Mr. Breckinridge,” he continued, but- sell the geese to?’ and ‘What will you take for the
toning up his coat as we came out into the frosty geese?’ One would think they were the only geese
air. “Remember, Watson that though we have so in the world, to hear the fuss that is made over
homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, them.”
we have at the other a man who will certainly get “Well, I have no connection with any other peo-
seven years’ penal servitude unless we can estab- ple who have been making inquiries,” said Holmes
lish his innocence. It is possible that our inquiry carelessly. “If you won’t tell us the bet is off, that
may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we have is all. But I’m always ready to back my opinion on
a line of investigation which has been missed by a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the
the police, and which a singular chance has placed bird I ate is country bred.”
in our hands. Let us follow it out to the bitter end. “Well, then, you’ve lost your fiver, for it’s town
Faces to the south, then, and quick march!” bred,” snapped the salesman.
We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, “It’s nothing of the kind.”
and so through a zigzag of slums to Covent Gar-
“I say it is.”
den Market. One of the largest stalls bore the
name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor “I don’t believe it.”
a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim “D’you think you know more about fowls than I,
side-whiskers was helping a boy to put up the shut- who have handled them ever since I was a nipper?
ters. I tell you, all those birds that went to the Alpha
“Good-evening. It’s a cold night,” said Holmes. were town bred.”
The salesman nodded and shot a questioning “You’ll never persuade me to believe that.”
glance at my companion. “Will you bet, then?”
“Sold out of geese, I see,” continued Holmes, “It’s merely taking your money, for I know that
pointing at the bare slabs of marble. I am right. But I’ll have a sovereign on with you,
just to teach you not to be obstinate.”
“Let you have five hundred to-morrow morn-
ing.” The salesman chuckled grimly. “Bring me the
books, Bill,” said he.
“That’s no good.”
The small boy brought round a small thin vol-
“Well, there are some on the stall with the gas- ume and a great greasy-backed one, laying them
flare.” out together beneath the hanging lamp.
“Ah, but I was recommended to you.” “Now then, Mr. Cocksure,” said the salesman,
“Who by?” “I thought that I was out of geese, but before I fin-
“The landlord of the Alpha.” ish you’ll find that there is still one left in my shop.
You see this little book?”
“Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen.”
“Well?”
“Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you
“That’s the list of the folk from whom I buy.
get them from?”
D’you see? Well, then, here on this page are the
To my surprise the question provoked a burst country folk, and the numbers after their names
of anger from the salesman. are where their accounts are in the big ledger. Now,
“Now, then, mister,” said he, with his head then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that
cocked and his arms akimbo, “what are you driv- is a list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that
ing at? Let’s have it straight, now.” third name. Just read it out to me.”
88
“Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road—249,” read “Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all
Holmes. I care. I’ve had enough of it. Get out of this!” He
“Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger.” rushed fiercely forward, and the inquirer flitted
away into the darkness.
Holmes turned to the page indicated. “Here
“Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road,”
you are, ‘Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and
whispered Holmes. “Come with me, and we will
poultry supplier.’ ”
see what is to be made of this fellow.” Striding
“Now, then, what’s the last entry?” through the scattered knots of people who lounged
“ ‘December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily
6d.’ ” overtook the little man and touched him upon the
shoulder. He sprang round, and I could see in
“Quite so. There you are. And underneath?”
the gas-light that every vestige of colour had been
“ ‘Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.’ ” driven from his face.
“What have you to say now?” “Who are you, then? What do you want?” he
Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He asked in a quavering voice.
drew a sovereign from his pocket and threw it “You will excuse me,” said Holmes blandly,
down upon the slab, turning away with the air of “but I could not help overhearing the questions
a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A which you put to the salesman just now. I think
few yards off he stopped under a lamp-post and that I could be of assistance to you.”
laughed in the hearty, noiseless fashion which was “You? Who are you? How could you know
peculiar to him. anything of the matter?”
“When you see a man with whiskers of that cut “My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business
and the ‘Pink ’un’ protruding out of his pocket, you to know what other people don’t know.”
can always draw him by a bet,” said he. “I daresay “But you can know nothing of this?”
that if I had put £100 down in front of him, that “Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are
man would not have given me such complete infor- endeavouring to trace some geese which were sold
mation as was drawn from him by the idea that he by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton Road, to a salesman
was doing me on a wager. Well, Watson, we are, I named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. Windi-
fancy, nearing the end of our quest, and the only gate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which
point which remains to be determined is whether Mr. Henry Baker is a member.”
we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or “Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have
whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is longed to meet,” cried the little fellow with out-
clear from what that surly fellow said that there are stretched hands and quivering fingers. “I can
others besides ourselves who are anxious about the hardly explain to you how interested I am in this
matter, and I should—” matter.”
His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which
hubbub which broke out from the stall which we was passing. “In that case we had better discuss
had just left. Turning round we saw a little rat- it in a cosy room rather than in this wind-swept
faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of market-place,” said he. “But pray tell me, before
yellow light which was thrown by the swinging we go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of
lamp, while Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in assisting.”
the door of his stall, was shaking his fists fiercely The man hesitated for an instant. “My name
at the cringing figure. is John Robinson,” he answered with a sidelong
“I’ve had enough of you and your geese,” he glance.
shouted. “I wish you were all at the devil together. “No, no; the real name,” said Holmes sweetly.
If you come pestering me any more with your silly “It is always awkward doing business with an
talk I’ll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. Oakshott alias.”
here and I’ll answer her, but what have you to do A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the
with it? Did I buy the geese off you?” stranger. “Well then,” said he, “my real name is
James Ryder.”
“No; but one of them was mine all the same,”
whined the little man. “Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cos-
mopolitan. Pray step into the cab, and I shall soon
“Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it.” be able to tell you everything which you would
“She told me to ask you.” wish to know.”
89
The little man stood glancing from one to the “It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it,”
other of us with half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, said he in a crackling voice.
as one who is not sure whether he is on the verge
“I see—her ladyship’s waiting-maid. Well, the
of a windfall or of a catastrophe. Then he stepped
temptation of sudden wealth so easily acquired
into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in
was too much for you, as it has been for better men
the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been
before you; but you were not very scrupulous in
said during our drive, but the high, thin breathing
the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that
of our new companion, and the claspings and un-
there is the making of a very pretty villain in you.
claspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous tension
You knew that this man Horner, the plumber, had
within him.
been concerned in some such matter before, and
“Here we are!” said Holmes cheerily as we filed that suspicion would rest the more readily upon
into the room. “The fire looks very seasonable in him. What did you do, then? You made some
this weather. You look cold, Mr. Ryder. Pray take small job in my lady’s room—you and your con-
the basket-chair. I will just put on my slippers be- federate Cusack—and you managed that he should
fore we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you
You want to know what became of those geese?” rifled the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this
“Yes, sir.” unfortunate man arrested. You then—”
“Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the
I imagine in which you were interested—white, rug and clutched at my companion’s knees. “For
with a black bar across the tail.” God’s sake, have mercy!” he shrieked. “Think of
my father! Of my mother! It would break their
Ryder quivered with emotion. “Oh, sir,” he
hearts. I never went wrong before! I never will
cried, “can you tell me where it went to?”
again. I swear it. I’ll swear it on a Bible. Oh, don’t
“It came here.” bring it into court! For Christ’s sake, don’t!”
“Here?” “Get back into your chair!” said Holmes sternly.
“Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I “It is very well to cringe and crawl now, but you
don’t wonder that you should take an interest in thought little enough of this poor Horner in the
it. It laid an egg after it was dead—the bonniest, dock for a crime of which he knew nothing.”
brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. I have
“I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country,
it here in my museum.”
sir. Then the charge against him will break down.”
Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched
“Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us
the mantelpiece with his right hand. Holmes un-
hear a true account of the next act. How came the
locked his strong-box and held up the blue car-
stone into the goose, and how came the goose into
buncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold,
the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies
brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glar-
your only hope of safety.”
ing with a drawn face, uncertain whether to claim
or to disown it. Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips.
“The game’s up, Ryder,” said Holmes quietly. “I will tell you it just as it happened, sir,” said
“Hold up, man, or you’ll be into the fire! Give him he. “When Horner had been arrested, it seemed to
an arm back into his chair, Watson. He’s not got me that it would be best for me to get away with
blood enough to go in for felony with impunity. the stone at once, for I did not know at what mo-
Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a ment the police might not take it into their heads to
little more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!” search me and my room. There was no place about
the hotel where it would be safe. I went out, as if on
For a moment he had staggered and nearly some commission, and I made for my sister’s house.
fallen, but the brandy brought a tinge of colour She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived
into his cheeks, and he sat staring with frightened in Brixton Road, where she fattened fowls for the
eyes at his accuser. market. All the way there every man I met seemed
“I have almost every link in my hands, and all to me to be a policeman or a detective; and, for
the proofs which I could possibly need, so there is all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring
little which you need tell me. Still, that little may as down my face before I came to the Brixton Road.
well be cleared up to make the case complete. You My sister asked me what was the matter, and why
had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the Countess I was so pale; but I told her that I had been upset
of Morcar’s?” by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went into
90
the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered “ ‘That white one with the barred tail, right in
what it would be best to do. the middle of the flock.’
“I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went “ ‘Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.’
to the bad, and has just been serving his time in “Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I
Pentonville. One day he had met me, and fell into carried the bird all the way to Kilburn. I told my
talk about the ways of thieves, and how they could pal what I had done, for he was a man that it was
get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed until he
true to me, for I knew one or two things about him; choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose.
so I made up my mind to go right on to Kilburn, My heart turned to water, for there was no sign of
where he lived, and take him into my confidence. the stone, and I knew that some terrible mistake
He would show me how to turn the stone into had occurred. I left the bird, rushed back to my
money. But how to get to him in safety? I thought sister’s, and hurried into the back yard. There was
of the agonies I had gone through in coming from not a bird to be seen there.
the hotel. I might at any moment be seized and “ ‘Where are they all, Maggie?’ I cried.
searched, and there would be the stone in my waist- “ ‘Gone to the dealer’s, Jem.’
coat pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the
“ ‘Which dealer’s?’
time and looking at the geese which were waddling
about round my feet, and suddenly an idea came “ ‘Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.’
into my head which showed me how I could beat “ ‘But was there another with a barred tail?’ I
the best detective that ever lived. asked, ‘the same as the one I chose?’
“My sister had told me some weeks before that “ ‘Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones,
I might have the pick of her geese for a Christmas and I could never tell them apart.’
present, and I knew that she was always as good “Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off
as her word. I would take my goose now, and in as hard as my feet would carry me to this man
it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a Breckinridge; but he had sold the lot at once, and
little shed in the yard, and behind this I drove one not one word would he tell me as to where they
of the birds—a fine big one, white, with a barred had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well,
tail. I caught it, and prying its bill open, I thrust he has always answered me like that. My sister
the stone down its throat as far as my finger could thinks that I am going mad. Sometimes I think
reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone that I am myself. And now—and now I am myself
pass along its gullet and down into its crop. But a branded thief, without ever having touched the
the creature flapped and struggled, and out came wealth for which I sold my character. God help me!
my sister to know what was the matter. As I turned God help me!” He burst into convulsive sobbing,
to speak to her the brute broke loose and fluttered with his face buried in his hands.
off among the others. There was a long silence, broken only by his
“ ‘Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?’ heavy breathing and by the measured tapping of
says she. Sherlock Holmes’ finger-tips upon the edge of the
table. Then my friend rose and threw open the
“ ‘Well,’ said I, ‘you said you’d give me one for
door.
Christmas, and I was feeling which was the fattest.’
“Get out!” said he.
“ ‘Oh,’ says she, ‘we’ve set yours aside for
you—Jem’s bird, we call it. It’s the big white one “What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!”
over yonder. There’s twenty-six of them, which “No more words. Get out!”
makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen And no more words were needed. There was a
for the market.’ rush, a clatter upon the stairs, the bang of a door,
“ ‘Thank you, Maggie,’ says I; ‘but if it is all the and the crisp rattle of running footfalls from the
same to you, I’d rather have that one I was handling street.
just now.’ “After all, Watson,” said Holmes, reaching up
his hand for his clay pipe, “I am not retained by
“ ‘The other is a good three pound heavier,’ said
the police to supply their deficiencies. If Horner
she, ‘and we fattened it expressly for you.’
were in danger it would be another thing; but this
“ ‘Never mind. I’ll have the other, and I’ll take fellow will not appear against him, and the case
it now,’ said I. must collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a
“ ‘Oh, just as you like,’ said she, a little huffed. felony, but it is just possible that I am saving a
‘Which is it you want, then?’ soul. This fellow will not go wrong again; he is
91
too terribly frightened. Send him to jail now, and solution is its own reward. If you will have the
you make him a jail-bird for life. Besides, it is the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin
season of forgiveness. Chance has put in our way another investigation, in which, also a bird will be
a most singular and whimsical problem, and its the chief feature.”
92
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
O
n glancing over my notes of the seventy admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as intu-
odd cases in which I have during the itions, and yet always founded on a logical basis
last eight years studied the methods of with which he unravelled the problems which were
my friend Sherlock Holmes, I find many submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes
tragic, some comic, a large number merely strange, and was ready in a few minutes to accompany my
but none commonplace; for, working as he did friend down to the sitting-room. A lady dressed in
rather for the love of his art than for the acquire- black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in
ment of wealth, he refused to associate himself with the window, rose as we entered.
any investigation which did not tend towards the “Good-morning, madam,” said Holmes cheerily.
unusual, and even the fantastic. Of all these varied “My name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate
cases, however, I cannot recall any which presented friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before whom you
more singular features than that which was asso- can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am glad
ciated with the well-known Surrey family of the to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to
Roylotts of Stoke Moran. The events in question light the fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order
occurred in the early days of my association with you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that you are
Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors shivering.”
in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have
“It is not cold which makes me shiver,” said
placed them upon record before, but a promise of
the woman in a low voice, changing her seat as
secrecy was made at the time, from which I have
requested.
only been freed during the last month by the un-
timely death of the lady to whom the pledge was “What, then?”
given. It is perhaps as well that the facts should “It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.” She raised
now come to light, for I have reasons to know that her veil as she spoke, and we could see that she
there are widespread rumours as to the death of Dr. was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face
Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter all drawn and grey, with restless frightened eyes,
even more terrible than the truth. like those of some hunted animal. Her features
It was early in April in the year ’83 that I woke and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her
one morning to find Sherlock Holmes standing, hair was shot with premature grey, and her expres-
fully dressed, by the side of my bed. He was a late sion was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran
riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the mantelpiece her over with one of his quick, all-comprehensive
showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I glances.
blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps “You must not fear,” said he soothingly, bend-
just a little resentment, for I was myself regular in ing forward and patting her forearm. “We shall
my habits. soon set matters right, I have no doubt. You have
“Very sorry to knock you up, Watson,” said he, come in by train this morning, I see.”
“but it’s the common lot this morning. Mrs. Hud- “You know me, then?”
son has been knocked up, she retorted upon me, “No, but I observe the second half of a return
and I on you.” ticket in the palm of your left glove. You must have
“What is it, then—a fire?” started early, and yet you had a good drive in a
“No; a client. It seems that a young lady has dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached
arrived in a considerable state of excitement, who the station.”
insists upon seeing me. She is waiting now in the The lady gave a violent start and stared in be-
sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander wilderment at my companion.
about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, “There is no mystery, my dear madam,” said
and knock sleepy people up out of their beds, I he, smiling. “The left arm of your jacket is spat-
presume that it is something very pressing which tered with mud in no less than seven places. The
they have to communicate. Should it prove to be marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save
an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and
follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the
that I should call you and give you the chance.” driver.”
“My dear fellow, I would not miss it for any- “Whatever your reasons may be, you are per-
thing.” fectly correct,” said she. “I started from home be-
I had no keener pleasure than in following fore six, reached Leatherhead at twenty past, and
Holmes in his professional investigations, and in came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I can
95
stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it con- was left save a few acres of ground, and the two-
tinues. I have no one to turn to—none, save only hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed
one, who cares for me, and he, poor fellow, can under a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged
be of little aid. I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes; I out his existence there, living the horrible life of an
have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you aristocratic pauper; but his only son, my stepfather,
helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her seeing that he must adapt himself to the new con-
that I had your address. Oh, sir, do you not think ditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which
that you could help me, too, and at least throw a enabled him to take a medical degree and went out
little light through the dense darkness which sur- to Calcutta, where, by his professional skill and his
rounds me? At present it is out of my power to force of character, he established a large practice.
reward you for your services, but in a month or six In a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies
weeks I shall be married, with the control of my which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat
own income, and then at least you shall not find his native butler to death and narrowly escaped
me ungrateful.” a capital sentence. As it was, he suffered a long
Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, term of imprisonment and afterwards returned to
drew out a small case-book, which he consulted. England a morose and disappointed man.
“When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my
“Farintosh,” said he. “Ah yes, I recall the case;
mother, Mrs. Stoner, the young widow of Major-
it was concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was
General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. My sister
before your time, Watson. I can only say, madam,
Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years
that I shall be happy to devote the same care to
old at the time of my mother’s re-marriage. She had
your case as I did to that of your friend. As to
a considerable sum of money—not less than £1000
reward, my profession is its own reward; but you
a year—and this she bequeathed to Dr. Roylott en-
are at liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be
tirely while we resided with him, with a provision
put to, at the time which suits you best. And now I
that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each
beg that you will lay before us everything that may
of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after
help us in forming an opinion upon the matter.”
our return to England my mother died—she was
“Alas!” replied our visitor, “the very horror of killed eight years ago in a railway accident near
my situation lies in the fact that my fears are so Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his attempts to
vague, and my suspicions depend so entirely upon establish himself in practice in London and took us
small points, which might seem trivial to another, to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke
that even he to whom of all others I have a right to Moran. The money which my mother had left was
look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell enough for all our wants, and there seemed to be
him about it as the fancies of a nervous woman. He no obstacle to our happiness.
does not say so, but I can read it from his soothing “But a terrible change came over our stepfather
answers and averted eyes. But I have heard, Mr. about this time. Instead of making friends and ex-
Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold changing visits with our neighbours, who had at
wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran
how to walk amid the dangers which encompass back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in
me.” his house and seldom came out save to indulge in
“I am all attention, madam.” ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his
path. Violence of temper approaching to mania has
“My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with
been hereditary in the men of the family, and in my
my stepfather, who is the last survivor of one of
stepfather’s case it had, I believe, been intensified
the oldest Saxon families in England, the Roylotts
by his long residence in the tropics. A series of
of Stoke Moran, on the western border of Surrey.”
disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended
Holmes nodded his head. “The name is familiar in the police-court, until at last he became the ter-
to me,” said he. ror of the village, and the folks would fly at his
“The family was at one time among the richest approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and
in England, and the estates extended over the bor- absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.
ders into Berkshire in the north, and Hampshire in “Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over
the west. In the last century, however, four succes- a parapet into a stream, and it was only by paying
sive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposi- over all the money which I could gather together
tion, and the family ruin was eventually completed that I was able to avert another public exposure. He
by a gambler in the days of the Regency. Nothing had no friends at all save the wandering gypsies,
96
and he would give these vagabonds leave to en- had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled
camp upon the few acres of bramble-covered land by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it
which represent the family estate, and would accept was his custom to smoke. She left her room, there-
in return the hospitality of their tents, wandering fore, and came into mine, where she sat for some
away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At
has a passion also for Indian animals, which are eleven o’clock she rose to leave me, but she paused
sent over to him by a correspondent, and he has at at the door and looked back.
this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which wan- “ ‘Tell me, Helen,’ said she, ‘have you ever heard
der freely over his grounds and are feared by the anyone whistle in the dead of the night?’
villagers almost as much as their master. “ ‘Never,’ said I.
“You can imagine from what I say that my poor “ ‘I suppose that you could not possibly whistle,
sister Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives. yourself, in your sleep?’
No servant would stay with us, and for a long time “ ‘Certainly not. But why?’
we did all the work of the house. She was but
“ ‘Because during the last few nights I have al-
thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had
ways, about three in the morning, heard a low, clear
already begun to whiten, even as mine has.”
whistle. I am a light sleeper, and it has awakened
“Your sister is dead, then?” me. I cannot tell where it came from—perhaps from
“She died just two years ago, and it is of her the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought
death that I wish to speak to you. You can under- that I would just ask you whether you had heard
stand that, living the life which I have described, we it.’
were little likely to see anyone of our own age and “ ‘No, I have not. It must be those wretched
position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother’s gipsies in the plantation.’
maiden sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives “ ‘Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I
near Harrow, and we were occasionally allowed wonder that you did not hear it also.’
to pay short visits at this lady’s house. Julia went “ ‘Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.’
there at Christmas two years ago, and met there
“ ‘Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.’
a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became
She smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few
engaged. My stepfather learned of the engagement
moments later I heard her key turn in the lock.”
when my sister returned and offered no objection
to the marriage; but within a fortnight of the day “Indeed,” said Holmes. “Was it your custom
which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible always to lock yourselves in at night?”
event occurred which has deprived me of my only “Always.”
companion.” “And why?”
Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his “I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor
chair with his eyes closed and his head sunk in kept a cheetah and a baboon. We had no feeling of
a cushion, but he half opened his lids now and security unless our doors were locked.”
glanced across at his visitor. “Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.”
“Pray be precise as to details,” said he. “I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling
“It is easy for me to be so, for every event of of impending misfortune impressed me. My sis-
that dreadful time is seared into my memory. The ter and I, you will recollect, were twins, and you
manor-house is, as I have already said, very old, know how subtle are the links which bind two souls
and only one wing is now inhabited. The bedrooms which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The
in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting- wind was howling outside, and the rain was beat-
rooms being in the central block of the buildings. ing and splashing against the windows. Suddenly,
Of these bedrooms the first is Dr. Roylott’s, the amid all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth
second my sister’s, and the third my own. There the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew that
is no communication between them, but they all it was my sister’s voice. I sprang from my bed,
open out into the same corridor. Do I make myself wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed into the
plain?” corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear
a low whistle, such as my sister described, and a
“Perfectly so.” few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass
“The windows of the three rooms open out of metal had fallen. As I ran down the passage, my
upon the lawn. That fatal night Dr. Roylott had sister’s door was unlocked, and revolved slowly
gone to his room early, though we knew that he upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken, not
97
knowing what was about to issue from it. By the quite alone when she met her end. Besides, there
light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear were no marks of any violence upon her.”
at the opening, her face blanched with terror, her “How about poison?”
hands groping for help, her whole figure swaying “The doctors examined her for it, but without
to and fro like that of a drunkard. I ran to her success.”
and threw my arms round her, but at that moment “What do you think that this unfortunate lady
her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the died of, then?”
ground. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain,
“It is my belief that she died of pure fear and
and her limbs were dreadfully convulsed. At first
nervous shock, though what it was that frightened
I thought that she had not recognised me, but as I
her I cannot imagine.”
bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in a voice
“Were there gipsies in the plantation at the
which I shall never forget, ‘Oh, my God! Helen!
time?”
It was the band! The speckled band!’ There was
something else which she would fain have said, “Yes, there are nearly always some there.”
and she stabbed with her finger into the air in the “Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion
direction of the doctor’s room, but a fresh convul- to a band—a speckled band?”
sion seized her and choked her words. I rushed “Sometimes I have thought that it was merely
out, calling loudly for my stepfather, and I met the wild talk of delirium, sometimes that it may
him hastening from his room in his dressing-gown. have referred to some band of people, perhaps to
When he reached my sister’s side she was uncon- these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not know
scious, and though he poured brandy down her whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many
throat and sent for medical aid from the village, all of them wear over their heads might have suggested
efforts were in vain, for she slowly sank and died the strange adjective which she used.”
without having recovered her consciousness. Such Holmes shook his head like a man who is far
was the dreadful end of my beloved sister.” from being satisfied.
“One moment,” said Holmes, “are you sure “These are very deep waters,” said he; “pray go
about this whistle and metallic sound? Could you on with your narrative.”
swear to it?” “Two years have passed since then, and my life
has been until lately lonelier than ever. A month
“That was what the county coroner asked me at
ago, however, a dear friend, whom I have known
the inquiry. It is my strong impression that I heard
for many years, has done me the honour to ask my
it, and yet, among the crash of the gale and the
hand in marriage. His name is Armitage—Percy Ar-
creaking of an old house, I may possibly have been
mitage—the second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane
deceived.”
Water, near Reading. My stepfather has offered no
“Was your sister dressed?” opposition to the match, and we are to be married
“No, she was in her night-dress. In her right in the course of the spring. Two days ago some re-
hand was found the charred stump of a match, and pairs were started in the west wing of the building,
in her left a match-box.” and my bedroom wall has been pierced, so that I
have had to move into the chamber in which my
“Showing that she had struck a light and looked sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in which
about her when the alarm took place. That is impor- she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when
tant. And what conclusions did the coroner come last night, as I lay awake, thinking over her ter-
to?” rible fate, I suddenly heard in the silence of the
“He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. night the low whistle which had been the herald
Roylott’s conduct had long been notorious in the of her own death. I sprang up and lit the lamp,
county, but he was unable to find any satisfactory but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too
cause of death. My evidence showed that the door shaken to go to bed again, however, so I dressed,
had been fastened upon the inner side, and the win- and as soon as it was daylight I slipped down, got
dows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which is opposite, and
broad iron bars, which were secured every night. drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on
The walls were carefully sounded, and were shown this morning with the one object of seeing you and
to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was asking your advice.”
also thoroughly examined, with the same result. “You have done wisely,” said my friend. “But
The chimney is wide, but is barred up by four large have you told me all?”
staples. It is certain, therefore, that my sister was “Yes, all.”
98
“Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening “Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the floor-
your stepfather.” ing and walls are sound, and that the door, window,
“Why, what do you mean?” and chimney are impassable, then her sister must
have been undoubtedly alone when she met her
For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of mysterious end.”
black lace which fringed the hand that lay upon
our visitor’s knee. Five little livid spots, the marks “What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whis-
of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the tles, and what of the very peculiar words of the
white wrist. dying woman?”
“I cannot think.”
“You have been cruelly used,” said Holmes.
“When you combine the ideas of whistles at
The lady coloured deeply and covered over her
night, the presence of a band of gipsies who are
injured wrist. “He is a hard man,” she said, “and
on intimate terms with this old doctor, the fact that
perhaps he hardly knows his own strength.”
we have every reason to believe that the doctor has
There was a long silence, during which Holmes an interest in preventing his stepdaughter’s mar-
leaned his chin upon his hands and stared into the riage, the dying allusion to a band, and, finally, the
crackling fire. fact that Miss Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang,
“This is a very deep business,” he said at last. which might have been caused by one of those
“There are a thousand details which I should de- metal bars that secured the shutters falling back
sire to know before I decide upon our course of into its place, I think that there is good ground to
action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If we think that the mystery may be cleared along those
were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be lines.”
possible for us to see over these rooms without the “But what, then, did the gipsies do?”
knowledge of your stepfather?” “I cannot imagine.”
“As it happens, he spoke of coming into town “I see many objections to any such theory.”
to-day upon some most important business. It is
probable that he will be away all day, and that there “And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that
would be nothing to disturb you. We have a house- we are going to Stoke Moran this day. I want to
keeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could see whether the objections are fatal, or if they may
easily get her out of the way.” be explained away. But what in the name of the
devil!”
“Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Wat-
son?” The ejaculation had been drawn from my com-
panion by the fact that our door had been suddenly
“By no means.” dashed open, and that a huge man had framed
“Then we shall both come. What are you going himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar
to do yourself?” mixture of the professional and of the agricultural,
having a black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a
“I have one or two things which I would wish
pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swing-
to do now that I am in town. But I shall return by
ing in his hand. So tall was he that his hat ac-
the twelve o’clock train, so as to be there in time
tually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and
for your coming.”
his breadth seemed to span it across from side to
“And you may expect us early in the afternoon. side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles,
I have myself some small business matters to attend burned yellow with the sun, and marked with ev-
to. Will you not wait and breakfast?” ery evil passion, was turned from one to the other
“No, I must go. My heart is lightened already of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his
since I have confided my trouble to you. I shall high, thin, fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the
look forward to seeing you again this afternoon.” resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey.
She dropped her thick black veil over her face and “Which of you is Holmes?” asked this appari-
glided from the room. tion.
“And what do you think of it all, Watson?” “My name, sir; but you have the advantage of
asked Sherlock Holmes, leaning back in his chair. me,” said my companion quietly.
“It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister “I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.”
business.” “Indeed, Doctor,” said Holmes blandly. “Pray
“Dark enough and sinister enough.” take a seat.”
99
“I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter obliged to work out the present prices of the in-
has been here. I have traced her. What has she been vestments with which it is concerned. The total
saying to you?” income, which at the time of the wife’s death was
“It is a little cold for the time of the year,” said little short of £1100, is now, through the fall in agri-
Holmes. cultural prices, not more than £750. Each daughter
can claim an income of £250, in case of marriage.
“What has she been saying to you?” screamed It is evident, therefore, that if both girls had mar-
the old man furiously. ried, this beauty would have had a mere pittance,
“But I have heard that the crocuses promise while even one of them would cripple him to a
well,” continued my companion imperturbably. very serious extent. My morning’s work has not
been wasted, since it has proved that he has the
“Ha! You put me off, do you?” said our new vis-
very strongest motives for standing in the way of
itor, taking a step forward and shaking his hunting-
anything of the sort. And now, Watson, this is too
crop. “I know you, you scoundrel! I have heard of
serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is
you before. You are Holmes, the meddler.”
aware that we are interesting ourselves in his af-
My friend smiled. fairs; so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and
“Holmes, the busybody!” drive to Waterloo. I should be very much obliged
if you would slip your revolver into your pocket.
His smile broadened.
An Eley’s No. 2 is an excellent argument with gen-
“Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!” tlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots. That
Holmes chuckled heartily. “Your conversation and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.”
is most entertaining,” said he. “When you go out At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a
close the door, for there is a decided draught.” train for Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the
“I will go when I have said my say. Don’t you station inn and drove for four or five miles through
dare to meddle with my affairs. I know that Miss the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a perfect day, with a
Stoner has been here. I traced her! I am a dan- bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the heavens.
gerous man to fall foul of! See here.” He stepped The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing
swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into out their first green shoots, and the air was full
a curve with his huge brown hands. of the pleasant smell of the moist earth. To me
at least there was a strange contrast between the
“See that you keep yourself out of my grip,”
sweet promise of the spring and this sinister quest
he snarled, and hurling the twisted poker into the
upon which we were engaged. My companion sat
fireplace he strode out of the room.
in the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat
“He seems a very amiable person,” said Holmes, pulled down over his eyes, and his chin sunk upon
laughing. “I am not quite so bulky, but if he had re- his breast, buried in the deepest thought. Suddenly,
mained I might have shown him that my grip was however, he started, tapped me on the shoulder,
not much more feeble than his own.” As he spoke and pointed over the meadows.
he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden
effort, straightened it out again. “Look there!” said he.
“Fancy his having the insolence to confound me A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle
with the official detective force! This incident gives slope, thickening into a grove at the highest point.
zest to our investigation, however, and I only trust From amid the branches there jutted out the grey
that our little friend will not suffer from her impru- gables and high roof-tree of a very old mansion.
dence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, “Stoke Moran?” said he.
Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards
I shall walk down to Doctors’ Commons, where I “Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roy-
hope to get some data which may help us in this lott,” remarked the driver.
matter.” “There is some building going on there,” said
It was nearly one o’clock when Sherlock Holmes Holmes; “that is where we are going.”
returned from his excursion. He held in his hand a “There’s the village,” said the driver, pointing
sheet of blue paper, scrawled over with notes and to a cluster of roofs some distance to the left; “but
figures. if you want to get to the house, you’ll find it shorter
“I have seen the will of the deceased wife,” said to get over this stile, and so by the foot-path over
he. “To determine its exact meaning I have been the fields. There it is, where the lady is walking.”
100
“And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,” observed and the one next to the main building to Dr. Roy-
Holmes, shading his eyes. “Yes, I think we had lott’s chamber?”
better do as you suggest.” “Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the mid-
We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled dle one.”
back on its way to Leatherhead. “Pending the alterations, as I understand. By
“I thought it as well,” said Holmes as we the way, there does not seem to be any very press-
climbed the stile, “that this fellow should think ing need for repairs at that end wall.”
we had come here as architects, or on some definite “There were none. I believe that it was an ex-
business. It may stop his gossip. Good-afternoon, cuse to move me from my room.”
Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as “Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side
our word.” of this narrow wing runs the corridor from which
Our client of the morning had hurried forward these three rooms open. There are windows in it,
to meet us with a face which spoke her joy. “I have of course?”
been waiting so eagerly for you,” she cried, shak- “Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for any-
ing hands with us warmly. “All has turned out one to pass through.”
splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is
unlikely that he will be back before evening.” “As you both locked your doors at night, your
rooms were unapproachable from that side. Now,
“We have had the pleasure of making the doc- would you have the kindness to go into your room
tor’s acquaintance,” said Holmes, and in a few and bar your shutters?”
words he sketched out what had occurred. Miss
Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful
Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened.
examination through the open window, endeav-
“Good heavens!” she cried, “he has followed oured in every way to force the shutter open, but
me, then.” without success. There was no slit through which a
“So it appears.” knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with
his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid
“He is so cunning that I never know when I am
iron, built firmly into the massive masonry. “Hum!”
safe from him. What will he say when he returns?”
said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity, “my
“He must guard himself, for he may find that theory certainly presents some difficulties. No one
there is someone more cunning than himself upon could pass these shutters if they were bolted. Well,
his track. You must lock yourself up from him to- we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the
night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to matter.”
your aunt’s at Harrow. Now, we must make the
A small side door led into the whitewashed
best use of our time, so kindly take us at once to
corridor from which the three bedrooms opened.
the rooms which we are to examine.”
Holmes refused to examine the third chamber, so
The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss
with a high central portion and two curving wings, Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister
like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side. had met with her fate. It was a homely little room,
In one of these wings the windows were broken with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after
and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof the fashion of old country-houses. A brown chest
was partly caved in, a picture of ruin. The central of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow white-
portion was in little better repair, but the right-hand counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table
block was comparatively modern, and the blinds on the left-hand side of the window. These articles,
in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the
from the chimneys, showed that this was where furniture in the room save for a square of Wilton
the family resided. Some scaffolding had been carpet in the centre. The boards round and the
erected against the end wall, and the stone-work panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten
had been broken into, but there were no signs of oak, so old and discoloured that it may have dated
any workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes from the original building of the house. Holmes
walked slowly up and down the ill-trimmed lawn drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent,
and examined with deep attention the outsides of while his eyes travelled round and round and up
the windows. and down, taking in every detail of the apartment.
“This, I take it, belongs to the room in which “Where does that bell communicate with?” he
you used to sleep, the centre one to your sister’s, asked at last pointing to a thick bell-rope which
101
hung down beside the bed, the tassel actually lying slowly round and examined each and all of them
upon the pillow. with the keenest interest.
“It goes to the housekeeper’s room.” “What’s in here?” he asked, tapping the safe.
“It looks newer than the other things?” “My stepfather’s business papers.”
“Yes, it was only put there a couple of years “Oh! you have seen inside, then?”
ago.” “Only once, some years ago. I remember that it
“Your sister asked for it, I suppose?” was full of papers.”
“No, I never heard of her using it. We used “There isn’t a cat in it, for example?”
always to get what we wanted for ourselves.” “No. What a strange idea!”
“Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice “Well, look at this!” He took up a small saucer
a bell-pull there. You will excuse me for a few of milk which stood on the top of it.
minutes while I satisfy myself as to this floor.” He “No; we don’t keep a cat. But there is a cheetah
threw himself down upon his face with his lens and a baboon.”
in his hand and crawled swiftly backward and for- “Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big
ward, examining minutely the cracks between the cat, and yet a saucer of milk does not go very far
boards. Then he did the same with the wood-work in satisfying its wants, I daresay. There is one point
with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he which I should wish to determine.” He squatted
walked over to the bed and spent some time in down in front of the wooden chair and examined
staring at it and in running his eye up and down the seat of it with the greatest attention.
the wall. Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand
“Thank you. That is quite settled,” said he, ris-
and gave it a brisk tug.
ing and putting his lens in his pocket. “Hullo! Here
“Why, it’s a dummy,” said he. is something interesting!”
“Won’t it ring?” The object which had caught his eye was a small
“No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is dog lash hung on one corner of the bed. The lash,
very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened however, was curled upon itself and tied so as to
to a hook just above where the little opening for make a loop of whipcord.
the ventilator is.” “What do you make of that, Watson?”
“How very absurd! I never noticed that before.” “It’s a common enough lash. But I don’t know
“Very strange!” muttered Holmes, pulling at the why it should be tied.”
rope. “There are one or two very singular points “That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it’s
about this room. For example, what a fool a builder a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his
must be to open a ventilator into another room, brains to crime it is the worst of all. I think that I
when, with the same trouble, he might have com- have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your
municated with the outside air!” permission we shall walk out upon the lawn.”
“That is also quite modern,” said the lady. I had never seen my friend’s face so grim or his
brow so dark as it was when we turned from the
“Done about the same time as the bell-rope?”
scene of this investigation. We had walked several
remarked Holmes.
times up and down the lawn, neither Miss Stoner
“Yes, there were several little changes carried nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts
out about that time.” before he roused himself from his reverie.
“They seem to have been of a most interest- “It is very essential, Miss Stoner,” said he, “that
ing character—dummy bell-ropes, and ventilators you should absolutely follow my advice in every
which do not ventilate. With your permission, Miss respect.”
Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the
“I shall most certainly do so.”
inner apartment.”
“The matter is too serious for any hesitation.
Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s chamber was larger than Your life may depend upon your compliance.”
that of his step-daughter, but was as plainly fur-
“I assure you that I am in your hands.”
nished. A camp-bed, a small wooden shelf full of
books, mostly of a technical character, an armchair “In the first place, both my friend and I must
beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the spend the night in your room.”
wall, a round table, and a large iron safe were the Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in aston-
principal things which met the eye. Holmes walked ishment.
102
“Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up
that that is the village inn over there?” among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the
“Yes, that is the Crown.” sitting-rooms.
“Do you know, Watson,” said Holmes as we sat
“Very good. Your windows would be visible
together in the gathering darkness, “I have really
from there?”
some scruples as to taking you to-night. There is a
“Certainly.” distinct element of danger.”
“You must confine yourself to your room, on “Can I be of assistance?”
pretence of a headache, when your stepfather “Your presence might be invaluable.”
comes back. Then when you hear him retire for the
“Then I shall certainly come.”
night, you must open the shutters of your window,
undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal “It is very kind of you.”
to us, and then withdraw quietly with everything “You speak of danger. You have evidently seen
which you are likely to want into the room which more in these rooms than was visible to me.”
you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in spite of “No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little
the repairs, you could manage there for one night.” more. I imagine that you saw all that I did.”
“Oh, yes, easily.” “I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope,
and what purpose that could answer I confess is
“The rest you will leave in our hands.”
more than I can imagine.”
“But what will you do?” “You saw the ventilator, too?”
“We shall spend the night in your room, and we “Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very
shall investigate the cause of this noise which has unusual thing to have a small opening between two
disturbed you.” rooms. It was so small that a rat could hardly pass
“I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already through.”
made up your mind,” said Miss Stoner, laying her “I knew that we should find a ventilator before
hand upon my companion’s sleeve. ever we came to Stoke Moran.”
“Perhaps I have.” “My dear Holmes!”
“Then, for pity’s sake, tell me what was the “Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement
cause of my sister’s death.” she said that her sister could smell Dr. Roylott’s
cigar. Now, of course that suggested at once that
“I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I
there must be a communication between the two
speak.”
rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would
“You can at least tell me whether my own have been remarked upon at the coroner’s inquiry.
thought is correct, and if she died from some sud- I deduced a ventilator.”
den fright.” “But what harm can there be in that?”
“No, I do not think so. I think that there was “Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of
probably some more tangible cause. And now, Miss dates. A ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and
Stoner, we must leave you for if Dr. Roylott returned a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does not that
and saw us our journey would be in vain. Good- strike you?”
bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have “I cannot as yet see any connection.”
told you, you may rest assured that we shall soon
“Did you observe anything very peculiar about
drive away the dangers that threaten you.”
that bed?”
Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in en- “No.”
gaging a bedroom and sitting-room at the Crown
“It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a
Inn. They were on the upper floor, and from our
bed fastened like that before?”
window we could command a view of the avenue
gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran “I cannot say that I have.”
Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby Roy- “The lady could not move her bed. It must
lott drive past, his huge form looming up beside always be in the same relative position to the venti-
the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy lator and to the rope—or so we may call it, since it
had some slight difficulty in undoing the heavy was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.”
iron gates, and we heard the hoarse roar of the doc- “Holmes,” I cried, “I seem to see dimly what
tor’s voice and saw the fury with which he shook you are hinting at. We are only just in time to
his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a prevent some subtle and horrible crime.”
103
“Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a that it was all that I could do to distinguish the
doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals. words:
He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and “The least sound would be fatal to our plans.”
Pritchard were among the heads of their profession.
I nodded to show that I had heard.
This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson,
that we shall be able to strike deeper still. But we “We must sit without light. He would see it
shall have horrors enough before the night is over; through the ventilator.”
for goodness’ sake let us have a quiet pipe and I nodded again.
turn our minds for a few hours to something more “Do not go asleep; your very life may depend
cheerful.” upon it. Have your pistol ready in case we should
About nine o’clock the light among the trees need it. I will sit on the side of the bed, and you in
was extinguished, and all was dark in the direction that chair.”
of the Manor House. Two hours passed slowly I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner
away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of of the table.
eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and
of us. this he placed upon the bed beside him. By it he
“That is our signal,” said Holmes, springing to laid the box of matches and the stump of a candle.
his feet; “it comes from the middle window.” Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left
in darkness.
As we passed out he exchanged a few words
with the landlord, explaining that we were going How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I
on a late visit to an acquaintance, and that it was could not hear a sound, not even the drawing of
possible that we might spend the night there. A a breath, and yet I knew that my companion sat
moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same
wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow light state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The
twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide shutters cut off the least ray of light, and we waited
us on our sombre errand. in absolute darkness.
There was little difficulty in entering the From outside came the occasional cry of a night-
grounds, for unrepaired breaches gaped in the old bird, and once at our very window a long drawn
park wall. Making our way among the trees, we catlike whine, which told us that the cheetah was
reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the deep
enter through the window when out from a clump tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every
of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a quarter of an hour. How long they seemed, those
hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon quarters! Twelve struck, and one and two and three,
the grass with writhing limbs and then ran swiftly and still we sat waiting silently for whatever might
across the lawn into the darkness. befall.
Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a
“My God!” I whispered; “did you see it?”
light up in the direction of the ventilator, which van-
Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His ished immediately, but was succeeded by a strong
hand closed like a vice upon my wrist in his agita- smell of burning oil and heated metal. Someone
tion. Then he broke into a low laugh and put his in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a
lips to my ear. gentle sound of movement, and then all was silent
“It is a nice household,” he murmured. “That once more, though the smell grew stronger. For
is the baboon.” half an hour I sat with straining ears. Then sud-
denly another sound became audible—a very gen-
I had forgotten the strange pets which the doc-
tle, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam
tor affected. There was a cheetah, too; perhaps we
escaping continually from a kettle. The instant that
might find it upon our shoulders at any moment.
we heard it, Holmes sprang from the bed, struck
I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, after
a match, and lashed furiously with his cane at the
following Holmes’ example and slipping off my
bell-pull.
shoes, I found myself inside the bedroom. My com-
panion noiselessly closed the shutters, moved the “You see it, Watson?” he yelled. “You see it?”
lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes round the But I saw nothing. At the moment when
room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Holmes struck the light I heard a low, clear whistle,
Then creeping up to me and making a trumpet of but the sudden glare flashing into my weary eyes
his hand, he whispered into my ear again so gently made it impossible for me to tell what it was at
104
which my friend lashed so savagely. I could, how- As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from
ever, see that his face was deadly pale and filled the dead man’s lap, and throwing the noose round
with horror and loathing. He had ceased to strike the reptile’s neck he drew it from its horrid perch
and was gazing up at the ventilator when suddenly and, carrying it at arm’s length, threw it into the
there broke from the silence of the night the most iron safe, which he closed upon it.
horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled Such are the true facts of the death of Dr.
up louder and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran. It is not neces-
and anger all mingled in the one dreadful shriek. sary that I should prolong a narrative which has
They say that away down in the village, and even in already run to too great a length by telling how we
the distant parsonage, that cry raised the sleepers broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we
from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and conveyed her by the morning train to the care of
I stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the her good aunt at Harrow, of how the slow process
last echoes of it had died away into the silence from of official inquiry came to the conclusion that the
which it rose. doctor met his fate while indiscreetly playing with
“What can it mean?” I gasped. a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn
of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we
“It means that it is all over,” Holmes answered. travelled back next day.
“And perhaps, after all, it is for the best. Take your
“I had,” said he, “come to an entirely erroneous
pistol, and we will enter Dr. Roylott’s room.”
conclusion which shows, my dear Watson, how
With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient
down the corridor. Twice he struck at the cham- data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of
ber door without any reply from within. Then he the word ‘band,’ which was used by the poor girl,
turned the handle and entered, I at his heels, with no doubt, to explain the appearance which she
the cocked pistol in my hand. had caught a hurried glimpse of by the light of
her match, were sufficient to put me upon an en-
It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On
tirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that
the table stood a dark-lantern with the shutter half
I instantly reconsidered my position when, how-
open, throwing a brilliant beam of light upon the
ever, it became clear to me that whatever danger
iron safe, the door of which was ajar. Beside this
threatened an occupant of the room could not come
table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roy-
either from the window or the door. My attention
lott clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare
was speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to
ankles protruding beneath, and his feet thrust into
you, to this ventilator, and to the bell-rope which
red heelless Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the
hung down to the bed. The discovery that this was
short stock with the long lash which we had no-
a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to the
ticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward
floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the
and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at
rope was there as a bridge for something passing
the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he had
through the hole and coming to the bed. The idea
a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles,
of a snake instantly occurred to me, and when I
which seemed to be bound tightly round his head.
coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was
As we entered he made neither sound nor motion.
furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I
“The band! the speckled band!” whispered felt that I was probably on the right track. The idea
Holmes. of using a form of poison which could not possibly
be discovered by any chemical test was just such
I took a step forward. In an instant his strange
a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless man
headgear began to move, and there reared itself
who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with
from among his hair the squat diamond-shaped
which such a poison would take effect would also,
head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent.
from his point of view, be an advantage. It would
“It is a swamp adder!” cried Holmes; “the dead- be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could distin-
liest snake in India. He has died within ten seconds guish the two little dark punctures which would
of being bitten. Violence does, in truth, recoil upon show where the poison fangs had done their work.
the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which Then I thought of the whistle. Of course he must
he digs for another. Let us thrust this creature back recall the snake before the morning light revealed
into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by the
to some place of shelter and let the county police use of the milk which we saw, to return to him
know what has happened.” when summoned. He would put it through this
105
ventilator at the hour that he thought best, with the its terrible occupant. Having once made up my
certainty that it would crawl down the rope and mind, you know the steps which I took in order to
land on the bed. It might or might not bite the put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature
occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for hiss as I have no doubt that you did also, and I
a week, but sooner or later she must fall a victim. instantly lit the light and attacked it.”
“I had come to these conclusions before ever I
“With the result of driving it through the venti-
had entered his room. An inspection of his chair
lator.”
showed me that he had been in the habit of stand-
ing on it, which of course would be necessary in “And also with the result of causing it to turn
order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight upon its master at the other side. Some of the blows
of the safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of of my cane came home and roused its snakish tem-
whipcord were enough to finally dispel any doubts per, so that it flew upon the first person it saw. In
which may have remained. The metallic clang this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr.
heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her Grimesby Roylott’s death, and I cannot say that it is
stepfather hastily closing the door of his safe upon likely to weigh very heavily upon my conscience.”
106
The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb
O
f all the problems which have been away. There he is, all safe and sound. I must go
submitted to my friend, Mr. Sherlock now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the same as
Holmes, for solution during the years of you.” And off he went, this trusty tout, without
our intimacy, there were only two which even giving me time to thank him.
I was the means of introducing to his notice—that I entered my consulting-room and found a gen-
of Mr. Hatherley’s thumb, and that of Colonel War- tleman seated by the table. He was quietly dressed
burton’s madness. Of these the latter may have in a suit of heather tweed with a soft cloth cap
afforded a finer field for an acute and original ob- which he had laid down upon my books. Round
server, but the other was so strange in its inception one of his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped,
and so dramatic in its details that it may be the which was mottled all over with bloodstains. He
more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it was young, not more than five-and-twenty, I should
gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive say, with a strong, masculine face; but he was ex-
methods of reasoning by which he achieved such ceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a
remarkable results. The story has, I believe, been man who was suffering from some strong agitation,
told more than once in the newspapers, but, like which it took all his strength of mind to control.
all such narratives, its effect is much less striking
“I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor,”
when set forth en bloc in a single half-column of
said he, “but I have had a very serious accident
print than when the facts slowly evolve before your
during the night. I came in by train this morning,
own eyes, and the mystery clears gradually away
and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I might
as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads
find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted
on to the complete truth. At the time the circum-
me here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she
stances made a deep impression upon me, and the
has left it upon the side-table.”
lapse of two years has hardly served to weaken the
effect. I took it up and glanced at it. “Mr. Victor Hather-
ley, hydraulic engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd
It was in the summer of ’89, not long after my
floor).” That was the name, style, and abode of my
marriage, that the events occurred which I am now
morning visitor. “I regret that I have kept you wait-
about to summarise. I had returned to civil practice
ing,” said I, sitting down in my library-chair. “You
and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker
are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which
Street rooms, although I continually visited him
is in itself a monotonous occupation.”
and occasionally even persuaded him to forgo his
Bohemian habits so far as to come and visit us. My “Oh, my night could not be called monotonous,”
practice had steadily increased, and as I happened said he, and laughed. He laughed very heartily,
to live at no very great distance from Paddington with a high, ringing note, leaning back in his chair
Station, I got a few patients from among the offi- and shaking his sides. All my medical instincts
cials. One of these, whom I had cured of a painful rose up against that laugh.
and lingering disease, was never weary of adver- “Stop it!” I cried; “pull yourself together!” and
tising my virtues and of endeavouring to send me I poured out some water from a caraffe.
on every sufferer over whom he might have any It was useless, however. He was off in one
influence. of those hysterical outbursts which come upon a
One morning, at a little before seven o’clock, I strong nature when some great crisis is over and
was awakened by the maid tapping at the door to gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very
announce that two men had come from Paddington weary and pale-looking.
and were waiting in the consulting-room. I dressed “I have been making a fool of myself,” he
hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway gasped.
cases were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. “Not at all. Drink this.” I dashed some brandy
As I descended, my old ally, the guard, came out of into the water, and the colour began to come back
the room and closed the door tightly behind him. to his bloodless cheeks.
“I’ve got him here,” he whispered, jerking his “That’s better!” said he. “And now, Doctor, per-
thumb over his shoulder; “he’s all right.” haps you would kindly attend to my thumb, or
“What is it, then?” I asked, for his manner sug- rather to the place where my thumb used to be.”
gested that it was some strange creature which he He unwound the handkerchief and held out his
had caged up in my room. hand. It gave even my hardened nerves a shudder
“It’s a new patient,” he whispered. “I thought to look at it. There were four protruding fingers
I’d bring him round myself; then he couldn’t slip and a horrid red, spongy surface where the thumb
109
should have been. It had been hacked or torn right “I’ll do better. I’ll take you round to him my-
out from the roots. self.”
“Good heavens!” I cried, “this is a terrible injury. “I should be immensely obliged to you.”
It must have bled considerably.”
“We’ll call a cab and go together. We shall just
“Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and be in time to have a little breakfast with him. Do
I think that I must have been senseless for a long you feel equal to it?”
time. When I came to I found that it was still bleed-
“Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my
ing, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very
story.”
tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a
twig.” “Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall
“Excellent! You should have been a surgeon.” be with you in an instant.” I rushed upstairs, ex-
plained the matter shortly to my wife, and in five
“It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my new
came within my own province.” acquaintance to Baker Street.
“This has been done,” said I, examining the
Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging
wound, “by a very heavy and sharp instrument.”
about his sitting-room in his dressing-gown, read-
“A thing like a cleaver,” said he. ing the agony column of The Times and smoking
“An accident, I presume?” his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed of
all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the
“By no means.”
day before, all carefully dried and collected on the
“What! a murderous attack?” corner of the mantelpiece. He received us in his
“Very murderous indeed.” quietly genial fashion, ordered fresh rashers and
eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. When it was
“You horrify me.”
concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon
I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and the sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid
finally covered it over with cotton wadding and a glass of brandy and water within his reach.
carbolised bandages. He lay back without wincing,
though he bit his lip from time to time. “It is easy to see that your experience has been
no common one, Mr. Hatherley,” said he. “Pray, lie
“How is that?” I asked when I had finished. down there and make yourself absolutely at home.
“Capital! Between your brandy and your ban- Tell us what you can, but stop when you are tired
dage, I feel a new man. I was very weak, but I have and keep up your strength with a little stimulant.”
had a good deal to go through.”
“Thank you,” said my patient. “but I have felt
“Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. another man since the doctor bandaged me, and I
It is evidently trying to your nerves.” think that your breakfast has completed the cure.
“Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to I shall take up as little of your valuable time as
the police; but, between ourselves, if it were not for possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar
the convincing evidence of this wound of mine, I experiences.”
should be surprised if they believed my statement, Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary,
for it is a very extraordinary one, and I have not heavy-lidded expression which veiled his keen and
much in the way of proof with which to back it up; eager nature, while I sat opposite to him, and we
and, even if they believe me, the clues which I can listened in silence to the strange story which our
give them are so vague that it is a question whether visitor detailed to us.
justice will be done.”
“You must know,” said he, “that I am an or-
“Ha!” cried I, “if it is anything in the nature of phan and a bachelor, residing alone in lodgings
a problem which you desire to see solved, I should in London. By profession I am a hydraulic engi-
strongly recommend you to come to my friend, neer, and I have had considerable experience of my
Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the official work during the seven years that I was apprenticed
police.” to Venner & Matheson, the well-known firm, of
“Oh, I have heard of that fellow,” answered my Greenwich. Two years ago, having served my time,
visitor, “and I should be very glad if he would and having also come into a fair sum of money
take the matter up, though of course I must use through my poor father’s death, I determined to
the official police as well. Would you give me an start in business for myself and took professional
introduction to him?” chambers in Victoria Street.
110
“I suppose that everyone finds his first inde- “He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it
pendent start in business a dreary experience. To seemed to me that I had never seen so suspicious
me it has been exceptionally so. During two years and questioning an eye.
I have had three consultations and one small job, “ ‘Do you promise, then?’ said he at last.
and that is absolutely all that my profession has “ ‘Yes, I promise.’
brought me. My gross takings amount to £27 10s. “ ‘Absolute and complete silence before, during,
Every day, from nine in the morning until four in and after? No reference to the matter at all, either
the afternoon, I waited in my little den, until at last in word or writing?’
my heart began to sink, and I came to believe that I
“ ‘I have already given you my word.’
should never have any practice at all.
“ ‘Very good.’ He suddenly sprang up, and dart-
“Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of ing like lightning across the room he flung open
leaving the office, my clerk entered to say there the door. The passage outside was empty.
was a gentleman waiting who wished to see me “ ‘That’s all right,’ said he, coming back. ‘I know
upon business. He brought up a card, too, with the that clerks are sometimes curious as to their mas-
name of ‘Colonel Lysander Stark’ engraved upon ter’s affairs. Now we can talk in safety.’ He drew
it. Close at his heels came the colonel himself, a up his chair very close to mine and began to stare at
man rather over the middle size, but of an exceed- me again with the same questioning and thoughtful
ing thinness. I do not think that I have ever seen look.
so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away “A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin
into nose and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was to fear had begun to rise within me at the strange
drawn quite tense over his outstanding bones. Yet antics of this fleshless man. Even my dread of los-
this emaciation seemed to be his natural habit, and ing a client could not restrain me from showing my
due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his step impatience.
brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but
“ ‘I beg that you will state your business, sir,’
neatly dressed, and his age, I should judge, would
said I; ‘my time is of value.’ Heaven forgive me for
be nearer forty than thirty.
that last sentence, but the words came to my lips.
“ ‘Mr. Hatherley?’ said he, with something of a “ ‘How would fifty guineas for a night’s work
German accent. ‘You have been recommended to suit you?’ he asked.
me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man who is not only “ ‘Most admirably.’
proficient in his profession but is also discreet and “ ‘I say a night’s work, but an hour’s would be
capable of preserving a secret.’ nearer the mark. I simply want your opinion about
“I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man a hydraulic stamping machine which has got out of
would at such an address. ‘May I ask who it was gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon
who gave me so good a character?’ set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a
commission as that?’
“ ‘Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell
“ ‘The work appears to be light and the pay
you that just at this moment. I have it from the
munificent.’
same source that you are both an orphan and a
“ ‘Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-
bachelor and are residing alone in London.’
night by the last train.’
“ ‘That is quite correct,’ I answered; ‘but you “ ‘Where to?’
will excuse me if I say that I cannot see how all “ ‘To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near
this bears upon my professional qualifications. I the borders of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles
understand that it was on a professional matter that of Reading. There is a train from Paddington which
you wished to speak to me?’ would bring you there at about 11.15.’
“ ‘Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all “ ‘Very good.’
I say is really to the point. I have a professional “ ‘I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.’
commission for you, but absolute secrecy is quite “ ‘There is a drive, then?’
essential—absolute secrecy, you understand, and of “ ‘Yes, our little place is quite out in the country.
course we may expect that more from a man who It is a good seven miles from Eyford Station.’
is alone than from one who lives in the bosom of “ ‘Then we can hardly get there before midnight.
his family.’ I suppose there would be no chance of a train back.
“ ‘If I promise to keep a secret,’ said I, ‘you may I should be compelled to stop the night.’
absolutely depend upon my doing so.’ “ ‘Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.’
111
“ ‘That is very awkward. Could I not come at then, if the facts came out, it would be good-bye to
some more convenient hour?’ any chance of getting these fields and carrying out
“ ‘We have judged it best that you should come our plans. That is why I have made you promise
late. It is to recompense you for any inconvenience me that you will not tell a human being that you
that we are paying to you, a young and unknown are going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it
man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the all plain?’
very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if “ ‘I quite follow you,’ said I. ‘The only point
you would like to draw out of the business, there which I could not quite understand was what use
is plenty of time to do so.’ you could make of a hydraulic press in excavating
fuller’s-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out
“I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very
like gravel from a pit.’
useful they would be to me. ‘Not at all,’ said I,
‘I shall be very happy to accommodate myself to “ ‘Ah!’ said he carelessly, ‘we have our own pro-
your wishes. I should like, however, to understand cess. We compress the earth into bricks, so as to
a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to remove them without revealing what they are. But
do.’ that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully into my
confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown
“ ‘Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of
you how I trust you.’ He rose as he spoke. ‘I shall
secrecy which we have exacted from you should
expect you, then, at Eyford at 11.15.’
have aroused your curiosity. I have no wish to com-
mit you to anything without your having it all laid “ ‘I shall certainly be there.’
before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe “ ‘And not a word to a soul.’ He looked at me
from eavesdroppers?’ with a last long, questioning gaze, and then, press-
ing my hand in a cold, dank grasp, he hurried from
“ ‘Entirely.’
the room.
“ ‘Then the matter stands thus. You are proba-
“Well, when I came to think it all over in cool
bly aware that fuller’s-earth is a valuable product,
blood I was very much astonished, as you may both
and that it is only found in one or two places in
think, at this sudden commission which had been
England?’
intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was
“ ‘I have heard so.’ glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should
“ ‘Some little time ago I bought a small place—a have asked had I set a price upon my own services,
very small place—within ten miles of Reading. I and it was possible that this order might lead to
was fortunate enough to discover that there was a other ones. On the other hand, the face and manner
deposit of fuller’s-earth in one of my fields. On ex- of my patron had made an unpleasant impression
amining it, however, I found that this deposit was a upon me, and I could not think that his explana-
comparatively small one, and that it formed a link tion of the fuller’s-earth was sufficient to explain
between two very much larger ones upon the right the necessity for my coming at midnight, and his
and left—both of them, however, in the grounds of extreme anxiety lest I should tell anyone of my er-
my neighbours. These good people were absolutely rand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate
ignorant that their land contained that which was a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started
quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was off, having obeyed to the letter the injunction as to
to my interest to buy their land before they dis- holding my tongue.
covered its true value, but unfortunately I had no “At Reading I had to change not only my car-
capital by which I could do this. I took a few of my riage but my station. However, I was in time for
friends into the secret, however, and they suggested the last train to Eyford, and I reached the little
that we should quietly and secretly work our own dim-lit station after eleven o’clock. I was the only
little deposit and that in this way we should earn passenger who got out there, and there was no one
the money which would enable us to buy the neigh- upon the platform save a single sleepy porter with
bouring fields. This we have now been doing for a lantern. As I passed out through the wicket gate,
some time, and in order to help us in our operations however, I found my acquaintance of the morning
we erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without
already explained, has got out of order, and we a word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a
wish your advice upon the subject. We guard our carriage, the door of which was standing open. He
secret very jealously, however, and if it once became drew up the windows on either side, tapped on the
known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to wood-work, and away we went as fast as the horse
our little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and could go.”
112
“One horse?” interjected Holmes. whispered something in her ear, and then, pushing
“Yes, only one.” her back into the room from whence she had come,
he walked towards me again with the lamp in his
“Did you observe the colour?” hand.
“Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was “ ‘Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait
stepping into the carriage. It was a chestnut.” in this room for a few minutes,’ said he, throwing
“Tired-looking or fresh?” open another door. It was a quiet, little, plainly
furnished room, with a round table in the centre,
“Oh, fresh and glossy.”
on which several German books were scattered.
“Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Colonel Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a
Pray continue your most interesting statement.” harmonium beside the door. ‘I shall not keep you
“Away we went then, and we drove for at least waiting an instant,’ said he, and vanished into the
an hour. Colonel Lysander Stark had said that it darkness.
was only seven miles, but I should think, from the “I glanced at the books upon the table, and in
rate that we seemed to go, and from the time that spite of my ignorance of German I could see that
we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He two of them were treatises on science, the others be-
sat at my side in silence all the time, and I was ing volumes of poetry. Then I walked across to the
aware, more than once when I glanced in his direc- window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of
tion, that he was looking at me with great intensity. the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred,
The country roads seem to be not very good in was folded across it. It was a wonderfully silent
that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted house. There was an old clock ticking loudly some-
terribly. I tried to look out of the windows to see where in the passage, but otherwise everything was
something of where we were, but they were made deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began
of frosted glass, and I could make out nothing save to steal over me. Who were these German people,
the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now and what were they doing living in this strange,
and then I hazarded some remark to break the out-of-the-way place? And where was the place?
monotony of the journey, but the colonel answered I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was all I
only in monosyllables, and the conversation soon knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had
flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the road no idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly
was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel- other large towns, were within that radius, so the
drive, and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel place might not be so secluded, after all. Yet it was
Lysander Stark sprang out, and, as I followed after quite certain, from the absolute stillness, that we
him, pulled me swiftly into a porch which gaped were in the country. I paced up and down the room,
in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out humming a tune under my breath to keep up my
of the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to spirits and feeling that I was thoroughly earning
catch the most fleeting glance of the front of the my fifty-guinea fee.
house. The instant that I had crossed the threshold “Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in
the door slammed heavily behind us, and I heard the midst of the utter stillness, the door of my room
faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage drove swung slowly open. The woman was standing in
away. the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind her,
“It was pitch dark inside the house, and the the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her
colonel fumbled about looking for matches and eager and beautiful face. I could see at a glance
muttering under his breath. Suddenly a door that she was sick with fear, and the sight sent a
opened at the other end of the passage, and a long, chill to my own heart. She held up one shaking
golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few
broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes
her hand, which she held above her head, pushing glancing back, like those of a frightened horse, into
her face forward and peering at us. I could see that the gloom behind her.
she was pretty, and from the gloss with which the “ ‘I would go,’ said she, trying hard, as it
light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was seemed to me, to speak calmly; ‘I would go. I
a rich material. She spoke a few words in a foreign should not stay here. There is no good for you to
tongue in a tone as though asking a question, and do.’
when my companion answered in a gruff mono- “ ‘But, madam,’ said I, ‘I have not yet done what
syllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly I came for. I cannot possibly leave until I have seen
fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, the machine.’
113
“ ‘It is not worth your while to wait,’ she went the ground floor, while the plaster was peeling off
on. ‘You can pass through the door; no one hin- the walls, and the damp was breaking through in
ders.’ And then, seeing that I smiled and shook green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as un-
my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint concerned an air as possible, but I had not forgotten
and made a step forward, with her hands wrung the warnings of the lady, even though I disregarded
together. ‘For the love of Heaven!’ she whispered, them, and I kept a keen eye upon my two compan-
‘get away from here before it is too late!’ ions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent
“But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and man, but I could see from the little that he said that
the more ready to engage in an affair when there he was at least a fellow-countryman.
is some obstacle in the way. I thought of my fifty- “Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before
guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of the a low door, which he unlocked. Within was a small,
unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. square room, in which the three of us could hardly
Was it all to go for nothing? Why should I slink get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, and
away without having carried out my commission, the colonel ushered me in.
and without the payment which was my due? This
woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. “ ‘We are now,’ said he, ‘actually within the
With a stout bearing, therefore, though her man- hydraulic press, and it would be a particularly un-
ner had shaken me more than I cared to confess, I pleasant thing for us if anyone were to turn it on.
still shook my head and declared my intention of The ceiling of this small chamber is really the end
remaining where I was. She was about to renew of the descending piston, and it comes down with
her entreaties when a door slammed overhead, and the force of many tons upon this metal floor. There
the sound of several footsteps was heard upon the are small lateral columns of water outside which
stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up her receive the force, and which transmit and multi-
hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as ply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The
suddenly and as noiselessly as she had come. machine goes readily enough, but there is some
stiffness in the working of it, and it has lost a little
“The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark
of its force. Perhaps you will have the goodness to
and a short thick man with a chinchilla beard grow-
look it over and to show us how we can set it right.’
ing out of the creases of his double chin, who was
introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. “I took the lamp from him, and I examined the
“ ‘This is my secretary and manager,’ said the machine very thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic
colonel. ‘By the way, I was under the impression one, and capable of exercising enormous pressure.
that I left this door shut just now. I fear that you When I passed outside, however, and pressed down
have felt the draught.’ the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by
the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage,
“ ‘On the contrary,’ said I, ‘I opened the door
which allowed a regurgitation of water through one
myself because I felt the room to be a little close.’
of the side cylinders. An examination showed that
“He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. ‘Per- one of the india-rubber bands which was round the
haps we had better proceed to business, then,’ said head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite
he. ‘Mr. Ferguson and I will take you up to see the to fill the socket along which it worked. This was
machine.’ clearly the cause of the loss of power, and I pointed
“ ‘I had better put my hat on, I suppose.’ it out to my companions, who followed my remarks
“ ‘Oh, no, it is in the house.’ very carefully and asked several practical questions
as to how they should proceed to set it right. When
“ ‘What, you dig fuller’s-earth in the house?’
I had made it clear to them, I returned to the main
“ ‘No, no. This is only where we compress it. chamber of the machine and took a good look at
But never mind that. All we wish you to do is to it to satisfy my own curiosity. It was obvious at a
examine the machine and to let us know what is glance that the story of the fuller’s-earth was the
wrong with it.’ merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to sup-
“We went upstairs together, the colonel first pose that so powerful an engine could be designed
with the lamp, the fat manager and I behind him. for so inadequate a purpose. The walls were of
It was a labyrinth of an old house, with corridors, wood, but the floor consisted of a large iron trough,
passages, narrow winding staircases, and little low and when I came to examine it I could see a crust of
doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was
by the generations who had crossed them. There scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I
were no carpets and no signs of any furniture above heard a muttered exclamation in German and saw
114
the cadaverous face of the colonel looking down at closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp,
me. and a few moments afterwards the clang of the two
“ ‘What are you doing there?’ he asked. slabs of metal, told me how narrow had been my
escape.
“I felt angry at having been tricked by so elab-
orate a story as that which he had told me. ‘I was “I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking
admiring your fuller’s-earth,’ said I; ‘I think that at my wrist, and I found myself lying upon the
I should be better able to advise you as to your stone floor of a narrow corridor, while a woman
machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand,
which it was used.’ while she held a candle in her right. It was the
same good friend whose warning I had so foolishly
“The instant that I uttered the words I regretted
rejected.
the rashness of my speech. His face set hard, and a
baleful light sprang up in his grey eyes. “ ‘Come! come!’ she cried breathlessly. ‘They
will be here in a moment. They will see that you
“ ‘Very well,’ said he, ‘you shall know all about
are not there. Oh, do not waste the so-precious
the machine.’ He took a step backward, slammed
time, but come!’
the little door, and turned the key in the lock. I
rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but “This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice.
it was quite secure, and did not give in the least I staggered to my feet and ran with her along the
to my kicks and shoves. ‘Hullo!’ I yelled. ‘Hullo! corridor and down a winding stair. The latter led to
Colonel! Let me out!’ another broad passage, and just as we reached it we
heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of
“And then suddenly in the silence I heard a two voices, one answering the other from the floor
sound which sent my heart into my mouth. It was on which we were and from the one beneath. My
the clank of the levers and the swish of the leak- guide stopped and looked about her like one who
ing cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The is at her wit’s end. Then she threw open a door
lamp still stood upon the floor where I had placed which led into a bedroom, through the window of
it when examining the trough. By its light I saw which the moon was shining brightly.
that the black ceiling was coming down upon me,
slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than my- “ ‘It is your only chance,’ said she. ‘It is high,
self, with a force which must within a minute grind but it may be that you can jump it.’
me to a shapeless pulp. I threw myself, scream- “As she spoke a light sprang into view at the
ing, against the door, and dragged with my nails further end of the passage, and I saw the lean figure
at the lock. I implored the colonel to let me out, of Colonel Lysander Stark rushing forward with a
but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned lantern in one hand and a weapon like a butcher’s
my cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom,
my head, and with my hand upraised I could feel flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet
its hard, rough surface. Then it flashed through and sweet and wholesome the garden looked in
my mind that the pain of my death would depend the moonlight, and it could not be more than thirty
very much upon the position in which I met it. If feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I
I lay on my face the weight would come upon my hesitated to jump until I should have heard what
spine, and I shuddered to think of that dreadful passed between my saviour and the ruffian who
snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and yet, had pursued me. If she were ill-used, then at any risks
I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black I was determined to go back to her assistance. The
shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was thought had hardly flashed through my mind be-
unable to stand erect, when my eye caught some- fore he was at the door, pushing his way past her;
thing which brought a gush of hope back to my but she threw her arms round him and tried to
heart. hold him back.
“I have said that though the floor and ceiling “ ‘Fritz! Fritz!’ she cried in English, ‘remember
were of iron, the walls were of wood. As I gave a your promise after the last time. You said it should
last hurried glance around, I saw a thin line of yel- not be again. He will be silent! Oh, he will be
low light between two of the boards, which broad- silent!’
ened and broadened as a small panel was pushed “ ‘You are mad, Elise!’ he shouted, struggling
backward. For an instant I could hardly believe that to break away from her. ‘You will be the ruin of
here was indeed a door which led away from death. us. He has seen too much. Let me pass, I say!’ He
The next instant I threw myself through, and lay dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the window,
half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself
115
go, and was hanging by the hands to the sill, when ponderous commonplace books in which he placed
his blow fell. I was conscious of a dull pain, my his cuttings.
grip loosened, and I fell into the garden below. “Here is an advertisement which will interest
“I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I you,” said he. “It appeared in all the papers about
picked myself up and rushed off among the bushes a year ago. Listen to this:
as hard as I could run, for I understood that I was “ ‘Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah
far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, how- Hayling, aged twenty-six, a hydraulic en-
ever, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came gineer. Left his lodgings at ten o’clock at
over me. I glanced down at my hand, which was night, and has not been heard of since. Was
throbbing painfully, and then, for the first time, saw dressed in—’
that my thumb had been cut off and that the blood etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that the
was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I
my handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden fancy.”
buzzing in my ears, and next moment I fell in a “Good heavens!” cried my patient. “Then that
dead faint among the rose-bushes. explains what the girl said.”
“Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel
“How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell.
was a cool and desperate man, who was absolutely
It must have been a very long time, for the moon
determined that nothing should stand in the way of
had sunk, and a bright morning was breaking when
his little game, like those out-and-out pirates who
I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with
will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well,
dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood
every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal
from my wounded thumb. The smarting of it re-
to it we shall go down to Scotland Yard at once as
called in an instant all the particulars of my night’s
a preliminary to starting for Eyford.”
adventure, and I sprang to my feet with the feeling
that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. Some three hours or so afterwards we were
But to my astonishment, when I came to look round all in the train together, bound from Reading to
me, neither house nor garden were to be seen. I the little Berkshire village. There were Sherlock
had been lying in an angle of the hedge close by the Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector Brad-
highroad, and just a little lower down was a long street, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and
building, which proved, upon my approaching it, myself. Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of
to be the very station at which I had arrived upon the county out upon the seat and was busy with
the previous night. Were it not for the ugly wound his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford for its
upon my hand, all that had passed during those centre.
dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. “There you are,” said he. “That circle is drawn
at a radius of ten miles from the village. The place
“Half dazed, I went into the station and asked we want must be somewhere near that line. You
about the morning train. There would be one to said ten miles, I think, sir.”
Reading in less than an hour. The same porter was “It was an hour’s good drive.”
on duty, I found, as had been there when I arrived.
“And you think that they brought you back all
I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of
that way when you were unconscious?”
Colonel Lysander Stark. The name was strange to
“They must have done so. I have a confused
him. Had he observed a carriage the night before
memory, too, of having been lifted and conveyed
waiting for me? No, he had not. Was there a police-
somewhere.”
station anywhere near? There was one about three
miles off. “What I cannot understand,” said I, “is why
they should have spared you when they found you
“It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I lying fainting in the garden. Perhaps the villain
was. I determined to wait until I got back to town was softened by the woman’s entreaties.”
before telling my story to the police. It was a lit- “I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more
tle past six when I arrived, so I went first to have inexorable face in my life.”
my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind “Oh, we shall soon clear up all that,” said Brad-
enough to bring me along here. I put the case into street. “Well, I have drawn my circle, and I only
your hands and shall do exactly what you advise.” wish I knew at what point upon it the folk that we
We both sat in silence for some little time after are in search of are to be found.”
listening to this extraordinary narrative. Then Sher- “I think I could lay my finger on it,” said
lock Holmes pulled down from the shelf one of the Holmes quietly.
116
“Really, now!” cried the inspector, “you have “Whose house is it?”
formed your opinion! Come, now, we shall see who “Dr. Becher’s.”
agrees with you. I say it is south, for the country is “Tell me,” broke in the engineer, “is Dr. Becher
more deserted there.” a German, very thin, with a long, sharp nose?”
“And I say east,” said my patient. The station-master laughed heartily. “No, sir,
“I am for west,” remarked the plain-clothes man. Dr. Becher is an Englishman, and there isn’t a man
“There are several quiet little villages up there.” in the parish who has a better-lined waistcoat. But
“And I am for north,” said I, “because there are he has a gentleman staying with him, a patient, as I
no hills there, and our friend says that he did not understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as if a
notice the carriage go up any.” little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm.”
“Come,” cried the inspector, laughing; “it’s a The station-master had not finished his speech
very pretty diversity of opinion. We have boxed the before we were all hastening in the direction of the
compass among us. Who do you give your casting fire. The road topped a low hill, and there was a
vote to?” great widespread whitewashed building in front of
us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while
“You are all wrong.”
in the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly
“But we can’t all be.” striving to keep the flames under.
“Oh, yes, you can. This is my point.” He placed “That’s it!” cried Hatherley, in intense excite-
his finger in the centre of the circle. “This is where ment. “There is the gravel-drive, and there are the
we shall find them.” rose-bushes where I lay. That second window is
“But the twelve-mile drive?” gasped Hatherley. the one that I jumped from.”
“Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You “Well, at least,” said Holmes, “you have had
say yourself that the horse was fresh and glossy your revenge upon them. There can be no ques-
when you got in. How could it be that if it had tion that it was your oil-lamp which, when it was
gone twelve miles over heavy roads?” crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls,
though no doubt they were too excited in the chase
“Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough,” observed
after you to observe it at the time. Now keep your
Bradstreet thoughtfully. “Of course there can be no
eyes open in this crowd for your friends of last
doubt as to the nature of this gang.”
night, though I very much fear that they are a good
“None at all,” said Holmes. “They are coiners hundred miles off by now.”
on a large scale, and have used the machine to form And Holmes’ fears came to be realised, for from
the amalgam which has taken the place of silver.” that day to this no word has ever been heard either
“We have known for some time that a clever of the beautiful woman, the sinister German, or the
gang was at work,” said the inspector. “They have morose Englishman. Early that morning a peasant
been turning out half-crowns by the thousand. We had met a cart containing several people and some
even traced them as far as Reading, but could get very bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction
no farther, for they had covered their traces in a of Reading, but there all traces of the fugitives dis-
way that showed that they were very old hands. appeared, and even Holmes’ ingenuity failed ever
But now, thanks to this lucky chance, I think that to discover the least clue as to their whereabouts.
we have got them right enough.” The firemen had been much perturbed at the
But the inspector was mistaken, for those crim- strange arrangements which they had found within,
inals were not destined to fall into the hands of and still more so by discovering a newly severed
justice. As we rolled into Eyford Station we saw a human thumb upon a window-sill of the second
gigantic column of smoke which streamed up from floor. About sunset, however, their efforts were at
behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood last successful, and they subdued the flames, but
and hung like an immense ostrich feather over the not before the roof had fallen in, and the whole
landscape. place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save
“A house on fire?” asked Bradstreet as the train some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace
steamed off again on its way. remained of the machinery which had cost our un-
fortunate acquaintance so dearly. Large masses of
“Yes, sir!” said the station-master.
nickel and of tin were discovered stored in an out-
“When did it break out?” house, but no coins were to be found, which may
“I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it have explained the presence of those bulky boxes
has got worse, and the whole place is in a blaze.” which have been already referred to.
117
How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed “Well,” said our engineer ruefully as we took
from the garden to the spot where he recovered our seats to return once more to London, “it has
his senses might have remained forever a mystery been a pretty business for me! I have lost my thumb
were it not for the soft mould, which told us a very and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what have I
plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by gained?”
two persons, one of whom had remarkably small
feet and the other unusually large ones. On the “Experience,” said Holmes, laughing. “Indi-
whole, it was most probable that the silent English- rectly it may be of value, you know; you have only
man, being less bold or less murderous than his to put it into words to gain the reputation of be-
companion, had assisted the woman to bear the ing excellent company for the remainder of your
unconscious man out of the way of danger. existence.”
118
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
T
he Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curi- “It looks like it,” said I ruefully, pointing to a
ous termination, have long ceased to be huge bundle in the corner. “I have had nothing else
a subject of interest in those exalted cir- to do.”
cles in which the unfortunate bridegroom “It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able
moves. Fresh scandals have eclipsed it, and their to post me up. I read nothing except the criminal
more piquant details have drawn the gossips away news and the agony column. The latter is always
from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to instructive. But if you have followed recent events
believe, however, that the full facts have never been so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon
revealed to the general public, and as my friend and his wedding?”
Sherlock Holmes had a considerable share in clear-
“Oh, yes, with the deepest interest.”
ing the matter up, I feel that no memoir of him
would be complete without some little sketch of “That is well. The letter which I hold in my
this remarkable episode. hand is from Lord St. Simon. I will read it to you,
and in return you must turn over these papers and
It was a few weeks before my own marriage, let me have whatever bears upon the matter. This
during the days when I was still sharing rooms is what he says:
with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came home
from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table “ ‘My dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes:
waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for “ ‘Lord Backwater tells me that I may
the weather had taken a sudden turn to rain, with place implicit reliance upon your judg-
high autumnal winds, and the Jezail bullet which ment and discretion. I have determined,
I had brought back in one of my limbs as a relic therefore, to call upon you and to con-
of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull per- sult you in reference to the very painful
sistence. With my body in one easy-chair and my event which has occurred in connection
legs upon another, I had surrounded myself with with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scot-
a cloud of newspapers until at last, saturated with land Yard, is acting already in the mat-
the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and ter, but he assures me that he sees no
lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram objection to your co-operation, and that
upon the envelope upon the table and wondering he even thinks that it might be of some
lazily who my friend’s noble correspondent could assistance. I will call at four o’clock in
be. the afternoon, and, should you have any
“Here is a very fashionable epistle,” I remarked other engagement at that time, I hope
as he entered. “Your morning letters, if I remember that you will postpone it, as this matter
right, were from a fish-monger and a tide-waiter.” is of paramount importance.
“Yes, my correspondence has certainly the — “ ‘Yours faithfully,
charm of variety,” he answered, smiling, “and the “ ‘St. Simon.’
humbler are usually the more interesting. This “It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written
looks like one of those unwelcome social sum- with a quill pen, and the noble lord has had the
monses which call upon a man either to be bored misfortune to get a smear of ink upon the outer
or to lie.” side of his right little finger,” remarked Holmes as
He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. he folded up the epistle.
“Oh, come, it may prove to be something of “He says four o’clock. It is three now. He will
interest, after all.” be here in an hour.”
“Not social, then?” “Then I have just time, with your assistance,
“No, distinctly professional.” to get clear upon the subject. Turn over those pa-
“And from a noble client?” pers and arrange the extracts in their order of time,
while I take a glance as to who our client is.” He
“One of the highest in England.”
picked a red-covered volume from a line of books
“My dear fellow, I congratulate you.” of reference beside the mantelpiece. “Here he is,”
“I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that said he, sitting down and flattening it out upon
the status of my client is a matter of less moment his knee. “ ‘Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St.
to me than the interest of his case. It is just possi- Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.’ Hum!
ble, however, that that also may not be wanting in ‘Arms: Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess
this new investigation. You have been reading the sable. Born in 1846.’ He’s forty-one years of age,
papers diligently of late, have you not?” which is mature for marriage. Was Under-Secretary
121
for the colonies in a late administration. The Duke, currently reported that her dowry will run
his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign to considerably over the six figures, with
Affairs. They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct expectancies for the future. As it is an open
descent, and Tudor on the distaff side. Ha! Well, secret that the Duke of Balmoral has been
there is nothing very instructive in all this. I think compelled to sell his pictures within the last
that I must turn to you Watson, for something more few years, and as Lord St. Simon has no
solid.” property of his own save the small estate
“I have very little difficulty in finding what I of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Califor-
want,” said I, “for the facts are quite recent, and the nian heiress is not the only gainer by an
matter struck me as remarkable. I feared to refer alliance which will enable her to make the
them to you, however, as I knew that you had an easy and common transition from a Repub-
inquiry on hand and that you disliked the intrusion lican lady to a British peeress.’ ”
of other matters.” “Anything else?” asked Holmes, yawning.
“Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in
“Oh, you mean the little problem of the
the Morning Post to say that the marriage would
Grosvenor Square furniture van. That is quite
be an absolutely quiet one, that it would be at St.
cleared up now—though, indeed, it was obvious
George’s, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen in-
from the first. Pray give me the results of your
timate friends would be invited, and that the party
newspaper selections.”
would return to the furnished house at Lancaster
“Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in Gate which has been taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran.
the personal column of the Morning Post, and dates, Two days later—that is, on Wednesday last—there
as you see, some weeks back: is a curt announcement that the wedding had taken
“ ‘A marriage has been arranged [it says] place, and that the honeymoon would be passed
and will, if rumour is correct, very shortly at Lord Backwater’s place, near Petersfield. Those
take place, between Lord Robert St. Simon, are all the notices which appeared before the disap-
second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and pearance of the bride.”
Miss Hatty Doran, the only daughter of “Before the what?” asked Holmes with a start.
Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San Francisco, “The vanishing of the lady.”
Cal., U.S.A.’ “When did she vanish, then?”
That is all.” “At the wedding breakfast.”
“Terse and to the point,” remarked Holmes, “Indeed. This is more interesting than it
stretching his long, thin legs towards the fire. promised to be; quite dramatic, in fact.”
“Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the
“There was a paragraph amplifying this in one
common.”
of the society papers of the same week. Ah, here it
is: “They often vanish before the ceremony, and
occasionally during the honeymoon; but I cannot
“ ‘There will soon be a call for protection
call to mind anything quite so prompt as this. Pray
in the marriage market, for the present
let me have the details.”
free-trade principle appears to tell heavily
against our home product. One by one the “I warn you that they are very incomplete.”
management of the noble houses of Great “Perhaps we may make them less so.”
Britain is passing into the hands of our “Such as they are, they are set forth in a single
fair cousins from across the Atlantic. An article of a morning paper of yesterday, which I
important addition has been made during will read to you. It is headed, ‘Singular Occurrence
the last week to the list of the prizes which at a Fashionable Wedding’:
have been borne away by these charming “ ‘The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has
invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown been thrown into the greatest consterna-
himself for over twenty years proof against tion by the strange and painful episodes
the little god’s arrows, has now definitely which have taken place in connection with
announced his approaching marriage with his wedding. The ceremony, as shortly
Miss Hatty Doran, the fascinating daugh- announced in the papers of yesterday, oc-
ter of a California millionaire. Miss Do- curred on the previous morning; but it is
ran, whose graceful figure and striking face only now that it has been possible to con-
attracted much attention at the Westbury firm the strange rumours which have been
House festivities, is an only child, and it is so persistently floating about. In spite of
122
the attempts of the friends to hush the mat- “And is that all?”
ter up, so much public attention has now “Only one little item in another of the morning
been drawn to it that no good purpose can papers, but it is a suggestive one.”
be served by affecting to disregard what is
“And it is—”
a common subject for conversation.
“That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had
“ ‘The ceremony, which was performed at caused the disturbance, has actually been arrested.
St. George’s, Hanover Square, was a very It appears that she was formerly a danseuse at the
quiet one, no one being present save the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom
father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, for some years. There are no further particulars,
the Duchess of Balmoral, Lord Backwater, and the whole case is in your hands now—so far as
Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon it has been set forth in the public press.”
(the younger brother and sister of the bride- “And an exceedingly interesting case it appears
groom), and Lady Alicia Whittington. The to be. I would not have missed it for worlds. But
whole party proceeded afterwards to the there is a ring at the bell, Watson, and as the clock
house of Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster makes it a few minutes after four, I have no doubt
Gate, where breakfast had been prepared. It that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not
appears that some little trouble was caused dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer
by a woman, whose name has not been having a witness, if only as a check to my own
ascertained, who endeavoured to force her memory.”
way into the house after the bridal party,
“Lord Robert St. Simon,” announced our page-
alleging that she had some claim upon Lord
boy, throwing open the door. A gentleman entered,
St. Simon. It was only after a painful
with a pleasant, cultured face, high-nosed and pale,
and prolonged scene that she was ejected
with something perhaps of petulance about the
by the butler and the footman. The bride,
mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a
who had fortunately entered the house be-
man whose pleasant lot it had ever been to com-
fore this unpleasant interruption, had sat
mand and to be obeyed. His manner was brisk, and
down to breakfast with the rest, when she
yet his general appearance gave an undue impres-
complained of a sudden indisposition and
sion of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a
retired to her room. Her prolonged absence
little bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too,
having caused some comment, her father
as he swept off his very curly-brimmed hat, was
followed her, but learned from her maid that
grizzled round the edges and thin upon the top.
she had only come up to her chamber for
As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of fop-
an instant, caught up an ulster and bon-
pishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white
net, and hurried down to the passage. One
waistcoat, yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and
of the footmen declared that he had seen a
light-coloured gaiters. He advanced slowly into
lady leave the house thus apparelled, but
the room, turning his head from left to right, and
had refused to credit that it was his mis-
swinging in his right hand the cord which held his
tress, believing her to be with the com-
golden eyeglasses.
pany. On ascertaining that his daughter
had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in “Good-day, Lord St. Simon,” said Holmes, ris-
conjunction with the bridegroom, instantly ing and bowing. “Pray take the basket-chair. This
put themselves in communication with the is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson. Draw up a
police, and very energetic inquiries are be- little to the fire, and we will talk this matter over.”
ing made, which will probably result in “A most painful matter to me, as you can most
a speedy clearing up of this very singu- readily imagine, Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to
lar business. Up to a late hour last night, the quick. I understand that you have already man-
however, nothing had transpired as to the aged several delicate cases of this sort, sir, though I
whereabouts of the missing lady. There are presume that they were hardly from the same class
rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is of society.”
said that the police have caused the arrest of “No, I am descending.”
the woman who had caused the original dis- “I beg pardon.”
turbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or
“My last client of the sort was a king.”
some other motive, she may have been con-
cerned in the strange disappearance of the “Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?”
bride.’ ” “The King of Scandinavia.”
123
“What! Had he lost his wife?” name which I have the honour to bear”—he gave
“You can understand,” said Holmes suavely, a little stately cough—“had not I thought her to
“that I extend to the affairs of my other clients the be at bottom a noble woman. I believe that she is
same secrecy which I promise to you in yours.” capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that anything
dishonourable would be repugnant to her.”
“Of course! Very right! very right! I’m sure
I beg pardon. As to my own case, I am ready to “Have you her photograph?”
give you any information which may assist you in “I brought this with me.” He opened a locket
forming an opinion.” and showed us the full face of a very lovely woman.
It was not a photograph but an ivory miniature,
“Thank you. I have already learned all that is
and the artist had brought out the full effect of the
in the public prints, nothing more. I presume that I
lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the
may take it as correct—this article, for example, as
exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly
to the disappearance of the bride.”
at it. Then he closed the locket and handed it back
Lord St. Simon glanced over it. “Yes, it is correct, to Lord St. Simon.
as far as it goes.”
“The young lady came to London, then, and
“But it needs a great deal of supplementing be- you renewed your acquaintance?”
fore anyone could offer an opinion. I think that I “Yes, her father brought her over for this last
may arrive at my facts most directly by questioning London season. I met her several times, became
you.” engaged to her, and have now married her.”
“Pray do so.” “She brought, I understand, a considerable
“When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?” dowry?”
“In San Francisco, a year ago.” “A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my
“You were travelling in the States?” family.”
“Yes.” “And this, of course, remains to you, since the
marriage is a fait accompli?”
“Did you become engaged then?”
“I really have made no inquiries on the subject.”
“No.”
“Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on
“But you were on a friendly footing?” the day before the wedding?”
“I was amused by her society, and she could see “Yes.”
that I was amused.” “Was she in good spirits?”
“Her father is very rich?” “Never better. She kept talking of what we
“He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific should do in our future lives.”
slope.” “Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the
“And how did he make his money?” morning of the wedding?”
“In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. “She was as bright as possible—at least until
Then he struck gold, invested it, and came up by after the ceremony.”
leaps and bounds.” “And did you observe any change in her then?”
“Now, what is your own impression as to the “Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs
young lady’s—your wife’s character?” that I had ever seen that her temper was just a lit-
The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster tle sharp. The incident however, was too trivial to
and stared down into the fire. “You see, Mr. relate and can have no possible bearing upon the
Holmes,” said he, “my wife was twenty before case.”
her father became a rich man. During that time she “Pray let us have it, for all that.”
ran free in a mining camp and wandered through “Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet
woods or mountains, so that her education has as we went towards the vestry. She was passing
come from Nature rather than from the schoolmas- the front pew at the time, and it fell over into the
ter. She is what we call in England a tomboy, with pew. There was a moment’s delay, but the gentle-
a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any man in the pew handed it up to her again, and
sort of traditions. She is impetuous—volcanic, I it did not appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet
was about to say. She is swift in making up her when I spoke to her of the matter, she answered me
mind and fearless in carrying out her resolutions. abruptly; and in the carriage, on our way home, she
On the other hand, I would not have given her the seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause.”
124
“Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in “Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to
the pew. Some of the general public were present, this young lady, and your relations to her.”
then?” Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and
“Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when raised his eyebrows. “We have been on a friendly
the church is open.” footing for some years—I may say on a very
friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro.
“This gentleman was not one of your wife’s
I have not treated her ungenerously, and she had
friends?”
no just cause of complaint against me, but you
“No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but know what women are, Mr. Holmes. Flora was a
he was quite a common-looking person. I hardly dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and
noticed his appearance. But really I think that we devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful
are wandering rather far from the point.” letters when she heard that I was about to be mar-
“Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wed- ried, and, to tell the truth, the reason why I had the
ding in a less cheerful frame of mind than she had marriage celebrated so quietly was that I feared lest
gone to it. What did she do on re-entering her there might be a scandal in the church. She came
father’s house?” to Mr. Doran’s door just after we returned, and
she endeavoured to push her way in, uttering very
“I saw her in conversation with her maid.” abusive expressions towards my wife, and even
“And who is her maid?” threatening her, but I had foreseen the possibility
“Alice is her name. She is an American and of something of the sort, and I had two police fel-
came from California with her.” lows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her
out again. She was quiet when she saw that there
“A confidential servant?” was no good in making a row.”
“A little too much so. It seemed to me that her “Did your wife hear all this?”
mistress allowed her to take great liberties. Still, of “No, thank goodness, she did not.”
course, in America they look upon these things in “And she was seen walking with this very
a different way.” woman afterwards?”
“How long did she speak to this Alice?” “Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland
“Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to Yard, looks upon as so serious. It is thought that
think of.” Flora decoyed my wife out and laid some terrible
trap for her.”
“You did not overhear what they said?”
“Well, it is a possible supposition.”
“Lady St. Simon said something about ‘jumping “You think so, too?”
a claim.’ She was accustomed to use slang of the “I did not say a probable one. But you do not
kind. I have no idea what she meant.” yourself look upon this as likely?”
“American slang is very expressive sometimes. “I do not think Flora would hurt a fly.”
And what did your wife do when she finished “Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of char-
speaking to her maid?” acters. Pray what is your own theory as to what
“She walked into the breakfast-room.” took place?”
“On your arm?” “Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to
propound one. I have given you all the facts. Since
“No, alone. She was very independent in lit- you ask me, however, I may say that it has occurred
tle matters like that. Then, after we had sat down to me as possible that the excitement of this affair,
for ten minutes or so, she rose hurriedly, muttered the consciousness that she had made so immense
some words of apology, and left the room. She a social stride, had the effect of causing some little
never came back.” nervous disturbance in my wife.”
“But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes “In short, that she had become suddenly de-
that she went to her room, covered her bride’s dress ranged?”
with a long ulster, put on a bonnet, and went out.” “Well, really, when I consider that she has
“Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walk- turned her back—I will not say upon me, but upon
ing into Hyde Park in company with Flora Millar, so much that many have aspired to without suc-
a woman who is now in custody, and who had cess—I can hardly explain it in any other fashion.”
already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran’s house “Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hy-
that morning.” pothesis,” said Holmes, smiling. “And now, Lord
125
St. Simon, I think that I have nearly all my data. “Really! You surprise me.”
May I ask whether you were seated at the breakfast- “Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every
table so that you could see out of the window?” clue seems to slip through my fingers. I have been
“We could see the other side of the road and at work upon it all day.”
the Park.” “And very wet it seems to have made you,”
“Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to said Holmes laying his hand upon the arm of the
detain you longer. I shall communicate with you.” pea-jacket.
“Should you be fortunate enough to solve this “Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine.”
problem,” said our client, rising. “In heaven’s name, what for?”
“I have solved it.” “In search of the body of Lady St. Simon.”
“Eh? What was that?” Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and
“I say that I have solved it.” laughed heartily.
“Where, then, is my wife?” “Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar
“That is a detail which I shall speedily supply.” Square fountain?” he asked.
Lord St. Simon shook his head. “I am afraid “Why? What do you mean?”
that it will take wiser heads than yours or mine,” he “Because you have just as good a chance of find-
remarked, and bowing in a stately, old-fashioned ing this lady in the one as in the other.”
manner he departed. Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion.
“It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my “I suppose you know all about it,” he snarled.
head by putting it on a level with his own,” said “Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my
Sherlock Holmes, laughing. “I think that I shall mind is made up.”
have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all this
cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as “Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpen-
to the case before our client came into the room.” tine plays no part in the matter?”
“My dear Holmes!” “I think it very unlikely.”
“I have notes of several similar cases, though “Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is
none, as I remarked before, which were quite as that we found this in it?” He opened his bag as he
prompt. My whole examination served to turn my spoke, and tumbled onto the floor a wedding-dress
conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial evidence of watered silk, a pair of white satin shoes and a
is occasionally very convincing, as when you find bride’s wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked
a trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau’s example.” in water. “There,” said he, putting a new wedding-
ring upon the top of the pile. “There is a little nut
“But I have heard all that you have heard.” for you to crack, Master Holmes.”
“Without, however, the knowledge of pre-
“Oh, indeed!” said my friend, blowing blue
existing cases which serves me so well. There was
rings into the air. “You dragged them from the
a parallel instance in Aberdeen some years back,
Serpentine?”
and something on very much the same lines at Mu-
nich the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is “No. They were found floating near the margin
one of these cases—but, hullo, here is Lestrade! by a park-keeper. They have been identified as her
Good-afternoon, Lestrade! You will find an extra clothes, and it seemed to me that if the clothes were
tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are cigars there the body would not be far off.”
in the box.” “By the same brilliant reasoning, every man’s
The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket body is to be found in the neighbourhood of his
and cravat, which gave him a decidedly nautical wardrobe. And pray what did you hope to arrive
appearance, and he carried a black canvas bag in at through this?”
his hand. With a short greeting he seated himself “At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in
and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. the disappearance.”
“What’s up, then?” asked Holmes with a twin- “I am afraid that you will find it difficult.”
kle in his eye. “You look dissatisfied.” “Are you, indeed, now?” cried Lestrade with
“And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. some bitterness. “I am afraid, Holmes, that you
Simon marriage case. I can make neither head nor are not very practical with your deductions and
tail of the business.” your inferences. You have made two blunders in
126
as many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss myth. There is not, and there never has been, any
Flora Millar.” such person.”
“And how?” Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then
“In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a he turned to me, tapped his forehead three times,
card-case. In the card-case is a note. And here is shook his head solemnly, and hurried away.
the very note.” He slapped it down upon the table He had hardly shut the door behind him when
in front of him. “Listen to this: Holmes rose to put on his overcoat. “There is some-
thing in what the fellow says about outdoor work,”
“ ‘You will see me when all is ready. he remarked, “so I think, Watson, that I must leave
Come at once. you to your papers for a little.”
— “ ‘F.H.M.’ It was after five o’clock when Sherlock Holmes
left me, but I had no time to be lonely, for within
Now my theory all along has been that Lady St. an hour there arrived a confectioner’s man with a
Simon was decoyed away by Flora Millar, and that very large flat box. This he unpacked with the help
she, with confederates, no doubt, was responsible of a youth whom he had brought with him, and
for her disappearance. Here, signed with her ini- presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite
tials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly epicurean little cold supper began to be laid out
slipped into her hand at the door and which lured upon our humble lodging-house mahogany. There
her within their reach.” were a couple of brace of cold woodcock, a pheas-
“Very good, Lestrade,” said Holmes, laughing. ant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of ancient
“You really are very fine indeed. Let me see it.” He and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these
took up the paper in a listless way, but his attention luxuries, my two visitors vanished away, like the
instantly became riveted, and he gave a little cry of genii of the Arabian Nights, with no explanation
satisfaction. “This is indeed important,” said he. save that the things had been paid for and were
“Ha! you find it so?” ordered to this address.
“Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly.” Just before nine o’clock Sherlock Holmes
stepped briskly into the room. His features were
Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head
gravely set, but there was a light in his eye which
to look. “Why,” he shrieked, “you’re looking at the
made me think that he had not been disappointed
wrong side!”
in his conclusions.
“On the contrary, this is the right side.” “They have laid the supper, then,” he said, rub-
“The right side? You’re mad! Here is the note bing his hands.
written in pencil over here.” “You seem to expect company. They have laid
“And over here is what appears to be the frag- for five.”
ment of a hotel bill, which interests me deeply.” “Yes, I fancy we may have some company drop-
“There’s nothing in it. I looked at it before,” ping in,” said he. “I am surprised that Lord St.
said Lestrade. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I fancy that I
hear his step now upon the stairs.”
“ ‘Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d.,
It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who
cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. 6d., glass sherry,
came bustling in, dangling his glasses more vigor-
8d.’ I see nothing in that.”
ously than ever, and with a very perturbed expres-
“Very likely not. It is most important, all the sion upon his aristocratic features.
same. As to the note, it is important also, or at least “My messenger reached you, then?” asked
the initials are, so I congratulate you again.” Holmes.
“I’ve wasted time enough,” said Lestrade, rising. “Yes, and I confess that the contents startled
“I believe in hard work and not in sitting by the fire me beyond measure. Have you good authority for
spinning fine theories. Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and what you say?”
we shall see which gets to the bottom of the matter “The best possible.”
first.” He gathered up the garments, thrust them Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his
into the bag, and made for the door. hand over his forehead.
“Just one hint to you, Lestrade,” drawled “What will the Duke say,” he murmured, “when
Holmes before his rival vanished; “I will tell you he hears that one of the family has been subjected
the true solution of the matter. Lady St. Simon is a to such humiliation?”
127
“It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that “Then I’ll tell our story right away,” said the
there is any humiliation.” lady. “Frank here and I met in ’84, in McQuire’s
“Ah, you look on these things from another camp, near the Rockies, where pa was working a
standpoint.” claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and
I; but then one day father struck a rich pocket and
“I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can made a pile, while poor Frank here had a claim that
hardly see how the lady could have acted other- petered out and came to nothing. The richer pa
wise, though her abrupt method of doing it was grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa wouldn’t
undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he
she had no one to advise her at such a crisis.” took me away to ’Frisco. Frank wouldn’t throw up
“It was a slight, sir, a public slight,” said Lord his hand, though; so he followed me there, and he
St. Simon, tapping his fingers upon the table. saw me without pa knowing anything about it. It
“You must make allowance for this poor girl, would only have made him mad to know, so we
placed in so unprecedented a position.” just fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he
would go and make his pile, too, and never come
“I will make no allowance. I am very angry
back to claim me until he had as much as pa. So
indeed, and I have been shamefully used.”
then I promised to wait for him to the end of time
“I think that I heard a ring,” said Holmes. “Yes, and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while
there are steps on the landing. If I cannot persuade he lived. ‘Why shouldn’t we be married right away,
you to take a lenient view of the matter, Lord St. Si- then,’ said he, ‘and then I will feel sure of you; and I
mon, I have brought an advocate here who may be won’t claim to be your husband until I come back?’
more successful.” He opened the door and ushered Well, we talked it over, and he had fixed it all up so
in a lady and gentleman. “Lord St. Simon,” said he nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, that
“allow me to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis we just did it right there; and then Frank went off
Hay Moulton. The lady, I think, you have already to seek his fortune, and I went back to pa.
met.”
“The next I heard of Frank was that he was in
At the sight of these newcomers our client had Montana, and then he went prospecting in Arizona,
sprung from his seat and stood very erect, with his and then I heard of him from New Mexico. After
eyes cast down and his hand thrust into the breast that came a long newspaper story about how a min-
of his frock-coat, a picture of offended dignity. The ers’ camp had been attacked by Apache Indians,
lady had taken a quick step forward and had held and there was my Frank’s name among the killed.
out her hand to him, but he still refused to raise I fainted dead away, and I was very sick for months
his eyes. It was as well for his resolution, perhaps, after. Pa thought I had a decline and took me to half
for her pleading face was one which it was hard to the doctors in ’Frisco. Not a word of news came
resist. for a year and more, so that I never doubted that
“You’re angry, Robert,” said she. “Well, I guess Frank was really dead. Then Lord St. Simon came
you have every cause to be.” to ’Frisco, and we came to London, and a marriage
“Pray make no apology to me,” said Lord St. was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt
Simon bitterly. all the time that no man on this earth would ever
take the place in my heart that had been given to
“Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad my poor Frank.
and that I should have spoken to you before I went;
but I was kind of rattled, and from the time when I “Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course
saw Frank here again I just didn’t know what I was I’d have done my duty by him. We can’t command
doing or saying. I only wonder I didn’t fall down our love, but we can our actions. I went to the altar
and do a faint right there before 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
“Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar
friend and me to leave the room while you explain rails, I glanced back and saw Frank standing and
this matter?” looking at me out of the first pew. I thought it was
“If I may give an opinion,” remarked the strange his ghost at first; but when I looked again there he
gentleman, “we’ve had just a little too much secrecy was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as if
over this business already. For my part, I should to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him.
like all Europe and America to hear the rights of it.” I wonder I didn’t drop. I know that everything was
He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, clean-shaven, turning round, and the words of the clergyman
with a sharp face and alert manner. were just like the buzz of a bee in my ear. I didn’t
128
know what to do. Should I stop the service and Holmes, came round to us this evening, though
make a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, how he found us is more than I can think, and he
and he seemed to know what I was thinking, for showed us very clearly and kindly that I was wrong
he raised his finger to his lips to tell me to be still. and that Frank was right, and that we should be
Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, and I putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so secret.
knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to
his pew on the way out I dropped my bouquet Lord St. Simon alone, and so we came right away
over to him, and he slipped the note into my hand round to his rooms at once. Now, Robert, you have
when he returned me the flowers. It was only a heard it all, and I am very sorry if I have given you
line asking me to join him when he made the sign pain, and I hope that you do not think very meanly
to me to do so. Of course I never doubted for a of me.”
moment that my first duty was now to him, and I Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his
determined to do just whatever he might direct. rigid attitude, but had listened with a frowning
“When I got back I told my maid, who had brow and a compressed lip to this long narrative.
known him in California, and had always been his “Excuse me,” he said, “but it is not my custom
friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but to get a to discuss my most intimate personal affairs in this
few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I public manner.”
ought to have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was “Then you won’t forgive me? You won’t shake
dreadful hard before his mother and all those great hands before I go?”
people. I just made up my mind to run away and “Oh, certainly, if it would give you any plea-
explain afterwards. I hadn’t been at the table ten sure.” He put out his hand and coldly grasped that
minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at which she extended to him.
the other side of the road. He beckoned to me and “I had hoped,” suggested Holmes, “that you
then began walking into the Park. I slipped out, would have joined us in a friendly supper.”
put on my things, and followed him. Some woman “I think that there you ask a little too much,”
came talking something or other about Lord St. Si- responded his Lordship. “I may be forced to acqui-
mon to me—seemed to me from the little I heard as esce in these recent developments, but I can hardly
if he had a little secret of his own before marriage be expected to make merry over them. I think that
also—but I managed to get away from her and soon with your permission I will now wish you all a very
overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and good-night.” He included us all in a sweeping bow
away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in and stalked out of the room.
Gordon Square, and that was my true wedding
“Then I trust that you at least will honour me
after all those years of waiting. Frank had been a
with your company,” said Sherlock Holmes. “It is
prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came
always a joy to meet an American, Mr. Moulton,
on to ’Frisco, found that I had given him up for
for I am one of those who believe that the folly
dead and had gone to England, followed me there,
of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in
and had come upon me at last on the very morning
far-gone years will not prevent our children from
of my second wedding.”
being some day citizens of the same world-wide
“I saw it in a paper,” explained the American. country under a flag which shall be a quartering of
“It gave the name and the church but not where the the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.”
lady lived.” “The case has been an interesting one,” re-
“Then we had a talk as to what we should marked Holmes when our visitors had left us, “be-
do, and Frank was all for openness, but I was so cause it serves to show very clearly how simple the
ashamed of it all that I felt as if I should like to explanation may be of an affair which at first sight
vanish away and never see any of them again—just seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be
sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I more natural than the sequence of events as nar-
was alive. It was awful to me to think of all those rated by this lady, and nothing stranger than the
lords and ladies sitting round that breakfast-table result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. Lestrade
and waiting for me to come back. So Frank took my of Scotland Yard.”
wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of “You were not yourself at fault at all, then?”
them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped “From the first, two facts were very obvious
them away somewhere where no one could find to me, the one that the lady had been quite will-
them. It is likely that we should have gone on to ing to undergo the wedding ceremony, the other
Paris to-morrow, only that this good gentleman, Mr. that she had repented of it within a few minutes
129
of returning home. Obviously something had oc- was it to know that within a week he had settled
curred during the morning, then, to cause her to his bill at one of the most select London hotels.”
change her mind. What could that something be? “How did you deduce the select?”
She could not have spoken to anyone when she
was out, for she had been in the company of the “By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed
bridegroom. Had she seen someone, then? If she and eightpence for a glass of sherry pointed to one
had, it must be someone from America because of the most expensive hotels. There are not many
she had spent so short a time in this country that in London which charge at that rate. In the second
she could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue,
so deep an influence over her that the mere sight I learned by an inspection of the book that Fran-
of him would induce her to change her plans so cis H. Moulton, an American gentleman, had left
completely. You see we have already arrived, by a only the day before, and on looking over the entries
process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have against him, I came upon the very items which I
seen an American. Then who could this American had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to
be, and why should he possess so much influence be forwarded to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I
over her? It might be a lover; it might be a hus- travelled, and being fortunate enough to find the
band. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been loving couple at home, I ventured to give them
spent in rough scenes and under strange condi- some paternal advice and to point out to them that
tions. So far I had got before I ever heard Lord it would be better in every way that they should
St. Simon’s narrative. When he told us of a man make their position a little clearer both to the gen-
in a pew, of the change in the bride’s manner, of eral public and to Lord St. Simon in particular. I
so transparent a device for obtaining a note as the invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I
dropping of a bouquet, of her resort to her confi- made him keep the appointment.”
dential maid, and of her very significant allusion to “But with no very good result,” I remarked.
claim-jumping—which in miners’ parlance means “His conduct was certainly not very gracious.”
taking possession of that which another person has “Ah, Watson,” said Holmes, smiling, “perhaps
a prior claim to—the whole situation became ab- you would not be very gracious either, if, after all
solutely clear. She had gone off with a man, and the trouble of wooing and wedding, you found
the man was either a lover or was a previous hus- yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of for-
band—the chances being in favour of the latter.” tune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very
“And how in the world did you find them?” mercifully and thank our stars that we are never
“It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade likely to find ourselves in the same position. Draw
held information in his hands the value of which he your chair up and hand me my violin, for the only
did not himself know. The initials were, of course, problem we have still to solve is how to while away
of the highest importance, but more valuable still these bleak autumnal evenings.”
130
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
H
olmes,” said I as I stood one morning head against the wall with such force that we both
in our bow-window looking down the rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre
street, “here is a madman coming along. of the room. Sherlock Holmes pushed him down
It seems rather sad that his relatives into the easy-chair and, sitting beside him, patted
should allow him to come out alone.” his hand and chatted with him in the easy, soothing
My friend rose lazily from his armchair and tones which he knew so well how to employ.
stood with his hands in the pockets of his dressing- “You have come to me to tell your story, have
gown, looking over my shoulder. It was a bright, you not?” said he. “You are fatigued with your
crisp February morning, and the snow of the day haste. Pray wait until you have recovered yourself,
before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering and then I shall be most happy to look into any
brightly in the wintry sun. Down the centre of little problem which you may submit to me.”
Baker Street it had been ploughed into a brown The man sat for a minute or more with a heav-
crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and ing chest, fighting against his emotion. Then he
on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still passed his handkerchief over his brow, set his lips
lay as white as when it fell. The grey pavement tight, and turned his face towards us.
had been cleaned and scraped, but was still dan- “No doubt you think me mad?” said he.
gerously slippery, so that there were fewer pas- “I see that you have had some great trouble,”
sengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of responded Holmes.
the Metropolitan Station no one was coming save “God knows I have!—a trouble which is enough
the single gentleman whose eccentric conduct had to unseat my reason, so sudden and so terrible is
drawn my attention. it. Public disgrace I might have faced, although I
He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and im- am a man whose character has never yet borne a
posing, with a massive, strongly marked face and a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man;
commanding figure. He was dressed in a sombre but the two coming together, and in so frightful
yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining hat, neat a form, have been enough to shake my very soul.
brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet Besides, it is not I alone. The very noblest in the
his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity land may suffer unless some way be found out of
of his dress and features, for he was running hard, this horrible affair.”
with occasional little springs, such as a weary man “Pray compose yourself, sir,” said Holmes, “and
gives who is little accustomed to set any tax upon let me have a clear account of who you are and
his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and what it is that has befallen you.”
down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into “My name,” answered our visitor, “is probably
the most extraordinary contortions. familiar to your ears. I am Alexander Holder, of
“What on earth can be the matter with him?” the banking firm of Holder & Stevenson, of Thread-
I asked. “He is looking up at the numbers of the needle Street.”
houses.” The name was indeed well known to us as be-
“I believe that he is coming here,” said Holmes, longing to the senior partner in the second largest
rubbing his hands. private banking concern in the City of London.
What could have happened, then, to bring one of
“Here?” the foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable
“Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me pass? We waited, all curiosity, until with another
professionally. I think that I recognise the symp- effort he braced himself to tell his story.
toms. Ha! did I not tell you?” As he spoke, the “I feel that time is of value,” said he; “that is
man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and why I hastened here when the police inspector sug-
pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded gested that I should secure your co-operation. I
with the clanging. came to Baker Street by the Underground and hur-
A few moments later he was in our room, still ried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly
puffing, still gesticulating, but with so fixed a look through this snow. That is why I was so out of
of grief and despair in his eyes that our smiles breath, for I am a man who takes very little exer-
were turned in an instant to horror and pity. For a cise. I feel better now, and I will put the facts before
while he could not get his words out, but swayed you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can.
his body and plucked at his hair like one who has “It is, of course, well known to you that in a suc-
been driven to the extreme limits of his reason. cessful banking business as much depends upon
Then, suddenly springing to his feet, he beat his our being able to find remunerative investments for
133
our funds as upon our increasing our connection magnificent piece of jewellery which he had named.
and the number of our depositors. One of our most ‘There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,’ said he,
lucrative means of laying out money is in the shape ‘and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable.
of loans, where the security is unimpeachable. We The lowest estimate would put the worth of the
have done a good deal in this direction during the coronet at double the sum which I have asked. I
last few years, and there are many noble families am prepared to leave it with you as my security.’
to whom we have advanced large sums upon the “I took the precious case into my hands and
security of their pictures, libraries, or plate. looked in some perplexity from it to my illustrious
“Yesterday morning I was seated in my office client.
at the bank when a card was brought in to me by “ ‘You doubt its value?’ he asked.
one of the clerks. I started when I saw the name,
for it was that of none other than—well, perhaps “ ‘Not at all. I only doubt—’
even to you I had better say no more than that it “ ‘The propriety of my leaving it. You may set
was a name which is a household word all over your mind at rest about that. I should not dream of
the earth—one of the highest, noblest, most exalted doing so were it not absolutely certain that I should
names in England. I was overwhelmed by the hon- be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a pure matter
our and attempted, when he entered, to say so, of form. Is the security sufficient?’
but he plunged at once into business with the air “ ‘Ample.’
of a man who wishes to hurry quickly through a
disagreeable task. “ ‘You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving
you a strong proof of the confidence which I have
“ ‘Mr. Holder,’ said he, ‘I have been informed in you, founded upon all that I have heard of you.
that you are in the habit of advancing money.’ I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to re-
“ ‘The firm does so when the security is good.’ frain from all gossip upon the matter but, above
I answered. all, to preserve this coronet with every possible pre-
“ ‘It is absolutely essential to me,’ said he, ‘that caution because I need not say that a great public
I should have £50,000 at once. I could, of course, scandal would be caused if any harm were to be-
borrow so trifling a sum ten times over from my fall it. Any injury to it would be almost as serious
friends, but I much prefer to make it a matter of as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the
business and to carry out that business myself. In world to match these, and it would be impossible
my position you can readily understand that it is to replace them. I leave it with you, however, with
unwise to place one’s self under obligations.’ every confidence, and I shall call for it in person on
“ ‘For how long, may I ask, do you want this Monday morning.’
sum?’ I asked. “Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I
“ ‘Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, said no more but, calling for my cashier, I ordered
and I shall then most certainly repay what you ad- him to pay over fifty £1000 notes. When I was alone
vance, with whatever interest you think it right to once more, however, with the precious case lying
charge. But it is very essential to me that the money upon the table in front of me, I could not but think
should be paid at once.’ with some misgivings of the immense responsibil-
ity which it entailed upon me. There could be no
“ ‘I should be happy to advance it without fur-
doubt that, as it was a national possession, a horri-
ther parley from my own private purse,’ said I,
ble scandal would ensue if any misfortune should
‘were it not that the strain would be rather more
occur to it. I already regretted having ever con-
than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to
sented to take charge of it. However, it was too
do it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my
late to alter the matter now, so I locked it up in my
partner I must insist that, even in your case, every
private safe and turned once more to my work.
businesslike precaution should be taken.’
“When evening came I felt that it would be an
“ ‘I should much prefer to have it so,’ said he,
imprudence to leave so precious a thing in the office
raising up a square, black morocco case which he
behind me. Bankers’ safes had been forced before
had laid beside his chair. ‘You have doubtless heard
now, and why should not mine be? If so, how ter-
of the Beryl Coronet?’
rible would be the position in which I should find
“ ‘One of the most precious public possessions myself! I determined, therefore, that for the next
of the empire,’ said I. few days I would always carry the case backward
“ ‘Precisely.’ He opened the case, and there, and forward with me, so that it might never be
imbedded in soft, flesh-coloured velvet, lay the really out of my reach. With this intention, I called
134
a cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, car- finger-tips, one who had been everywhere, seen
rying the jewel with me. I did not breathe freely everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of great
until I had taken it upstairs and locked it in the personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold
bureau of my dressing-room. blood, far away from the glamour of his presence, I
“And now a word as to my household, Mr. am convinced from his cynical speech and the look
Holmes, for I wish you to thoroughly understand which I have caught in his eyes that he is one who
the situation. My groom and my page sleep out should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, too,
of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I thinks my little Mary, who has a woman’s quick
have three maid-servants who have been with me insight into character.
a number of years and whose absolute reliability “And now there is only she to be described. She
is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy Parr, the is my niece; but when my brother died five years
second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a ago and left her alone in the world I adopted her,
few months. She came with an excellent character, and have looked upon her ever since as my daugh-
however, and has always given me satisfaction. She ter. She is a sunbeam in my house—sweet, loving,
is a very pretty girl and has attracted admirers who beautiful, a wonderful manager and housekeeper,
have occasionally hung about the place. That is the yet as tender and quiet and gentle as a woman
only drawback which we have found to her, but we could be. She is my right hand. I do not know
believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every what I could do without her. In only one matter
way. has she ever gone against my wishes. Twice my
boy has asked her to marry him, for he loves her
“So much for the servants. My family itself is devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I
so small that it will not take me long to describe it. think that if anyone could have drawn him into
I am a widower and have an only son, Arthur. He the right path it would have been she, and that his
has been a disappointment to me, Mr. Holmes—a marriage might have changed his whole life; but
grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am now, alas! it is too late—forever too late!
myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled
“Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who
him. Very likely I have. When my dear wife died I
live under my roof, and I shall continue with my
felt that he was all I had to love. I could not bear to
miserable story.
see the smile fade even for a moment from his face.
I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it would “When we were taking coffee in the drawing-
have been better for both of us had I been sterner, room that night after dinner, I told Arthur and
but I meant it for the best. Mary my experience, and of the precious treasure
which we had under our roof, suppressing only the
“It was naturally my intention that he should name of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought
succeed me in my business, but he was not of a in the coffee, had, I am sure, left the room; but I
business turn. He was wild, wayward, and, to cannot swear that the door was closed. Mary and
speak the truth, I could not trust him in the han- Arthur were much interested and wished to see
dling of large sums of money. When he was young the famous coronet, but I thought it better not to
he became a member of an aristocratic club, and disturb it.
there, having charming manners, he was soon the
“ ‘Where have you put it?’ asked Arthur.
intimate of a number of men with long purses and
“ ‘In my own bureau.’
expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at
cards and to squander money on the turf, until he “ ‘Well, I hope to goodness the house won’t be
had again and again to come to me and implore burgled during the night.’ said he.
me to give him an advance upon his allowance, “ ‘It is locked up,’ I answered.
that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried “ ‘Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I
more than once to break away from the dangerous was a youngster I have opened it myself with the
company which he was keeping, but each time the key of the box-room cupboard.’
influence of his friend, Sir George Burnwell, was “He often had a wild way of talking, so that I
enough to draw him back again. thought little of what he said. He followed me to
“And, indeed, I could not wonder that such my room, however, that night with a very grave
a man as Sir George Burnwell should gain an in- face.
fluence over him, for he has frequently brought “ ‘Look here, dad,’ said he with his eyes cast
him to my house, and I have found myself that I down, ‘can you let me have £200?’
could hardly resist the fascination of his manner. “ ‘No, I cannot!’ I answered sharply. ‘I have
He is older than Arthur, a man of the world to his been far too generous with you in money matters.’
135
“ ‘You have been very kind,’ said he, ‘but I must out of bed, all palpitating with fear, and peeped
have this money, or else I can never show my face round the corner of my dressing-room door.
inside the club again.’ “ ‘Arthur!’ I screamed, ‘you villain! you thief!
“ ‘And a very good thing, too!’ I cried. How dare you touch that coronet?’
“ ‘Yes, but you would not have me leave it a “The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my
dishonoured man,’ said he. ‘I could not bear the unhappy boy, dressed only in his shirt and trousers,
disgrace. I must raise the money in some way, and was standing beside the light, holding the coronet
if you will not let me have it, then I must try other in his hands. He appeared to be wrenching at it,
means.’ or bending it with all his strength. At my cry he
“I was very angry, for this was the third demand dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as
during the month. ‘You shall not have a farthing death. I snatched it up and examined it. One of
from me,’ I cried, on which he bowed and left the the gold corners, with three of the beryls in it, was
room without another word. missing.
“When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, “ ‘You blackguard!’ I shouted, beside myself
made sure that my treasure was safe, and locked it with rage. ‘You have destroyed it! You have dishon-
again. Then I started to go round the house to see oured me forever! Where are the jewels which you
that all was secure—a duty which I usually leave to have stolen?’
Mary but which I thought it well to perform myself “ ‘Stolen!’ he cried.
that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary “ ‘Yes, thief!’ I roared, shaking him by the shoul-
herself at the side window of the hall, which she der.
closed and fastened as I approached. “ ‘There are none missing. There cannot be any
“ ‘Tell me, dad,’ said she, looking, I thought, a missing,’ said he.
little disturbed, ‘did you give Lucy, the maid, leave “ ‘There are three missing. And you know
to go out to-night?’ where they are. Must I call you a liar as well as a
“ ‘Certainly not.’ thief? Did I not see you trying to tear off another
“ ‘She came in just now by the back door. I have piece?’
no doubt that she has only been to the side gate to “ ‘You have called me names enough,’ said he, ‘I
see someone, but I think that it is hardly safe and will not stand it any longer. I shall not say another
should be stopped.’ word about this business, since you have chosen to
“ ‘You must speak to her in the morning, or I insult me. I will leave your house in the morning
will if you prefer it. Are you sure that everything and make my own way in the world.’
is fastened?’ “ ‘You shall leave it in the hands of the police!’
“ ‘Quite sure, dad.’ I cried half-mad with grief and rage. ‘I shall have
this matter probed to the bottom.’
“ ‘Then, good-night.’ I kissed her and went up
“ ‘You shall learn nothing from me,’ said he with
to my bedroom again, where I was soon asleep.
a passion such as I should not have thought was in
“I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. his nature. ‘If you choose to call the police, let the
Holmes, which may have any bearing upon the police find what they can.’
case, but I beg that you will question me upon any
“By this time the whole house was astir, for I
point which I do not make clear.”
had raised my voice in my anger. Mary was the
“On the contrary, your statement is singularly first to rush into my room, and, at the sight of the
lucid.” coronet and of Arthur’s face, she read the whole
“I come to a part of my story now in which story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on
I should wish to be particularly so. I am not a the ground. I sent the house-maid for the police
very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety in my mind and put the investigation into their hands at once.
tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than When the inspector and a constable entered the
usual. About two in the morning, then, I was awak- house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with his
ened by some sound in the house. It had ceased arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention
ere I was wide awake, but it had left an impression to charge him with theft. I answered that it had
behind it as though a window had gently closed ceased to be a private matter, but had become a
somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Sud- public one, since the ruined coronet was national
denly, to my horror, there was a distinct sound of property. I was determined that the law should
footsteps moving softly in the next room. I slipped have its way in everything.
136
“ ‘At least,’ said he, ‘you will not have me ar- “She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so
rested at once. It would be to your advantage as very young. She is four-and-twenty.”
well as mine if I might leave the house for five “This matter, from what you say, seems to have
minutes.’ been a shock to her also.”
“ ‘That you may get away, or perhaps that you “Terrible! She is even more affected than I.”
may conceal what you have stolen,’ said I. And
“You have neither of you any doubt as to your
then, realising the dreadful position in which I was
son’s guilt?”
placed, I implored him to remember that not only
my honour but that of one who was far greater “How can we have when I saw him with my
than I was at stake; and that he threatened to raise own eyes with the coronet in his hands.”
a scandal which would convulse the nation. He “I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was
might avert it all if he would but tell me what he the remainder of the coronet at all injured?”
had done with the three missing stones. “Yes, it was twisted.”
“ ‘You may as well face the matter,’ said I; ‘you “Do you not think, then, that he might have
have been caught in the act, and no confession been trying to straighten it?”
could make your guilt more heinous. If you but “God bless you! You are doing what you can
make such reparation as is in your power, by telling for him and for me. But it is too heavy a task.
us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and What was he doing there at all? If his purpose were
forgotten.’ innocent, why did he not say so?”
“ ‘Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for “Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not
it,’ he answered, turning away from me with a sneer. invent a lie? His silence appears to me to cut both
I saw that he was too hardened for any words of ways. There are several singular points about the
mine to influence him. There was but one way case. What did the police think of the noise which
for it. I called in the inspector and gave him into awoke you from your sleep?”
custody. A search was made at once not only of
his person but of his room and of every portion of “They considered that it might be caused by
the house where he could possibly have concealed Arthur’s closing his bedroom door.”
the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor “A likely story! As if a man bent on felony
would the wretched boy open his mouth for all our would slam his door so as to wake a household.
persuasions and our threats. This morning he was What did they say, then, of the disappearance of
removed to a cell, and I, after going through all these gems?”
the police formalities, have hurried round to you “They are still sounding the planking and prob-
to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the ing the furniture in the hope of finding them.”
matter. The police have openly confessed that they “Have they thought of looking outside the
can at present make nothing of it. You may go house?”
to any expense which you think necessary. I have
“Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy.
already offered a reward of £1000. My God, what
The whole garden has already been minutely ex-
shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and
amined.”
my son in one night. Oh, what shall I do!”
“Now, my dear sir,” said Holmes. “is it not ob-
He put a hand on either side of his head and
vious to you now that this matter really strikes very
rocked himself to and fro, droning to himself like a
much deeper than either you or the police were at
child whose grief has got beyond words.
first inclined to think? It appeared to you to be a
Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few min- simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex.
utes, with his brows knitted and his eyes fixed upon Consider what is involved by your theory. You sup-
the fire. pose that your son came down from his bed, went,
“Do you receive much company?” he asked. at great risk, to your dressing-room, opened your
“None save my partner with his family and an bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main
occasional friend of Arthur’s. Sir George Burnwell force a small portion of it, went off to some other
has been several times lately. No one else, I think.” place, concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine,
with such skill that nobody can find them, and then
“Do you go out much in society?”
returned with the other thirty-six into the room in
“Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We which he exposed himself to the greatest danger of
neither of us care for it.” being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory
“That is unusual in a young girl.” tenable?”
137
“But what other is there?” cried the banker with woman of strong character, with immense capacity
a gesture of despair. “If his motives were innocent, for self-restraint. Disregarding my presence, she
why does he not explain them?” went straight to her uncle and passed her hand over
his head with a sweet womanly caress.
“It is our task to find that out,” replied Holmes;
“so now, if you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for “You have given orders that Arthur should be
Streatham together, and devote an hour to glancing liberated, have you not, dad?” she asked.
a little more closely into details.” “No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to
the bottom.”
My friend insisted upon my accompanying
“But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know
them in their expedition, which I was eager enough
what woman’s instincts are. I know that he has
to do, for my curiosity and sympathy were deeply
done no harm and that you will be sorry for having
stirred by the story to which we had listened. I con-
acted so harshly.”
fess that the guilt of the banker’s son appeared to
me to be as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, “Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?”
but still I had such faith in Holmes’ judgment that “Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry
I felt that there must be some grounds for hope as that you should suspect him.”
long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted expla- “How could I help suspecting him, when I ac-
nation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out tually saw him with the coronet in his hand?”
to the southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon “Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at
his breast and his hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in it. Oh, do, do take my word for it that he is inno-
the deepest thought. Our client appeared to have cent. Let the matter drop and say no more. It is so
taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope which dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in a prison!”
had been presented to him, and he even broke into
“I shall never let it drop until the gems are
a desultory chat with me over his business affairs.
found—never, Mary! Your affection for Arthur
A short railway journey and a shorter walk brought
blinds you as to the awful consequences to me. Far
us to Fairbank, the modest residence of the great
from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gen-
financier.
tleman down from London to inquire more deeply
Fairbank was a good-sized square house of into it.”
white stone, standing back a little from the road. “This gentleman?” she asked, facing round to
A double carriage-sweep, with a snow-clad lawn, me.
stretched down in front to two large iron gates “No, his friend. He wished us to leave him
which closed the entrance. On the right side was a alone. He is round in the stable lane now.”
small wooden thicket, which led into a narrow path
“The stable lane?” She raised her dark eyebrows.
between two neat hedges stretching from the road
“What can he hope to find there? Ah! this, I sup-
to the kitchen door, and forming the tradesmen’s
pose, is he. I trust, sir, that you will succeed in prov-
entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the
ing, what I feel sure is the truth, that my cousin
stables, and was not itself within the grounds at
Arthur is innocent of this crime.”
all, being a public, though little used, thoroughfare.
Holmes left us standing at the door and walked “I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with
slowly all round the house, across the front, down you, that we may prove it,” returned Holmes, go-
the tradesmen’s path, and so round by the garden ing back to the mat to knock the snow from his
behind into the stable lane. So long was he that shoes. “I believe I have the honour of addressing
Mr. Holder and I went into the dining-room and Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or
waited by the fire until he should return. We were two?”
sitting there in silence when the door opened and “Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible
a young lady came in. She was rather above the affair up.”
middle height, slim, with dark hair and eyes, which “You heard nothing yourself last night?”
seemed the darker against the absolute pallor of “Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak
her skin. I do not think that I have ever seen such loudly. I heard that, and I came down.”
deadly paleness in a woman’s face. Her lips, too,
“You shut up the windows and doors the night
were bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with
before. Did you fasten all the windows?”
crying. As she swept silently into the room she
impressed me with a greater sense of grief than “Yes.”
the banker had done in the morning, and it was “Were they all fastened this morning?”
the more striking in her as she was evidently a “Yes.”
138
“You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the
that you remarked to your uncle last night that she bureau.
had been out to see him?” “It is a noiseless lock,” said he. “It is no wonder
“Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the that it did not wake you. This case, I presume,
drawing-room, and who may have heard uncle’s contains the coronet. We must have a look at it.”
remarks about the coronet.” He opened the case, and taking out the diadem he
“I see. You infer that she may have gone out laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent speci-
to tell her sweetheart, and that the two may have men of the jeweller’s art, and the thirty-six stones
planned the robbery.” were the finest that I have ever seen. At one side
of the coronet was a cracked edge, where a corner
“But what is the good of all these vague theo-
holding three gems had been torn away.
ries,” cried the banker impatiently, “when I have
told you that I saw Arthur with the coronet in his “Now, Mr. Holder,” said Holmes, “here is the
hands?” corner which corresponds to that which has been
so unfortunately lost. Might I beg that you will
“Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back break it off.”
to that. About this girl, Miss Holder. You saw her
The banker recoiled in horror. “I should not
return by the kitchen door, I presume?”
dream of trying,” said he.
“Yes; when I went to see if the door was fas-
“Then I will.” Holmes suddenly bent his
tened for the night I met her slipping in. I saw the
strength upon it, but without result. “I feel it give
man, too, in the gloom.”
a little,” said he; “but, though I am exceptionally
“Do you know him?” strong in the fingers, it would take me all my time
“Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now,
vegetables round. His name is Francis Prosper.” what do you think would happen if I did break it,
“He stood,” said Holmes, “to the left of the Mr. Holder? There would be a noise like a pistol
door—that is to say, farther up the path than is shot. Do you tell me that all this happened within a
necessary to reach the door?” few yards of your bed and that you heard nothing
of it?”
“Yes, he did.”
“I do not know what to think. It is all dark to
“And he is a man with a wooden leg?” me.”
Something like fear sprang up in the young “But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go.
lady’s expressive black eyes. “Why, you are like What do you think, Miss Holder?”
a magician,” said she. “How do you know that?”
“I confess that I still share my uncle’s perplex-
She smiled, but there was no answering smile in
ity.”
Holmes’ thin, eager face.
“Your son had no shoes or slippers on when
“I should be very glad now to go upstairs,” said
you saw him?”
he. “I shall probably wish to go over the outside of
the house again. Perhaps I had better take a look “He had nothing on save only his trousers and
at the lower windows before I go up.” shirt.”
“Thank you. We have certainly been favoured
He walked swiftly round from one to the other,
with extraordinary luck during this inquiry, and it
pausing only at the large one which looked from
will be entirely our own fault if we do not succeed
the hall onto the stable lane. This he opened and
in clearing the matter up. With your permission,
made a very careful examination of the sill with
Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations
his powerful magnifying lens. “Now we shall go
outside.”
upstairs,” said he at last.
He went alone, at his own request, for he ex-
The banker’s dressing-room was a plainly fur-
plained that any unnecessary footmarks might
nished little chamber, with a grey carpet, a large
make his task more difficult. For an hour or more
bureau, and a long mirror. Holmes went to the
he was at work, returning at last with his feet heavy
bureau first and looked hard at the lock.
with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever.
“Which key was used to open it?” he asked. “I think that I have seen now all that there is to
“That which my son himself indicated—that of see, Mr. Holder,” said he; “I can serve you best by
the cupboard of the lumber-room.” returning to my rooms.”
“Have you it here?” “But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?”
“That is it on the dressing-table.” “I cannot tell.”
139
The banker wrung his hands. “I shall never see call at the house. It is a very sweet little problem,
them again!” he cried. “And my son? You give me and I would not have missed it for a good deal.
hopes?” However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must
“My opinion is in no way altered.” get these disreputable clothes off and return to my
highly respectable self.”
“Then, for God’s sake, what was this dark busi-
ness which was acted in my house last night?” I could see by his manner that he had stronger
“If you can call upon me at my Baker Street reasons for satisfaction than his words alone would
rooms to-morrow morning between nine and ten I imply. His eyes twinkled, and there was even a
shall be happy to do what I can to make it clearer. I touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He has-
understand that you give me carte blanche to act for tened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the
you, provided only that I get back the gems, and slam of the hall door, which told me that he was
that you place no limit on the sum I may draw.” off once more upon his congenial hunt.
“I would give my fortune to have them back.” I waited until midnight, but there was no sign
“Very good. I shall look into the matter between of his return, so I retired to my room. It was no
this and then. Good-bye; it is just possible that I uncommon thing for him to be away for days and
may have to come over here again before evening.” nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so
that his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not
It was obvious to me that my companion’s mind
know at what hour he came in, but when I came
was now made up about the case, although what
down to breakfast in the morning there he was with
his conclusions were was more than I could even
a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the
dimly imagine. Several times during our home-
other, as fresh and trim as possible.
ward journey I endeavoured to sound him upon
the point, but he always glided away to some other “You will excuse my beginning without you,
topic, until at last I gave it over in despair. It was not Watson,” said he, “but you remember that our client
yet three when we found ourselves in our rooms has rather an early appointment this morning.”
once more. He hurried to his chamber and was
down again in a few minutes dressed as a common “Why, it is after nine now,” I answered. “I
loafer. With his collar turned up, his shiny, seedy should not be surprised if that were he. I thought I
coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he was a heard a ring.”
perfect sample of the class. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was
“I think that this should do,” said he, glancing shocked by the change which had come over him,
into the glass above the fireplace. “I only wish that for his face which was naturally of a broad and mas-
you could come with me, Watson, but I fear that sive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, while
it won’t do. I may be on the trail in this matter, or his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He
I may be following a will-o’-the-wisp, but I shall entered with a weariness and lethargy which was
soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in even more painful than his violence of the morning
a few hours.” He cut a slice of beef from the joint before, and he dropped heavily into the armchair
upon the sideboard, sandwiched it between two which I pushed forward for him.
rounds of bread, and thrusting this rude meal into
his pocket he started off upon his expedition. “I do not know what I have done to be so
severely tried,” said he. “Only two days ago I was
I had just finished my tea when he returned, ev-
a happy and prosperous man, without a care in the
idently in excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-
world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured
sided boot in his hand. He chucked it down into a
age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of
corner and helped himself to a cup of tea.
another. My niece, Mary, has deserted me.”
“I only looked in as I passed,” said he. “I am
going right on.” “Deserted you?”
“Where to?” “Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept
“Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may in, her room was empty, and a note for me lay upon
be some time before I get back. Don’t wait up for the hall table. I had said to her last night, in sorrow
me in case I should be late.” and not in anger, that if she had married my boy
all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was
“How are you getting on?”
thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that
“Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been she refers in this note:
out to Streatham since I saw you last, but I did not
140
“ ‘My dearest Uncle: “I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that
“ ‘I feel that I have brought trouble it was not.”
upon you, and that if I had acted dif- “You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at
ferently this terrible misfortune might once to let him know that the truth is known.”
never have occurred. I cannot, with
“He knows it already. When I had cleared it all
this thought in my mind, ever again
up I had an interview with him, and finding that
be happy under your roof, and I feel
he would not tell me the story, I told it to him, on
that I must leave you forever. Do not
which he had to confess that I was right and to add
worry about my future, for that is pro-
the very few details which were not yet quite clear
vided for; and, above all, do not search
to me. Your news of this morning, however, may
for me, for it will be fruitless labour and
open his lips.”
an ill-service to me. In life or in death, I
am ever “For heaven’s sake, tell me, then, what is this
— “ ‘Your loving extraordinary mystery!”
“ ‘Mary.’ “I will do so, and I will show you the steps by
which I reached it. And let me say to you, first,
“What could she mean by that note, Mr. that which it is hardest for me to say and for you to
Holmes? Do you think it points to suicide?” hear: there has been an understanding between Sir
“No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have
best possible solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you now fled together.”
are nearing the end of your troubles.” “My Mary? Impossible!”
“Ha! You say so! You have heard something, “It is unfortunately more than possible; it is cer-
Mr. Holmes; you have learned something! Where tain. Neither you nor your son knew the true char-
are the gems?” acter of this man when you admitted him into your
“You would not think £1000 pounds apiece an family circle. He is one of the most dangerous men
excessive sum for them?” in England—a ruined gambler, an absolutely des-
perate villain, a man without heart or conscience.
“I would pay ten.” Your niece knew nothing of such men. When he
“That would be unnecessary. Three thousand breathed his vows to her, as he had done to a hun-
will cover the matter. And there is a little reward, I dred before her, she flattered herself that she alone
fancy. Have you your check-book? Here is a pen. had touched his heart. The devil knows best what
Better make it out for £4000.” he said, but at least she became his tool and was in
the habit of seeing him nearly every evening.”
With a dazed face the banker made out the re-
quired check. Holmes walked over to his desk, took “I cannot, and I will not, believe it!” cried the
out a little triangular piece of gold with three gems banker with an ashen face.
in it, and threw it down upon the table. “I will tell you, then, what occurred in your
With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. house last night. Your niece, when you had, as
she thought, gone to your room, slipped down and
“You have it!” he gasped. “I am saved! I am
talked to her lover through the window which leads
saved!”
into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed
The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief right through the snow, so long had he stood there.
had been, and he hugged his recovered gems to his She told him of the coronet. His wicked lust for
bosom. gold kindled at the news, and he bent her to his
“There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder,” will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but there
said Sherlock Holmes rather sternly. are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes
all other loves, and I think that she must have been
“Owe!” He caught up a pen. “Name the sum, one. She had hardly listened to his instructions
and I will pay it.” when she saw you coming downstairs, on which
“No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very she closed the window rapidly and told you about
humble apology to that noble lad, your son, who one of the servants’ escapade with her wooden-
has carried himself in this matter as I should be legged lover, which was all perfectly true.
proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance “Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his inter-
to have one.” view with you but he slept badly on account of his
“Then it was not Arthur who took them?” uneasiness about his club debts. In the middle of
141
the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, so observe if there were any traces in the snow which
he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his might help me. I knew that none had fallen since
cousin walking very stealthily along the passage the evening before, and also that there had been a
until she disappeared into your dressing-room. Pet- strong frost to preserve impressions. I passed along
rified with astonishment, the lad slipped on some the tradesmen’s path, but found it all trampled
clothes and waited there in the dark to see what down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, how-
would come of this strange affair. Presently she ever, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman
emerged from the room again, and in the light of had stood and talked with a man, whose round im-
the passage-lamp your son saw that she carried the pressions on one side showed that he had a wooden
precious coronet in her hands. She passed down the leg. I could even tell that they had been disturbed,
stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as
slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence was shown by the deep toe and light heel marks,
he could see what passed in the hall beneath. He while Wooden-leg had waited a little, and then had
saw her stealthily open the window, hand out the gone away. I thought at the time that this might be
coronet to someone in the gloom, and then closing the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had al-
it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite ready spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so.
close to where he stood hid behind the curtain. I passed round the garden without seeing anything
“As long as she was on the scene he could not more than random tracks, which I took to be the
take any action without a horrible exposure of the police; but when I got into the stable lane a very
woman whom he loved. But the instant that she long and complex story was written in the snow in
was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune front of me.
this would be for you, and how all-important it “There was a double line of tracks of a booted
was to set it right. He rushed down, just as he was, man, and a second double line which I saw with
in his bare feet, opened the window, sprang out delight belonged to a man with naked feet. I was
into the snow, and ran down the lane, where he at once convinced from what you had told me that
could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George the latter was your son. The first had walked both
Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, ways, but the other had run swiftly, and as his tread
and there was a struggle between them, your lad was marked in places over the depression of the
tugging at one side of the coronet, and his oppo- boot, it was obvious that he had passed after the
nent at the other. In the scuffle, your son struck other. I followed them up and found they led to the
Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then some- hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow
thing suddenly snapped, and your son, finding away while waiting. Then I walked to the other
that he had the coronet in his hands, rushed back, end, which was a hundred yards or more down the
closed the window, ascended to your room, and lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, where
had just observed that the coronet had been twisted the snow was cut up as though there had been a
in the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten struggle, and, finally, where a few drops of blood
it when you appeared upon the scene.” had fallen, to show me that I was not mistaken.
“Is it possible?” gasped the banker. Boots had then run down the lane, and another
little smudge of blood showed that it was he who
“You then roused his anger by calling him had been hurt. When he came to the highroad at
names at a moment when he felt that he had de- the other end, I found that the pavement had been
served your warmest thanks. He could not explain cleared, so there was an end to that clue.
the true state of affairs without betraying one who
certainly deserved little enough consideration at his “On entering the house, however, I examined,
hands. He took the more chivalrous view, however, as you remember, the sill and framework of the hall
and preserved her secret.” window with my lens, and I could at once see that
someone had passed out. I could distinguish the
“And that was why she shrieked and fainted outline of an instep where the wet foot had been
when she saw the coronet,” cried Mr. Holder. “Oh, placed in coming in. I was then beginning to be
my God! what a blind fool I have been! And his able to form an opinion as to what had occurred.
asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! The A man had waited outside the window; someone
dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were had brought the gems; the deed had been overseen
at the scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have by your son; he had pursued the thief; had strug-
misjudged him!” gled with him; they had each tugged at the coronet,
“When I arrived at the house,” continued their united strength causing injuries which neither
Holmes, “I at once went very carefully round it to alone could have effected. He had returned with
142
the prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of “Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man,
his opponent. So far I was clear. The question now so I came home and changed my clothes. It was
was, who was the man and who was it brought him a delicate part which I had to play then, for I saw
the coronet? that a prosecution must be avoided to avert scandal,
“It is an old maxim of mine that when you have and I knew that so astute a villain would see that
excluded the impossible, whatever remains, how- our hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw
ever improbable, must be the truth. Now, I knew him. At first, of course, he denied everything. But
that it was not you who had brought it down, so when I gave him every particular that had occurred,
there only remained your niece and the maids. But he tried to bluster and took down a life-preserver
if it were the maids, why should your son allow from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I
himself to be accused in their place? There could clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike.
be no possible reason. As he loved his cousin, how- Then he became a little more reasonable. I told him
ever, there was an excellent explanation why he that we would give him a price for the stones he
should retain her secret—the more so as the secret held—£1000 apiece. That brought out the first signs
was a disgraceful one. When I remembered that of grief that he had shown. ‘Why, dash it all!’ said
you had seen her at that window, and how she had he, ‘I’ve let them go at six hundred for the three!’
fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture I soon managed to get the address of the receiver
became a certainty. who had them, on promising him that there would
“And who could it be who was her confederate? be no prosecution. Off I set to him, and after much
A lover evidently, for who else could outweigh the chaffering I got our stones at 1000 pounds apiece.
love and gratitude which she must feel to you? I Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all
knew that you went out little, and that your circle was right, and eventually got to my bed about two
of friends was a very limited one. But among them o’clock, after what I may call a really hard day’s
was Sir George Burnwell. I had heard of him before work.”
as being a man of evil reputation among women.
It must have been he who wore those boots and “A day which has saved England from a great
retained the missing gems. Even though he knew public scandal,” said the banker, rising. “Sir, I can-
that Arthur had discovered him, he might still flat- not find words to thank you, but you shall not find
ter himself that he was safe, for the lad could not me ungrateful for what you have done. Your skill
say a word without compromising his own family. has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And
“Well, your own good sense will suggest what now I must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him
measures I took next. I went in the shape of a loafer for the wrong which I have done him. As to what
to Sir George’s house, managed to pick up an ac- you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my very heart.
quaintance with his valet, learned that his master Not even your skill can inform me where she is
had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at the now.”
expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying
a pair of his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed “I think that we may safely say,” returned
down to Streatham and saw that they exactly fitted Holmes, “that she is wherever Sir George Burn-
the tracks.” well is. It is equally certain, too, that whatever
“I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yes- her sins are, they will soon receive a more than
terday evening,” said Mr. Holder. sufficient punishment.”
143
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
T
o the man who loves art for its own sake,” search, he had emerged in no very sweet temper to
remarked Sherlock Holmes, tossing aside lecture me upon my literary shortcomings.
the advertisement sheet of the Daily Tele- “At the same time,” he remarked after a pause,
graph, “it is frequently in its least impor- during which he had sat puffing at his long pipe
tant and lowliest manifestations that the keenest and gazing down into the fire, “you can hardly be
pleasure is to be derived. It is pleasant to me to open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of these
observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped this cases which you have been so kind as to interest
truth that in these little records of our cases which yourself in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime,
you have been good enough to draw up, and, I am in its legal sense, at all. The small matter in which
bound to say, occasionally to embellish, you have I endeavoured to help the King of Bohemia, the
given prominence not so much to the many causes singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the
célèbres and sensational trials in which I have fig- problem connected with the man with the twisted
ured but rather to those incidents which may have lip, and the incident of the noble bachelor, were
been trivial in themselves, but which have given all matters which are outside the pale of the law.
room for those faculties of deduction and of logical But in avoiding the sensational, I fear that you may
synthesis which I have made my special province.” have bordered on the trivial.”
“And yet,” said I, smiling, “I cannot quite hold “The end may have been so,” I answered, “but
myself absolved from the charge of sensationalism the methods I hold to have been novel and of inter-
which has been urged against my records.” est.”
“You have erred, perhaps,” he observed, taking “Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public,
up a glowing cinder with the tongs and lighting the great unobservant public, who could hardly
with it the long cherry-wood pipe which was wont tell a weaver by his tooth or a compositor by his
to replace his clay when he was in a disputatious left thumb, care about the finer shades of analysis
rather than a meditative mood—“you have erred and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I
perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into cannot blame you, for the days of the great cases
each of your statements instead of confining your- are past. Man, or at least criminal man, has lost
self to the task of placing upon record that severe all enterprise and originality. As to my own little
reasoning from cause to effect which is really the practice, it seems to be degenerating into an agency
only notable feature about the thing.” for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice
to young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that
“It seems to me that I have done you full justice
I have touched bottom at last, however. This note
in the matter,” I remarked with some coldness, for I
I had this morning marks my zero-point, I fancy.
was repelled by the egotism which I had more than
Read it!” He tossed a crumpled letter across to me.
once observed to be a strong factor in my friend’s
singular character. It was dated from Montague Place upon the
preceding evening, and ran thus:
“No, it is not selfishness or conceit,” said he, an-
swering, as was his wont, my thoughts rather than Dear Mr. Holmes:
my words. “If I claim full justice for my art, it is I am very anxious to consult you as to
because it is an impersonal thing—a thing beyond whether I should or should not accept
myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore a situation which has been offered to
it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that me as governess. I shall call at half-past
you should dwell. You have degraded what should ten to-morrow if I do not inconvenience
have been a course of lectures into a series of tales.” you.
It was a cold morning of the early spring, and — Yours faithfully,
we sat after breakfast on either side of a cheery Violet Hunter.
fire in the old room at Baker Street. A thick fog “Do you know the young lady?” I asked.
rolled down between the lines of dun-coloured
“Not I.”
houses, and the opposing windows loomed like
dark, shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow “It is half-past ten now.”
wreaths. Our gas was lit and shone on the white “Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring.”
cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for the table “It may turn out to be of more interest than you
had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had think. You remember that the affair of the blue
been silent all the morning, dipping continuously carbuncle, which appeared to be a mere whim at
into the advertisement columns of a succession of first, developed into a serious investigation. It may
papers until at last, having apparently given up his be so in this case, also.”
147
“Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very enthusiastic and rubbed his hands together in the
soon be solved, for here, unless I am much mis- most genial fashion. He was such a comfortable-
taken, is the person in question.” looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at
As he spoke the door opened and a young him.
lady entered the room. She was plainly but neatly “ ‘You are looking for a situation, miss?’ he
dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled like asked.
a plover’s egg, and with the brisk manner of a “ ‘Yes, sir.’
woman who has had her own way to make in the “ ‘As governess?’
world. “ ‘Yes, sir.’
“You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure,” “ ‘And what salary do you ask?’
said she, as my companion rose to greet her, “but I
“ ‘I had £4 a month in my last place with Colonel
have had a very strange experience, and as I have
Spence Munro.’
no parents or relations of any sort from whom I
could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would “ ‘Oh, tut, tut! sweating—rank sweating!’ he
be kind enough to tell me what I should do.” cried, throwing his fat hands out into the air like
a man who is in a boiling passion. ‘How could
“Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with such
to do anything that I can to serve you.” attractions and accomplishments?’
I could see that Holmes was favourably im- “ ‘My accomplishments, sir, may be less than
pressed by the manner and speech of his new client. you imagine,’ said I. ‘A little French, a little Ger-
He looked her over in his searching fashion, and man, music, and drawing—’
then composed himself, with his lids drooping and “ ‘Tut, tut!’ he cried. ‘This is all quite beside the
his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. question. The point is, have you or have you not
“I have been a governess for five years,” said she, the bearing and deportment of a lady? There it is
“in the family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two in a nutshell. If you have not, you are not fitted for
months ago the colonel received an appointment the rearing of a child who may some day play a
at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his children considerable part in the history of the country. But
over to America with him, so that I found myself if you have why, then, how could any gentleman
without a situation. I advertised, and I answered ask you to condescend to accept anything under
advertisements, but without success. At last the the three figures? Your salary with me, madam,
little money which I had saved began to run short, would commence at £100 a year.’
and I was at my wit’s end as to what I should do. “You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me,
“There is a well-known agency for governesses destitute as I was, such an offer seemed almost
in the West End called Westaway’s, and there I used too good to be true. The gentleman, however, see-
to call about once a week in order to see whether ing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face,
anything had turned up which might suit me. West- opened a pocket-book and took out a note.
away was the name of the founder of the business, “ ‘It is also my custom,’ said he, smiling in the
but it is really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in most pleasant fashion until his eyes were just two
her own little office, and the ladies who are seek- little shining slits amid the white creases of his face,
ing employment wait in an anteroom, and are then ‘to advance to my young ladies half their salary be-
shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers forehand, so that they may meet any little expenses
and sees whether she has anything which would of their journey and their wardrobe.’
suit them. “It seemed to me that I had never met so fasci-
“Well, when I called last week I was shown nating and so thoughtful a man. As I was already
into the little office as usual, but I found that Miss in debt to my tradesmen, the advance was a great
Stoper was not alone. A prodigiously stout man convenience, and yet there was something unnat-
with a very smiling face and a great heavy chin ural about the whole transaction which made me
which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat wish to know a little more before I quite committed
sat at her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, myself.
looking very earnestly at the ladies who entered. “ ‘May I ask where you live, sir?’ said I.
As I came in he gave quite a jump in his chair and “ ‘Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Cop-
turned quickly to Miss Stoper. per Beeches, five miles on the far side of Winchester.
“ ‘That will do,’ said he; ‘I could not ask for It is the most lovely country, my dear young lady,
anything better. Capital! capital!’ He seemed quite and the dearest old country-house.’
148
“ ‘And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know Stoper, I had best inspect a few more of your young
what they would be.’ ladies.’
“ ‘One child—one dear little romper just six “The manageress had sat all this while busy
years old. Oh, if you could see him killing cock- with her papers without a word to either of us, but
roaches with a slipper! Smack! smack! smack! she glanced at me now with so much annoyance
Three gone before you could wink!’ He leaned upon her face that I could not help suspecting that
back in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head she had lost a handsome commission through my
again. refusal.
“I was a little startled at the nature of the child’s “ ‘Do you desire your name to be kept upon the
amusement, but the father’s laughter made me books?’ she asked.
think that perhaps he was joking. “ ‘If you please, Miss Stoper.’
“ ‘My sole duties, then,’ I asked, ‘are to take “ ‘Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you
charge of a single child?’ refuse the most excellent offers in this fashion,’ said
“ ‘No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear she sharply. ‘You can hardly expect us to exert
young lady,’ he cried. ‘Your duty would be, as I ourselves to find another such opening for you.
am sure your good sense would suggest, to obey Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.’ She struck a gong
any little commands my wife might give, provided upon the table, and I was shown out by the page.
always that they were such commands as a lady “Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodg-
might with propriety obey. You see no difficulty, ings and found little enough in the cupboard, and
heh?’ two or three bills upon the table. I began to ask
“ ‘I should be happy to make myself useful.’ myself whether I had not done a very foolish thing.
After all, if these people had strange fads and ex-
“ ‘Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are
pected obedience on the most extraordinary mat-
faddy people, you know—faddy but kind-hearted.
ters, they were at least ready to pay for their ec-
If you were asked to wear any dress which we
centricity. Very few governesses in England are
might give you, you would not object to our little
getting £100 a year. Besides, what use was my hair
whim. Heh?’
to me? Many people are improved by wearing it
“ ‘No,’ said I, considerably astonished at his short and perhaps I should be among the number.
words. Next day I was inclined to think that I had made a
“ ‘Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be mistake, and by the day after I was sure of it. I had
offensive to you?’ almost overcome my pride so far as to go back to
the agency and inquire whether the place was still
“ ‘Oh, no.’ open when I received this letter from the gentleman
“ ‘Or to cut your hair quite short before you himself. I have it here and I will read it to you:
come to us?’
“ ‘The Copper Beeches, near Winchester.
“I could hardly believe my ears. As you may
“ ‘Dear Miss Hunter:
observe, Mr. Holmes, my hair is somewhat luxu-
“ ‘Miss Stoper has very kindly given
riant, and of a rather peculiar tint of chestnut. It
me your address, and I write from here
has been considered artistic. I could not dream of
to ask you whether you have reconsid-
sacrificing it in this offhand fashion.
ered your decision. My wife is very
“ ‘I am afraid that that is quite impossible,’ said anxious that you should come, for she
I. He had been watching me eagerly out of his small has been much attracted by my descrip-
eyes, and I could see a shadow pass over his face tion of you. We are willing to give £30
as I spoke. a quarter, or £120 a year, so as to recom-
“ ‘I am afraid that it is quite essential,’ said he. pense you for any little inconvenience
‘It is a little fancy of my wife’s, and ladies’ fan- which our fads may cause you. They
cies, you know, madam, ladies’ fancies must be are not very exacting, after all. My wife
consulted. And so you won’t cut your hair?’ is fond of a particular shade of electric
blue and would like you to wear such
“ ‘No, sir, I really could not,’ I answered firmly. a dress indoors in the morning. You
“ ‘Ah, very well; then that quite settles the mat- need not, however, go to the expense of
ter. It is a pity, because in other respects you would purchasing one, as we have one belong-
really have done very nicely. In that case, Miss ing to my dear daughter Alice (now in
149
Philadelphia), which would, I should “Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you.
think, fit you very well. Then, as to I assure you that your little problem promises to
sitting here or there, or amusing your- be the most interesting which has come my way
self in any manner indicated, that need for some months. There is something distinctly
cause you no inconvenience. As regards novel about some of the features. If you should
your hair, it is no doubt a pity, espe- find yourself in doubt or in danger—”
cially as I could not help remarking its “Danger! What danger do you foresee?”
beauty during our short interview, but I
Holmes shook his head gravely. “It would cease
am afraid that I must remain firm upon
to be a danger if we could define it,” said he. “But
this point, and I only hope that the in-
at any time, day or night, a telegram would bring
creased salary may recompense you for
me down to your help.”
the loss. Your duties, as far as the child
is concerned, are very light. Now do try “That is enough.” She rose briskly from her
to come, and I shall meet you with the chair with the anxiety all swept from her face. “I
dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know shall go down to Hampshire quite easy in my mind
your train. now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, sacrifice
my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester to-
— “ ‘Yours faithfully,
morrow.” With a few grateful words to Holmes she
“ ‘Jephro Rucastle.’
bade us both good-night and bustled off upon her
“That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. way.
Holmes, and my mind is made up that I will accept “At least,” said I as we heard her quick, firm
it. I thought, however, that before taking the final steps descending the stairs, “she seems to be a
step I should like to submit the whole matter to young lady who is very well able to take care of
your consideration.” herself.”
“Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, “And she would need to be,” said Holmes
that settles the question,” said Holmes, smiling. gravely. “I am much mistaken if we do not hear
“But you would not advise me to refuse?” from her before many days are past.”
“I confess that it is not the situation which I It was not very long before my friend’s pre-
should like to see a sister of mine apply for.” diction was fulfilled. A fortnight went by, dur-
ing which I frequently found my thoughts turn-
“What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?” ing in her direction and wondering what strange
“Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you side-alley of human experience this lonely woman
have yourself formed some opinion?” had strayed into. The unusual salary, the curious
“Well, there seems to me to be only one possible conditions, the light duties, all pointed to some-
solution. Mr. Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, thing abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or
good-natured man. Is it not possible that his wife whether the man were a philanthropist or a villain,
is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the matter quiet it was quite beyond my powers to determine. As
for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that to Holmes, I observed that he sat frequently for
he humours her fancies in every way in order to half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an
prevent an outbreak?” abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a
wave of his hand when I mentioned it. “Data! data!
“That is a possible solution—in fact, as matters
data!” he cried impatiently. “I can’t make bricks
stand, it is the most probable one. But in any case
without clay.” And yet he would always wind up
it does not seem to be a nice household for a young
by muttering that no sister of his should ever have
lady.”
accepted such a situation.
“But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!”
The telegram which we eventually received
“Well, yes, of course the pay is good—too good. came late one night just as I was thinking of turning
That is what makes me uneasy. Why should they in and Holmes was settling down to one of those
give you £120 a year, when they could have their all-night chemical researches which he frequently
pick for £40? There must be some strong reason indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over
behind.” a retort and a test-tube at night and find him in the
“I thought that if I told you the circumstances same position when I came down to breakfast in
you would understand afterwards if I wanted your the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, and
help. I should feel so much stronger if I felt that then, glancing at the message, threw it across to
you were at the back of me.” me.
150
“Just look up the trains in Bradshaw,” said he, “But the reason is very obvious. The pressure
and turned back to his chemical studies. of public opinion can do in the town what the law
The summons was a brief and urgent one. cannot accomplish. There is no lane so vile that
the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of a
Please be at the Black Swan Hotel drunkard’s blow, does not beget sympathy and
at Winchester at midday to-morrow [it indignation among the neighbours, and then the
said]. Do come! I am at my wit’s end. whole machinery of justice is ever so close that a
— Hunter. word of complaint can set it going, and there is
but a step between the crime and the dock. But
“Will you come with me?” asked Holmes, glanc- look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields,
ing up. filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who
“I should wish to.” know little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish
“Just look it up, then.” cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on,
year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser.
“There is a train at half-past nine,” said I, glanc-
Had this lady who appeals to us for help gone to
ing over my Bradshaw. “It is due at Winchester at
live in Winchester, I should never have had a fear
11.30.”
for her. It is the five miles of country which makes
“That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had the danger. Still, it is clear that she is not personally
better postpone my analysis of the acetones, as we threatened.”
may need to be at our best in the morning.”
“No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us
By eleven o’clock the next day we were well she can get away.”
upon our way to the old English capital. Holmes
“Quite so. She has her freedom.”
had been buried in the morning papers all the way
down, but after we had passed the Hampshire bor- “What can be the matter, then? Can you suggest
der he threw them down and began to admire the no explanation?”
scenery. It was an ideal spring day, a light blue “I have devised seven separate explanations,
sky, flecked with little fleecy white clouds drift- each of which would cover the facts as far as we
ing across from west to east. The sun was shining know them. But which of these is correct can only
very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip be determined by the fresh information which we
in the air, which set an edge to a man’s energy. shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is
All over the countryside, away to the rolling hills the tower of the cathedral, and we shall soon learn
around Aldershot, the little red and grey roofs of all that Miss Hunter has to tell.”
the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High
green of the new foliage. Street, at no distance from the station, and there
“Are they not fresh and beautiful?” I cried with we found the young lady waiting for us. She had
all the enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch awaited us
Baker Street. upon the table.
But Holmes shook his head gravely. “I am so delighted that you have come,” she
“Do you know, Watson,” said he, “that it is one said earnestly. “It is so very kind of you both; but
of the curses of a mind with a turn like mine that I indeed I do not know what I should do. Your
must look at everything with reference to my own advice will be altogether invaluable to me.”
special subject. You look at these scattered houses, “Pray tell us what has happened to you.”
and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at “I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have
them, and the only thought which comes to me is a promised Mr. Rucastle to be back before three. I got
feeling of their isolation and of the impunity with his leave to come into town this morning, though
which crime may be committed there.” he little knew for what purpose.”
“Good heavens!” I cried. “Who would associate “Let us have everything in its due order.”
crime with these dear old homesteads?” Holmes thrust his long thin legs out towards the
“They always fill me with a certain horror. It is fire and composed himself to listen.
my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, “In the first place, I may say that I have met,
that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not on the whole, with no actual ill-treatment from Mr.
present a more dreadful record of sin than does the and Mrs. Rucastle. It is only fair to them to say that.
smiling and beautiful countryside.” But I cannot understand them, and I am not easy
“You horrify me!” in my mind about them.”
151
“What can you not understand?” His whole life appears to be spent in an alterna-
tion between savage fits of passion and gloomy
“Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall
intervals of sulking. Giving pain to any creature
have it all just as it occurred. When I came down,
weaker than himself seems to be his one idea of
Mr. Rucastle met me here and drove me in his dog-
amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent
cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he said, beau-
in planning the capture of mice, little birds, and
tifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, for
insects. But I would rather not talk about the crea-
it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed,
ture, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he has little to do
but all stained and streaked with damp and bad
with my story.”
weather. There are grounds round it, woods on
three sides, and on the fourth a field which slopes “I am glad of all details,” remarked my friend,
down to the Southampton highroad, which curves “whether they seem to you to be relevant or not.”
past about a hundred yards from the front door.
“I shall try not to miss anything of importance.
This ground in front belongs to the house, but the
The one unpleasant thing about the house, which
woods all round are part of Lord Southerton’s pre-
struck me at once, was the appearance and conduct
serves. A clump of copper beeches immediately
of the servants. There are only two, a man and
in front of the hall door has given its name to the
his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough,
place.
uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and
“I was driven over by my employer, who was a perpetual smell of drink. Twice since I have been
as amiable as ever, and was introduced by him that with them he has been quite drunk, and yet Mr.
evening to his wife and the child. There was no Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. His wife
truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face,
to us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. as silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable.
Mrs. Rucastle is not mad. I found her to be a silent, They are a most unpleasant couple, but fortunately
pale-faced woman, much younger than her hus- I spend most of my time in the nursery and my
band, not more than thirty, I should think, while own room, which are next to each other in one
he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their corner of the building.
conversation I have gathered that they have been
“For two days after my arrival at the Copper
married about seven years, that he was a widower,
Beeches my life was very quiet; on the third, Mrs.
and that his only child by the first wife was the
Rucastle came down just after breakfast and whis-
daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. Rucas-
pered something to her husband.
tle told me in private that the reason why she had
left them was that she had an unreasoning aversion “ ‘Oh, yes,’ said he, turning to me, ‘we are very
to her stepmother. As the daughter could not have much obliged to you, Miss Hunter, for falling in
been less than twenty, I can quite imagine that her with our whims so far as to cut your hair. I as-
position must have been uncomfortable with her sure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest iota
father’s young wife. from your appearance. We shall now see how the
electric-blue dress will become you. You will find
“Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in
it laid out upon the bed in your room, and if you
mind as well as in feature. She impressed me nei-
would be so good as to put it on we should both be
ther favourably nor the reverse. She was a nonentity.
extremely obliged.’
It was easy to see that she was passionately devoted
both to her husband and to her little son. Her light “The dress which I found waiting for me was
grey eyes wandered continually from one to the of a peculiar shade of blue. It was of excellent
other, noting every little want and forestalling it material, a sort of beige, but it bore unmistakable
if possible. He was kind to her also in his bluff, signs of having been worn before. It could not
boisterous fashion, and on the whole they seemed have been a better fit if I had been measured for
to be a happy couple. And yet she had some se- it. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight
cret sorrow, this woman. She would often be lost at the look of it, which seemed quite exaggerated
in deep thought, with the saddest look upon her in its vehemence. They were waiting for me in the
face. More than once I have surprised her in tears. drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretch-
I have thought sometimes that it was the disposi- ing along the entire front of the house, with three
tion of her child which weighed upon her mind, long windows reaching down to the floor. A chair
for I have never met so utterly spoiled and so ill- had been placed close to the central window, with
natured a little creature. He is small for his age, its back turned towards it. In this I was asked to
with a head which is quite disproportionately large. sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down
152
on the other side of the room, began to tell me a se- “ ‘No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?’ he asked.
ries of the funniest stories that I have ever listened “ ‘No, I know no one in these parts.’
to. You cannot imagine how comical he was, and
I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. Rucastle, “ ‘Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn
however, who has evidently no sense of humour, round and motion to him to go away.’
never so much as smiled, but sat with her hands in “ ‘Surely it would be better to take no notice.’
her lap, and a sad, anxious look upon her face. Af- “ ‘No, no, we should have him loitering here
ter an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle suddenly remarked always. Kindly turn round and wave him away like
that it was time to commence the duties of the day, that.’
and that I might change my dress and go to little
Edward in the nursery. “I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs.
Rucastle drew down the blind. That was a week
“Two days later this same performance was
ago, and from that time I have not sat again in the
gone through under exactly similar circumstances.
window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor seen
Again I changed my dress, again I sat in the win-
the man in the road.”
dow, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny
stories of which my employer had an immense “Pray continue,” said Holmes. “Your narrative
répertoire, and which he told inimitably. Then he promises to be a most interesting one.”
handed me a yellow-backed novel, and moving my “You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and
chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might there may prove to be little relation between the
not fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud different incidents of which I speak. On the very
to him. I read for about ten minutes, beginning in first day that I was at the Copper Beeches, Mr. Ru-
the heart of a chapter, and then suddenly, in the castle took me to a small outhouse which stands
middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard
to change my dress. the sharp rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a
“You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curi- large animal moving about.
ous I became as to what the meaning of this extraor- “ ‘Look in here!’ said Mr. Rucastle, showing me
dinary performance could possibly be. They were a slit between two planks. ‘Is he not a beauty?’
always very careful, I observed, to turn my face
“I looked through and was conscious of two
away from the window, so that I became consumed
glowing eyes, and of a vague figure huddled up in
with the desire to see what was going on behind
the darkness.
my back. At first it seemed to be impossible, but I
soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been “ ‘Don’t be frightened,’ said my employer, laugh-
broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I con- ing at the start which I had given. ‘It’s only Carlo,
cealed a piece of the glass in my handkerchief. On my mastiff. I call him mine, but really old Toller,
the next occasion, in the midst of my laughter, I put my groom, is the only man who can do anything
my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able with with him. We feed him once a day, and not too
a little management to see all that there was behind much then, so that he is always as keen as mustard.
me. I confess that I was disappointed. There was Toller lets him loose every night, and God help the
nothing. At least that was my first impression. At trespasser whom he lays his fangs upon. For good-
the second glance, however, I perceived that there ness’ sake don’t you ever on any pretext set your
was a man standing in the Southampton Road, a foot over the threshold at night, for it’s as much as
small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to your life is worth.’
be looking in my direction. The road is an impor- “The warning was no idle one, for two nights
tant highway, and there are usually people there. later I happened to look out of my bedroom win-
This man, however, was leaning against the railings dow about two o’clock in the morning. It was a
which bordered our field and was looking earnestly beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of
up. I lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. the house was silvered over and almost as bright
Rucastle to find her eyes fixed upon me with a as day. I was standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty
most searching gaze. She said nothing, but I am of the scene, when I was aware that something was
convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror moving under the shadow of the copper beeches.
in my hand and had seen what was behind me. She As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was.
rose at once. It was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted,
“ ‘Jephro,’ said she, ‘there is an impertinent fel- with hanging jowl, black muzzle, and huge project-
low upon the road there who stares up at Miss ing bones. It walked slowly across the lawn and
Hunter.’ vanished into the shadow upon the other side. That
153
dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I while the fourth was shuttered up. They were ev-
do not think that any burglar could have done. idently all deserted. As I strolled up and down,
“And now I have a very strange experience to glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle came
tell you. I had, as you know, cut off my hair in out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever.
London, and I had placed it in a great coil at the “ ‘Ah!’ said he, ‘you must not think me rude if I
bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the child passed you without a word, my dear young lady. I
was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining was preoccupied with business matters.’
the furniture of my room and by rearranging my “I assured him that I was not offended. ‘By the
own little things. There was an old chest of drawers way,’ said I, ‘you seem to have quite a suite of spare
in the room, the two upper ones empty and open, rooms up there, and one of them has the shutters
the lower one locked. I had filled the first two with up.’
my linen, and as I had still much to pack away
I was naturally annoyed at not having the use of “He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me,
the third drawer. It struck me that it might have a little startled at my remark.
been fastened by a mere oversight, so I took out “ ‘Photography is one of my hobbies,’ said he.
my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very ‘I have made my dark room up there. But, dear me!
first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer what an observant young lady we have come upon.
open. There was only one thing in it, but I am sure Who would have believed it? Who would have ever
that you would never guess what it was. It was my believed it?’ He spoke in a jesting tone, but there
coil of hair. was no jest in his eyes as he looked at me. I read
“I took it up and examined it. It was of the suspicion there and annoyance, but no jest.
same peculiar tint, and the same thickness. But “Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I un-
then the impossibility of the thing obtruded itself derstood that there was something about that suite
upon me. How could my hair have been locked of rooms which I was not to know, I was all on fire
in the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, though
trunk, turned out the contents, and drew from the I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of
bottom my own hair. I laid the two tresses together, duty—a feeling that some good might come from
and I assure you that they were identical. Was my penetrating to this place. They talk of woman’s
it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could instinct; perhaps it was woman’s instinct which
make nothing at all of what it meant. I returned gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, and
the strange hair to the drawer, and I said nothing I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass
of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that I had put the forbidden door.
myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which “It was only yesterday that the chance came. I
they had locked. may tell you that, besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller
“I am naturally observant, as you may have re- and his wife find something to do in these deserted
marked, Mr. Holmes, and I soon had a pretty good rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large black
plan of the whole house in my head. There was one linen bag with him through the door. Recently he
wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited has been drinking hard, and yesterday evening he
at all. A door which faced that which led into the was very drunk; and when I came upstairs there
quarters of the Tollers opened into this suite, but was the key in the door. I have no doubt at all that
it was invariably locked. One day, however, as I he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were
ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle coming out both downstairs, and the child was with them, so
through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look that I had an admirable opportunity. I turned the
on his face which made him a very different person key gently in the lock, opened the door, and slipped
to the round, jovial man to whom I was accustomed. through.
His cheeks were red, his brow was all crinkled with “There was a little passage in front of me, un-
anger, and the veins stood out at his temples with papered and uncarpeted, which turned at a right
passion. He locked the door and hurried past me angle at the farther end. Round this corner were
without a word or a look. three doors in a line, the first and third of which
“This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out were open. They each led into an empty room,
for a walk in the grounds with my charge, I strolled dusty and cheerless, with two windows in the one
round to the side from which I could see the win- and one in the other, so thick with dirt that the
dows of this part of the house. There were four of evening light glimmered dimly through them. The
them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, centre door was closed, and across the outside of
154
it had been fastened one of the broad bars of an longer without some advice. I was frightened of
iron bed, padlocked at one end to a ring in the wall, the house, of the man, of the woman, of the ser-
and fastened at the other with stout cord. The door vants, even of the child. They were all horrible to
itself was locked as well, and the key was not there. me. If I could only bring you down all would be
This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the well. Of course I might have fled from the house,
shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by but my curiosity was almost as strong as my fears.
the glimmer from beneath it that the room was not My mind was soon made up. I would send you a
in darkness. Evidently there was a skylight which wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the
let in light from above. As I stood in the passage office, which is about half a mile from the house,
gazing at the sinister door and wondering what and then returned, feeling very much easier. A hor-
secret it might veil, I suddenly heard the sound rible doubt came into my mind as I approached the
of steps within the room and saw a shadow pass door lest the dog might be loose, but I remembered
backward and forward against the little slit of dim that Toller had drunk himself into a state of insen-
light which shone out from under the door. A mad, sibility that evening, and I knew that he was the
unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. only one in the household who had any influence
Holmes. My overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, with the savage creature, or who would venture to
and I turned and ran—ran as though some dread- set him free. I slipped in in safety and lay awake
ful hand were behind me clutching at the skirt of half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing
my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the you. I had no difficulty in getting leave to come
door, and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, into Winchester this morning, but I must be back
who was waiting outside. before three o’clock, for Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle are
“ ‘So,’ said he, smiling, ‘it was you, then. I going on a visit, and will be away all the evening,
thought that it must be when I saw the door open.’ so that I must look after the child. Now I have told
you all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should
“ ‘Oh, I am so frightened!’ I panted.
be very glad if you could tell me what it all means,
“ ‘My dear young lady! my dear young and, above all, what I should do.”
lady!’—you cannot think how caressing and sooth-
Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this
ing his manner was—‘and what has frightened you,
extraordinary story. My friend rose now and paced
my dear young lady?’
up and down the room, his hands in his pockets,
“But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He and an expression of the most profound gravity
overdid it. I was keenly on my guard against him. upon his face.
“ ‘I was foolish enough to go into the empty “Is Toller still drunk?” he asked.
wing,’ I answered. ‘But it is so lonely and eerie “Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she
in this dim light that I was frightened and ran out could do nothing with him.”
again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in there!’
“That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-
“ ‘Only that?’ said he, looking at me keenly. night?”
“ ‘Why, what did you think?’ I asked. “Yes.”
“ ‘Why do you think that I lock this door?’ “Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?”
“ ‘I am sure that I do not know.’ “Yes, the wine-cellar.”
“ ‘It is to keep people out who have no business “You seem to me to have acted all through this
there. Do you see?’ He was still smiling in the most matter like a very brave and sensible girl, Miss
amiable manner. Hunter. Do you think that you could perform one
“ ‘I am sure if I had known—’ more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not
“ ‘Well, then, you know now. And if you ever think you a quite exceptional woman.”
put your foot over that threshold again’—here in “I will try. What is it?”
an instant the smile hardened into a grin of rage, “We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven
and he glared down at me with the face of a de- o’clock, my friend and I. The Rucastles will be gone
mon—‘I’ll throw you to the mastiff.’ by that time, and Toller will, we hope, be incapable.
“I was so terrified that I do not know what I There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might give the
did. I suppose that I must have rushed past him alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some
into my room. I remember nothing until I found errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would
myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I facilitate matters immensely.”
thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there “I will do it.”
155
“Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into A loud thudding noise came from somewhere
the affair. Of course there is only one feasible expla- downstairs. “That is Mrs. Toller in the cellar,” said
nation. You have been brought there to personate she. “Her husband lies snoring on the kitchen rug.
someone, and the real person is imprisoned in this Here are his keys, which are the duplicates of Mr.
chamber. That is obvious. As to who this prisoner Rucastle’s.”
is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss “You have done well indeed!” cried Holmes
Alice Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said with enthusiasm. “Now lead the way, and we shall
to have gone to America. You were chosen, doubt- soon see the end of this black business.”
less, as resembling her in height, figure, and the We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, fol-
colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very lowed on down a passage, and found ourselves
possibly in some illness through which she has in front of the barricade which Miss Hunter had
passed, and so, of course, yours had to be sacri- described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the
ficed also. By a curious chance you came upon transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in
her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly the lock, but without success. No sound came from
some friend of hers—possibly her fiancé—and no within, and at the silence Holmes’ face clouded
doubt, as you wore the girl’s dress and were so like over.
her, he was convinced from your laughter, when- “I trust that we are not too late,” said he. “I
ever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, think, Miss Hunter, that we had better go in with-
that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that out you. Now, Watson, put your shoulder to it, and
she no longer desired his attentions. The dog is let we shall see whether we cannot make our way in.”
loose at night to prevent him from endeavouring to
It was an old rickety door and gave at once be-
communicate with her. So much is fairly clear. The
fore our united strength. Together we rushed into
most serious point in the case is the disposition of
the room. It was empty. There was no furniture
the child.”
save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a basket-
“What on earth has that to do with it?” I ejacu- ful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the
lated. prisoner gone.
“My dear Watson, you as a medical man are “There has been some villainy here,” said
continually gaining light as to the tendencies of a Holmes; “this beauty has guessed Miss Hunter’s
child by the study of the parents. Don’t you see intentions and has carried his victim off.”
that the converse is equally valid. I have frequently “But how?”
gained my first real insight into the character of “Through the skylight. We shall soon see how
parents by studying their children. This child’s dis- he managed it.” He swung himself up onto the roof.
position is abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty’s “Ah, yes,” he cried, “here’s the end of a long light
sake, and whether he derives this from his smiling ladder against the eaves. That is how he did it.”
father, as I should suspect, or from his mother, it “But it is impossible,” said Miss Hunter; “the
bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their power.” ladder was not there when the Rucastles went
“I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes,” cried away.”
our client. “A thousand things come back to me “He has come back and done it. I tell you that
which make me certain that you have hit it. Oh, let he is a clever and dangerous man. I should not be
us lose not an instant in bringing help to this poor very much surprised if this were he whose step I
creature.” hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it
would be as well for you to have your pistol ready.”
“We must be circumspect, for we are dealing
The words were hardly out of his mouth before
with a very cunning man. We can do nothing until
a man appeared at the door of the room, a very
seven o’clock. At that hour we shall be with you,
fat and burly man, with a heavy stick in his hand.
and it will not be long before we solve the mystery.”
Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the wall
We were as good as our word, for it was just at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang
seven when we reached the Copper Beeches, hav- forward and confronted him.
ing put up our trap at a wayside public-house. The “You villain!” said he, “where’s your daugh-
group of trees, with their dark leaves shining like ter?”
burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at
sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter the open skylight.
not been standing smiling on the door-step.
“It is for me to ask you that,” he shrieked, “you
“Have you managed it?” asked Holmes. thieves! Spies and thieves! I have caught you, have
156
I? You are in my power. I’ll serve you!” He turned but it never really became bad for her until after
and clattered down the stairs as hard as he could she met Mr. Fowler at a friend’s house. As well
go. as I could learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own
“He’s gone for the dog!” cried Miss Hunter. by will, but she was so quiet and patient, she was,
that she never said a word about them but just left
“I have my revolver,” said I. everything in Mr. Rucastle’s hands. He knew he
“Better close the front door,” cried Holmes, and was safe with her; but when there was a chance
we all rushed down the stairs together. We had of a husband coming forward, who would ask for
hardly reached the hall when we heard the bay- all that the law would give him, then her father
ing of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her
a horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to sign a paper, so that whether she married or not,
to listen to. An elderly man with a red face and he could use her money. When she wouldn’t do it,
shaking limbs came staggering out at a side door. he kept on worrying her until she got brain-fever,
“My God!” he cried. “Someone has loosed the and for six weeks was at death’s door. Then she
dog. It’s not been fed for two days. Quick, quick, got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with
or it’ll be too late!” her beautiful hair cut off; but that didn’t make no
change in her young man, and he stuck to her as
Holmes and I rushed out and round the an-
true as man could be.”
gle of the house, with Toller hurrying behind us.
There was the huge famished brute, its black muz- “Ah,” said Holmes, “I think that what you have
zle buried in Rucastle’s throat, while he writhed been good enough to tell us makes the matter fairly
and screamed upon the ground. Running up, I clear, and that I can deduce all that remains. Mr.
blew its brains out, and it fell over with its keen Rucastle then, I presume, took to this system of
white teeth still meeting in the great creases of his imprisonment?”
neck. With much labour we separated them and “Yes, sir.”
carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the “And brought Miss Hunter down from London
house. We laid him upon the drawing-room sofa, in order to get rid of the disagreeable persistence
and having dispatched the sobered Toller to bear of Mr. Fowler.”
the news to his wife, I did what I could to relieve “That was it, sir.”
his pain. We were all assembled round him when “But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a
the door opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered good seaman should be, blockaded the house, and
the room. having met you succeeded by certain arguments,
“Mrs. Toller!” cried Miss Hunter. metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your
“Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he interests were the same as his.”
came back before he went up to you. Ah, miss, it “Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-
is a pity you didn’t let me know what you were handed gentleman,” said Mrs. Toller serenely.
planning, for I would have told you that your pains “And in this way he managed that your good
were wasted.” man should have no want of drink, and that a lad-
“Ha!” said Holmes, looking keenly at her. “It is der should be ready at the moment when your
clear that Mrs. Toller knows more about this matter master had gone out.”
than anyone else.” “You have it, sir, just as it happened.”
“Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell “I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller,”
what I know.” said Holmes, “for you have certainly cleared up
everything which puzzled us. And here comes the
“Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for
country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, Wat-
there are several points on which I must confess
son, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to
that I am still in the dark.”
Winchester, as it seems to me that our locus standi
“I will soon make it clear to you,” said she; “and now is rather a questionable one.”
I’d have done so before now if I could ha’ got out And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister
from the cellar. If there’s police-court business over house with the copper beeches in front of the door.
this, you’ll remember that I was the one that stood Mr. Rucastle survived, but was always a broken
your friend, and that I was Miss Alice’s friend too. man, kept alive solely through the care of his de-
“She was never happy at home, Miss Alice voted wife. They still live with their old servants,
wasn’t, from the time that her father married again. who probably know so much of Rucastle’s past
She was slighted like and had no say in anything, life that he finds it difficult to part from them. Mr.
157
Fowler and Miss Rucastle were married, by special ment, manifested no further interest in her when
license, in Southampton the day after their flight, once she had ceased to be the centre of one of his
and he is now the holder of a government appoint- problems, and she is now the head of a private
ment in the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet school at Walsall, where I believe that she has met
Hunter, my friend Holmes, rather to my disappoint- with considerable success.
158

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle

“Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety.” “And Mademoiselle’s address?” he asked.

by that? “ ‘Then if it was removed it was while you

“What!” he roared. “And they were posted to-day at Gravesend.

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