diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:17:32 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:17:32 -0700 |
| commit | 548ff31eee914981ba0abea62075e21423dfdaf2 (patch) | |
| tree | 73f733775ecd1dd7b1500e5051fbe6ad930abbe0 /old/advsh12h.htm | |
Diffstat (limited to 'old/advsh12h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/advsh12h.htm | 13039 |
1 files changed, 13039 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/advsh12h.htm b/old/advsh12h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..240308b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/advsh12h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13039 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML><HEAD> +<TITLE>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle</TITLE> +<META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +<!-- +DIV.book { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; } +DIV.toc { margin-left: 3%; text-align: left; } +P { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } +TABLE.bold { font-weight: bold; } +--> +</STYLE> +</HEAD> +<BODY> + +<h1>The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes<br> +by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle</h1> +<h2>(#15 in our series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)</h2> + + +<pre> +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes + +Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle + +Release Date: March, 1999 [EBook #1661] +[Most recently updated: November 29, 2002] + +Edition: 12 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** + + + + +(Additional editing by Jose Menendez) + + +</pre> +<DIV class="book"> +<hr size="3" noshade> +<center> +<h1>THE ADVENTURES OF<br>SHERLOCK HOLMES</h1><br><h3>BY</h3><br><h2>SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE</h2> +<hr size="3" noshade> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2></center> +<DIV class="toc"> +<br> +<TABLE class="bold" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="Table of Contents"> +<col align="right"> +<col align="left"> +<tr><td>I.</td><td><a href="#1">A Scandal in Bohemia</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>II.</td><td><a href="#2">The Red-Headed League</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>III.</td><td><a href="#3">A Case of Identity</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>IV.</td><td><a href="#4">The Boscombe Valley Mystery</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>V.</td><td><a href="#5">The Five Orange Pips</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>VI.</td><td><a href="#6">The Man with the Twisted Lip</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>VII.</td><td><a href="#7">The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>VIII.</td><td><a href="#8">The Adventure of the Speckled Band</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>IX.</td><td><a href="#9">The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>X.</td><td><a href="#10">The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>XI.</td><td><a href="#11">The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>XII.</td><td><a href="#12">The Adventure of the Copper Beeches</a></td></tr> +</table></DIV> +<br> +<hr> +<br> +<center><h3><a name="1">ADVENTURE I. A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA</a></h3> +<br> +I.</center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">T</font>o Sherlock Holmes she is always <i>the</i> woman. I have seldom heard +him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses +and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt +any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that +one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but +admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect +reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a +lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never +spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They +were admirable things for the observer—excellent for drawing the +veil from men’s motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner +to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely +adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which +might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a +sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power +lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a +nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and +that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable +memory. +<p> +I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us +away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the +home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first +finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to +absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of +society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in +Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from +week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the +drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, +as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his +immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in +following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which +had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time +to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons +to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up +of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, +and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so +delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. +Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely +shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of +my former friend and companion. +<p> +One night—it was on the twentieth of March, 1888—I was +returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to +civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I +passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated +in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the +Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes +again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. +His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw +his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against +the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head +sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who +knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their +own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his +drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new +problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which +had formerly been in part my own. +<p> +His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I +think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly +eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, +and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he +stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular +introspective fashion. +<p> +“Wedlock suits you,” he remarked. “I think, Watson, that you have +put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you.” +<p> +“Seven!” I answered. +<p> +“Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, +I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not +tell me that you intended to go into harness.” +<p> +“Then, how do you know?” +<p> +“I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting +yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and +careless servant girl?” +<p> +“My dear Holmes,” said I, “this is too much. You would certainly +have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true +that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful +mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can’t imagine how you +deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has +given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it +out.” +<p> +He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands +together. +<p> +“It is simplicity itself,” said he; “my eyes tell me that on the +inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, +the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they +have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round +the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. +Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile +weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting +specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a +gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black +mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge +on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted +his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce +him to be an active member of the medical profession.” +<p> +I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his +process of deduction. “When I hear you give your reasons,” I +remarked, “the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously +simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each +successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you +explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good +as yours.” +<p> +“Quite so,” he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing +himself down into an armchair. “You see, but you do not observe. +The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen +the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.” +<p> +“Frequently.” +<p> +“How often?” +<p> +“Well, some hundreds of times.” +<p> +“Then how many are there?” +<p> +“How many? I don’t know.” +<p> +“Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is +just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, +because I have both seen and observed. By the way, since you are +interested in these little problems, and since you are good +enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you +may be interested in this.” He threw over a sheet of thick, +pink-tinted notepaper which had been lying open upon the table. +“It came by the last post,” said he. “Read it aloud.” +<p> +The note was undated, and without either signature or address. +<p> +“There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight +o’clock,” it said, “a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a +matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of +the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may +safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which +can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all +quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do +not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask.” +<p> +“This is indeed a mystery,” I remarked. “What do you imagine that +it means?” +<p> +“I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorise before +one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit +theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. +What do you deduce from it?” +<p> +I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was +written. +<p> +“The man who wrote it was presumably well to do,” I remarked, +endeavouring to imitate my companion’s processes. “Such paper +could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly +strong and stiff.” +<p> +“Peculiar—that is the very word,” said Holmes. “It is not an +English paper at all. Hold it up to the light.” +<p> +I did so, and saw a large “E” with a small “g,” a “P,” and a +large “G” with a small “t” woven into the texture of the paper. +<p> +“What do you make of that?” asked Holmes. +<p> +“The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather.” +<p> +“Not at all. The ‘G’ with the small ‘t’ stands for +‘Gesellschaft,’ which is the German for ‘Company.’ It is a +customary contraction like our ‘Co.’ ‘P,’ of course, stands for +‘Papier.’ Now for the ‘Eg.’ Let us glance at our Continental +Gazetteer.” He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. +“Eglow, Eglonitz—here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking +country—in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. ‘Remarkable as being +the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous +glass-factories and paper-mills.’ Ha, ha, my boy, what do you +make of that?” His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue +triumphant cloud from his cigarette. +<p> +“The paper was made in Bohemia,” I said. +<p> +“Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you +note the peculiar construction of the sentence—‘This account of +you we have from all quarters received.’ A Frenchman or Russian +could not have written that. It is the German who is so +uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover +what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and +prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if +I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts.” +<p> +As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses’ hoofs and +grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the +bell. Holmes whistled. +<p> +“A pair, by the sound,” said he. “Yes,” he continued, glancing +out of the window. “A nice little brougham and a pair of +beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There’s money in +this case, Watson, if there is nothing else.” +<p> +“I think that I had better go, Holmes.” +<p> +“Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my +Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity +to miss it.” +<p> +“But your client—” +<p> +“Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he +comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best +attention.” +<p> +A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and +in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there +was a loud and authoritative tap. +<p> +“Come in!” said Holmes. +<p> +A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six +inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His +dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked +upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed +across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while +the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined +with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch +which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended +halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with +rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence +which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a +broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper +part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black +vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, +for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower +part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, +with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive +of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. +<p> +“You had my note?” he asked with a deep harsh voice and a +strongly marked German accent. “I told you that I would call.” He +looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to +address. +<p> +“Pray take a seat,” said Holmes. “This is my friend and +colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me +in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?” +<p> +“You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. +I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour +and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most +extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate +with you alone.” +<p> +I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me +back into my chair. “It is both, or none,” said he. “You may say +before this gentleman anything which you may say to me.” +<p> +The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. “Then I must begin,” said +he, “by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at +the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At +present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it +may have an influence upon European history.” +<p> +“I promise,” said Holmes. +<p> +“And I.” +<p> +“You will excuse this mask,” continued our strange visitor. “The +august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to +you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have +just called myself is not exactly my own.” +<p> +“I was aware of it,” said Holmes dryly. +<p> +“The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution +has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense +scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of +Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House +of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia.” +<p> +“I was also aware of that,” murmured Holmes, settling himself +down in his armchair and closing his eyes. +<p> +Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, +lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him +as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. +Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his +gigantic client. +<p> +“If your Majesty would condescend to state your case,” he +remarked, “I should be better able to advise you.” +<p> +The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in +uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he +tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. “You +are right,” he cried; “I am the King. Why should I attempt to +conceal it?” +<p> +“Why, indeed?” murmured Holmes. “Your Majesty had not spoken +before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich +Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and +hereditary King of Bohemia.” +<p> +“But you can understand,” said our strange visitor, sitting down +once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, “you +can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in +my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not +confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I +have come <i>incognito</i> from Prague for the purpose of consulting +you.” +<p> +“Then, pray consult,” said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. +<p> +“The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a +lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known +adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you.” +<p> +“Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor,” murmured Holmes without +opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of +docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it +was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not +at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography +sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a +staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea +fishes. +<p> +“Let me see!” said Holmes. “Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year +1858. Contralto—hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera +of Warsaw—yes! Retired from operatic stage—ha! Living in +London—quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled +with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and +is now desirous of getting those letters back.” +<p> +“Precisely so. But how—” +<p> +“Was there a secret marriage?” +<p> +“None.” +<p> +“No legal papers or certificates?” +<p> +“None.” +<p> +“Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should +produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is +she to prove their authenticity?” +<p> +“There is the writing.” +<p> +“Pooh, pooh! Forgery.” +<p> +“My private note-paper.” +<p> +“Stolen.” +<p> +“My own seal.” +<p> +“Imitated.” +<p> +“My photograph.” +<p> +“Bought.” +<p> +“We were both in the photograph.” +<p> +“Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an +indiscretion.” +<p> +“I was mad—insane.” +<p> +“You have compromised yourself seriously.” +<p> +“I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now.” +<p> +“It must be recovered.” +<p> +“We have tried and failed.” +<p> +“Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought.” +<p> +“She will not sell.” +<p> +“Stolen, then.” +<p> +“Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked +her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice +she has been waylaid. There has been no result.” +<p> +“No sign of it?” +<p> +“Absolutely none.” +<p> +Holmes laughed. “It is quite a pretty little problem,” said he. +<p> +“But a very serious one to me,” returned the King reproachfully. +<p> +“Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the +photograph?” +<p> +“To ruin me.” +<p> +“But how?” +<p> +“I am about to be married.” +<p> +“So I have heard.” +<p> +“To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the +King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her +family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a +doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end.” +<p> +“And Irene Adler?” +<p> +“Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I +know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul +of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and +the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry +another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not +go—none.” +<p> +“You are sure that she has not sent it yet?” +<p> +“I am sure.” +<p> +“And why?” +<p> +“Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the +betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday.” +<p> +“Oh, then we have three days yet,” said Holmes with a yawn. “That +is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to +look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in +London for the present?” +<p> +“Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the +Count Von Kramm.” +<p> +“Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress.” +<p> +“Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety.” +<p> +“Then, as to money?” +<p> +“You have <i>carte blanche</i>.” +<p> +“Absolutely?” +<p> +“I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom +to have that photograph.” +<p> +“And for present expenses?” +<p> +The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak +and laid it on the table. +<p> +“There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in +notes,” he said. +<p> +Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and +handed it to him. +<p> +“And Mademoiselle’s address?” he asked. +<p> +“Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John’s Wood.” +<p> +Holmes took a note of it. “One other question,” said he. “Was the +photograph a cabinet?” +<p> +“It was.” +<p> +“Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon +have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson,” he added, +as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. “If +you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three +o’clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you.” +<br><br> +<center> +II. +</center><p><br> +At three o’clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had +not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the +house shortly after eight o’clock in the morning. I sat down +beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, +however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his +inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and +strange features which were associated with the two crimes which +I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the +exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. +Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my +friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of +a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a +pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the +quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most +inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable +success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to +enter into my head. +<p> +It was close upon four before the door opened, and a +drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an +inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. +Accustomed as I was to my friend’s amazing powers in the use of +disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it +was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he +emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. +Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in +front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. +<p> +“Well, really!” he cried, and then he choked and laughed again +until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the +chair. +<p> +“What is it?” +<p> +“It’s quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I +employed my morning, or what I ended by doing.” +<p> +“I can’t imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the +habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler.” +<p> +“Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, +however. I left the house a little after eight o’clock this +morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a +wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of +them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found +Briony Lodge. It is a <i>bijou</i> villa, with a garden at the back, but +built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock +to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well +furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those +preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. +Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window +could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round +it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without +noting anything else of interest. +<p> +“I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that +there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the +garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, +and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half-and-half, two +fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire +about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in +the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but +whose biographies I was compelled to listen to.” +<p> +“And what of Irene Adler?” I asked. +<p> +“Oh, she has turned all the men’s heads down in that part. She is +the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the +Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, +drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for +dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. +Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, +handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and +often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See +the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him +home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. +When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up +and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan +of campaign. +<p> +“This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the +matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the +relation between them, and what the object of his repeated +visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the +former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his +keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this +question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony +Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman’s chambers in the +Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my +inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to +let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the +situation.” +<p> +“I am following you closely,” I answered. +<p> +“I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab +drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a +remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached—evidently +the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a +great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the +maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly +at home. +<p> +“He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch +glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and +down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see +nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than +before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from +his pocket and looked at it earnestly, ‘Drive like the devil,’ he +shouted, ‘first to Gross & Hankey’s in Regent Street, and then to +the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if +you do it in twenty minutes!’ +<p> +“Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do +well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, +the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under +his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of +the buckles. It hadn’t pulled up before she shot out of the hall +door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, +but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. +<p> +“ ‘The Church of St. Monica, John,’ she cried, ‘and half a +sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.’ +<p> +“This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing +whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her +landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked +twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could +object. ‘The Church of St. Monica,’ said I, ‘and half a sovereign +if you reach it in twenty minutes.’ It was twenty-five minutes to +twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. +<p> +“My cabby drove fast. I don’t think I ever drove faster, but the +others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their +steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid +the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there +save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who +seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three +standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side +aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. +Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to +me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards +me. +<p> +“ ‘Thank God,’ he cried. ‘You’ll do. Come! Come!’ +<p> +“ ‘What then?’ I asked. +<p> +“ ‘Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won’t be legal.’ +<p> +“I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was +I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, +and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally +assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to +Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and +there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady +on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was +the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my +life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just +now. It seems that there had been some informality about their +license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them +without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance +saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in +search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean +to wear it on my watch chain in memory of the occasion.” +<p> +“This is a very unexpected turn of affairs,” said I; “and what +then?” +<p> +“Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if +the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate +very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church +door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and +she to her own house. ‘I shall drive out in the park at five as +usual,’ she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove +away in different directions, and I went off to make my own +arrangements.” +<p> +“Which are?” +<p> +“Some cold beef and a glass of beer,” he answered, ringing the +bell. “I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to +be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want +your co-operation.” +<p> +“I shall be delighted.” +<p> +“You don’t mind breaking the law?” +<p> +“Not in the least.” +<p> +“Nor running a chance of arrest?” +<p> +“Not in a good cause.” +<p> +“Oh, the cause is excellent!” +<p> +“Then I am your man.” +<p> +“I was sure that I might rely on you.” +<p> +“But what is it you wish?” +<p> +“When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to +you. Now,” he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that +our landlady had provided, “I must discuss it while I eat, for I +have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must +be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns +from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her.” +<p> +“And what then?” +<p> +“You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to +occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must +not interfere, come what may. You understand?” +<p> +“I am to be neutral?” +<p> +“To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small +unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being +conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the +sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close +to that open window.” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you.” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“And when I raise my hand—so—you will throw into the room what +I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of +fire. You quite follow me?” +<p> +“Entirely.” +<p> +“It is nothing very formidable,” he said, taking a long cigar-shaped +roll from his pocket. “It is an ordinary plumber’s smoke-rocket, +fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. +Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, +it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then +walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten +minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?” +<p> +“I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, +and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry +of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street.” +<p> +“Precisely.” +<p> +“Then you may entirely rely on me.” +<p> +“That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I +prepare for the new role I have to play.” +<p> +He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in +the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist +clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white +tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and +benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have +equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His +expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every +fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as +science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in +crime. +<p> +It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still +wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in +Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just +being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, +waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such +as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes’ succinct description, +but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On +the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was +remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men +smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his +wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and +several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with +cigars in their mouths. +<p> +“You see,” remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of +the house, “this marriage rather simplifies matters. The +photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are +that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey +Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his +princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the +photograph?” +<p> +“Where, indeed?” +<p> +“It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is +cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman’s +dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid +and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We +may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her.” +<p> +“Where, then?” +<p> +“Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But +I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, +and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it +over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but +she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be +brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she +had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she +can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house.” +<p> +“But it has twice been burgled.” +<p> +“Pshaw! They did not know how to look.” +<p> +“But how will you look?” +<p> +“I will not look.” +<p> +“What then?” +<p> +“I will get her to show me.” +<p> +“But she will refuse.” +<p> +“She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is +her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter.” +<p> +As he spoke the gleam of the sidelights of a carriage came round +the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which +rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of +the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in +the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another +loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce +quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who +took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, +who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and +in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was +the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who +struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes +dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but, just as he reached +her, he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood +running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to +their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while +a number of better dressed people, who had watched the scuffle +without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to +attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, +had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her +superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking +back into the street. +<p> +“Is the poor gentleman much hurt?” she asked. +<p> +“He is dead,” cried several voices. +<p> +“No, no, there’s life in him!” shouted another. “But he’ll be +gone before you can get him to hospital.” +<p> +“He’s a brave fellow,” said a woman. “They would have had the +lady’s purse and watch if it hadn’t been for him. They were a +gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he’s breathing now.” +<p> +“He can’t lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?” +<p> +“Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable +sofa. This way, please!” +<p> +Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out +in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings +from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the +blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay +upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with +compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I +know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life +than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was +conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited +upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery +to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted +to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under +my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are +but preventing her from injuring another. +<p> +Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man +who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the +window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the +signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of “Fire!” The +word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of +spectators, well dressed and ill—gentlemen, ostlers, and +servant maids—joined in a general shriek of “Fire!” Thick clouds +of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I +caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice +of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. +Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner +of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my +friend’s arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. +He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we +had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the +Edgeware Road. +<p> +“You did it very nicely, Doctor,” he remarked. “Nothing could +have been better. It is all right.” +<p> +“You have the photograph?” +<p> +“I know where it is.” +<p> +“And how did you find out?” +<p> +“She showed me, as I told you she would.” +<p> +“I am still in the dark.” +<p> +“I do not wish to make a mystery,” said he, laughing. “The matter +was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the +street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening.” +<p> +“I guessed as much.” +<p> +“Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in +the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand +to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick.” +<p> +“That also I could fathom.” +<p> +“Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else +could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room +which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was +determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for +air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your +chance.” +<p> +“How did that help you?” +<p> +“It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on +fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she +values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have +more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the +Darlington Substitution Scandal it was of use to me, and also in +the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; +an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to +me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious +to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. +The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were +enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The +photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the +right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a +glimpse of it as she half drew it out. When I cried out that it +was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed +from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making +my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to +attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had +come in, and as he was watching me narrowly, it seemed safer to +wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all.” +<p> +“And now?” I asked. +<p> +“Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King +to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be +shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is +probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the +photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain +it with his own hands.” +<p> +“And when will you call?” +<p> +“At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall +have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage +may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to +the King without delay.” +<p> +We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was +searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: +<p> +“Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes.” +<p> +There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the +greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had +hurried by. +<p> +“I’ve heard that voice before,” said Holmes, staring down the +dimly lit street. “Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have +been.” +<br><br> +<center> +III. +</center><p><br> +I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our +toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed +into the room. +<p> +“You have really got it!” he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by +either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. +<p> +“Not yet.” +<p> +“But you have hopes?” +<p> +“I have hopes.” +<p> +“Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone.” +<p> +“We must have a cab.” +<p> +“No, my brougham is waiting.” +<p> +“Then that will simplify matters.” We descended and started off +once more for Briony Lodge. +<p> +“Irene Adler is married,” remarked Holmes. +<p> +“Married! When?” +<p> +“Yesterday.” +<p> +“But to whom?” +<p> +“To an English lawyer named Norton.” +<p> +“But she could not love him.” +<p> +“I am in hopes that she does.” +<p> +“And why in hopes?” +<p> +“Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future +annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your +Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason +why she should interfere with your Majesty’s plan.” +<p> +“It is true. And yet—! Well! I wish she had been of my own +station! What a queen she would have made!” He relapsed into a +moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in +Serpentine Avenue. +<p> +The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood +upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped +from the brougham. +<p> +“Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?” said she. +<p> +“I am Mr. Holmes,” answered my companion, looking at her with a +questioning and rather startled gaze. +<p> +“Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She +left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing +Cross for the Continent.” +<p> +“What!” Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and +surprise. “Do you mean that she has left England?” +<p> +“Never to return.” +<p> +“And the papers?” asked the King hoarsely. “All is lost.” +<p> +“We shall see.” He pushed past the servant and rushed into the +drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was +scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and +open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before +her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small +sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a +photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler +herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to +“Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for.” My friend +tore it open, and we all three read it together. It was dated at +midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: +<br><br><p> +“MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,—You really did it very well. You +took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a +suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I +began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had +been told that, if the King employed an agent, it would certainly +be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, +you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became +suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind +old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress +myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage +of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to +watch you, ran upstairs, got into my walking clothes, as I call +them, and came down just as you departed. +<p> +“Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was +really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock +Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and +started for the Temple to see my husband.<p>“We both thought the +best resource was flight, when pursued by so formidable an +antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when you call +to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in peace. I +love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may do what +he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly wronged. I +keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which +will always secure me from any steps which he might take in the +future. I leave a photograph which he might care to possess; and +I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, +<p align="right"><br> +“Very truly yours, <br> +“IRENE NORTON, <i>née</i> ADLER.” +<br><br><p> +“What a woman—oh, what a woman!” cried the King of Bohemia, when +we had all three read this epistle. “Did I not tell you how quick +and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? +Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?” +<p> +“From what I have seen of the lady, she seems, indeed, to be on a +very different level to your Majesty,” said Holmes coldly. “I am +sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty’s business +to a more successful conclusion.” +<p> +“On the contrary, my dear sir,” cried the King; “nothing could be +more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The +photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire.” +<p> +“I am glad to hear your Majesty say so.” +<p> +“I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can +reward you. This ring—” He slipped an emerald snake ring from +his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. +<p> +“Your Majesty has something which I should value even more +highly,” said Holmes. +<p> +“You have but to name it.” +<p> +“This photograph!” +<p> +The King stared at him in amazement. +<p> +“Irene’s photograph!” he cried. “Certainly, if you wish it.” +<p> +“I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the +matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good morning.” He +bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the +King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his +chambers. +<br><br><p> +And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom +of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were +beaten by a woman’s wit. He used to make merry over the +cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And +when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her +photograph, it is always under the honourable title of <i>the</i> woman. +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="2">ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">I</font> had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the +autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a +very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. +With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when +Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door +behind me. +<p> +“You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear +Watson,” he said cordially. +<p> +“I was afraid that you were engaged.” +<p> +“So I am. Very much so.” +<p> +“Then I can wait in the next room.” +<p> +“Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and +helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no +doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also.” +<p> +The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of +greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small +fat-encircled eyes. +<p> +“Try the settee,” said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and +putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in +judicial moods. “I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love +of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum +routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by +the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you +will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own +little adventures.” +<p> +“Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me,” I +observed. +<p> +“You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we +went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary +Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary +combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more +daring than any effort of the imagination.” +<p> +“A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.” +<p> +“You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my +view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you +until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to +be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call +upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to +be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some +time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique +things are very often connected not with the larger but with the +smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for +doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I +have heard, it is impossible for me to say whether the present +case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is +certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. +Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to +recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend +Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the +peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every +possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some +slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide +myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my +memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the +facts are, to the best of my belief, unique.” +<p> +The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some +little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the +inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the +advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper +flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and +endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the +indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. +<p> +I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor +bore every mark of being an average commonplace British +tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey +shepherd’s check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, +unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy +Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as +an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a +wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, +look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save +his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and +discontent upon his features. +<p> +Sherlock Holmes’ quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook +his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. +“Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual +labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has +been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of +writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.” +<p> +Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger +upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. +<p> +“How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. +Holmes?” he asked. “How did you know, for example, that I did +manual labour. It’s as true as gospel, for I began as a ship’s +carpenter.” +<p> +“Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger +than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more +developed.” +<p> +“Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?” +<p> +“I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, +especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you +use an arc-and-compass breastpin.” +<p> +“Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?” +<p> +“What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for +five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the +elbow where you rest it upon the desk?” +<p> +“Well, but China?” +<p> +“The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right +wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small +study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature +of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes’ scales of a +delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I +see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter +becomes even more simple.” +<p> +Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. “Well, I never!” said he. “I +thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see +that there was nothing in it after all.” +<p> +“I begin to think, Watson,” said Holmes, “that I make a mistake +in explaining. ‘<i>Omne ignotum pro magnifico</i>,’ you know, and my +poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I +am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?” +<p> +“Yes, I have got it now,” he answered with his thick red finger +planted halfway down the column. “Here it is. This is what began +it all. You just read it for yourself, sir.” +<p> +I took the paper from him and read as follows: +<p> +“TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late +Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now +another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a +salary of <i>£</i>4 a week for purely nominal services. All +red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age +of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at +eleven o’clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 +Pope’s Court, Fleet Street.” +<p> +“What on earth does this mean?” I ejaculated after I had twice +read over the extraordinary announcement. +<p> +Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when +in high spirits. “It is a little off the beaten track, isn’t it?” +said he. “And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us +all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this +advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, +Doctor, of the paper and the date.” +<p> +“It is <i>The Morning Chronicle</i> of April 27, 1890. Just two months +ago.” +<p> +“Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?” +<p> +“Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock +Holmes,” said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; “I have a small +pawnbroker’s business at Coburg Square, near the City. It’s not a +very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than +just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, +but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but +that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the +business.” +<p> +“What is the name of this obliging youth?” asked Sherlock Holmes. +<p> +“His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he’s not such a youth, +either. It’s hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter +assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better +himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after +all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?” +<p> +“Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who +comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience +among employers in this age. I don’t know that your assistant is +not as remarkable as your advertisement.” +<p> +“Oh, he has his faults, too,” said Mr. Wilson. “Never was such a +fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought +to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar +like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his +main fault, but on the whole he’s a good worker. There’s no vice +in him.” +<p> +“He is still with you, I presume?” +<p> +“Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple +cooking and keeps the place clean—that’s all I have in the +house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very +quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads +and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. +<p> +“The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. +Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight +weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: +<p> +“ ‘I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.’ +<p> +“ ‘Why that?’ I asks. +<p> +“ ‘Why,’ says he, ‘here’s another vacancy on the League of the +Red-headed Men. It’s worth quite a little fortune to any man who +gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than +there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits’ end what +to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here’s +a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.’ +<p> +“ ‘Why, what is it, then?’ I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a +very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of +my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting +my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn’t know much of what +was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. +<p> +“ ‘Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?’ he +asked with his eyes open. +<p> +“ ‘Never.’ +<p> +“ ‘Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one +of the vacancies.’ +<p> +“ ‘And what are they worth?’ I asked. +<p> +“ ‘Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, +and it need not interfere very much with one’s other +occupations.’ +<p> +“Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, +for the business has not been over good for some years, and an +extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. +<p> +“ ‘Tell me all about it,’ said I. +<p> +“ ‘Well,’ said he, showing me the advertisement, ‘you can see for +yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address +where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, +the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah +Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself +red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; +so, when he died, it was found that he had left his enormous +fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the +interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of +that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to +do.’ +<p> +“ ‘But,’ said I, ‘there would be millions of red-headed men who +would apply.’ +<p> +“ ‘Not so many as you might think,’ he answered. ‘You see it is +really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had +started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the +old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your +applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but +real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. +Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be +worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a +few hundred pounds.’ +<p> +“Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, +that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed +to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I +stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent +Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might +prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for +the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to +have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for +the address that was given us in the advertisement. +<p> +“I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From +north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in +his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. +Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope’s Court +looked like a coster’s orange barrow. I should not have thought +there were so many in the whole country as were brought together +by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they +were—straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; +but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real +vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I +would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear +of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and +pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up +to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream +upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back +dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found +ourselves in the office.” +<p> +“Your experience has been a most entertaining one,” remarked +Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge +pinch of snuff. “Pray continue your very interesting statement.” +<p> +“There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs +and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that +was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate +as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in +them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem +to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn +came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of +the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he +might have a private word with us. +<p> +“ ‘This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,’ said my assistant, ‘and he is +willing to fill a vacancy in the League.’ +<p> +“ ‘And he is admirably suited for it,’ the other answered. ‘He has +every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so +fine.’ He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and +gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he +plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my +success. +<p> +“ ‘It would be injustice to hesitate,’ said he. ‘You will, +however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.’ +With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I +yelled with the pain. ‘There is water in your eyes,’ said he as +he released me. ‘I perceive that all is as it should be. But we +have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and +once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler’s wax which +would disgust you with human nature.’ He stepped over to the +window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the +vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, +and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there +was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the +manager. +<p> +“ ‘My name,’ said he, ‘is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of +the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are +you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?’ +<p> +“I answered that I had not. +<p> +“His face fell immediately. +<p> +“ ‘Dear me!’ he said gravely, ‘that is very serious indeed! I am +sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the +propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their +maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a +bachelor.’ +<p> +“My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was +not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for +a few minutes he said that it would be all right. +<p> +“ ‘In the case of another,’ said he, ‘the objection might be +fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a +head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your +new duties?’ +<p> +“ ‘Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,’ +said I. +<p> +“ ‘Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!’ said Vincent Spaulding. +‘I should be able to look after that for you.’ +<p> +“ ‘What would be the hours?’ I asked. +<p> +“ ‘Ten to two.’ +<p> +“Now a pawnbroker’s business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. +Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just +before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in +the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, +and that he would see to anything that turned up. +<p> +“ ‘That would suit me very well,’ said I. ‘And the pay?’ +<p> +“ ‘Is <i>£</i>4 a week.’ +<p> +“ ‘And the work?’ +<p> +“ ‘Is purely nominal.’ +<p> +“ ‘What do you call purely nominal?’ +<p> +“ ‘Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the +building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole +position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You +don’t comply with the conditions if you budge from the office +during that time.’ +<p> +“ ‘It’s only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,’ +said I. +<p> +“ ‘No excuse will avail,’ said Mr. Duncan Ross; ‘neither sickness +nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose +your billet.’ +<p> +“ ‘And the work?’ +<p> +“ ‘Is to copy out the <i>Encyclopaedia Britannica</i>. There is the first +volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and +blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be +ready to-morrow?’ +<p> +“ ‘Certainly,’ I answered. +<p> +“ ‘Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you +once more on the important position which you have been fortunate +enough to gain.’ He bowed me out of the room and I went home with +my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased +at my own good fortune. +<p> +“Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in +low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the +whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its +object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past +belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay +such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the +<i>Encyclopaedia Britannica</i>. Vincent Spaulding did what he could to +cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the +whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look +at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a +quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for +Pope’s Court. +<p> +“Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as +possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross +was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off +upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from +time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o’clock he +bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had +written, and locked the door of the office after me. +<p> +“This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the +manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my +week’s work. It was the same next week, and the same the week +after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I +left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only +once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at +all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an +instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet +was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk +the loss of it. +<p> +“Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about +Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and +hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B’s before very +long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly +filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole +business came to an end.” +<p> +“To an end?” +<p> +“Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as +usual at ten o’clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a +little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the +panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself.” +<p> +He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet +of note-paper. It read in this fashion: +<center><br><br> +THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE +<br><br> +IS +<br><br> +DISSOLVED. +<br><br> +October 9, 1890.</center> +<br><br><p> +Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the +rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so +completely overtopped every other consideration that we both +burst out into a roar of laughter. +<p> +“I cannot see that there is anything very funny,” cried our +client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. “If you can +do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere.” +<p> +“No, no,” cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from +which he had half risen. “I really wouldn’t miss your case for +the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you +will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. +Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the +door?” +<p> +“I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called +at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything +about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant +living on the ground floor, and I asked him if he could tell me +what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had +never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan +Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. +<p> +“ ‘Well,’ said I, ‘the gentleman at No. 4.’ +<p> +“ ‘What, the red-headed man?’ +<p> +“ ‘Yes.’ +<p> +“ ‘Oh,’ said he, ‘his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor +and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new +premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.’ +<p> +“ ‘Where could I find him?’ +<p> +“ ‘Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 +King Edward Street, near St. Paul’s.’ +<p> +“I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was +a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever +heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross.” +<p> +“And what did you do then?” asked Holmes. +<p> +“I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my +assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say +that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite +good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place +without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough +to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right +away to you.” +<p> +“And you did very wisely,” said Holmes. “Your case is an +exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. +From what you have told me I think that it is possible that +graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear.” +<p> +“Grave enough!” said Mr. Jabez Wilson. “Why, I have lost four +pound a week.” +<p> +“As far as you are personally concerned,” remarked Holmes, “I do +not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary +league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some +<i>£</i>30, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have +gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have +lost nothing by them.” +<p> +“No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, +and what their object was in playing this prank—if it was a +prank—upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it +cost them two and thirty pounds.” +<p> +“We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, +one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who +first called your attention to the advertisement—how long had he +been with you?” +<p> +“About a month then.” +<p> +“How did he come?” +<p> +“In answer to an advertisement.” +<p> +“Was he the only applicant?” +<p> +“No, I had a dozen.” +<p> +“Why did you pick him?” +<p> +“Because he was handy and would come cheap.” +<p> +“At half wages, in fact.” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?” +<p> +“Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, +though he’s not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon +his forehead.” +<p> +Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. “I thought +as much,” said he. “Have you ever observed that his ears are +pierced for earrings?” +<p> +“Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he +was a lad.” +<p> +“Hum!” said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. “He is still +with you?” +<p> +“Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him.” +<p> +“And has your business been attended to in your absence?” +<p> +“Nothing to complain of, sir. There’s never very much to do of a +morning.” +<p> +“That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an +opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is +Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion.” +<p> +“Well, Watson,” said Holmes when our visitor had left us, “what +do you make of it all?” +<p> +“I make nothing of it,” I answered frankly. “It is a most +mysterious business.” +<p> +“As a rule,” said Holmes, “the more bizarre a thing is the less +mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless +crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is +the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this +matter.” +<p> +“What are you going to do, then?” I asked. +<p> +“To smoke,” he answered. “It is quite a three pipe problem, and I +beg that you won’t speak to me for fifty minutes.” He curled +himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his +hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his +black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. +I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and +indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his +chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put +his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. +<p> +“Sarasate plays at the St. James’s Hall this afternoon,” he +remarked. “What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare +you for a few hours?” +<p> +“I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very +absorbing.” +<p> +“Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City +first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that +there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is +rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is +introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!” +<p> +We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short +walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular +story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, +little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy +two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in +enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded +laurel bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and +uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with +“JABEZ WILSON” in white letters, upon a corner house, announced +the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. +Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side +and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between +puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down +again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally +he returned to the pawnbroker’s, and, having thumped vigorously +upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up +to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a +bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step +in. +<p> +“Thank you,” said Holmes, “I only wished to ask you how you would +go from here to the Strand.” +<p> +“Third right, fourth left,” answered the assistant promptly, +closing the door. +<p> +“Smart fellow, that,” observed Holmes as we walked away. “He is, +in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring +I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known +something of him before.” +<p> +“Evidently,” said I, “Mr. Wilson’s assistant counts for a good +deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you +inquired your way merely in order that you might see him.” +<p> +“Not him.” +<p> +“What then?” +<p> +“The knees of his trousers.” +<p> +“And what did you see?” +<p> +“What I expected to see.” +<p> +“Why did you beat the pavement?” +<p> +“My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We +are spies in an enemy’s country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg +Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it.” +<p> +The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the +corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a +contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was +one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City +to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense +stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, +while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of +pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line +of fine shops and stately business premises that they really +abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square +which we had just quitted. +<p> +“Let me see,” said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing +along the line, “I should like just to remember the order of the +houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of +London. There is Mortimer’s, the tobacconist, the little +newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, +the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane’s carriage-building +depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, +Doctor, we’ve done our work, so it’s time we had some play. A +sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where +all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no +red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums.” +<p> +My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a +very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All +the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect +happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the +music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes +were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the +relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was +possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature +alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and +astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction +against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally +predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from +extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was +never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been +lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his +black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase +would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning +power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were +unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a +man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him +that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James’s Hall I +felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set +himself to hunt down. +<p> +“You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor,” he remarked as we +emerged. +<p> +“Yes, it would be as well.” +<p> +“And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This +business at Coburg Square is serious.” +<p> +“Why serious?” +<p> +“A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to +believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being +Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help +to-night.” +<p> +“At what time?” +<p> +“Ten will be early enough.” +<p> +“I shall be at Baker Street at ten.” +<p> +“Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, +so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket.” He waved his +hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the +crowd. +<p> +I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was +always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings +with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had +seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that +he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to +happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and +grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought +over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed +copier of the <i>Encyclopaedia</i> down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg +Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. +What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? +Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from +Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker’s assistant was a +formidable man—a man who might play a deep game. I tried to +puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside +until night should bring an explanation. +<p> +It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my +way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker +Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered +the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering +his room, I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, +one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police +agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a +very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. +<p> +“Ha! Our party is complete,” said Holmes, buttoning up his +pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. +“Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me +introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in +to-night’s adventure.” +<p> +“We’re hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see,” said Jones in +his consequential way. “Our friend here is a wonderful man for +starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do +the running down.” +<p> +“I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase,” +observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. +<p> +“You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir,” said +the police agent loftily. “He has his own little methods, which +are, if he won’t mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical +and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It +is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of +the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly +correct than the official force.” +<p> +“Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right,” said the +stranger with deference. “Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. +It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I +have not had my rubber.” +<p> +“I think you will find,” said Sherlock Holmes, “that you will +play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and +that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, +the stake will be some <i>£</i>30,000; and for you, Jones, it will +be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands.” +<p> +“John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He’s a +young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his +profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on +any criminal in London. He’s a remarkable man, is young John +Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been +to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and +though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to +find the man himself. He’ll crack a crib in Scotland one week, +and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. +I’ve been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him +yet.” +<p> +“I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. +I’ve had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I +agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is +past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two +will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the +second.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive +and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in +the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit +streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. +<p> +“We are close there now,” my friend remarked. “This fellow +Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the +matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is +not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. +He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as +tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we +are, and they are waiting for us.” +<p> +We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had +found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, +following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a +narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. +Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive +iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding +stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. +Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us +down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a +third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all +round with crates and massive boxes. +<p> +“You are not very vulnerable from above,” Holmes remarked as he +held up the lantern and gazed about him. +<p> +“Nor from below,” said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon +the flags which lined the floor. “Why, dear me, it sounds quite +hollow!” he remarked, looking up in surprise. +<p> +“I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!” said Holmes +severely. “You have already imperilled the whole success of our +expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit +down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?” +<p> +The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a +very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his +knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, +began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few +seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again +and put his glass in his pocket. +<p> +“We have at least an hour before us,” he remarked, “for they can +hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. +Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their +work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at +present, Doctor—as no doubt you have divined—in the cellar of +the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. +Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to +you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of +London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at +present.” +<p> +“It is our French gold,” whispered the director. “We have had +several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it.” +<p> +“Your French gold?” +<p> +“Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources +and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of +France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to +unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The +crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between +layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at +present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the +directors have had misgivings upon the subject.” +<p> +“Which were very well justified,” observed Holmes. “And now it is +time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an +hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. +Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern.” +<p> +“And sit in the dark?” +<p> +“I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and +I thought that, as we were a <i>partie carrée</i>, you might have your +rubber after all. But I see that the enemy’s preparations have +gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, +first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, +and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us +some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, +and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a +light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no +compunction about shooting them down.” +<p> +I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case +behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front +of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness—such an absolute +darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot +metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready +to flash out at a moment’s notice. To me, with my nerves worked +up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and +subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the +vault. +<p> +“They have but one retreat,” whispered Holmes. “That is back +through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have +done what I asked you, Jones?” +<p> +“I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door.” +<p> +“Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent +and wait.” +<p> +What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but +an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must +have almost gone, and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs +were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my +nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my +hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle +breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, +heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note +of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case +in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint +of a light. +<p> +At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then +it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, +without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand +appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the +centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the +hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then +it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark +again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between +the stones. +<p> +Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, +tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon +its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed +the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, +boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand +on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and +waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another +instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after +him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face +and a shock of very red hair. +<p> +“It’s all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the +bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I’ll swing for it!” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the +collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of +rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed +upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes’ hunting crop came +down on the man’s wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone +floor. +<p> +“It’s no use, John Clay,” said Holmes blandly. “You have no +chance at all.” +<p> +“So I see,” the other answered with the utmost coolness. “I fancy +that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his +coat-tails.” +<p> +“There are three men waiting for him at the door,” said Holmes. +<p> +“Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I +must compliment you.” +<p> +“And I you,” Holmes answered. “Your red-headed idea was very new +and effective.” +<p> +“You’ll see your pal again presently,” said Jones. “He’s quicker +at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the +derbies.” +<p> +“I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands,” +remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. +“You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have +the goodness, also, when you address me always to say ‘sir’ and +‘please.’ ” +<p> +“All right,” said Jones with a stare and a snigger. “Well, would +you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry +your Highness to the police-station?” +<p> +“That is better,” said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow +to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the +detective. +<p> +“Really, Mr. Holmes,” said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them +from the cellar, “I do not know how the bank can thank you or +repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated +in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts +at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience.” +<p> +“I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. +John Clay,” said Holmes. “I have been at some small expense over +this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond +that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in +many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of +the Red-headed League.” +<br><br> +<p> +“You see, Watson,” he explained in the early hours of the morning +as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, “it +was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible +object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of +the League, and the copying of the <i>Encyclopaedia</i>, must be to get +this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of +hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, +really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was +no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious mind by the colour of his +accomplice’s hair. The <i>£</i>4 a week was a lure which must draw +him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? +They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary +office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and +together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the +week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for +half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive +for securing the situation.” +<p> +“But how could you guess what the motive was?” +<p> +“Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a +mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The +man’s business was a small one, and there was nothing in his +house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and +such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something +out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant’s +fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the +cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then +I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I +had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in +London. He was doing something in the cellar—something which +took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once +more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel +to some other building. +<p> +“So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I +surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was +ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. +It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the +assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had +never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his +face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have +remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of +those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they +were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and +Suburban Bank abutted on our friend’s premises, and felt that I +had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I +called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank +directors, with the result that you have seen.” +<p> +“And how could you tell that they would make their attempt +to-night?” I asked. +<p> +“Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that +they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson’s presence—in other +words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential +that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the +bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than +any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. +For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night.” +<p> +“You reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed in unfeigned +admiration. “It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings +true.” +<p> +“It saved me from ennui,” he answered, yawning. “Alas! I already +feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort +to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little +problems help me to do so.” +<p> +“And you are a benefactor of the race,” said I. +<p> +He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, perhaps, after all, it is of +some little use,” he remarked. “ ‘<i>L’homme c’est rien—l’oeuvre +c’est tout</i>,’ as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand.” +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="3">ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">“M</font>y dear fellow,” said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side +of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, “life is infinitely +stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We +would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere +commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window +hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the +roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the +strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the +wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and +leading to the most <i>outré</i> results, it would make all fiction with +its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and +unprofitable.” +<p> +“And yet I am not convinced of it,” I answered. “The cases which +come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and +vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to +its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, +neither fascinating nor artistic.” +<p> +“A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a +realistic effect,” remarked Holmes. “This is wanting in the +police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the +platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an +observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend +upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace.” +<p> +I smiled and shook my head. “I can quite understand your thinking +so.” I said. “Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser +and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout +three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is +strange and bizarre. But here”—I picked up the morning paper +from the ground—“let us put it to a practical test. Here is the +first heading upon which I come. ‘A husband’s cruelty to his +wife.’ There is half a column of print, but I know without +reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of +course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the +bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of +writers could invent nothing more crude.” +<p> +“Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument,” +said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. “This +is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged +in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The +husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the +conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of +winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling +them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely +to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a +pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over +you in your example.” +<p> +He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in +the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his +homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon +it. +<p> +“Ah,” said he, “I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. +It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my +assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers.” +<p> +“And the ring?” I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which +sparkled upon his finger. +<p> +“It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in +which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it +even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of +my little problems.” +<p> +“And have you any on hand just now?” I asked with interest. +<p> +“Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of +interest. They are important, you understand, without being +interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in +unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, +and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the +charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the +simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is +the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter +which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing +which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, +that I may have something better before very many minutes are +over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken.” +<p> +He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted +blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. +Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite +there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, +and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was +tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her +ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, +hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated +backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove +buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves +the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp +clang of the bell. +<p> +“I have seen those symptoms before,” said Holmes, throwing his +cigarette into the fire. “Oscillation upon the pavement always +means an <i>affaire de coeur</i>. She would like advice, but is not sure +that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet +even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously +wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom +is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love +matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or +grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts.” +<p> +As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons +entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself +loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed +merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed +her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, +having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked +her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was +peculiar to him. +<p> +“Do you not find,” he said, “that with your short sight it is a +little trying to do so much typewriting?” +<p> +“I did at first,” she answered, “but now I know where the letters +are without looking.” Then, suddenly realising the full purport +of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear +and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. “You’ve +heard about me, Mr. Holmes,” she cried, “else how could you know +all that?” +<p> +“Never mind,” said Holmes, laughing; “it is my business to know +things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others +overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?” +<p> +“I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, +whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had +given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as +much for me. I’m not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in +my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and +I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel.” +<p> +“Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?” asked +Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to +the ceiling. +<p> +Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss +Mary Sutherland. “Yes, I did bang out of the house,” she said, +“for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. +Windibank—that is, my father—took it all. He would not go to +the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he +would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, +it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away +to you.” +<p> +“Your father,” said Holmes, “your stepfather, surely, since the +name is different.” +<p> +“Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, +too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself.” +<p> +“And your mother is alive?” +<p> +“Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn’t best pleased, Mr. +Holmes, when she married again so soon after father’s death, and +a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father +was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy +business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the +foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the +business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. +They got <i>£</i>4700 for the goodwill and interest, which wasn’t +near as much as father could have got if he had been alive.” +<p> +I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this +rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he +had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. +<p> +“Your own little income,” he asked, “does it come out of the +business?” +<p> +“Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle +Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4½ per +cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can +only touch the interest.” +<p> +“You interest me extremely,” said Holmes. “And since you draw so +large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the +bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in +every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely +upon an income of about <i>£</i>60.” +<p> +“I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you +understand that as long as I live at home I don’t wish to be a +burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while +I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the +time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it +over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I +earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can +often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day.” +<p> +“You have made your position very clear to me,” said Holmes. +“This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as +freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your +connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel.” +<p> +A flush stole over Miss Sutherland’s face, and she picked +nervously at the fringe of her jacket. “I met him first at the +gasfitters’ ball,” she said. “They used to send father tickets +when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and +sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He +never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I +wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I +was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to +prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all +father’s friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing +fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much +as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, +he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, +mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it +was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel.” +<p> +“I suppose,” said Holmes, “that when Mr. Windibank came back from +France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball.” +<p> +“Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and +shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying +anything to a woman, for she would have her way.” +<p> +“I see. Then at the gasfitters’ ball you met, as I understand, a +gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel.” +<p> +“Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if +we had got home all safe, and after that we met him—that is to +say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father +came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house +any more.” +<p> +“No?” +<p> +“Well, you know father didn’t like anything of the sort. He +wouldn’t have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to +say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But +then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to +begin with, and I had not got mine yet.” +<p> +“But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see +you?” +<p> +“Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer +wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each +other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he +used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so +there was no need for father to know.” +<p> +“Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?” +<p> +“Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that +we took. Hosmer—Mr. Angel—was a cashier in an office in +Leadenhall Street—and—” +<p> +“What office?” +<p> +“That’s the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don’t know.” +<p> +“Where did he live, then?” +<p> +“He slept on the premises.” +<p> +“And you don’t know his address?” +<p> +“No—except that it was Leadenhall Street.” +<p> +“Where did you address your letters, then?” +<p> +“To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called +for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be +chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, +so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn’t +have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come +from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the +machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he +was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think +of.” +<p> +“It was most suggestive,” said Holmes. “It has long been an axiom +of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. +Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?” +<p> +“He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me +in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to +be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his +voice was gentle. He’d had the quinsy and swollen glands when he +was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, +and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always +well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just +as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare.” +<p> +“Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, +returned to France?” +<p> +“Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we +should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest +and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever +happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite +right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. +Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder +of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the +week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to +mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother +said she would make it all right with him. I didn’t quite like +that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as +he was only a few years older than me; but I didn’t want to do +anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the +company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on +the very morning of the wedding.” +<p> +“It missed him, then?” +<p> +“Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived.” +<p> +“Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for +the Friday. Was it to be in church?” +<p> +“Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour’s, near +King’s Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. +Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were +two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a +four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the +street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler +drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and +when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one +there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become +of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was +last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything +since then to throw any light upon what became of him.” +<p> +“It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated,” said +Holmes. +<p> +“Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all +the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to +be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to +separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, +and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed +strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since +gives a meaning to it.” +<p> +“Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some +unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?” +<p> +“Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he +would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw +happened.” +<p> +“But you have no notion as to what it could have been?” +<p> +“None.” +<p> +“One more question. How did your mother take the matter?” +<p> +“She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter +again.” +<p> +“And your father? Did you tell him?” +<p> +“Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had +happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, +what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of +the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my +money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, +there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about +money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what +could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me +half-mad to think of it, and I can’t sleep a wink at night.” She +pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob +heavily into it. +<p> +“I shall glance into the case for you,” said Holmes, rising, “and +I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the +weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind +dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel +vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life.” +<p> +“Then you don’t think I’ll see him again?” +<p> +“I fear not.” +<p> +“Then what has happened to him?” +<p> +“You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an +accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can +spare.” +<p> +“I advertised for him in last Saturday’s <i>Chronicle</i>,” said she. +“Here is the slip and here are four letters from him.” +<p> +“Thank you. And your address?” +<p> +“No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell.” +<p> +“Mr. Angel’s address you never had, I understand. Where is your +father’s place of business?” +<p> +“He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers +of Fenchurch Street.” +<p> +“Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will +leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given +you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it +to affect your life.” +<p> +“You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be +true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back.” +<p> +For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was +something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which +compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon +the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever +she might be summoned. +<p> +Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips +still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, +and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down +from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a +counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with +the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of +infinite languor in his face. +<p> +“Quite an interesting study, that maiden,” he observed. “I found +her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, +is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you +consult my index, in Andover in ’77, and there was something of +the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, +there were one or two details which were new to me. But the +maiden herself was most instructive.” +<p> +“You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite +invisible to me,” I remarked. +<p> +“Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to +look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring +you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of +thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. +Now, what did you gather from that woman’s appearance? Describe +it.” +<p> +“Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a +feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads +sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her +dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little +purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and +were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn’t +observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a +general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, +easy-going way.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. +<p> +“ ’Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have +really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed +everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and +you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general +impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My +first glance is always at a woman’s sleeve. In a man it is +perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you +observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most +useful material for showing traces. The double line a little +above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, +was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, +leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side +of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the +broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, +observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I +ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed +to surprise her.” +<p> +“It surprised me.” +<p> +“But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and +interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots +which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were +really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and +the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower +buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and +fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly +dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, +it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry.” +<p> +“And what else?” I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by +my friend’s incisive reasoning. +<p> +“I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving +home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right +glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see +that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had +written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been +this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. +All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back +to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised +description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?” +<p> +I held the little printed slip to the light. +<p> +“Missing,” it said, “on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman +named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; +strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in +the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted +glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, +in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert +chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over +elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in +Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing—” +<p> +“That will do,” said Holmes. “As to the letters,” he continued, +glancing over them, “they are very commonplace. Absolutely no +clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There +is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike +you.” +<p> +“They are typewritten,” I remarked. +<p> +“Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the +neat little ‘Hosmer Angel’ at the bottom. There is a date, you +see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is +rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive—in +fact, we may call it conclusive.” +<p> +“Of what?” +<p> +“My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it +bears upon the case?” +<p> +“I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able +to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were +instituted.” +<p> +“No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, +which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the +other is to the young lady’s stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking +him whether he could meet us here at six o’clock to-morrow +evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the +male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the +answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem +upon the shelf for the interim.” +<p> +I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend’s subtle powers +of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that +he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy +demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had +been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in +the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler +photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the +Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with +the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle +indeed which he could not unravel. +<p> +I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the +conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would +find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up +to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary +Sutherland. +<p> +A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own +attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at +the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six +o’clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a +hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too +late to assist at the <i>dénouement</i> of the little mystery. I found +Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin +form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable +array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell +of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the +chemical work which was so dear to him. +<p> +“Well, have you solved it?” I asked as I entered. +<p> +“Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta.” +<p> +“No, no, the mystery!” I cried. +<p> +“Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. +There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said +yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback +is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel.” +<p> +“Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss +Sutherland?” +<p> +The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet +opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the +passage and a tap at the door. +<p> +“This is the girl’s stepfather, Mr. James Windibank,” said +Holmes. “He has written to me to say that he would be here at +six. Come in!” +<p> +The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some +thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a +bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and +penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of +us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a +slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. +<p> +“Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank,” said Holmes. “I think that +this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an +appointment with me for six o’clock?” +<p> +“Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not +quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland +has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far +better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite +against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, +impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily +controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I +did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the +official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family +misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless +expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?” +<p> +“On the contrary,” said Holmes quietly; “I have every reason to +believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel.” +<p> +Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. “I am +delighted to hear it,” he said. +<p> +“It is a curious thing,” remarked Holmes, “that a typewriter has +really quite as much individuality as a man’s handwriting. Unless +they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some +letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one +side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that +in every case there is some little slurring over of the ‘e,’ and +a slight defect in the tail of the ‘r.’ There are fourteen other +characteristics, but those are the more obvious.” +<p> +“We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, +and no doubt it is a little worn,” our visitor answered, glancing +keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. +<p> +“And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, +Mr. Windibank,” Holmes continued. “I think of writing another +little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its +relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some +little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come +from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not +only are the ‘e’s’ slurred and the ‘r’s’ tailless, but you will +observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen +other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well.” +<p> +Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. “I +cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes,” +he said. “If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know +when you have done it.” +<p> +“Certainly,” said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in +the door. “I let you know, then, that I have caught him!” +<p> +“What! where?” shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips +and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. +<p> +“Oh, it won’t do—really it won’t,” said Holmes suavely. “There +is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too +transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that +it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That’s +right! Sit down and let us talk it over.” +<p> +Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a +glitter of moisture on his brow. “It—it’s not actionable,” he +stammered. +<p> +“I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, +Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a +petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the +course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong.” +<p> +The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his +breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up +on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands +in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, +than to us. +<p> +“The man married a woman very much older than himself for her +money,” said he, “and he enjoyed the use of the money of the +daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable +sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have +made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. +The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate +and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with +her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would +not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would +mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her +stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of +keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of +people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not +answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and +finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain +ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an +idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the +connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, +covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with +a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice +into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the +girl’s short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off +other lovers by making love himself.” +<p> +“It was only a joke at first,” groaned our visitor. “We never +thought that she would have been so carried away.” +<p> +“Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very +decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that +her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never +for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the +gentleman’s attentions, and the effect was increased by the +loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began +to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as +far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There +were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the +girl’s affections from turning towards anyone else. But the +deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys +to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to +bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it +would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady’s mind and +prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to +come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and +hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening +on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss +Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to +his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not +listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, +and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished +away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a +four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of +events, Mr. Windibank!” +<p> +Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes +had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold +sneer upon his pale face. +<p> +“It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes,” said he, “but if you +are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is +you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing +actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door +locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal +constraint.” +<p> +“The law cannot, as you say, touch you,” said Holmes, unlocking +and throwing open the door, “yet there never was a man who +deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a +friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!” +he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon +the man’s face, “it is not part of my duties to my client, but +here’s a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat +myself to—” He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he +could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, +the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. +James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. +<p> +“There’s a cold-blooded scoundrel!” said Holmes, laughing, as he +threw himself down into his chair once more. “That fellow will +rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and +ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not +entirely devoid of interest.” +<p> +“I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning,” I +remarked. +<p> +“Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. +Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious +conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really +profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the +stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, +but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was +suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, +which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My +suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in +typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his +handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even +the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, +together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same +direction.” +<p> +“And how did you verify them?” +<p> +“Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I +knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed +description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the +result of a disguise—the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I +sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me +whether it answered to the description of any of their +travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the +typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business +address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his +reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but +characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from +Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the +description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, +James Windibank. <i>Voilà tout</i>!” +<p> +“And Miss Sutherland?” +<p> +“If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old +Persian saying, ‘There is danger for him who taketh the tiger +cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.’ +There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much +knowledge of the world.” +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="4">ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">W</font>e were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the +maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran +in this way: +<p> +“Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from +the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. +Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. +Leave Paddington by the 11:15.” +<p> +“What do you say, dear?” said my wife, looking across at me. +“Will you go?” +<p> +“I really don’t know what to say. I have a fairly long list at +present.” +<p> +“Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking +a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, +and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes’ cases.” +<p> +“I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained +through one of them,” I answered. “But if I am to go, I must pack +at once, for I have only half an hour.” +<p> +My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the +effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were +few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a +cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock +Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt +figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey +travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. +<p> +“It is really very good of you to come, Watson,” said he. “It +makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on +whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless +or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall +get the tickets.” +<p> +We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of +papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged +and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until +we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a +gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. +<p> +“Have you heard anything of the case?” he asked. +<p> +“Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days.” +<p> +“The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just +been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the +particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those +simple cases which are so extremely difficult.” +<p> +“That sounds a little paradoxical.” +<p> +“But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a +clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more +difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they +have established a very serious case against the son of the +murdered man.” +<p> +“It is a murder, then?” +<p> +“Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for +granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into +it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have +been able to understand it, in a very few words. +<p> +“Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in +Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a +Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned +some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he +held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was +also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the +colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to +settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. +Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his +tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect +equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, +a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same +age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have +avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to +have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of +sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the +neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants—a man and a girl. +Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the +least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the +families. Now for the facts. +<p> +“On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at +Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the +Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out +of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been +out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told +the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of +importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came +back alive. +<p> +“From Hatherley Farmhouse to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a +mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One +was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was +William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both +these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The +game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. +McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the +same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the +father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was +following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in +the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. +<p> +“The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, +the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly +wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the +edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of +the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the +woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she +saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. +McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a +violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very +strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his +hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their +violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached +home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near +Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to +fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came +running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead +in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was +much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right +hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On +following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the +grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated +blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as +might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son’s +gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the +body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly +arrested, and a verdict of ‘wilful murder’ having been returned +at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the +magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next +Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out +before the coroner and the police-court.” +<p> +“I could hardly imagine a more damning case,” I remarked. “If +ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so +here.” +<p> +“Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing,” answered Holmes +thoughtfully. “It may seem to point very straight to one thing, +but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it +pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something +entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case +looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very +possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people +in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the +daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his +innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect +in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in +his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the +case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are +flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly +digesting their breakfasts at home.” +<p> +“I am afraid,” said I, “that the facts are so obvious that you +will find little credit to be gained out of this case.” +<p> +“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact,” he +answered, laughing. “Besides, we may chance to hit upon some +other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to +Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting +when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by +means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of +understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly +perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand +side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted +even so self-evident a thing as that.” +<p> +“How on earth—” +<p> +“My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness +which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this +season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less +and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until +it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the +jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated +than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking +at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a +result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and +inference. Therein lies my <i>métier</i>, and it is just possible that +it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before +us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in +the inquest, and which are worth considering.” +<p> +“What are they?” +<p> +“It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after +the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary +informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not +surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. +This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any +traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the +coroner’s jury.” +<p> +“It was a confession,” I ejaculated. +<p> +“No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence.” +<p> +“Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at +least a most suspicious remark.” +<p> +“On the contrary,” said Holmes, “it is the brightest rift which I +can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, +he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the +circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared +surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I +should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such +surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, +and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His +frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent +man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and +firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not +unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of +his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day +so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and +even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so +important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The +self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark +appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a +guilty one.” +<p> +I shook my head. “Many men have been hanged on far slighter +evidence,” I remarked. +<p> +“So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged.” +<p> +“What is the young man’s own account of the matter?” +<p> +“It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, +though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. +You will find it here, and may read it for yourself.” +<p> +He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire +paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the +paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own +statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the +corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this +way: +<p> +“Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called +and gave evidence as follows: ‘I had been away from home for +three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the +morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at +the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he +had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after +my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, +looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out +of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was +going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of +the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit +warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William +Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but +he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had +no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards +from the pool I heard a cry of “Cooee!” which was a usual signal +between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found +him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at +seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A +conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, +for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his +passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned +towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, +however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me +to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, +with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in +my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for +some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner’s lodge-keeper, +his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one +near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by +his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and +forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no +active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.’ +<p> +“The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before +he died? +<p> +“Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some +allusion to a rat. +<p> +“The Coroner: What did you understand by that? +<p> +“Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was +delirious. +<p> +“The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father +had this final quarrel? +<p> +“Witness: I should prefer not to answer. +<p> +“The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. +<p> +“Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can +assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which +followed. +<p> +“The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point +out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case +considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. +<p> +“Witness: I must still refuse. +<p> +“The Coroner: I understand that the cry of ‘Cooee’ was a common +signal between you and your father? +<p> +“Witness: It was. +<p> +“The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw +you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? +<p> +“Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. +<p> +“A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions +when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father +fatally injured? +<p> +“Witness: Nothing definite. +<p> +“The Coroner: What do you mean? +<p> +“Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into +the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet +I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay +upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be +something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. +When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was +gone. +<p> +“ ‘Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?’ +<p> +“ ‘Yes, it was gone.’ +<p> +“ ‘You cannot say what it was?’ +<p> +“ ‘No, I had a feeling something was there.’ +<p> +“ ‘How far from the body?’ +<p> +“ ‘A dozen yards or so.’ +<p> +“ ‘And how far from the edge of the wood?’ +<p> +“ ‘About the same.’ +<p> +“ ‘Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen +yards of it?’ +<p> +“ ‘Yes, but with my back towards it.’ +<p> +“This concluded the examination of the witness.” +<p> +“I see,” said I as I glanced down the column, “that the coroner +in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. +He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his +father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his +refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and +his singular account of his father’s dying words. They are all, +as he remarks, very much against the son.” +<p> +Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon +the cushioned seat. “Both you and the coroner have been at some +pains,” said he, “to single out the very strongest points in the +young man’s favour. Don’t you see that you alternately give him +credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too +little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would +give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from +his own inner consciousness anything so <i>outré</i> as a dying +reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, +sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what +this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that +hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and +not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the +scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be +there in twenty minutes.” +<p> +It was nearly four o’clock when we at last, after passing through +the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, +found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A +lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for +us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and +leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic +surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of +Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a +room had already been engaged for us. +<p> +“I have ordered a carriage,” said Lestrade as we sat over a cup +of tea. “I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be +happy until you had been on the scene of the crime.” +<p> +“It was very nice and complimentary of you,” Holmes answered. “It +is entirely a question of barometric pressure.” +<p> +Lestrade looked startled. “I do not quite follow,” he said. +<p> +“How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud +in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need +smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country +hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I +shall use the carriage to-night.” +<p> +Lestrade laughed indulgently. “You have, no doubt, already formed +your conclusions from the newspapers,” he said. “The case is as +plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer +it becomes. Still, of course, one can’t refuse a lady, and such a +very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your +opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing +which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my +soul! here is her carriage at the door.” +<p> +He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the +most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her +violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her +cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her +overpowering excitement and concern. +<p> +“Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!” she cried, glancing from one to the +other of us, and finally, with a woman’s quick intuition, +fastening upon my companion, “I am so glad that you have come. I +have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn’t do it. +I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, +too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each +other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no +one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a +charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him.” +<p> +“I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner,” said Sherlock Holmes. +“You may rely upon my doing all that I can.” +<p> +“But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? +Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself +think that he is innocent?” +<p> +“I think that it is very probable.” +<p> +“There, now!” she cried, throwing back her head and looking +defiantly at Lestrade. “You hear! He gives me hopes.” +<p> +Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. “I am afraid that my colleague +has been a little quick in forming his conclusions,” he said. +<p> +“But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did +it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the +reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because +I was concerned in it.” +<p> +“In what way?” asked Holmes. +<p> +“It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had +many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that +there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always +loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young +and has seen very little of life yet, and—and—well, he +naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there +were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them.” +<p> +“And your father?” asked Holmes. “Was he in favour of such a +union?” +<p> +“No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in +favour of it.” A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as +Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. +<p> +“Thank you for this information,” said he. “May I see your father +if I call to-morrow?” +<p> +“I am afraid the doctor won’t allow it.” +<p> +“The doctor?” +<p> +“Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for +years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken +to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his +nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive +who had known dad in the old days in Victoria.” +<p> +“Ha! In Victoria! That is important.” +<p> +“Yes, at the mines.” +<p> +“Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner +made his money.” +<p> +“Yes, certainly.” +<p> +“Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to +me.” +<p> +“You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you +will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do +tell him that I know him to be innocent.” +<p> +“I will, Miss Turner.” +<p> +“I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if +I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking.” She +hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we +heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. +<p> +“I am ashamed of you, Holmes,” said Lestrade with dignity after a +few minutes’ silence. “Why should you raise up hopes which you +are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I +call it cruel.” +<p> +“I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy,” said +Holmes. “Have you an order to see him in prison?” +<p> +“Yes, but only for you and me.” +<p> +“Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have +still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?” +<p> +“Ample.” +<p> +“Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very +slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours.” +<p> +I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through +the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, +where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a +yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, +however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were +groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the +action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and +gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the +day. Supposing that this unhappy young man’s story were +absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely +unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between +the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, +drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was +something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the +nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? +I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which +contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon’s +deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left +parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been +shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot +upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from +behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when +seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it +did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his +back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call +Holmes’ attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying +reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be +delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become +delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how +he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my +brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident +of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the +murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his +overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to +return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was +kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a +tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I +did not wonder at Lestrade’s opinion, and yet I had so much faith +in Sherlock Holmes’ insight that I could not lose hope as long +as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young +McCarthy’s innocence. +<p> +It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, +for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. +<p> +“The glass still keeps very high,” he remarked as he sat down. +“It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able +to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his +very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not +wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young +McCarthy.” +<p> +“And what did you learn from him?” +<p> +“Nothing.” +<p> +“Could he throw no light?” +<p> +“None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew +who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced +now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very +quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, +sound at heart.” +<p> +“I cannot admire his taste,” I remarked, “if it is indeed a fact +that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as +this Miss Turner.” +<p> +“Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, +insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was +only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away +five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get +into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a +registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can +imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not +doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows +to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort +which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, +at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss +Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, +and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would +have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with +his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in +Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that +point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, +for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious +trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and +has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the +Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I +think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all +that he has suffered.” +<p> +“But if he is innocent, who has done it?” +<p> +“Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two +points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with +someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his +son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would +return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry +‘Cooee!’ before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the +crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk +about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all +minor matters until to-morrow.” +<p> +There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke +bright and cloudless. At nine o’clock Lestrade called for us with +the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe +Pool. +<p> +“There is serious news this morning,” Lestrade observed. “It is +said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is +despaired of.” +<p> +“An elderly man, I presume?” said Holmes. +<p> +“About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life +abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This +business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend +of McCarthy’s, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I +have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free.” +<p> +“Indeed! That is interesting,” said Holmes. +<p> +“Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody +about here speaks of his kindness to him.” +<p> +“Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this +McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have +been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of +marrying his son to Turner’s daughter, who is, presumably, +heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, +as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would +follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself +was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not +deduce something from that?” +<p> +“We have got to the deductions and the inferences,” said +Lestrade, winking at me. “I find it hard enough to tackle facts, +Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies.” +<p> +“You are right,” said Holmes demurely; “you do find it very hard +to tackle the facts.” +<p> +“Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it +difficult to get hold of,” replied Lestrade with some warmth. +<p> +“And that is—” +<p> +“That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that +all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine.” +<p> +“Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog,” said Holmes, +laughing. “But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley +Farm upon the left.” +<p> +“Yes, that is it.” It was a widespread, comfortable-looking +building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches +of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless +chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight +of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, +when the maid, at Holmes’ request, showed us the boots which her +master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the +son’s, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured +these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes +desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed +the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. +<p> +Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent +as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of +Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed +and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, +while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. +His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips +compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, +sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal +lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated +upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell +unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, +impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way +along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of +the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is +all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon +the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either +side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and +once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and +I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, +while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the +conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a +definite end. +<p> +The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water +some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the +Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. +Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see +the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich +landowner’s dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods +grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass +twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds +which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which +the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, +that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the +fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager +face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read +upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking +up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. +<p> +“What did you go into the pool for?” he asked. +<p> +“I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon +or other trace. But how on earth—” +<p> +“Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its +inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and +there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all +have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo +and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the +lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or +eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of +the same feet.” He drew out a lens and lay down upon his +waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to +himself than to us. “These are young McCarthy’s feet. Twice he +was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are +deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his +story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are +the father’s feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It +is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? +Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite +unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again—of course +that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?” He ran up +and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we +were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a +great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced +his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon +his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he +remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, +gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and +examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of +the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among +the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then +he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the +highroad, where all traces were lost. +<p> +“It has been a case of considerable interest,” he remarked, +returning to his natural manner. “I fancy that this grey house on +the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a +word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done +that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, +and I shall be with you presently.” +<p> +It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove +back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he +had picked up in the wood. +<p> +“This may interest you, Lestrade,” he remarked, holding it out. +“The murder was done with it.” +<p> +“I see no marks.” +<p> +“There are none.” +<p> +“How do you know, then?” +<p> +“The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few +days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It +corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other +weapon.” +<p> +“And the murderer?” +<p> +“Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears +thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian +cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his +pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be +enough to aid us in our search.” +<p> +Lestrade laughed. “I am afraid that I am still a sceptic,” he +said. “Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a +hard-headed British jury.” +<p> +“<i>Nous verrons</i>,” answered Holmes calmly. “You work your own +method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, +and shall probably return to London by the evening train.” +<p> +“And leave your case unfinished?” +<p> +“No, finished.” +<p> +“But the mystery?” +<p> +“It is solved.” +<p> +“Who was the criminal, then?” +<p> +“The gentleman I describe.” +<p> +“But who is he?” +<p> +“Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a +populous neighbourhood.” +<p> +Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. “I am a practical man,” he said, +“and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking +for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the +laughing-stock of Scotland Yard.” +<p> +“All right,” said Holmes quietly. “I have given you the chance. +Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before +I leave.” +<p> +Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where +we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in +thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds +himself in a perplexing position. +<p> +“Look here, Watson,” he said when the cloth was cleared “just sit +down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don’t +know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a +cigar and let me expound.” +<p> + “Pray do so.” +<p> +“Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about +young McCarthy’s narrative which struck us both instantly, +although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One +was the fact that his father should, according to his account, +cry ‘Cooee!’ before seeing him. The other was his singular dying +reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but +that was all that caught the son’s ear. Now from this double +point our research must commence, and we will begin it by +presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true.” +<p> +“What of this ‘Cooee!’ then?” +<p> +“Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The +son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that +he was within earshot. The ‘Cooee!’ was meant to attract the +attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But +‘Cooee’ is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used +between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the +person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was +someone who had been in Australia.” +<p> +“What of the rat, then?” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened +it out on the table. “This is a map of the Colony of Victoria,” +he said. “I wired to Bristol for it last night.” He put his hand +over part of the map. “What do you read?” +<p> +“ARAT,” I read. +<p> +“And now?” He raised his hand. +<p> +“BALLARAT.” +<p> +“Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his +son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter +the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat.” +<p> +“It is wonderful!” I exclaimed. +<p> +“It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down +considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point +which, granting the son’s statement to be correct, was a +certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite +conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak.” +<p> +“Certainly.” +<p> +“And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only +be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could +hardly wander.” +<p> +“Quite so.” +<p> +“Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the +ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that +imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal.” +<p> +“But how did you gain them?” +<p> +“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of +trifles.” +<p> +“His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length +of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces.” +<p> +“Yes, they were peculiar boots.” +<p> +“But his lameness?” +<p> +“The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than +his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped—he +was lame.” +<p> +“But his left-handedness.” +<p> +“You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded +by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from +immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can +that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind +that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had +even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special +knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian +cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and +written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different +varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the +ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss +where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety +which are rolled in Rotterdam.” +<p> +“And the cigar-holder?” +<p> +“I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he +used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the +cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife.” +<p> +“Holmes,” I said, “you have drawn a net round this man from which +he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as +truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the +direction in which all this points. The culprit is—” +<p> +“Mr. John Turner,” cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of +our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. +<p> +The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His +slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of +decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and +his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual +strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled +hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air +of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an +ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were +tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that +he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. +<p> +“Pray sit down on the sofa,” said Holmes gently. “You had my +note?” +<p> +“Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to +see me here to avoid scandal.” +<p> +“I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall.” +<p> +“And why did you wish to see me?” He looked across at my +companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question +was already answered. +<p> +“Yes,” said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. “It +is so. I know all about McCarthy.” +<p> +The old man sank his face in his hands. “God help me!” he cried. +“But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you +my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at +the Assizes.” +<p> +“I am glad to hear you say so,” said Holmes gravely. +<p> +“I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It +would break her heart—it will break her heart when she hears +that I am arrested.” +<p> +“It may not come to that,” said Holmes. +<p> +“What?” +<p> +“I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter +who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. +Young McCarthy must be got off, however.” +<p> +“I am a dying man,” said old Turner. “I have had diabetes for +years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a +month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol.” +<p> +Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand +and a bundle of paper before him. “Just tell us the truth,” he +said. “I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson +here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the +last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall +not use it unless it is absolutely needed.” +<p> +“It’s as well,” said the old man; “it’s a question whether I +shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I +should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the +thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but +will not take me long to tell. +<p> +“You didn’t know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil +incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of +such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, +and he has blasted my life. I’ll tell you first how I came to be +in his power. +<p> +“It was in the early ’60’s at the diggings. I was a young chap +then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at +anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck +with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you +would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and +we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time +to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. +Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party +is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. +<p> +“One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and +we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers +and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of +their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, +however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of +the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the +Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his +wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every +feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made +our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted +from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and +respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in +the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, +to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, +and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. +Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down +the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned +over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was +going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. +<p> +“I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in +Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his +foot. +<p> +“ ‘Here we are, Jack,’ says he, touching me on the arm; ‘we’ll be +as good as a family to you. There’s two of us, me and my son, and +you can have the keeping of us. If you don’t—it’s a fine, +law-abiding country is England, and there’s always a policeman +within hail.’ +<p> +“Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking +them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land +ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; +turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my +elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more +afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he +wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without +question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing +which I could not give. He asked for Alice. +<p> +“His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was +known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that +his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was +firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that +I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that +was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do +his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses +to talk it over. +<p> +“When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I +smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. +But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in +me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my +daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she +were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I +and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a +man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and +a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, +I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! +Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I +did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, +I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl +should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more +than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction +than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought +back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I +was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in +my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that +occurred.” +<p> +“Well, it is not for me to judge you,” said Holmes as the old man +signed the statement which had been drawn out. “I pray that we +may never be exposed to such a temptation.” +<p> +“I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?” +<p> +“In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you +will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the +Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is +condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be +seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or +dead, shall be safe with us.” +<p> +“Farewell, then,” said the old man solemnly. “Your own deathbeds, +when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace +which you have given to mine.” Tottering and shaking in all his +giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. +<p> +“God help us!” said Holmes after a long silence. “Why does fate +play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such +a case as this that I do not think of Baxter’s words, and say, +‘There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.’ ” +<p> +James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a +number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and +submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven +months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is +every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily +together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their +past. +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="5">ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">W</font>hen I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes +cases between the years ’82 and ’90, I am faced by so many which +present strange and interesting features that it is no easy +matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, +have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have +not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend +possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of +these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his +analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without +an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and +have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and +surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to +him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable +in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted +to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are +points in connection with it which never have been, and probably +never will be, entirely cleared up. +<p> +The year ’87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater +or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my +headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the +adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant +Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a +furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the +British barque <i>Sophy Anderson</i>, of the singular adventures of the +Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the +Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, +Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man’s watch, to +prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that +therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time—a +deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the +case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of +them present such singular features as the strange train of +circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. +<p> +It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales +had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had +screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that +even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced +to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and +to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which +shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like +untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew +higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in +the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the +fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the +other was deep in one of Clark Russell’s fine sea-stories until +the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, +and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of +the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother’s, and for a +few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker +Street. +<p> +“Why,” said I, glancing up at my companion, “that was surely the +bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?” +<p> +“Except yourself I have none,” he answered. “I do not encourage +visitors.” +<p> +“A client, then?” +<p> +“If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out +on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more +likely to be some crony of the landlady’s.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there +came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He +stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and +towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. +<p> +“Come in!” said he. +<p> +The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the +outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of +refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella +which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told +of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about +him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his +face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is +weighed down with some great anxiety. +<p> +“I owe you an apology,” he said, raising his golden pince-nez to +his eyes. “I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have +brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug +chamber.” +<p> +“Give me your coat and umbrella,” said Holmes. “They may rest +here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from +the south-west, I see.” +<p> +“Yes, from Horsham.” +<p> +“That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is +quite distinctive.” +<p> +“I have come for advice.” +<p> +“That is easily got.” +<p> +“And help.” +<p> +“That is not always so easy.” +<p> +“I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast +how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal.” +<p> +“Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards.” +<p> +“He said that you could solve anything.” +<p> +“He said too much.” +<p> +“That you are never beaten.” +<p> +“I have been beaten four times—three times by men, and once by a +woman.” +<p> +“But what is that compared with the number of your successes?” +<p> +“It is true that I have been generally successful.” +<p> +“Then you may be so with me.” +<p> +“I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me +with some details as to your case.” +<p> +“It is no ordinary one.” +<p> +“None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of +appeal.” +<p> +“And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you +have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of +events than those which have happened in my own family.” +<p> +“You fill me with interest,” said Holmes. “Pray give us the +essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards +question you as to those details which seem to me to be most +important.” +<p> +The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out +towards the blaze. +<p> +“My name,” said he, “is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, +as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful +business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an +idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the +affair. +<p> +“You must know that my grandfather had two sons—my uncle Elias +and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, +which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He +was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business +met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire +upon a handsome competence. +<p> +“My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and +became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done +very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson’s army, +and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When +Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where +he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came +back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. +He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his +reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his +dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to +them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very +foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring +disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I +doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or +three fields round his house, and there he would take his +exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave +his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very +heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any +friends, not even his own brother. +<p> +“He didn’t mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the +time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This +would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years +in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he +was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be +fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would +make me his representative both with the servants and with the +tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite +master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I +liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in +his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he +had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was +invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or +anyone else to enter. With a boy’s curiosity I have peeped +through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a +collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such +a room. +<p> +“One day—it was in March, 1883—a letter with a foreign stamp +lay upon the table in front of the colonel’s plate. It was not a +common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all +paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. ‘From +India!’ said he as he took it up, ‘Pondicherry postmark! What can +this be?’ Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little +dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to +laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight +of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his +skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he +still held in his trembling hand, ‘K. K. K.!’ he shrieked, and +then, ‘My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!’ +<p> +“ ‘What is it, uncle?’ I cried. +<p> +“ ‘Death,’ said he, and rising from the table he retired to his +room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope +and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the +gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else +save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his +overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I +ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, +which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small +brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. +<p> +“ ‘They may do what they like, but I’ll checkmate them still,’ +said he with an oath. ‘Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my +room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.’ +<p> +“I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to +step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the +grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned +paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I +glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was +printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the +envelope. +<p> +“ ‘I wish you, John,’ said my uncle, ‘to witness my will. I leave +my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to +my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to +you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you +cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest +enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can’t +say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper +where Mr. Fordham shows you.’ +<p> +“I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with +him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest +impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every +way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I +could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left +behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed +and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I +could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, +and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his +time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the +inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy +and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a +revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, +and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by +man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would +rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, +like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror +which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen +his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it +were new raised from a basin. +<p> +“Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to +abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those +drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when +we went to search for him, face downward in a little +green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There +was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, +so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, +brought in a verdict of ‘suicide.’ But I, who knew how he winced +from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself +that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, +however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and +of some <i>£</i>14,000, which lay to his credit at the bank.” +<p> +“One moment,” Holmes interposed, “your statement is, I foresee, +one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me +have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and +the date of his supposed suicide.” +<p> +“The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks +later, upon the night of May 2nd.” +<p> +“Thank you. Pray proceed.” +<p> +“When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my +request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been +always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its +contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a +paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and +‘Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register’ written beneath. +These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had +been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was +nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many +scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle’s life in +America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had +done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. +Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern +states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had +evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag +politicians who had been sent down from the North. +<p> +“Well, it was the beginning of ’84 when my father came to live at +Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the +January of ’85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my +father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the +breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened +envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the +outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what +he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked +very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon +himself. +<p> +“ ‘Why, what on earth does this mean, John?’ he stammered. +<p> +“My heart had turned to lead. ‘It is K. K. K.,’ said I. +<p> +“He looked inside the envelope. ‘So it is,’ he cried. ‘Here are +the very letters. But what is this written above them?’ +<p> +“ ‘Put the papers on the sundial,’ I read, peeping over his +shoulder. +<p> +“ ‘What papers? What sundial?’ he asked. +<p> +“ ‘The sundial in the garden. There is no other,’ said I; ‘but the +papers must be those that are destroyed.’ +<p> +“ ‘Pooh!’ said he, gripping hard at his courage. ‘We are in a +civilised land here, and we can’t have tomfoolery of this kind. +Where does the thing come from?’ +<p> +“ ‘From Dundee,’ I answered, glancing at the postmark. +<p> +“ ‘Some preposterous practical joke,’ said he. ‘What have I to do +with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such +nonsense.’ +<p> +“ ‘I should certainly speak to the police,’ I said. +<p> +“ ‘And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.’ +<p> +“ ‘Then let me do so?’ +<p> +“ ‘No, I forbid you. I won’t have a fuss made about such +nonsense.’ +<p> +“It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate +man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of +forebodings. +<p> +“On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went +from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is +in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad +that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from +danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in +error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram +from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had +fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the +neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I +hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered +his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from +Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, +and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in +bringing in a verdict of ‘death from accidental causes.’ +Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I +was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of +murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no +robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. +And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, +and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been +woven round him. +<p> +“In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me +why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well +convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an +incident in my uncle’s life, and that the danger would be as +pressing in one house as in another. +<p> +“It was in January, ’85, that my poor father met his end, and two +years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time +I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that +this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended +with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, +however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in +which it had come upon my father.” +<p> +The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and +turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried +orange pips. +<p> +“This is the envelope,” he continued. “The postmark is +London—eastern division. Within are the very words which were +upon my father’s last message: ‘K. K. K.’; and then ‘Put the +papers on the sundial.’ ” +<p> +“What have you done?” asked Holmes. +<p> +“Nothing.” +<p> +“Nothing?” +<p> +“To tell the truth”—he sank his face into his thin, white +hands—“I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor +rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in +the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight +and no precautions can guard against.” +<p> +“Tut! tut!” cried Sherlock Holmes. “You must act, man, or you are +lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for +despair.” +<p> +“I have seen the police.” +<p> +“Ah!” +<p> +“But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that +the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all +practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really +accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with +the warnings.” +<p> +Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. “Incredible +imbecility!” he cried. +<p> +“They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in +the house with me.” +<p> +“Has he come with you to-night?” +<p> +“No. His orders were to stay in the house.” +<p> +Again Holmes raved in the air. +<p> +“Why did you come to me,” he cried, “and, above all, why did you +not come at once?” +<p> +“I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major +Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to +you.” +<p> +“It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have +acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than +that which you have placed before us—no suggestive detail which +might help us?” +<p> +“There is one thing,” said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat +pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted +paper, he laid it out upon the table. “I have some remembrance,” +said he, “that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I +observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the +ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet +upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it +may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from +among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond +the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think +myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is +undoubtedly my uncle’s.” +<p> +Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, +which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from +a book. It was headed, “March, 1869,” and beneath were the +following enigmatical notices: +<p> +“4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. +<p> +“7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and<p> John Swain, of St. +Augustine. +<p> +“9th. McCauley cleared. +<p> +“10th. John Swain cleared. +<p> +“12th. Visited Paramore. All well.” +<p> +“Thank you!” said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it +to our visitor. “And now you must on no account lose another +instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told +me. You must get home instantly and act.” +<p> +“What shall I do?” +<p> +“There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must +put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass +box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say +that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that +this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such +words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you +must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do +you understand?” +<p> +“Entirely.” +<p> +“Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I +think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our +web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first +consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens +you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the +guilty parties.” +<p> +“I thank you,” said the young man, rising and pulling on his +overcoat. “You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall +certainly do as you advise.” +<p> +“Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in +the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that +you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you +go back?” +<p> +“By train from Waterloo.” +<p> +“It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that +you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too +closely.” +<p> +“I am armed.” +<p> +“That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case.” +<p> +“I shall see you at Horsham, then?” +<p> +“No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek +it.” +<p> +“Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news +as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every +particular.” He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside +the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered +against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come +to us from amid the mad elements—blown in upon us like a sheet +of sea-weed in a gale—and now to have been reabsorbed by them +once more. +<p> +Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk +forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he +lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue +smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. +<p> +“I think, Watson,” he remarked at last, “that of all our cases we +have had none more fantastic than this.” +<p> +“Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four.” +<p> +“Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems +to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the +Sholtos.” +<p> +“But have you,” I asked, “formed any definite conception as to +what these perils are?” +<p> +“There can be no question as to their nature,” he answered. +<p> +“Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue +this unhappy family?” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the +arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. “The ideal +reasoner,” he remarked, “would, when he had once been shown a +single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the +chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which +would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole +animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who +has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents +should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both +before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the +reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study +which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the +aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest +pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to +utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this +in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all +knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and +encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so +impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge +which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have +endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one +occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits +in a very precise fashion.” +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, laughing. “It was a singular document. +Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I +remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the +mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry +eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime +records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and +self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the +main points of my analysis.” +<p> +Holmes grinned at the last item. “Well,” he said, “I say now, as +I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic +stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the +rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he +can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which +has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster +all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the +<i>American Encyclopaedia</i> which stands upon the shelf beside you. +Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be +deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong +presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for +leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their +habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for +the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love +of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of +someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis +that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from +America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by +considering the formidable letters which were received by himself +and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those +letters?” +<p> +“The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the +third from London.” +<p> +“From East London. What do you deduce from that?” +<p> +“They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship.” +<p> +“Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that +the probability—the strong probability—is that the writer was +on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the +case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and +its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. +Does that suggest anything?” +<p> +“A greater distance to travel.” +<p> +“But the letter had also a greater distance to come.” +<p> +“Then I do not see the point.” +<p> +“There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man +or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send +their singular warning or token before them when starting upon +their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign +when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a +steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. +But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those +seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which +brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the +writer.” +<p> +“It is possible.” +<p> +“More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly +urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to +caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which +it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one +comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay.” +<p> +“Good God!” I cried. “What can it mean, this relentless +persecution?” +<p> +“The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital +importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think +that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. +A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way +as to deceive a coroner’s jury. There must have been several in +it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. +Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. +In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an +individual and becomes the badge of a society.” +<p> +“But of what society?” +<p> +“Have you never—” said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and +sinking his voice—“have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?” +<p> +“I never have.” +<p> +Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. “Here it +is,” said he presently: +<p> +“ ‘Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to +the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret +society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the +Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local +branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, +Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was +used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of +the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country +of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually +preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic +but generally recognised shape—a sprig of oak-leaves in some +parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this +the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might +fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would +unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and +unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the +society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a +case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with +impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the +perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite +of the efforts of the United States government and of the better +classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year +1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have +been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.’ +<p> +“You will observe,” said Holmes, laying down the volume, “that +the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the +disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may +well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his +family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. +You can understand that this register and diary may implicate +some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many +who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered.” +<p> +“Then the page we have seen—” +<p> +“Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, ‘sent +the pips to A, B, and C’—that is, sent the society’s warning to +them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or +left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a +sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let +some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only +chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have +told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done +to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for +half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable +ways of our fellow men.” +<br><br> +<p> +It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a +subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the +great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came +down. +<p> +“You will excuse me for not waiting for you,” said he; “I have, I +foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of +young Openshaw’s.” +<p> +“What steps will you take?” I asked. +<p> +“It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. +I may have to go down to Horsham, after all.” +<p> +“You will not go there first?” +<p> +“No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the +maid will bring up your coffee.” +<p> +As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and +glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a +chill to my heart. +<p> +“Holmes,” I cried, “you are too late.” +<p> +“Ah!” said he, laying down his cup, “I feared as much. How was it +done?” He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. +<p> +“My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading ‘Tragedy +Near Waterloo Bridge.’ Here is the account: +<p> +“ ‘Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H +Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and +a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and +stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it +was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was +given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was +eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman +whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his +pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. +It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch +the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and +the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge +of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body +exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that +the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, +which should have the effect of calling the attention of the +authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages.’ ” +<p> +We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and +shaken than I had ever seen him. +<p> +“That hurts my pride, Watson,” he said at last. “It is a petty +feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal +matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my +hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that +I should send him away to his death—!” He sprang from his chair +and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a +flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and +unclasping of his long thin hands. +<p> +“They must be cunning devils,” he exclaimed at last. “How could +they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the +direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too +crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, +we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!” +<p> +“To the police?” +<p> +“No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may +take the flies, but not before.” +<p> +All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in +the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes +had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o’clock before he +entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, +and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, +washing it down with a long draught of water. +<p> +“You are hungry,” I remarked. +<p> +“Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since +breakfast.” +<p> +“Nothing?” +<p> +“Not a bite. I had no time to think of it.” +<p> +“And how have you succeeded?” +<p> +“Well.” +<p> +“You have a clue?” +<p> +“I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not +long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish +trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!” +<p> +“What do you mean?” +<p> +He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he +squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and +thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote +“S. H. for J. O.” Then he sealed it and addressed it to “Captain +James Calhoun, Barque <i>Lone Star</i>, Savannah, Georgia.” +<p> +“That will await him when he enters port,” said he, chuckling. +“It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a +precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him.” +<p> +“And who is this Captain Calhoun?” +<p> +“The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first.” +<p> +“How did you trace it, then?” +<p> +He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with +dates and names. +<p> +“I have spent the whole day,” said he, “over Lloyd’s registers +and files of the old papers, following the future career of every +vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in +’83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were +reported there during those months. Of these, one, the <i>Lone Star</i>, +instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported +as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to +one of the states of the Union.” +<p> +“Texas, I think.” +<p> +“I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must +have an American origin.” +<p> +“What then?” +<p> +“I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque +<i>Lone Star</i> was there in January, ’85, my suspicion became a +certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present +in the port of London.” +<p> +“Yes?” +<p> +“The <i>Lone Star</i> had arrived here last week. I went down to the +Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by +the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired +to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and +as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the +Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight.” +<p> +“What will you do, then?” +<p> +“Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I +learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are +Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away +from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has +been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship +reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and +the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these +three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder.” +<p> +There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, +and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the +orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as +resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very +severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for +news of the <i>Lone Star</i> of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We +did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a +shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough +of a wave, with the letters “L. S.” carved upon it, and that is +all which we shall ever know of the fate of the <i>Lone Star</i>. +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="6">ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">I</font>sa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal +of the Theological College of St. George’s, was much addicted to +opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some +foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De +Quincey’s description of his dreams and sensations, he had +drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the +same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the +practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many +years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of +mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see +him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point +pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble +man. +<p> +One night—it was in June, ’89—there came a ring to my bell, +about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the +clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work +down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. +<p> +“A patient!” said she. “You’ll have to go out.” +<p> +I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. +<p> +We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps +upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in +some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. +<p> +“You will excuse my calling so late,” she began, and then, +suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms +about my wife’s neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. “Oh, I’m in +such trouble!” she cried; “I do so want a little help.” +<p> +“Why,” said my wife, pulling up her veil, “it is Kate Whitney. +How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when +you came in.” +<p> +“I didn’t know what to do, so I came straight to you.” That was +always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds +to a light-house. +<p> +“It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine +and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or +should you rather that I sent James off to bed?” +<p> +“Oh, no, no! I want the doctor’s advice and help, too. It’s about +Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about +him!” +<p> +It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her +husband’s trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend +and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words +as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it +possible that we could bring him back to her? +<p> +It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late +he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the +farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been +confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and +shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him +eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the +dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the +effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar +of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could +she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and +pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? +<p> +There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of +it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second +thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney’s medical +adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it +better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would +send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the +address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left +my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding +eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at +the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to +be. +<p> +But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my +adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the +high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east +of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached +by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the +mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. +Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in +the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the +light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch +and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the +brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the +forecastle of an emigrant ship. +<p> +Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying +in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads +thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a +dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black +shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, +now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of +the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to +themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, +monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then +suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own +thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At +the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside +which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old +man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon +his knees, staring into the fire. +<p> +As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe +for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. +<p> +“Thank you. I have not come to stay,” said I. “There is a friend +of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him.” +<p> +There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and +peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and +unkempt, staring out at me. +<p> +“My God! It’s Watson,” said he. He was in a pitiable state of +reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. “I say, Watson, what +o’clock is it?” +<p> +“Nearly eleven.” +<p> +“Of what day?” +<p> +“Of Friday, June 19th.” +<p> +“Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What +d’you want to frighten a chap for?” He sank his face onto his +arms and began to sob in a high treble key. +<p> +“I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting +this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!” +<p> +“So I am. But you’ve got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here +a few hours, three pipes, four pipes—I forget how many. But I’ll +go home with you. I wouldn’t frighten Kate—poor little Kate. +Give me your hand! Have you a cab?” +<p> +“Yes, I have one waiting.” +<p> +“Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I +owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself.” +<p> +I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of +sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying +fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed +the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my +skirt, and a low voice whispered, “Walk past me, and then look +back at me.” The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I +glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my +side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very +wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between +his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his +fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my +self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of +astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him +but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull +eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and +grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He +made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he +turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided +into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. +<p> +“Holmes!” I whispered, “what on earth are you doing in this den?” +<p> +“As low as you can,” he answered; “I have excellent ears. If you +would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend +of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with +you.” +<p> +“I have a cab outside.” +<p> +“Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he +appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should +recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to +say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait +outside, I shall be with you in five minutes.” +<p> +It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes’ requests, for +they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with +such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney +was once confined in the cab my mission was practically +accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better +than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular +adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a +few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney’s bill, led him +out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a +very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, +and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two +streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. +Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and +burst into a hearty fit of laughter. +<p> +“I suppose, Watson,” said he, “that you imagine that I have added +opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little +weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical +views.” +<p> +“I was certainly surprised to find you there.” +<p> +“But not more so than I to find you.” +<p> +“I came to find a friend.” +<p> +“And I to find an enemy.” +<p> +“An enemy?” +<p> +“Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural +prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable +inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent +ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been +recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an +hour’s purchase; for I have used it before now for my own +purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have +vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that +building, near the corner of Paul’s Wharf, which could tell some +strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless +nights.” +<p> +“What! You do not mean bodies?” +<p> +“Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had <i>£</i>1000 +for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It +is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that +Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our +trap should be here.” He put his two forefingers between his +teeth and whistled shrilly—a signal which was answered by a +similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle +of wheels and the clink of horses’ hoofs. +<p> +“Now, Watson,” said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through +the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from +its side lanterns. “You’ll come with me, won’t you?” +<p> +“If I can be of use.” +<p> +“Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still +more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one.” +<p> +“The Cedars?” +<p> +“Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair’s house. I am staying there while I +conduct the inquiry.” +<p> +“Where is it, then?” +<p> +“Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us.” +<p> +“But I am all in the dark.” +<p> +“Of course you are. You’ll know all about it presently. Jump up +here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here’s half a +crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her +head. So long, then!” +<p> +He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through +the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which +widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad +balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly +beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and +mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of +the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of +revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a +star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of +the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his +breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat +beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which +seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in +upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, +and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban +villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up +his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he +is acting for the best. +<p> +“You have a grand gift of silence, Watson,” said he. “It makes +you quite invaluable as a companion. ’Pon my word, it is a great +thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are +not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear +little woman to-night when she meets me at the door.” +<p> +“You forget that I know nothing about it.” +<p> +“I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before +we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can +get nothing to go upon. There’s plenty of thread, no doubt, but I +can’t get the end of it into my hand. Now, I’ll state the case +clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a +spark where all is dark to me.” +<p> +“Proceed, then.” +<p> +“Some years ago—to be definite, in May, 1884—there came to Lee +a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have +plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very +nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made +friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter +of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no +occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into +town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon +Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of +age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very +affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know +him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far +as we have been able to ascertain, amount to <i>£</i>88 10<i>s</i>., while +he has <i>£</i>220 standing to his credit in the Capital and +Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money +troubles have been weighing upon his mind. +<p> +“Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier +than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important +commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy +home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife +received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his +departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable +value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the +offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up +in your London, you will know that the office of the company is +in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where +you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for +the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company’s office, +got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through +Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me +so far?” +<p> +“It is very clear.” +<p> +“If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. +Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, +as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. +While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly +heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her +husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning +to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she +distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly +agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then +vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that +he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. +One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that +although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town +in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. +<p> +“Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the +steps—for the house was none other than the opium den in which +you found me to-night—and running through the front room she +attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At +the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of +whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who +acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled +with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the +lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of +constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The +inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the +continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to +the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no +sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was +no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, +it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly +swore that no one else had been in the front room during the +afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was +staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had +been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box +which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell +a cascade of children’s bricks. It was the toy which he had +promised to bring home. +<p> +“This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple +showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. +The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an +abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a +sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon +the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom +window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered +at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The +bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On +examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, +and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of +the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were +all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of +his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch—all were +there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these +garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. +Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no +other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon +the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by +swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of +the tragedy. +<p> +“And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately +implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the +vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair’s story, he was +known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few +seconds of her husband’s appearance at the window, he could +hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence +was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no +knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he +could not account in any way for the presence of the missing +gentleman’s clothes. +<p> +“So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who +lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was +certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. +Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which +is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a +professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police +regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some +little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand +side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the +wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, +cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he +is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the +greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I +have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of +making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised +at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His +appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him +without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face +disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has +turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a +pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular +contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid +the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he +is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be +thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now +learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been +the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest.” +<p> +“But a cripple!” said I. “What could he have done single-handed +against a man in the prime of life?” +<p> +“He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in +other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. +Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that +weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional +strength in the others.” +<p> +“Pray continue your narrative.” +<p> +“Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the +window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her +presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. +Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful +examination of the premises, but without finding anything which +threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not +arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes +during which he might have communicated with his friend the +Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and +searched, without anything being found which could incriminate +him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right +shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been +cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from +there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and +that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from +the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. +Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in +his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to +Mrs. St. Clair’s assertion that she had actually seen her husband +at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or +dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the +police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in +the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. +<p> +“And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they +had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair’s coat, and not +Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And +what do you think they found in the pockets?” +<p> +“I cannot imagine.” +<p> +“No, I don’t think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with +pennies and half-pennies—421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It +was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a +human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between +the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the +weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked +away into the river.” +<p> +“But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the +room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?” +<p> +“No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose +that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the +window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. +What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him +that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize +the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it +would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little +time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried +to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his +Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. +There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret +hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he +stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the +pockets to make sure of the coat’s sinking. He throws it out, and +would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard +the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the +window when the police appeared.” +<p> +“It certainly sounds feasible.” +<p> +“Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a +better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the +station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before +been anything against him. He had for years been known as a +professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very +quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and +the questions which have to be solved—what Neville St. Clair was +doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is +he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance—are +all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot +recall any case within my experience which looked at the first +glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties.” +<p> +While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of +events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great +town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and +we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. +Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered +villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. +<p> +“We are on the outskirts of Lee,” said my companion. “We have +touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in +Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. +See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside +that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have +little doubt, caught the clink of our horse’s feet.” +<p> +“But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?” I +asked. +<p> +“Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. +Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and +you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for +my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have +no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!” +<p> +We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its +own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse’s head, and +springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding +gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door +flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad +in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy +pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure +outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one +half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head +and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing +question. +<p> +“Well?” she cried, “well?” And then, seeing that there were two +of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw +that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. +<p> +“No good news?” +<p> +“None.” +<p> +“No bad?” +<p> +“No.” +<p> +“Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have +had a long day.” +<p> +“This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to +me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it +possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this +investigation.” +<p> +“I am delighted to see you,” said she, pressing my hand warmly. +“You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our +arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so +suddenly upon us.” +<p> +“My dear madam,” said I, “I am an old campaigner, and if I were +not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of +any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be +indeed happy.” +<p> +“Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said the lady as we entered a +well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had +been laid out, “I should very much like to ask you one or two +plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain +answer.” +<p> +“Certainly, madam.” +<p> +“Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given +to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion.” +<p> +“Upon what point?” +<p> +“In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. +“Frankly, now!” she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking +keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. +<p> +“Frankly, then, madam, I do not.” +<p> +“You think that he is dead?” +<p> +“I do.” +<p> +“Murdered?” +<p> +“I don’t say that. Perhaps.” +<p> +“And on what day did he meet his death?” +<p> +“On Monday.” +<p> +“Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how +it is that I have received a letter from him to-day.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been +galvanised. +<p> +“What!” he roared. +<p> +“Yes, to-day.” She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of +paper in the air. +<p> +“May I see it?” +<p> +“Certainly.” +<p> +He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out +upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I +had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The +envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend +postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day +before, for it was considerably after midnight. +<p> +“Coarse writing,” murmured Holmes. “Surely this is not your +husband’s writing, madam.” +<p> +“No, but the enclosure is.” +<p> +“I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go +and inquire as to the address.” +<p> +“How can you tell that?” +<p> +“The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried +itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that +blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight +off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This +man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before +he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not +familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is +nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! +there has been an enclosure here!” +<p> +“Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring.” +<p> +“And you are sure that this is your husband’s hand?” +<p> +“One of his hands.” +<p> +“One?” +<p> +“His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual +writing, and yet I know it well.” +<p> +“ ‘Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a +huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. +Wait in patience.—NEVILLE.’ Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf +of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in +Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been +gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been +chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband’s +hand, madam?” +<p> +“None. Neville wrote those words.” +<p> +“And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, +the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the +danger is over.” +<p> +“But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes.” +<p> +“Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. +The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from +him.” +<p> +“No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!” +<p> +“Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only +posted to-day.” +<p> +“That is possible.” +<p> +“If so, much may have happened between.” +<p> +“Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is +well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I +should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him +last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room +rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that +something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such +a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?” +<p> +“I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman +may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical +reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong +piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband +is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away +from you?” +<p> +“I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable.” +<p> +“And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?” +<p> +“No.” +<p> +“And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?” +<p> +“Very much so.” +<p> +“Was the window open?” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“Then he might have called to you?” +<p> +“He might.” +<p> +“He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“A call for help, you thought?” +<p> +“Yes. He waved his hands.” +<p> +“But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the +unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?” +<p> +“It is possible.” +<p> +“And you thought he was pulled back?” +<p> +“He disappeared so suddenly.” +<p> +“He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the +room?” +<p> +“No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and +the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs.” +<p> +“Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his +ordinary clothes on?” +<p> +“But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare +throat.” +<p> +“Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?” +<p> +“Never.” +<p> +“Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?” +<p> +“Never.” +<p> +“Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about +which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little +supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day +to-morrow.” +<p> +A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our +disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary +after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, +who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for +days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, +rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view +until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his +data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now +preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and +waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered +about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from +the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of +Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with +an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front +of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an +old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the +corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, +silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set +aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he +sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found +the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still +between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was +full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of +shag which I had seen upon the previous night. +<p> +“Awake, Watson?” he asked. +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“Game for a morning drive?” +<p> +“Certainly.” +<p> +“Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the +stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out.” He +chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed +a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. +<p> +As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one +was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly +finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was +putting in the horse. +<p> +“I want to test a little theory of mine,” said he, pulling on his +boots. “I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the +presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve +to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the +key of the affair now.” +<p> +“And where is it?” I asked, smiling. +<p> +“In the bathroom,” he answered. “Oh, yes, I am not joking,” he +continued, seeing my look of incredulity. “I have just been +there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this +Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will +not fit the lock.” +<p> +We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into +the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and +trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both +sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country +carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but +the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as +some city in a dream. +<p> +“It has been in some points a singular case,” said Holmes, +flicking the horse on into a gallop. “I confess that I have been +as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than +never to learn it at all.” +<p> +In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily +from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey +side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the +river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the +right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well +known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted +him. One of them held the horse’s head while the other led us in. +<p> +“Who is on duty?” asked Holmes. +<p> +“Inspector Bradstreet, sir.” +<p> +“Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?” A tall, stout official had come +down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged +jacket. “I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet.” +“Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here.” It was a small, +office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a +telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his +desk. +<p> +“What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?” +<p> +“I called about that beggarman, Boone—the one who was charged +with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. +Clair, of Lee.” +<p> +“Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries.” +<p> +“So I heard. You have him here?” +<p> +“In the cells.” +<p> +“Is he quiet?” +<p> +“Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel.” +<p> +“Dirty?” +<p> +“Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his +face is as black as a tinker’s. Well, when once his case has been +settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you +saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it.” +<p> +“I should like to see him very much.” +<p> +“Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave +your bag.” +<p> +“No, I think that I’ll take it.” +<p> +“Very good. Come this way, if you please.” He led us down a +passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and +brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each +side. +<p> +“The third on the right is his,” said the inspector. “Here it +is!” He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door +and glanced through. +<p> +“He is asleep,” said he. “You can see him very well.” +<p> +We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his +face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and +heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his +calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his +tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely +dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its +repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right +across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up +one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a +perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over +his eyes and forehead. +<p> +“He’s a beauty, isn’t he?” said the inspector. +<p> +“He certainly needs a wash,” remarked Holmes. “I had an idea that +he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me.” +He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my +astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. +<p> +“He! he! You are a funny one,” chuckled the inspector. +<p> +“Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very +quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable +figure.” +<p> +“Well, I don’t know why not,” said the inspector. “He doesn’t +look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?” He slipped his +key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The +sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep +slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, +and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the +prisoner’s face. +<p> +“Let me introduce you,” he shouted, “to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of +Lee, in the county of Kent.” +<p> +Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man’s face peeled +off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the +coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had +seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the +repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled +red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, +sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, +rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. +Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and +threw himself down with his face to the pillow. +<p> +“Great heavens!” cried the inspector, “it is, indeed, the missing +man. I know him from the photograph.” +<p> +The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons +himself to his destiny. “Be it so,” said he. “And pray what am I +charged with?” +<p> +“With making away with Mr. Neville St.— Oh, come, you can’t be +charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of +it,” said the inspector with a grin. “Well, I have been +twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake.” +<p> +“If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime +has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally +detained.” +<p> +“No crime, but a very great error has been committed,” said +Holmes. “You would have done better to have trusted your wife.” +<p> +“It was not the wife; it was the children,” groaned the prisoner. +“God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My +God! What an exposure! What can I do?” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him +kindly on the shoulder. +<p> +“If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up,” said +he, “of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, +if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible +case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the +details should find their way into the papers. Inspector +Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you +might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case +would then never go into court at all.” +<p> +“God bless you!” cried the prisoner passionately. “I would have +endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left +my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. +<p> +“You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a +schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent +education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and +finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day +my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the +metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point +from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying +begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to +base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the +secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for +my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my +face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good +scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a +small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of +hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business +part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a +beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned +home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no +less than 26<i>s</i>. 4<i>d</i>. +<p> +“I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, +some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ +served upon me for <i>£</i>25. I was at my wit’s end where to get +the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight’s +grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, +and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In +ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. +<p> +“Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous +work at <i>£</i>2 a week when I knew that I could earn as much in +a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on +the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my +pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up +reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first +chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets +with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a +low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could +every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings +transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, +a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that +my secret was safe in his possession. +<p> +“Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of +money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London +could earn <i>£</i>700 a year—which is less than my average +takings—but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making +up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by +practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. +All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, +and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take <i>£</i>2. +<p> +“As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the +country, and eventually married, without anyone having a +suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had +business in the City. She little knew what. +<p> +“Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my +room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, +to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the +street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of +surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my +confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from +coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that +she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on +those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife’s +eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it +occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that +the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening +by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in +the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was +weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from +the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of +the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes +would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of +constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, +I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. +Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. +<p> +“I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I +was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and +hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would +be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the +Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together +with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to +fear.” +<p> +“That note only reached her yesterday,” said Holmes. +<p> +“Good God! What a week she must have spent!” +<p> +“The police have watched this Lascar,” said Inspector Bradstreet, +“and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to +post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor +customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days.” +<p> +“That was it,” said Holmes, nodding approvingly; “I have no doubt +of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?” +<p> +“Many times; but what was a fine to me?” +<p> +“It must stop here, however,” said Bradstreet. “If the police are +to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone.” +<p> +“I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take.” +<p> +“In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps +may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. +I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for +having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your +results.” +<p> +“I reached this one,” said my friend, “by sitting upon five +pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if +we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast.” +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="7">VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">I</font> had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second +morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the +compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a +purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the +right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly +studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and +on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable +hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several +places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair +suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the +purpose of examination. +<p> +“You are engaged,” said I; “perhaps I interrupt you.” +<p> +“Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss +my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one”—he jerked his +thumb in the direction of the old hat—“but there are points in +connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and +even of instruction.” +<p> +I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his +crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows +were thick with the ice crystals. “I suppose,” I remarked, “that, +homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to +it—that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of +some mystery and the punishment of some crime.” +<p> +“No, no. No crime,” said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. “Only one of +those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have +four million human beings all jostling each other within the +space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so +dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events +may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be +presented which may be striking and bizarre without being +criminal. We have already had experience of such.” +<p> +“So much so,” I remarked, “that of the last six cases which I +have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any +legal crime.” +<p> +“Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler +papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the +adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt +that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. +You know Peterson, the commissionaire?” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“It is to him that this trophy belongs.” +<p> +“It is his hat.” +<p> +“No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will +look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual +problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon +Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I +have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson’s +fire. The facts are these: about four o’clock on Christmas +morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was +returning from some small jollification and was making his way +homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in +the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and +carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the +corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger +and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the +man’s hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, +swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. +Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his +assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and +seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, +dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the +labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham +Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of +Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of +battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this +battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose.” +<p> +“Which surely he restored to their owner?” +<p> +“My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that ‘For +Mrs. Henry Baker’ was printed upon a small card which was tied to +the bird’s left leg, and it is also true that the initials ‘H. +B.’ are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are +some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in +this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any +one of them.” +<p> +“What, then, did Peterson do?” +<p> +“He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, +knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. +The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs +that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it +should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried +it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, +while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who +lost his Christmas dinner.” +<p> +“Did he not advertise?” +<p> +“No.” +<p> +“Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?” +<p> +“Only as much as we can deduce.” +<p> +“From his hat?” +<p> +“Precisely.” +<p> +“But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered +felt?” +<p> +“Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather +yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this +article?” +<p> +I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather +ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round +shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of +red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker’s +name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials “H. B.” were +scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a +hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was +cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, +although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the +discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. +<p> +“I can see nothing,” said I, handing it back to my friend. +<p> +“On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, +however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in +drawing your inferences.” +<p> +“Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?” +<p> +He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective +fashion which was characteristic of him. “It is perhaps less +suggestive than it might have been,” he remarked, “and yet there +are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others +which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That +the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the +face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the +last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He +had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a +moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his +fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, +at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that +his wife has ceased to love him.” +<p> +“My dear Holmes!” +<p> +“He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect,” he +continued, disregarding my remonstrance. “He is a man who leads a +sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is +middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the +last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are +the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, +by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid +on in his house.” +<p> +“You are certainly joking, Holmes.” +<p> +“Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you +these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?” +<p> +“I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I +am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that +this man was intellectual?” +<p> +For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right +over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. “It is +a question of cubic capacity,” said he; “a man with so large a +brain must have something in it.” +<p> +“The decline of his fortunes, then?” +<p> +“This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge +came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the +band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could +afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no +hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world.” +<p> +“Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the +foresight and the moral retrogression?” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes laughed. “Here is the foresight,” said he putting +his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. +“They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a +sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his +way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see +that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace +it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, +which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other +hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the +felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not +entirely lost his self-respect.” +<p> +“Your reasoning is certainly plausible.” +<p> +“The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is +grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses +lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the +lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of +hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all +appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of +lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey +dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, +showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while +the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the +wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in +the best of training.” +<p> +“But his wife—you said that she had ceased to love him.” +<p> +“This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear +Watson, with a week’s accumulation of dust upon your hat, and +when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear +that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife’s +affection.” +<p> +“But he might be a bachelor.” +<p> +“Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his +wife. Remember the card upon the bird’s leg.” +<p> +“You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce +that the gas is not laid on in his house?” +<p> +“One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I +see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt +that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with +burning tallow—walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in +one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never +got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?” +<p> +“Well, it is very ingenious,” said I, laughing; “but since, as +you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm +done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a +waste of energy.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew +open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment +with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with +astonishment. +<p> +“The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!” he gasped. +<p> +“Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off +through the kitchen window?” Holmes twisted himself round upon +the sofa to get a fairer view of the man’s excited face. +<p> +“See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!” He held out +his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly +scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but +of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric +point in the dark hollow of his hand. +<p> +Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. “By Jove, Peterson!” said +he, “this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you +have got?” +<p> +“A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though +it were putty.” +<p> +“It’s more than a precious stone. It is <i>the</i> precious stone.” +<p> +“Not the Countess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle!” I ejaculated. +<p> +“Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I +have read the advertisement about it in <i>The Times</i> every day +lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be +conjectured, but the reward offered of <i>£</i>1000 is certainly +not within a twentieth part of the market price.” +<p> +“A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!” The commissionaire +plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. +<p> +“That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are +sentimental considerations in the background which would induce +the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but +recover the gem.” +<p> +“It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan,” I +remarked. +<p> +“Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, +a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady’s +jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case +has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the +matter here, I believe.” He rummaged amid his newspapers, +glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, +doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: +<p> +“Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was +brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., +abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the +valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, +upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect +that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess +of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might +solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had +remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been +called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, +that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco +casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was +accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the +dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was +arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found +either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to +the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder’s cry of dismay on +discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, +where she found matters as described by the last witness. +Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest +of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence +in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for +robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate +refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to +the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion +during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was +carried out of court.” +<p> +“Hum! So much for the police-court,” said Holmes thoughtfully, +tossing aside the paper. “The question for us now to solve is the +sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to +the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You +see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much +more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the +stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry +Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other +characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set +ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and +ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To +do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie +undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If +this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods.” +<p> +“What will you say?” +<p> +“Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: ‘Found at +the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. +Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at +221B, Baker Street.’ That is clear and concise.” +<p> +“Very. But will he see it?” +<p> +“Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor +man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his +mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson +that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must +have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his +bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to +see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to +it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency +and have this put in the evening papers.” +<p> +“In which, sir?” +<p> +“Oh, in the <i>Globe</i>, <i>Star</i>, <i>Pall Mall</i>, <i>St. James’s</i>, <i>Evening News</i>, +<i>Standard</i>, <i>Echo</i>, and any others that occur to you.” +<p> +“Very well, sir. And this stone?” +<p> +“Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, +Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here +with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place +of the one which your family is now devouring.” +<p> +When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and +held it against the light. “It’s a bonny thing,” said he. “Just +see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and +focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil’s pet +baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a +bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found +in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable +in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is +blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has +already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a +vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about +for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. +Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the +gallows and the prison? I’ll lock it up in my strong box now and +drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it.” +<p> +“Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?” +<p> +“I cannot tell.” +<p> +“Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had +anything to do with the matter?” +<p> +“It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an +absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he +was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made +of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple +test if we have an answer to our advertisement.” +<p> +“And you can do nothing until then?” +<p> +“Nothing.” +<p> +“In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall +come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I +should like to see the solution of so tangled a business.” +<p> +“Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I +believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I +ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop.” +<p> +I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past +six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I +approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a +coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the +bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I +arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to +Holmes’ room. +<p> +“Mr. Henry Baker, I believe,” said he, rising from his armchair +and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he +could so readily assume. “Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. +Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is +more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have +just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?” +<p> +“Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat.” +<p> +He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a +broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of +grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight +tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes’ surmise as to his +habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in +front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded +from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a +slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the +impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had +ill-usage at the hands of fortune. +<p> +“We have retained these things for some days,” said Holmes, +“because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your +address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise.” +<p> +Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. “Shillings have not +been so plentiful with me as they once were,” he remarked. “I had +no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off +both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a +hopeless attempt at recovering them.” +<p> +“Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to +eat it.” +<p> +“To eat it!” Our visitor half rose from his chair in his +excitement. +<p> +“Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. +But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is +about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your +purpose equally well?” +<p> +“Oh, certainly, certainly,” answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of +relief. +<p> +“Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of +your own bird, so if you wish—” +<p> +The man burst into a hearty laugh. “They might be useful to me as +relics of my adventure,” said he, “but beyond that I can hardly +see what use the <i>disjecta membra</i> of my late acquaintance are +going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I +will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive +upon the sideboard.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug +of his shoulders. +<p> +“There is your hat, then, and there your bird,” said he. “By the +way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one +from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a +better grown goose.” +<p> +“Certainly, sir,” said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly +gained property under his arm. “There are a few of us who +frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum—we are to be found in +the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our +good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, +on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to +receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the +rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a +Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity.” With +a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and +strode off upon his way. +<p> +“So much for Mr. Henry Baker,” said Holmes when he had closed the +door behind him. “It is quite certain that he knows nothing +whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?” +<p> +“Not particularly.” +<p> +“Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow +up this clue while it is still hot.” +<p> +“By all means.” +<p> +It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped +cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly +in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out +into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out +crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors’ quarter, +Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into +Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at +the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one +of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open +the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from +the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. +<p> +“Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese,” +said he. +<p> +“My geese!” The man seemed surprised. +<p> +“Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, +who was a member of your goose club.” +<p> +“Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them’s not <i>our</i> geese.” +<p> +“Indeed! Whose, then?” +<p> +“Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden.” +<p> +“Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?” +<p> +“Breckinridge is his name.” +<p> +“Ah! I don’t know him. Well, here’s your good health landlord, +and prosperity to your house. Good-night.” +<p> +“Now for Mr. Breckinridge,” he continued, buttoning up his coat +as we came out into the frosty air. “Remember, Watson that though +we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we +have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years’ penal +servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible +that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we +have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, +and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us +follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and +quick march!” +<p> +We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a +zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest +stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor +a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was +helping a boy to put up the shutters. +<p> +“Good-evening. It’s a cold night,” said Holmes. +<p> +The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my +companion. +<p> +“Sold out of geese, I see,” continued Holmes, pointing at the +bare slabs of marble. +<p> +“Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning.” +<p> +“That’s no good.” +<p> +“Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare.” +<p> +“Ah, but I was recommended to you.” +<p> +“Who by?” +<p> +“The landlord of the Alpha.” +<p> +“Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen.” +<p> +“Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?” +<p> +To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the +salesman. +<p> +“Now, then, mister,” said he, with his head cocked and his arms +akimbo, “what are you driving at? Let’s have it straight, now.” +<p> +“It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the +geese which you supplied to the Alpha.” +<p> +“Well then, I shan’t tell you. So now!” +<p> +“Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don’t know why you +should be so warm over such a trifle.” +<p> +“Warm! You’d be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. +When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end +of the business; but it’s ‘Where are the geese?’ and ‘Who did you +sell the geese to?’ and ‘What will you take for the geese?’ One +would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the +fuss that is made over them.” +<p> +“Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been +making inquiries,” said Holmes carelessly. “If you won’t tell us +the bet is off, that is all. But I’m always ready to back my +opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the +bird I ate is country bred.” +<p> +“Well, then, you’ve lost your fiver, for it’s town bred,” snapped +the salesman. +<p> +“It’s nothing of the kind.” +<p> +“I say it is.” +<p> +“I don’t believe it.” +<p> +“D’you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled +them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that +went to the Alpha were town bred.” +<p> +“You’ll never persuade me to believe that.” +<p> +“Will you bet, then?” +<p> +“It’s merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But +I’ll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be +obstinate.” +<p> +The salesman chuckled grimly. “Bring me the books, Bill,” said +he. +<p> +The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great +greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging +lamp. +<p> +“Now then, Mr. Cocksure,” said the salesman, “I thought that I +was out of geese, but before I finish you’ll find that there is +still one left in my shop. You see this little book?” +<p> +“Well?” +<p> +“That’s the list of the folk from whom I buy. D’you see? Well, +then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers +after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. +Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a +list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just +read it out to me.” +<p> +“Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road—249,” read Holmes. +<p> +“Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger.” +<p> +Holmes turned to the page indicated. “Here you are, ‘Mrs. +Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.’ ” +<p> +“Now, then, what’s the last entry?” +<p> +“ ‘December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>.’ ” +<p> +“Quite so. There you are. And underneath?” +<p> +“ ‘Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12<i>s</i>.’ ” +<p> +“What have you to say now?” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from +his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the +air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off +he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless +fashion which was peculiar to him. +<p> +“When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the ‘Pink ’un’ +protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet,” +said he. “I daresay that if I had put <i>£</i>100 down in front of +him, that man would not have given me such complete information +as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a +wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our +quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is +whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or +whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what +that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves +who are anxious about the matter, and I should—” +<p> +His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke +out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a +little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of +yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while +Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was +shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. +<p> +“I’ve had enough of you and your geese,” he shouted. “I wish you +were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more +with your silly talk I’ll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. +Oakshott here and I’ll answer her, but what have you to do with +it? Did I buy the geese off you?” +<p> +“No; but one of them was mine all the same,” whined the little +man. +<p> +“Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it.” +<p> +“She told me to ask you.” +<p> +“Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I’ve had +enough of it. Get out of this!” He rushed fiercely forward, and +the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. +<p> +“Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road,” whispered Holmes. +“Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this +fellow.” Striding through the scattered knots of people who +lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook +the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang +round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of +colour had been driven from his face. +<p> +“Who are you, then? What do you want?” he asked in a quavering +voice. +<p> +“You will excuse me,” said Holmes blandly, “but I could not help +overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. +I think that I could be of assistance to you.” +<p> +“You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?” +<p> +“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other +people don’t know.” +<p> +“But you can know nothing of this?” +<p> +“Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to +trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton +Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. +Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. +Henry Baker is a member.” +<p> +“Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet,” cried +the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. +“I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. “In that +case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this +wind-swept market-place,” said he. “But pray tell me, before we +go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting.” +<p> +The man hesitated for an instant. “My name is John Robinson,” he +answered with a sidelong glance. +<p> +“No, no; the real name,” said Holmes sweetly. “It is always +awkward doing business with an alias.” +<p> +A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. “Well then,” +said he, “my real name is James Ryder.” +<p> +“Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray +step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you +everything which you would wish to know.” +<p> +The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with +half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure +whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. +Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in +the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during +our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and +the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous +tension within him. +<p> +“Here we are!” said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. +“The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, +Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my +slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! +You want to know what became of those geese?” +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +<p> +“Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in +which you were interested—white, with a black bar across the +tail.” +<p> +Ryder quivered with emotion. “Oh, sir,” he cried, “can you tell +me where it went to?” +<p> +“It came here.” +<p> +“Here?” +<p> +“Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don’t wonder that +you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was +dead—the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. +I have it here in my museum.” +<p> +Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece +with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up +the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, +brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a +drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. +<p> +“The game’s up, Ryder,” said Holmes quietly. “Hold up, man, or +you’ll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, +Watson. He’s not got blood enough to go in for felony with +impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little +more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!” +<p> +For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy +brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring +with frightened eyes at his accuser. +<p> +“I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I +could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. +Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case +complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the +Countess of Morcar’s?” +<p> +“It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it,” said he in a +crackling voice. +<p> +“I see—her ladyship’s waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of +sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has +been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous +in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the +making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man +Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter +before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. +What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady’s +room—you and your confederate Cusack—and you managed that he +should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled +the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man +arrested. You then—” +<p> +Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my +companion’s knees. “For God’s sake, have mercy!” he shrieked. +“Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I +never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I’ll +swear it on a Bible. Oh, don’t bring it into court! For Christ’s +sake, don’t!” +<p> +“Get back into your chair!” said Holmes sternly. “It is very well +to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this +poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing.” +<p> +“I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the +charge against him will break down.” +<p> +“Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account +of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came +the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies +your only hope of safety.” +<p> +Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. “I will tell you +it just as it happened, sir,” said he. “When Horner had been +arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get +away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment +the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my +room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. +I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister’s +house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton +Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there +every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; +and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down +my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me +what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I +had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went +into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would +be best to do. +<p> +“I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and +has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met +me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they +could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to +me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind +to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my +confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. +But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had +gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be +seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat +pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at +the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly +an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the +best detective that ever lived. +<p> +“My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the +pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she +was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in +it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in +the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds—a fine big +one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill +open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger +could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass +along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped +and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the +matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and +fluttered off among the others. +<p> +“ ‘Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?’ says she. +<p> +“ ‘Well,’ said I, ‘you said you’d give me one for Christmas, and I +was feeling which was the fattest.’ +<p> +“ ‘Oh,’ says she, ‘we’ve set yours aside for you—Jem’s bird, we +call it. It’s the big white one over yonder. There’s twenty-six +of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen +for the market.’ +<p> +“ ‘Thank you, Maggie,’ says I; ‘but if it is all the same to you, +I’d rather have that one I was handling just now.’ +<p> +“ ‘The other is a good three pound heavier,’ said she, ‘and we +fattened it expressly for you.’ +<p> +“ ‘Never mind. I’ll have the other, and I’ll take it now,’ said I. +<p> +“ ‘Oh, just as you like,’ said she, a little huffed. ‘Which is it +you want, then?’ +<p> +“ ‘That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the +flock.’ +<p> +“ ‘Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.’ +<p> +“Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird +all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was +a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed +until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My +heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I +knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, +rushed back to my sister’s, and hurried into the back yard. There +was not a bird to be seen there. +<p> +“ ‘Where are they all, Maggie?’ I cried. +<p> +“ ‘Gone to the dealer’s, Jem.’ +<p> +“ ‘Which dealer’s?’ +<p> +“ ‘Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.’ +<p> +“ ‘But was there another with a barred tail?’ I asked, ‘the same +as the one I chose?’ +<p> +“ ‘Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never +tell them apart.’ +<p> +“Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my +feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the +lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they +had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always +answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. +Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now—and now I am myself +a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which +I sold my character. God help me! God help me!” He burst into +convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. +<p> +There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and +by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes’ finger-tips upon the +edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. +<p> +“Get out!” said he. +<p> +“What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!” +<p> +“No more words. Get out!” +<p> +And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon +the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running +footfalls from the street. +<p> +“After all, Watson,” said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his +clay pipe, “I am not retained by the police to supply their +deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; +but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must +collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just +possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong +again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and +you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of +forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and +whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you +will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin +another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief +feature.” +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="8">VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">O</font>n glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I +have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend +Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number +merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did +rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of +wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation +which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. +Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which +presented more singular features than that which was associated +with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. +The events in question occurred in the early days of my +association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors +in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them +upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the +time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by +the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It +is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I +have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the +death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even +more terrible than the truth. +<p> +It was early in April in the year ’83 that I woke one morning to +find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my +bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the +mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I +blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little +resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. +<p> +“Very sorry to knock you up, Watson,” said he, “but it’s the +common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she +retorted upon me, and I on you.” +<p> +“What is it, then—a fire?” +<p> +“No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a +considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She +is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander +about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock +sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is +something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it +prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to +follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should +call you and give you the chance.” +<p> +“My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything.” +<p> +I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his +professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid +deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a +logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were +submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in +a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A +lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in +the window, rose as we entered. +<p> +“Good-morning, madam,” said Holmes cheerily. “My name is Sherlock +Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, +before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am +glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the +fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot +coffee, for I observe that you are shivering.” +<p> +“It is not cold which makes me shiver,” said the woman in a low +voice, changing her seat as requested. +<p> +“What, then?” +<p> +“It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.” She raised her veil as +she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable +state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless +frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features +and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot +with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. +Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, +all-comprehensive glances. +<p> +“You must not fear,” said he soothingly, bending forward and +patting her forearm. “We shall soon set matters right, I have no +doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see.” +<p> +“You know me, then?” +<p> +“No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm +of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had +a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached +the station.” +<p> +The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my +companion. +<p> +“There is no mystery, my dear madam,” said he, smiling. “The left +arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven +places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a +dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you +sit on the left-hand side of the driver.” +<p> +“Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,” said +she. “I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at +twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I +can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. +I have no one to turn to—none, save only one, who cares for me, +and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, +Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you +helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had +your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, +too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness +which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward +you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be +married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you +shall not find me ungrateful.” +<p> +Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small +case-book, which he consulted. +<p> +“Farintosh,” said he. “Ah yes, I recall the case; it was +concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, +Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote +the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to +reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty +to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which +suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us +everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the +matter.” +<p> +“Alas!” replied our visitor, “the very horror of my situation +lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions +depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to +another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to +look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it +as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can +read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have +heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold +wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid +the dangers which encompass me.” +<p> +“I am all attention, madam.” +<p> +“My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who +is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in +England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of +Surrey.” +<p> +Holmes nodded his head. “The name is familiar to me,” said he. +<p> +“The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the +estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, +and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four +successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, +and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the +days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, +and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under +a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence +there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but +his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to +the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which +enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, +where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he +established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused +by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he +beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital +sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and +afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. +<p> +“When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, +the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. +My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old +at the time of my mother’s re-marriage. She had a considerable +sum of money—not less than <i>£</i>1000 a year—and this she +bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, +with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to +each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return +to England my mother died—she was killed eight years ago in a +railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his +attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us +to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The +money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and +there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. +<p> +“But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. +Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our +neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of +Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in +his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious +quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper +approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the +family, and in my stepfather’s case it had, I believe, been +intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of +disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the +police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, +and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of +immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. +<p> +“Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a +stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I +could gather together that I was able to avert another public +exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, +and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few +acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, +and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, +wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a +passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a +correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, +which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the +villagers almost as much as their master. +<p> +“You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I +had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with +us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was +but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already +begun to whiten, even as mine has.” +<p> +“Your sister is dead, then?” +<p> +“She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish +to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I +have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own +age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother’s maiden +sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we +were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady’s +house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there +a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My +stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and +offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of +the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event +occurred which has deprived me of my only companion.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes +closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his +lids now and glanced across at his visitor. +<p> +“Pray be precise as to details,” said he. +<p> +“It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful +time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have +already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The +bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms +being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms +the first is Dr. Roylott’s, the second my sister’s, and the third +my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open +out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?” +<p> +“Perfectly so.” +<p> +“The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That +fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we +knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled +by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom +to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where +she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At +eleven o’clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door +and looked back. +<p> +“ ‘Tell me, Helen,’ said she, ‘have you ever heard anyone whistle +in the dead of the night?’ +<p> +“ ‘Never,’ said I. +<p> +“ ‘I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in +your sleep?’ +<p> +“ ‘Certainly not. But why?’ +<p> +“ ‘Because during the last few nights I have always, about three +in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, +and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from—perhaps +from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would +just ask you whether you had heard it.’ +<p> +“ ‘No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the +plantation.’ +<p> +“ ‘Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you +did not hear it also.’ +<p> +“ ‘Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.’ +<p> +“ ‘Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.’ She smiled +back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her +key turn in the lock.” +<p> +“Indeed,” said Holmes. “Was it your custom always to lock +yourselves in at night?” +<p> +“Always.” +<p> +“And why?” +<p> +“I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah +and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were +locked.” +<p> +“Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.” +<p> +“I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending +misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, +were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two +souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind +was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing +against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, +there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew +that it was my sister’s voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a +shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door +I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and +a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had +fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister’s door was unlocked, +and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it +horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By +the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the +opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for +help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a +drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that +moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. +She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were +dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not +recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out +in a voice which I shall never forget, ‘Oh, my God! Helen! It was +the band! The speckled band!’ There was something else which she +would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the +air in the direction of the doctor’s room, but a fresh convulsion +seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for +my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his +dressing-gown. When he reached my sister’s side she was +unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent +for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for +she slowly sank and died without having recovered her +consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister.” +<p> +“One moment,” said Holmes, “are you sure about this whistle and +metallic sound? Could you swear to it?” +<p> +“That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is +my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of +the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have +been deceived.” +<p> +“Was your sister dressed?” +<p> +“No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the +charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box.” +<p> +“Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when +the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did +the coroner come to?” +<p> +“He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott’s +conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable +to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that +the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows +were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, +which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, +and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was +also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is +wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, +therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. +Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her.” +<p> +“How about poison?” +<p> +“The doctors examined her for it, but without success.” +<p> +“What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?” +<p> +“It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, +though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine.” +<p> +“Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?” +<p> +“Yes, there are nearly always some there.” +<p> +“Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band—a +speckled band?” +<p> +“Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of +delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of +people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not +know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear +over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which +she used.” +<p> +Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. +<p> +“These are very deep waters,” said he; “pray go on with your +narrative.” +<p> +“Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until +lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, +whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask +my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage—Percy Armitage—the +second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My +stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to +be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs +were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom +wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the +chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in +which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last +night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I +suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which +had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the +lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to +go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was +daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which +is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on +this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your +advice.” +<p> +“You have done wisely,” said my friend. “But have you told me +all?” +<p> +“Yes, all.” +<p> +“Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather.” +<p> +“Why, what do you mean?” +<p> +For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which +fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor’s knee. Five little +livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed +upon the white wrist. +<p> +“You have been cruelly used,” said Holmes. +<p> +The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. “He +is a hard man,” she said, “and perhaps he hardly knows his own +strength.” +<p> +There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin +upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. +<p> +“This is a very deep business,” he said at last. “There are a +thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide +upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If +we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for +us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your +stepfather?” +<p> +“As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some +most important business. It is probable that he will be away all +day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a +housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily +get her out of the way.” +<p> +“Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?” +<p> +“By no means.” +<p> +“Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?” +<p> +“I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am +in town. But I shall return by the twelve o’clock train, so as to +be there in time for your coming.” +<p> +“And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some +small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and +breakfast?” +<p> +“No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have +confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you +again this afternoon.” She dropped her thick black veil over her +face and glided from the room. +<p> +“And what do you think of it all, Watson?” asked Sherlock Holmes, +leaning back in his chair. +<p> +“It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business.” +<p> +“Dark enough and sinister enough.” +<p> +“Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls +are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, +then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her +mysterious end.” +<p> +“What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the +very peculiar words of the dying woman?” +<p> +“I cannot think.” +<p> +“When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of +a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, +the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has +an interest in preventing his stepdaughter’s marriage, the dying +allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner +heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of +those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its +place, I think that there is good ground to think that the +mystery may be cleared along those lines.” +<p> +“But what, then, did the gipsies do?” +<p> +“I cannot imagine.” +<p> +“I see many objections to any such theory.” +<p> +“And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going +to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are +fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of +the devil!” +<p> +The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that +our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had +framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar +mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a +black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, +with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his +hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his +breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, +seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and +marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other +of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, +fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old +bird of prey. +<p> +“Which of you is Holmes?” asked this apparition. +<p> +“My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me,” said my +companion quietly. +<p> +“I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.” +<p> +“Indeed, Doctor,” said Holmes blandly. “Pray take a seat.” +<p> +“I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I +have traced her. What has she been saying to you?” +<p> +“It is a little cold for the time of the year,” said Holmes. +<p> +“What has she been saying to you?” screamed the old man +furiously. +<p> +“But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,” continued my +companion imperturbably. +<p> +“Ha! You put me off, do you?” said our new visitor, taking a step +forward and shaking his hunting-crop. “I know you, you scoundrel! +I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler.” +<p> +My friend smiled. +<p> +“Holmes, the busybody!” +<p> +His smile broadened. +<p> +“Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!” +<p> +Holmes chuckled heartily. “Your conversation is most +entertaining,” said he. “When you go out close the door, for +there is a decided draught.” +<p> +“I will go when I have said my say. Don’t you dare to meddle with +my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! +I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here.” He stepped +swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with +his huge brown hands. +<p> +“See that you keep yourself out of my grip,” he snarled, and +hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the +room. +<p> +“He seems a very amiable person,” said Holmes, laughing. “I am +not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him +that my grip was not much more feeble than his own.” As he spoke +he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, +straightened it out again. +<p> +“Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official +detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, +however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer +from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, +Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk +down to Doctors’ Commons, where I hope to get some data which may +help us in this matter.” +<br><br> +<p> +It was nearly one o’clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his +excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled +over with notes and figures. +<p> +“I have seen the will of the deceased wife,” said he. “To +determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the +present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The +total income, which at the time of the wife’s death was little +short of <i>£</i>1100, is now, through the fall in agricultural +prices, not more than <i>£</i>750. Each daughter can claim an +income of <i>£</i>250, in case of marriage. It is evident, +therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have +had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to +a very serious extent. My morning’s work has not been wasted, +since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for +standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, +this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is +aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you +are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be +very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your +pocket. An Eley’s No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen +who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush +are, I think, all that we need.” +<p> +At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for +Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove +for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a +perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the +heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out +their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant +smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange +contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this +sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in +the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over +his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the +deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the +shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. +<p> +“Look there!” said he. +<p> +A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, +thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the +branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a +very old mansion. +<p> +“Stoke Moran?” said he. +<p> +“Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,” remarked +the driver. +<p> +“There is some building going on there,” said Holmes; “that is +where we are going.” +<p> +“There’s the village,” said the driver, pointing to a cluster of +roofs some distance to the left; “but if you want to get to the +house, you’ll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by +the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is +walking.” +<p> +“And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,” observed Holmes, shading +his eyes. “Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest.” +<p> +We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way +to Leatherhead. +<p> +“I thought it as well,” said Holmes as we climbed the stile, +“that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or +on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. +Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as +our word.” +<p> +Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a +face which spoke her joy. “I have been waiting so eagerly for +you,” she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. “All has turned +out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely +that he will be back before evening.” +<p> +“We have had the pleasure of making the doctor’s acquaintance,” +said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had +occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. +<p> +“Good heavens!” she cried, “he has followed me, then.” +<p> +“So it appears.” +<p> +“He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What +will he say when he returns?” +<p> +“He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone +more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself +up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to +your aunt’s at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our +time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to +examine.” +<p> +The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high +central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, +thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were +broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly +caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little +better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, +and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up +from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. +Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the +stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any +workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and +down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the +outsides of the windows. +<p> +“This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, +the centre one to your sister’s, and the one next to the main +building to Dr. Roylott’s chamber?” +<p> +“Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.” +<p> +“Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does +not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end +wall.” +<p> +“There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from +my room.” +<p> +“Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow +wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There +are windows in it, of course?” +<p> +“Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass +through.” +<p> +“As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were +unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness +to go into your room and bar your shutters?” +<p> +Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination +through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the +shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through +which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his +lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built +firmly into the massive masonry. “Hum!” said he, scratching his +chin in some perplexity, “my theory certainly presents some +difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were +bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon +the matter.” +<p> +A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which +the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third +chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss +Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her +fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a +gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A +brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow +white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the +left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small +wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save +for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and +the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old +and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building +of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat +silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, +taking in every detail of the apartment. +<p> +“Where does that bell communicate with?” he asked at last +pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the +tassel actually lying upon the pillow. +<p> +“It goes to the housekeeper’s room.” +<p> +“It looks newer than the other things?” +<p> +“Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.” +<p> +“Your sister asked for it, I suppose?” +<p> +“No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we +wanted for ourselves.” +<p> +“Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. +You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to +this floor.” He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in +his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining +minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with +the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he +walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and +in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the +bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. +<p> +“Why, it’s a dummy,” said he. +<p> +“Won’t it ring?” +<p> +“No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. +You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where +the little opening for the ventilator is.” +<p> +“How very absurd! I never noticed that before.” +<p> +“Very strange!” muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. “There are +one or two very singular points about this room. For example, +what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another +room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated +with the outside air!” +<p> +“That is also quite modern,” said the lady. +<p> +“Done about the same time as the bell-rope?” remarked Holmes. +<p> +“Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that +time.” +<p> +“They seem to have been of a most interesting character—dummy +bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your +permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into +the inner apartment.” +<p> +Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s chamber was larger than that of his +step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small +wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an +armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a +round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things +which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each +and all of them with the keenest interest. +<p> +“What’s in here?” he asked, tapping the safe. +<p> +“My stepfather’s business papers.” +<p> +“Oh! you have seen inside, then?” +<p> +“Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of +papers.” +<p> +“There isn’t a cat in it, for example?” +<p> +“No. What a strange idea!” +<p> +“Well, look at this!” He took up a small saucer of milk which +stood on the top of it. +<p> +“No; we don’t keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon.” +<p> +“Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a +saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I +daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine.” He +squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat +of it with the greatest attention. +<p> +“Thank you. That is quite settled,” said he, rising and putting +his lens in his pocket. “Hullo! Here is something interesting!” +<p> +The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on +one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself +and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. +<p> +“What do you make of that, Watson?” +<p> +“It’s a common enough lash. But I don’t know why it should be +tied.” +<p> +“That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it’s a wicked world, +and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst +of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and +with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn.” +<p> +I had never seen my friend’s face so grim or his brow so dark as +it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We +had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss +Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he +roused himself from his reverie. +<p> +“It is very essential, Miss Stoner,” said he, “that you should +absolutely follow my advice in every respect.” +<p> +“I shall most certainly do so.” +<p> +“The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may +depend upon your compliance.” +<p> +“I assure you that I am in your hands.” +<p> +“In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in +your room.” +<p> +Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. +<p> +“Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the +village inn over there?” +<p> +“Yes, that is the Crown.” +<p> +“Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?” +<p> +“Certainly.” +<p> +“You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a +headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him +retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, +undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then +withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want +into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in +spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night.” +<p> +“Oh, yes, easily.” +<p> +“The rest you will leave in our hands.” +<p> +“But what will you do?” +<p> +“We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate +the cause of this noise which has disturbed you.” +<p> +“I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind,” +said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion’s sleeve. +<p> +“Perhaps I have.” +<p> +“Then, for pity’s sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister’s +death.” +<p> +“I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.” +<p> +“You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and +if she died from some sudden fright.” +<p> +“No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more +tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if +Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. +Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, +you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers +that threaten you.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and +sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and +from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and +of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw +Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside +the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some +slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard +the hoarse roar of the doctor’s voice and saw the fury with which +he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few +minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as +the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. +<p> +“Do you know, Watson,” said Holmes as we sat together in the +gathering darkness, “I have really some scruples as to taking you +to-night. There is a distinct element of danger.” +<p> +“Can I be of assistance?” +<p> +“Your presence might be invaluable.” +<p> +“Then I shall certainly come.” +<p> +“It is very kind of you.” +<p> +“You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms +than was visible to me.” +<p> +“No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine +that you saw all that I did.” +<p> +“I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose +that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine.” +<p> +“You saw the ventilator, too?” +<p> +“Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to +have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a +rat could hardly pass through.” +<p> +“I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to +Stoke Moran.” +<p> +“My dear Holmes!” +<p> +“Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her +sister could smell Dr. Roylott’s cigar. Now, of course that +suggested at once that there must be a communication between the +two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been +remarked upon at the coroner’s inquiry. I deduced a ventilator.” +<p> +“But what harm can there be in that?” +<p> +“Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A +ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the +bed dies. Does not that strike you?” +<p> +“I cannot as yet see any connection.” +<p> +“Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?” +<p> +“No.” +<p> +“It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened +like that before?” +<p> +“I cannot say that I have.” +<p> +“The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same +relative position to the ventilator and to the rope—or so we may +call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.” +<p> +“Holmes,” I cried, “I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. +We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible +crime.” +<p> +“Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong +he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. +Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. +This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall +be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough +before the night is over; for goodness’ sake let us have a quiet +pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more +cheerful.” +<br><br> +<p> +About nine o’clock the light among the trees was extinguished, +and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours +passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of +eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. +<p> +“That is our signal,” said Holmes, springing to his feet; “it +comes from the middle window.” +<p> +As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, +explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, +and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A +moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing +in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us +through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. +<p> +There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for +unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way +among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about +to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel +bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted +child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and +then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. +<p> +“My God!” I whispered; “did you see it?” +<p> +Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like +a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low +laugh and put his lips to my ear. +<p> +“It is a nice household,” he murmured. “That is the baboon.” +<p> +I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There +was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders +at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, +after following Holmes’ example and slipping off my shoes, I +found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed +the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes +round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then +creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered +into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to +distinguish the words: +<p> +“The least sound would be fatal to our plans.” +<p> +I nodded to show that I had heard. +<p> +“We must sit without light. He would see it through the +ventilator.” +<p> +I nodded again. +<p> +“Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your +pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of +the bed, and you in that chair.” +<p> +I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. +<p> +Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon +the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the +stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left +in darkness. +<p> +How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a +sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my +companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same +state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut +off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. +<p> +From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at +our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that +the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the +deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of +an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and +one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for +whatever might befall. +<p> +Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the +direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was +succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. +Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle +sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the +smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. +Then suddenly another sound became audible—a very gentle, +soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping +continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes +sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with +his cane at the bell-pull. +<p> +“You see it, Watson?” he yelled. “You see it?” +<p> +But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I +heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my +weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which +my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face +was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had +ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when +suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most +horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder +and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled +in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the +village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the +sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I +stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it +had died away into the silence from which it rose. +<p> +“What can it mean?” I gasped. +<p> +“It means that it is all over,” Holmes answered. “And perhaps, +after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will +enter Dr. Roylott’s room.” +<p> +With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the +corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply +from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his +heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. +<p> +It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a +dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant +beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. +Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott +clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding +beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. +Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we +had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his +eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the +ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with +brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his +head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. +<p> +“The band! the speckled band!” whispered Holmes. +<p> +I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began +to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat +diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. +<p> +“It is a swamp adder!” cried Holmes; “the deadliest snake in +India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence +does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls +into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this +creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to +some place of shelter and let the county police know what has +happened.” +<p> +As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man’s lap, +and throwing the noose round the reptile’s neck he drew it from +its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm’s length, threw it into +the iron safe, which he closed upon it. +<br><br><p> +Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of +Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a +narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling +how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed +her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, +of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the +conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly +playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn +of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back +next day. +<p> +“I had,” said he, “come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which +shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from +insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of +the word ‘band,’ which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to +explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of +by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an +entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly +reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me +that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not +come either from the window or the door. My attention was +speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this +ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The +discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to +the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was +there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and +coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, +and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was +furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I +was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of +poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical +test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless +man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such +a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be +an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could +distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where +the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the +whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning +light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by +the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. +He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he +thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the +rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the +occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but +sooner or later she must fall a victim. +<p> +“I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his +room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in +the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary +in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the +safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to +finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic +clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather +hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. +Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in +order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss +as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the +light and attacked it.” +<p> +“With the result of driving it through the ventilator.” +<p> +“And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master +at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and +roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person +it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. +Grimesby Roylott’s death, and I cannot say that it is likely to +weigh very heavily upon my conscience.” +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="9">IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">O</font>f all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. +Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, +there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his +notice—that of Mr. Hatherley’s thumb, and that of Colonel +Warburton’s madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a +finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was +so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that +it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it +gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of +reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story +has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, +like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when +set forth <i>en bloc</i> in a single half-column of print than when the +facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears +gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads +on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a +deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly +served to weaken the effect. +<p> +It was in the summer of ’89, not long after my marriage, that the +events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned +to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker +Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally +even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come +and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I +happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington +Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of +these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was +never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send +me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. +<p> +One morning, at a little before seven o’clock, I was awakened by +the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come +from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I +dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases +were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my +old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door +tightly behind him. +<p> +“I’ve got him here,” he whispered, jerking his thumb over his +shoulder; “he’s all right.” +<p> +“What is it, then?” I asked, for his manner suggested that it was +some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. +<p> +“It’s a new patient,” he whispered. “I thought I’d bring him +round myself; then he couldn’t slip away. There he is, all safe +and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the +same as you.” And off he went, this trusty tout, without even +giving me time to thank him. +<p> +I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the +table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a +soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of +his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all +over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than +five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but +he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who +was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his +strength of mind to control. +<p> +“I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor,” said he, “but I +have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by +train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I +might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me +here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon +the side-table.” +<p> +I took it up and glanced at it. “Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic +engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor).” That was the name, +style, and abode of my morning visitor. “I regret that I have +kept you waiting,” said I, sitting down in my library-chair. “You +are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself +a monotonous occupation.” +<p> +“Oh, my night could not be called monotonous,” said he, and +laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, +leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical +instincts rose up against that laugh. +<p> +“Stop it!” I cried; “pull yourself together!” and I poured out +some water from a caraffe. +<p> +It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical +outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis +is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very +weary and pale-looking. +<p> +“I have been making a fool of myself,” he gasped. +<p> +“Not at all. Drink this.” I dashed some brandy into the water, +and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. +<p> +“That’s better!” said he. “And now, Doctor, perhaps you would +kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb +used to be.” +<p> +He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even +my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four +protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the +thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from +the roots. +<p> +“Good heavens!” I cried, “this is a terrible injury. It must have +bled considerably.” +<p> +“Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must +have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that +it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very +tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig.” +<p> +“Excellent! You should have been a surgeon.” +<p> +“It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own +province.” +<p> +“This has been done,” said I, examining the wound, “by a very +heavy and sharp instrument.” +<p> +“A thing like a cleaver,” said he. +<p> +“An accident, I presume?” +<p> +“By no means.” +<p> +“What! a murderous attack?” +<p> +“Very murderous indeed.” +<p> +“You horrify me.” +<p> +I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered +it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back +without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. +<p> +“How is that?” I asked when I had finished. +<p> +“Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. +I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through.” +<p> +“Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently +trying to your nerves.” +<p> +“Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; +but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing +evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they +believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I +have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, +even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so +vague that it is a question whether justice will be done.” +<p> +“Ha!” cried I, “if it is anything in the nature of a problem +which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you +to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the +official police.” +<p> +“Oh, I have heard of that fellow,” answered my visitor, “and I +should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of +course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me +an introduction to him?” +<p> +“I’ll do better. I’ll take you round to him myself.” +<p> +“I should be immensely obliged to you.” +<p> +“We’ll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to +have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?” +<p> +“Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story.” +<p> +“Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an +instant.” I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my +wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my +new acquaintance to Baker Street. +<p> +Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his +sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of <i>The +Times</i> and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed +of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day +before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the +mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, +ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. +When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the +sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of +brandy and water within his reach. +<p> +“It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, +Mr. Hatherley,” said he. “Pray, lie down there and make yourself +absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are +tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant.” +<p> +“Thank you,” said my patient. “but I have felt another man since +the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has +completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable +time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar +experiences.” +<p> +Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded +expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat +opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story +which our visitor detailed to us. +<p> +“You must know,” said he, “that I am an orphan and a bachelor, +residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a +hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my +work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & +Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, +having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of +money through my poor father’s death, I determined to start in +business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria +Street. +<p> +“I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in +business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. +During two years I have had three consultations and one small +job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought +me. My gross takings amount to <i>£</i>27 10<i>s</i>. Every day, from +nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my +little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to +believe that I should never have any practice at all. +<p> +“Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the +office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who +wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with +the name of ‘Colonel Lysander Stark’ engraved upon it. Close at +his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle +size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have +ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose +and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over +his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his +natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his +step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly +dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than +thirty. +<p> +“ ‘Mr. Hatherley?’ said he, with something of a German accent. +‘You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man +who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet +and capable of preserving a secret.’ +<p> +“I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an +address. ‘May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?’ +<p> +“ ‘Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just +at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both +an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.’ +<p> +“ ‘That is quite correct,’ I answered; ‘but you will excuse me if +I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional +qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter +that you wished to speak to me?’ +<p> +“ ‘Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to +the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute +secrecy is quite essential—absolute secrecy, you understand, and +of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than +from one who lives in the bosom of his family.’ +<p> +“ ‘If I promise to keep a secret,’ said I, ‘you may absolutely +depend upon my doing so.’ +<p> +“He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I +had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. +<p> +“ ‘Do you promise, then?’ said he at last. +<p> +“ ‘Yes, I promise.’ +<p> +“ ‘Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No +reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?’ +<p> +“ ‘I have already given you my word.’ +<p> +“ ‘Very good.’ He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning +across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was +empty. +<p> +“ ‘That’s all right,’ said he, coming back. ‘I know that clerks are +sometimes curious as to their master’s affairs. Now we can talk +in safety.’ He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to +stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. +<p> +“A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun +to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. +Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from +showing my impatience. +<p> +“ ‘I beg that you will state your business, sir,’ said I; ‘my time +is of value.’ Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the +words came to my lips. +<p> +“ ‘How would fifty guineas for a night’s work suit you?’ he asked. +<p> +“ ‘Most admirably.’ +<p> +“ ‘I say a night’s work, but an hour’s would be nearer the mark. I +simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which +has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon +set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as +that?’ +<p> +“ ‘The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.’ +<p> +“ ‘Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last +train.’ +<p> +“ ‘Where to?’ +<p> +“ ‘To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders +of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a +train from Paddington which would bring you there at about +11:15.’ +<p> +“ ‘Very good.’ +<p> +“ ‘I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.’ +<p> +“ ‘There is a drive, then?’ +<p> +“ ‘Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good +seven miles from Eyford Station.’ +<p> +“ ‘Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there +would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop +the night.’ +<p> +“ ‘Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.’ +<p> +“ ‘That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient +hour?’ +<p> +“ ‘We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to +recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a +young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the +very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would +like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do +so.’ +<p> +“I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they +would be to me. ‘Not at all,’ said I, ‘I shall be very happy to +accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to +understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to +do.’ +<p> +“ ‘Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which +we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I +have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all +laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from +eavesdroppers?’ +<p> +“ ‘Entirely.’ +<p> +“ ‘Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that +fuller’s-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found +in one or two places in England?’ +<p> +“ ‘I have heard so.’ +<p> +“ ‘Some little time ago I bought a small place—a very small +place—within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to +discover that there was a deposit of fuller’s-earth in one of my +fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a +comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two +very much larger ones upon the right and left—both of them, +however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were +absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was +quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my +interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, +but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I +took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they +suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little +deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would +enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been +doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we +erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already +explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the +subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it +once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our +little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts +came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these +fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you +promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are +going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?’ +<p> +“ ‘I quite follow you,’ said I. ‘The only point which I could not +quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press +in excavating fuller’s-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out +like gravel from a pit.’ +<p> +“ ‘Ah!’ said he carelessly, ‘we have our own process. We compress +the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing +what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully +into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I +trust you.’ He rose as he spoke. ‘I shall expect you, then, at +Eyford at 11:15.’ +<p> +“ ‘I shall certainly be there.’ +<p> +“ ‘And not a word to a soul.’ He looked at me with a last long, +questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank +grasp, he hurried from the room. +<p> +“Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very +much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission +which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was +glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked +had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that +this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face +and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon +me, and I could not think that his explanation of the +fuller’s-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my +coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell +anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate +a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having +obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. +<p> +“At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. +However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I +reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o’clock. I was the +only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the +platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed +out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of +the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a +word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door +of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either +side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the +horse could go.” +<p> +“One horse?” interjected Holmes. +<p> +“Yes, only one.” +<p> +“Did you observe the colour?” +<p> +“Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the +carriage. It was a chestnut.” +<p> +“Tired-looking or fresh?” +<p> +“Oh, fresh and glossy.” +<p> +“Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue +your most interesting statement.” +<p> +“Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel +Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I +should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the +time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat +at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than +once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me +with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good +in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I +tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we +were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out +nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now +and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the +journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the +conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the +road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, +and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang +out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch +which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of +the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the +most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that +I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, +and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage +drove away. +<p> +“It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled +about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. +Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a +long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew +broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she +held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. +I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which +the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich +material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as +though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a +gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly +fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered +something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room +from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the +lamp in his hand. +<p> +“ ‘Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a +few minutes,’ said he, throwing open another door. It was a +quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the +centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel +Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the +door. ‘I shall not keep you waiting an instant,’ said he, and +vanished into the darkness. +<p> +“I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my +ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises +on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked +across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of +the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded +across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old +clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise +everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began +to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were +they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And +where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was +all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no +idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, +were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, +after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, +that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, +humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling +that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. +<p> +“Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the +utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman +was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind +her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and +beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with +fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one +shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few +whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, +like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. +<p> +“ ‘I would go,’ said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to +speak calmly; ‘I would go. I should not stay here. There is no +good for you to do.’ +<p> +“ ‘But, madam,’ said I, ‘I have not yet done what I came for. I +cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.’ +<p> +“ ‘It is not worth your while to wait,’ she went on. ‘You can pass +through the door; no one hinders.’ And then, seeing that I smiled +and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and +made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. ‘For the love +of Heaven!’ she whispered, ‘get away from here before it is too +late!’ +<p> +“But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to +engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I +thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of +the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to +go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried +out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This +woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout +bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I +cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention +of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties +when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps +was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up +her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and +as noiselessly as she had come. +<p> +“The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man +with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double +chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. +<p> +“ ‘This is my secretary and manager,’ said the colonel. ‘By the +way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just +now. I fear that you have felt the draught.’ +<p> +“ ‘On the contrary,’ said I, ‘I opened the door myself because I +felt the room to be a little close.’ +<p> +“He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. ‘Perhaps we had +better proceed to business, then,’ said he. ‘Mr. Ferguson and I +will take you up to see the machine.’ +<p> +“ ‘I had better put my hat on, I suppose.’ +<p> +“ ‘Oh, no, it is in the house.’ +<p> +“ ‘What, you dig fuller’s-earth in the house?’ +<p> +“ ‘No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. +All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us +know what is wrong with it.’ +<p> +“We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the +fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, +with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little +low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the +generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no +signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster +was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in +green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an +air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the +lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon +my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent +man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at +least a fellow-countryman. +<p> +“Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which +he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three +of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, +and the colonel ushered me in. +<p> +“ ‘We are now,’ said he, ‘actually within the hydraulic press, and +it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were +to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the +end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of +many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns +of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and +multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine +goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working +of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will +have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set +it right.’ +<p> +“I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very +thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of +exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and +pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by +the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed +a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An +examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was +round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to +fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause +of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who +followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical +questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I +had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the +machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. +It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller’s-earth +was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose +that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a +purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a +large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a +crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was +scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a +muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the +colonel looking down at me. +<p> +“ ‘What are you doing there?’ he asked. +<p> +“I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as +that which he had told me. ‘I was admiring your fuller’s-earth,’ +said I; ‘I think that I should be better able to advise you as to +your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it +was used.’ +<p> +“The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of +my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in +his grey eyes. +<p> +“ ‘Very well,’ said he, ‘you shall know all about the machine.’ He +took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key +in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it +was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and +shoves. ‘Hullo!’ I yelled. ‘Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!’ +<p> +“And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my +heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish +of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp +still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining +the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming +down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than +myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a +shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and +dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let +me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my +cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with +my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it +flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend +very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my +face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to +think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and +yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black +shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand +erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope +back to my heart. +<p> +“I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the +walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw +a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which +broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For +an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door +which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself +through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had +closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few +moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me +how narrow had been my escape. +<p> +“I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and +I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, +while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, +while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend +whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. +<p> +“ ‘Come! come!’ she cried breathlessly. ‘They will be here in a +moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste +the so-precious time, but come!’ +<p> +“This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to +my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding +stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we +reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of +two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we +were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about +her like one who is at her wit’s end. Then she threw open a door +which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon +was shining brightly. +<p> +“ ‘It is your only chance,’ said she. ‘It is high, but it may be +that you can jump it.’ +<p> +“As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the +passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark +rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a +butcher’s cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, +flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and +wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be +more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I +hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between +my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, +then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. +The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at +the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round +him and tried to hold him back. +<p> +“ ‘Fritz! Fritz!’ she cried in English, ‘remember your promise +after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be +silent! Oh, he will be silent!’ +<p> +“ ‘You are mad, Elise!’ he shouted, struggling to break away from +her. ‘You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me +pass, I say!’ He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the +window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and +was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was +conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the +garden below. +<p> +“I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and +rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I +understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, +however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. +I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and +then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and +that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my +handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my +ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the +rose-bushes. +<p> +“How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been +a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was +breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with +dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded +thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the +particulars of my night’s adventure, and I sprang to my feet with +the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But +to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house +nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the +hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a +long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the +very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were +it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed +during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. +<p> +“Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning +train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The +same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I +arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel +Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a +carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was +there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three +miles off. +<p> +“It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined +to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the +police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first +to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to +bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do +exactly what you advise.” +<p> +We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to +this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down +from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he +placed his cuttings. +<p> +“Here is an advertisement which will interest you,” said he. “It +appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: +‘Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged +twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten +o’clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was +dressed in,’ etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that +the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy.” +<p> +“Good heavens!” cried my patient. “Then that explains what the +girl said.” +<p> +“Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and +desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should +stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out +pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, +every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall +go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for +Eyford.” +<p> +Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train +together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. +There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector +Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. +Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the +seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford +for its centre. +<p> +“There you are,” said he. “That circle is drawn at a radius of +ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere +near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir.” +<p> +“It was an hour’s good drive.” +<p> +“And you think that they brought you back all that way when you +were unconscious?” +<p> +“They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having +been lifted and conveyed somewhere.” +<p> +“What I cannot understand,” said I, “is why they should have +spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. +Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman’s entreaties.” +<p> +“I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face +in my life.” +<p> +“Oh, we shall soon clear up all that,” said Bradstreet. “Well, I +have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon +it the folk that we are in search of are to be found.” +<p> +“I think I could lay my finger on it,” said Holmes quietly. +<p> +“Really, now!” cried the inspector, “you have formed your +opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is +south, for the country is more deserted there.” +<p> +“And I say east,” said my patient. +<p> +“I am for west,” remarked the plain-clothes man. “There are +several quiet little villages up there.” +<p> +“And I am for north,” said I, “because there are no hills there, +and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up +any.” +<p> +“Come,” cried the inspector, laughing; “it’s a very pretty +diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do +you give your casting vote to?” +<p> +“You are all wrong.” +<p> +“But we can’t all be.” +<p> +“Oh, yes, you can. This is my point.” He placed his finger in the +centre of the circle. “This is where we shall find them.” +<p> +“But the twelve-mile drive?” gasped Hatherley. +<p> +“Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the +horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that +if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?” +<p> +“Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough,” observed Bradstreet +thoughtfully. “Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature +of this gang.” +<p> +“None at all,” said Holmes. “They are coiners on a large scale, +and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the +place of silver.” +<p> +“We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work,” +said the inspector. “They have been turning out half-crowns by +the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could +get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that +showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this +lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough.” +<p> +But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not +destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into +Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed +up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and +hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. +<p> +“A house on fire?” asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off +again on its way. +<p> +“Yes, sir!” said the station-master. +<p> +“When did it break out?” +<p> +“I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, +and the whole place is in a blaze.” +<p> +“Whose house is it?” +<p> +“Dr. Becher’s.” +<p> +“Tell me,” broke in the engineer, “is Dr. Becher a German, very +thin, with a long, sharp nose?” +<p> +The station-master laughed heartily. “No, sir, Dr. Becher is an +Englishman, and there isn’t a man in the parish who has a +better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, +a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as +if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm.” +<p> +The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all +hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low +hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in +front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in +the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to +keep the flames under. +<p> +“That’s it!” cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. “There is +the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That +second window is the one that I jumped from.” +<p> +“Well, at least,” said Holmes, “you have had your revenge upon +them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, +when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, +though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to +observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for +your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are +a good hundred miles off by now.” +<p> +And Holmes’ fears came to be realised, for from that day to this +no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the +sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a +peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very +bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but +there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes’ +ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their +whereabouts. +<p> +The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements +which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a +newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. +About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and +they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, +and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save +some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of +the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so +dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored +in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have +explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been +already referred to. +<p> +How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to +the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained +forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a +very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two +persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other +unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the +silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his +companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out +of the way of danger. +<p> +“Well,” said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return +once more to London, “it has been a pretty business for me! I +have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what +have I gained?” +<p> +“Experience,” said Holmes, laughing. “Indirectly it may be of +value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the +reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your +existence.” +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="10">X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">T</font>he Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have +long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles +in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have +eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the +gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to +believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to +the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a +considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no +memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of +this remarkable episode. +<p> +It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I +was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came +home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table +waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather +had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and +the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as +a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. +With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had +surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, +saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and +lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the +envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend’s +noble correspondent could be. +<p> +“Here is a very fashionable epistle,” I remarked as he entered. +“Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a +fish-monger and a tide-waiter.” +<p> +“Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety,” he +answered, smiling, “and the humbler are usually the more +interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social +summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie.” +<p> +He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. +<p> +“Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all.” +<p> +“Not social, then?” +<p> +“No, distinctly professional.” +<p> +“And from a noble client?” +<p> +“One of the highest in England.” +<p> +“My dear fellow, I congratulate you.” +<p> +“I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my +client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his +case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be +wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the +papers diligently of late, have you not?” +<p> +“It looks like it,” said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in +the corner. “I have had nothing else to do.” +<p> +“It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I +read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The +latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent +events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his +wedding?” +<p> +“Oh, yes, with the deepest interest.” +<p> +“That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord +St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn +over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. +This is what he says: +<br><br><p> +“ ‘MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:—Lord Backwater tells me that I +may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I +have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you +in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in +connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is +acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no +objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that +it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o’clock in +the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that +time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of +paramount importance. Yours faithfully,<p align="right"><br>“ ‘ST. SIMON.’ +<br><br><p> +“It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, +and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink +upon the outer side of his right little finger,” remarked Holmes +as he folded up the epistle. +<p> +“He says four o’clock. It is three now. He will be here in an +hour.” +<p> +“Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon +the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in +their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client +is.” He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of +reference beside the mantelpiece. “Here he is,” said he, sitting +down and flattening it out upon his knee. “ ‘Lord Robert Walsingham +de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.’ Hum! ‘Arms: +Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.’ +He’s forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was +Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The +Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. +They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on +the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in +all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something +more solid.” +<p> +“I have very little difficulty in finding what I want,” said I, +“for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as +remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew +that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the +intrusion of other matters.” +<p> +“Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square +furniture van. That is quite cleared up now—though, indeed, it +was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your +newspaper selections.” +<p> +“Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal +column of the <i>Morning Post</i>, and dates, as you see, some weeks +back: ‘A marriage has been arranged,’ it says, ‘and will, if +rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert +St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty +Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San +Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.’ That is all.” +<p> +“Terse and to the point,” remarked Holmes, stretching his long, +thin legs towards the fire. +<p> +“There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society +papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: ‘There will soon be a +call for protection in the marriage market, for the present +free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home +product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great +Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across +the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last +week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by +these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself +for over twenty years proof against the little god’s arrows, has +now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty +Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss +Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much +attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, +and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to +considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the +future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has +been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, +and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small +estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress +is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to +make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a +British peeress.’ ” +<p> +“Anything else?” asked Holmes, yawning. +<p> +“Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the <i>Morning Post</i> +to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it +would be at St. George’s, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen +intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would +return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been +taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later—that is, on +Wednesday last—there is a curt announcement that the wedding had +taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord +Backwater’s place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices +which appeared before the disappearance of the bride.” +<p> +“Before the what?” asked Holmes with a start. +<p> +“The vanishing of the lady.” +<p> +“When did she vanish, then?” +<p> +“At the wedding breakfast.” +<p> +“Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite +dramatic, in fact.” +<p> +“Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common.” +<p> +“They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during +the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt +as this. Pray let me have the details.” +<p> +“I warn you that they are very incomplete.” +<p> +“Perhaps we may make them less so.” +<p> +“Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a +morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is +headed, ‘Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding’: +<p> +“ ‘The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the +greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which +have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as +shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the +previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to +confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently +floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush +the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it +that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what +is a common subject for conversation. +<p> +“ ‘The ceremony, which was performed at St. George’s, Hanover +Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the +father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, +Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the +younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia +Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of +Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been +prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a +woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to +force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging +that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a +painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler +and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house +before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast +with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and +retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some +comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that +she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an +ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the +footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus +apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, +believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his +daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with +the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with +the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which +will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very +singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing +had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There +are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the +police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the +original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some +other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange +disappearance of the bride.’ ” +<p> +“And is that all?” +<p> +“Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is +a suggestive one.” +<p> +“And it is—” +<p> +“That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, +has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a +<i>danseuse</i> at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom +for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole +case is in your hands now—so far as it has been set forth in the +public press.” +<p> +“And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would +not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, +Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I +have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not +dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, +if only as a check to my own memory.” +<p> +“Lord Robert St. Simon,” announced our page-boy, throwing open +the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, +high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about +the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose +pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His +manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue +impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little +bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off +his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin +upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of +foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, +yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. +He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to +right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his +golden eyeglasses. +<p> +“Good-day, Lord St. Simon,” said Holmes, rising and bowing. “Pray +take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. +Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this +matter over.” +<p> +“A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, +Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you +have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, +though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of +society.” +<p> +“No, I am descending.” +<p> +“I beg pardon.” +<p> +“My last client of the sort was a king.” +<p> +“Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?” +<p> +“The King of Scandinavia.” +<p> +“What! Had he lost his wife?” +<p> +“You can understand,” said Holmes suavely, “that I extend to the +affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to +you in yours.” +<p> +“Of course! Very right! very right! I’m sure I beg pardon. As to +my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may +assist you in forming an opinion.” +<p> +“Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public +prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct—this +article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride.” +<p> +Lord St. Simon glanced over it. “Yes, it is correct, as far as it +goes.” +<p> +“But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could +offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most +directly by questioning you.” +<p> +“Pray do so.” +<p> +“When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?” +<p> +“In San Francisco, a year ago.” +<p> +“You were travelling in the States?” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“Did you become engaged then?” +<p> +“No.” +<p> +“But you were on a friendly footing?” +<p> +“I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was +amused.” +<p> +“Her father is very rich?” +<p> +“He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope.” +<p> +“And how did he make his money?” +<p> +“In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, +invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds.” +<p> +“Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady’s—your +wife’s character?” +<p> +The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down +into the fire. “You see, Mr. Holmes,” said he, “my wife was +twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she +ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or +mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than +from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, +with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of +traditions. She is impetuous—volcanic, I was about to say. She +is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her +resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the +name which I have the honour to bear”—he gave a little stately +cough—“had I not thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I +believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that +anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her.” +<p> +“Have you her photograph?” +<p> +“I brought this with me.” He opened a locket and showed us the +full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an +ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect +of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the +exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he +closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. +<p> +“The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your +acquaintance?” +<p> +“Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I +met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now +married her.” +<p> +“She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?” +<p> +“A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family.” +<p> +“And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a +<i>fait accompli</i>?” +<p> +“I really have made no inquiries on the subject.” +<p> +“Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the +wedding?” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“Was she in good spirits?” +<p> +“Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our +future lives.” +<p> +“Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the +wedding?” +<p> +“She was as bright as possible—at least until after the +ceremony.” +<p> +“And did you observe any change in her then?” +<p> +“Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had +ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident +however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible +bearing upon the case.” +<p> +“Pray let us have it, for all that.” +<p> +“Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards +the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it +fell over into the pew. There was a moment’s delay, but the +gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not +appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of +the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our +way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause.” +<p> +“Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of +the general public were present, then?” +<p> +“Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is +open.” +<p> +“This gentleman was not one of your wife’s friends?” +<p> +“No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a +common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But +really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point.” +<p> +“Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less +cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do +on re-entering her father’s house?” +<p> +“I saw her in conversation with her maid.” +<p> +“And who is her maid?” +<p> +“Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California +with her.” +<p> +“A confidential servant?” +<p> +“A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed +her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they +look upon these things in a different way.” +<p> +“How long did she speak to this Alice?” +<p> +“Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of.” +<p> +“You did not overhear what they said?” +<p> +“Lady St. Simon said something about ‘jumping a claim.’ She was +accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she +meant.” +<p> +“American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your +wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?” +<p> +“She walked into the breakfast-room.” +<p> +“On your arm?” +<p> +“No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. +Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose +hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She +never came back.” +<p> +“But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to +her room, covered her bride’s dress with a long ulster, put on a +bonnet, and went out.” +<p> +“Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in +company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who +had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran’s house that +morning.” +<p> +“Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, +and your relations to her.” +<p> +Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. +“We have been on a friendly footing for some years—I may say on +a <i>very</i> friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have +not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of +complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. +Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and +devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she +heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the +reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I +feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to +Mr. Doran’s door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to +push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my +wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the +possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police +fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. +She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a +row.” +<p> +“Did your wife hear all this?” +<p> +“No, thank goodness, she did not.” +<p> +“And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?” +<p> +“Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as +so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid +some terrible trap for her.” +<p> +“Well, it is a possible supposition.” +<p> +“You think so, too?” +<p> +“I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon +this as likely?” +<p> +“I do not think Flora would hurt a fly.” +<p> +“Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray +what is your own theory as to what took place?” +<p> +“Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I +have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may +say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of +this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a +social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous +disturbance in my wife.” +<p> +“In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?” +<p> +“Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back—I +will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to +without success—I can hardly explain it in any other fashion.” +<p> +“Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis,” said +Holmes, smiling. “And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have +nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the +breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?” +<p> +“We could see the other side of the road and the Park.” +<p> +“Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. +I shall communicate with you.” +<p> +“Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem,” said our +client, rising. +<p> +“I have solved it.” +<p> +“Eh? What was that?” +<p> +“I say that I have solved it.” +<p> +“Where, then, is my wife?” +<p> +“That is a detail which I shall speedily supply.” +<p> +Lord St. Simon shook his head. “I am afraid that it will take +wiser heads than yours or mine,” he remarked, and bowing in a +stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. +<p> +“It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting +it on a level with his own,” said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. “I +think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all +this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the +case before our client came into the room.” +<p> +“My dear Holmes!” +<p> +“I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I +remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination +served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial +evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a +trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau’s example.” +<p> +“But I have heard all that you have heard.” +<p> +“Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which +serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some +years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich +the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these +cases—but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! +You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are +cigars in the box.” +<p> +The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, +which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a +black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated +himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. +<p> +“What’s up, then?” asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. “You +look dissatisfied.” +<p> +“And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage +case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business.” +<p> +“Really! You surprise me.” +<p> +“Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip +through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day.” +<p> +“And very wet it seems to have made you,” said Holmes laying his +hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. +<p> +“Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine.” +<p> +“In heaven’s name, what for?” +<p> +“In search of the body of Lady St. Simon.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. +<p> +“Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?” he +asked. +<p> +“Why? What do you mean?” +<p> +“Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in +the one as in the other.” +<p> +Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. “I suppose you +know all about it,” he snarled. +<p> +“Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up.” +<p> +“Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in +the matter?” +<p> +“I think it very unlikely.” +<p> +“Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found +this in it?” He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the +floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin +shoes and a bride’s wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked +in water. “There,” said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the +top of the pile. “There is a little nut for you to crack, Master +Holmes.” +<p> +“Oh, indeed!” said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. +“You dragged them from the Serpentine?” +<p> +“No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. +They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me +that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off.” +<p> +“By the same brilliant reasoning, every man’s body is to be found +in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope +to arrive at through this?” +<p> +“At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance.” +<p> +“I am afraid that you will find it difficult.” +<p> +“Are you, indeed, now?” cried Lestrade with some bitterness. “I +am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your +deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as +many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar.” +<p> +“And how?” +<p> +“In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the +card-case is a note. And here is the very note.” He slapped it +down upon the table in front of him. “Listen to this: ‘You will +see me when all is ready. Come at once. F. H. M.’ Now my theory all +along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora +Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was +responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her +initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped +into her hand at the door and which lured her within their +reach.” +<p> +“Very good, Lestrade,” said Holmes, laughing. “You really are +very fine indeed. Let me see it.” He took up the paper in a +listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he +gave a little cry of satisfaction. “This is indeed important,” +said he. +<p> +“Ha! you find it so?” +<p> +“Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly.” +<p> +Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. “Why,” he +shrieked, “you’re looking at the wrong side!” +<p> +“On the contrary, this is the right side.” +<p> +“The right side? You’re mad! Here is the note written in pencil +over here.” +<p> +“And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel +bill, which interests me deeply.” +<p> +“There’s nothing in it. I looked at it before,” said Lestrade. +“ ‘Oct. 4th, rooms 8<i>s</i>., breakfast 2<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>., cocktail 1<i>s</i>., lunch 2<i>s</i>. +6<i>d</i>., glass sherry, 8<i>d</i>.’ I see nothing in that.” +<p> +“Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the +note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I +congratulate you again.” +<p> +“I’ve wasted time enough,” said Lestrade, rising. “I believe in +hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. +Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom +of the matter first.” He gathered up the garments, thrust them +into the bag, and made for the door. +<p> +“Just one hint to you, Lestrade,” drawled Holmes before his rival +vanished; “I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady +St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any +such person.” +<p> +Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, +tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and +hurried away. +<p> +He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on +his overcoat. “There is something in what the fellow says about +outdoor work,” he remarked, “so I think, Watson, that I must +leave you to your papers for a little.” +<p> +It was after five o’clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had +no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a +confectioner’s man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked +with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and +presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean +little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble +lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold +woodcock, a pheasant, a <i>pâté de foie gras</i> pie with a group of +ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, +my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian +Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid +for and were ordered to this address. +<p> +Just before nine o’clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the +room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his +eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his +conclusions. +<p> +“They have laid the supper, then,” he said, rubbing his hands. +<p> +“You seem to expect company. They have laid for five.” +<p> +“Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in,” said he. “I +am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I +fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs.” +<p> +It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, +dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very +perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. +<p> +“My messenger reached you, then?” asked Holmes. +<p> +“Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. +Have you good authority for what you say?” +<p> +“The best possible.” +<p> +Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his +forehead. +<p> +“What will the Duke say,” he murmured, “when he hears that one of +the family has been subjected to such humiliation?” +<p> +“It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any +humiliation.” +<p> +“Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint.” +<p> +“I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the +lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of +doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she +had no one to advise her at such a crisis.” +<p> +“It was a slight, sir, a public slight,” said Lord St. Simon, +tapping his fingers upon the table. +<p> +“You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so +unprecedented a position.” +<p> +“I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have +been shamefully used.” +<p> +“I think that I heard a ring,” said Holmes. “Yes, there are steps +on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view +of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here +who may be more successful.” He opened the door and ushered in a +lady and gentleman. “Lord St. Simon,” said he “allow me to +introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I +think, you have already met.” +<p> +At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his +seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand +thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended +dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out +her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was +as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was +one which it was hard to resist. +<p> +“You’re angry, Robert,” said she. “Well, I guess you have every +cause to be.” +<p> +“Pray make no apology to me,” said Lord St. Simon bitterly. +<p> +“Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I +should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of +rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just +didn’t know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn’t +fall down and do a faint right there before the altar.” +<p> +“Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave +the room while you explain this matter?” +<p> +“If I may give an opinion,” remarked the strange gentleman, +“we’ve had just a little too much secrecy over this business +already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to +hear the rights of it.” He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, +clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. +<p> +“Then I’ll tell our story right away,” said the lady. “Frank here +and I met in ’84, in McQuire’s camp, near the Rockies, where Pa +was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; +but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, +while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to +nothing. The richer Pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last Pa +wouldn’t hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took +me away to ’Frisco. Frank wouldn’t throw up his hand, though; so +he followed me there, and he saw me without Pa knowing anything +about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just +fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and +make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had +as much as Pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of +time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. +‘Why shouldn’t we be married right away, then,’ said he, ‘and +then I will feel sure of you; and I won’t claim to be your +husband until I come back?’ Well, we talked it over, and he had +fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, +that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek +his fortune, and I went back to Pa. +<p> +“The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then +he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New +Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a +miners’ camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was +my Frank’s name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was +very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took +me to half the doctors in ’Frisco. Not a word of news came for a +year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really +dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to ’Frisco, and we came to London, +and a marriage was arranged, and Pa was very pleased, but I felt +all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place +in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. +<p> +“Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I’d have done +my duty by him. We can’t command our love, but we can our +actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make +him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may +imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I +glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the +first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked +again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as +if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I +didn’t drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the +words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my +ear. I didn’t know what to do. Should I stop the service and make +a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to +know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to +tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, +and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on +the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the +note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a +line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. +Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now +to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. +<p> +“When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, +and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but +to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to +have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before +his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to +run away and explain afterwards. I hadn’t been at the table ten +minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of +the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. +I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman +came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to +me—seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little +secret of his own before marriage also—but I managed to get away +from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and +away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and +that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank +had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to +’Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to +England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the +very morning of my second wedding.” +<p> +“I saw it in a paper,” explained the American. “It gave the name +and the church but not where the lady lived.” +<p> +“Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all +for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I +should like to vanish away and never see any of them again—just +sending a line to Pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It +was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting +round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So +Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of +them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away +somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we +should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good +gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how +he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very +clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and +that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so +secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord +St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at +once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if +I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very +meanly of me.” +<p> +Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but +had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this +long narrative. +<p> +“Excuse me,” he said, “but it is not my custom to discuss my most +intimate personal affairs in this public manner.” +<p> +“Then you won’t forgive me? You won’t shake hands before I go?” +<p> +“Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure.” He put out +his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. +<p> +“I had hoped,” suggested Holmes, “that you would have joined us +in a friendly supper.” +<p> +“I think that there you ask a little too much,” responded his +Lordship. “I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent +developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over +them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a +very good-night.” He included us all in a sweeping bow and +stalked out of the room. +<p> +“Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your +company,” said Sherlock Holmes. “It is always a joy to meet an +American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the +folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone +years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens +of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a +quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.” +<br><br><p> +“The case has been an interesting one,” remarked Holmes when our +visitors had left us, “because it serves to show very clearly how +simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight +seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural +than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing +stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. +Lestrade of Scotland Yard.” +<p> +“You were not yourself at fault at all, then?” +<p> +“From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that +the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, +the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of +returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the +morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that +something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was +out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she +seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America +because she had spent so short a time in this country that she +could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence +over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change +her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a +process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an +American. Then who could this American be, and why should he +possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might +be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in +rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got +before I ever heard Lord St. Simon’s narrative. When he told us +of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride’s manner, of so +transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a +bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very +significant allusion to claim-jumping—which in miners’ parlance +means taking possession of that which another person has a prior +claim to—the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had +gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a +previous husband—the chances being in favour of the latter.” +<p> +“And how in the world did you find them?” +<p> +“It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held +information in his hands the value of which he did not himself +know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, +but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had +settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels.” +<p> +“How did you deduce the select?” +<p> +“By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence +for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive +hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. +In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I +learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an +American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking +over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I +had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded +to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate +enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them +some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be +better in every way that they should make their position a little +clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in +particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I +made him keep the appointment.” +<p> +“But with no very good result,” I remarked. “His conduct was +certainly not very gracious.” +<p> +“Ah, Watson,” said Holmes, smiling, “perhaps you would not be +very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and +wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of +fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully +and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in +the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for +the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away +these bleak autumnal evenings.” +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="11">XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">“H</font>olmes,” said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking +down the street, “here is a madman coming along. It seems rather +sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone.” +<p> +My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands +in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It +was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day +before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the +wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed +into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and +on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as +when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but +was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer +passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the +Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman +whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. +<p> +He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a +massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was +dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining +hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet +his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress +and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little +springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to +set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and +down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most +extraordinary contortions. +<p> +“What on earth can be the matter with him?” I asked. “He is +looking up at the numbers of the houses.” +<p> +“I believe that he is coming here,” said Holmes, rubbing his +hands. +<p> +“Here?” +<p> +“Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I +think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?” As +he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and +pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the +clanging. +<p> +A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still +gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in +his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and +pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his +body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the +extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his +feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we +both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. +Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting +beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, +soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. +<p> +“You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?” said he. +“You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have +recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into +any little problem which you may submit to me.” +<p> +The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting +against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his +brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. +<p> +“No doubt you think me mad?” said he. +<p> +“I see that you have had some great trouble,” responded Holmes. +<p> +“God knows I have!—a trouble which is enough to unseat my +reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might +have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet +borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; +but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have +been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. +The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found +out of this horrible affair.” +<p> +“Pray compose yourself, sir,” said Holmes, “and let me have a +clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen +you.” +<p> +“My name,” answered our visitor, “is probably familiar to your +ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & +Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street.” +<p> +The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior +partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City +of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the +foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We +waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced +himself to tell his story. +<p> +“I feel that time is of value,” said he; “that is why I hastened +here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure +your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and +hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this +snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who +takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the +facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. +<p> +“It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking +business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative +investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection +and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means +of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security +is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction +during the last few years, and there are many noble families to +whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their +pictures, libraries, or plate. +<p> +“Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a +card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I +saw the name, for it was that of none other than—well, perhaps +even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name +which is a household word all over the earth—one of the highest, +noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the +honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged +at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry +quickly through a disagreeable task. +<p> +“ ‘Mr. Holder,’ said he, ‘I have been informed that you are in the +habit of advancing money.’ +<p> +“ ‘The firm does so when the security is good.’ I answered. +<p> +“ ‘It is absolutely essential to me,’ said he, ‘that I should have +<i>£</i>50,000 at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a +sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it +a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my +position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place +one’s self under obligations.’ +<p> +“ ‘For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?’ I asked. +<p> +“ ‘Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most +certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you +think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the +money should be paid at once.’ +<p> +“ ‘I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my +own private purse,’ said I, ‘were it not that the strain would be +rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do +it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must +insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution +should be taken.’ +<p> +“ ‘I should much prefer to have it so,’ said he, raising up a +square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. +‘You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?’ +<p> +“ ‘One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,’ +said I. +<p> +“ ‘Precisely.’ He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, +flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery +which he had named. ‘There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,’ said +he, ‘and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The +lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the +sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my +security.’ +<p> +“I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some +perplexity from it to my illustrious client. +<p> +“ ‘You doubt its value?’ he asked. +<p> +“ ‘Not at all. I only doubt—’ +<p> +“ ‘The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest +about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely +certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a +pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?’ +<p> +“ ‘Ample.’ +<p> +“ ‘You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof +of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I +have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to +refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to +preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I +need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any +harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as +serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the +world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. +I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall +call for it in person on Monday morning.’ +<p> +“Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, +calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty <i>£</i>1000 +notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the +precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not +but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility +which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it +was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any +misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever +consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter +the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned +once more to my work. +<p> +“When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave +so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers’ safes had +been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how +terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I +determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always +carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might +never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a +cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel +with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs +and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. +<p> +“And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to +thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep +out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three +maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose +absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy +Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few +months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has +always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has +attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. +That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we +believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. +<p> +“So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it +will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an +only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. +Holmes—a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am +myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very +likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I +had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a +moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it +would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I +meant it for the best. +<p> +“It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my +business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, +wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the +handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a +member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming +manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long +purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards +and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again +to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his +allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried +more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he +was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir +George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. +<p> +“And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George +Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently +brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could +hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than +Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been +everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of +great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far +away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his +cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that +he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, +too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman’s quick insight into +character. +<p> +“And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but +when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the +world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my +daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house—sweet, loving, beautiful, +a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and +gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know +what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone +against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for +he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I +think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it +would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his +whole life; but now, alas! it is too late—forever too late! +<p> +“Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and +I shall continue with my miserable story. +<p> +“When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after +dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious +treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name +of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am +sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. +Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous +coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. +<p> +“ ‘Where have you put it?’ asked Arthur. +<p> +“ ‘In my own bureau.’ +<p> +“ ‘Well, I hope to goodness the house won’t be burgled during the +night.’ said he. +<p> +“ ‘It is locked up,’ I answered. +<p> +“ ‘Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I +have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.’ +<p> +“He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of +what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with +a very grave face. +<p> +“ ‘Look here, dad,’ said he with his eyes cast down, ‘can you let +me have <i>£</i>200?’ +<p> +“ ‘No, I cannot!’ I answered sharply. ‘I have been far too +generous with you in money matters.’ +<p> +“ ‘You have been very kind,’ said he, ‘but I must have this money, +or else I can never show my face inside the club again.’ +<p> +“ ‘And a very good thing, too!’ I cried. +<p> +“ ‘Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,’ +said he. ‘I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money +in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try +other means.’ +<p> +“I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the +month. ‘You shall not have a farthing from me,’ I cried, on which +he bowed and left the room without another word. +<p> +“When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my +treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go +round the house to see that all was secure—a duty which I +usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform +myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself +at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as +I approached. +<p> +“ ‘Tell me, dad,’ said she, looking, I thought, a little +disturbed, ‘did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out +to-night?’ +<p> +“ ‘Certainly not.’ +<p> +“ ‘She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she +has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that +it is hardly safe and should be stopped.’ +<p> +“ ‘You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer +it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?’ +<p> +“ ‘Quite sure, dad.’ +<p> +“ ‘Then, good-night.’ I kissed her and went up to my bedroom +again, where I was soon asleep. +<p> +“I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may +have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question +me upon any point which I do not make clear.” +<p> +“On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid.” +<p> +“I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be +particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety +in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. +About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in +the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an +impression behind it as though a window had gently closed +somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my +horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in +the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, +and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. +<p> +“ ‘Arthur!’ I screamed, ‘you villain! you thief! How dare you +touch that coronet?’ +<p> +“The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, +dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the +light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be +wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry +he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I +snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with +three of the beryls in it, was missing. +<p> +“ ‘You blackguard!’ I shouted, beside myself with rage. ‘You have +destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the +jewels which you have stolen?’ +<p> +“ ‘Stolen!’ he cried. +<p> +“ ‘Yes, thief!’ I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. +<p> +“ ‘There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,’ said he. +<p> +“ ‘There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I +call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to +tear off another piece?’ +<p> +“ ‘You have called me names enough,’ said he, ‘I will not stand it +any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, +since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in +the morning and make my own way in the world.’ +<p> +“ ‘You shall leave it in the hands of the police!’ I cried +half-mad with grief and rage. ‘I shall have this matter probed to +the bottom.’ +<p> +“ ‘You shall learn nothing from me,’ said he with a passion such +as I should not have thought was in his nature. ‘If you choose to +call the police, let the police find what they can.’ +<p> +“By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my +voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, +at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur’s face, she read the +whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the +ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the +investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a +constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with +his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge +him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private +matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was +national property. I was determined that the law should have its +way in everything. +<p> +“ ‘At least,’ said he, ‘you will not have me arrested at once. It +would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the +house for five minutes.’ +<p> +“ ‘That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you +have stolen,’ said I. And then, realising the dreadful position +in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only +my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at +stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would +convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell +me what he had done with the three missing stones. +<p> +“ ‘You may as well face the matter,’ said I; ‘you have been caught +in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. +If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling +us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.’ +<p> +“ ‘Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,’ he answered, +turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened +for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for +it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search +was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of +every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed +the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the +wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our +threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after +going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to +you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. +The police have openly confessed that they can at present make +nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think +necessary. I have already offered a reward of <i>£</i>1000. My +God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son +in one night. Oh, what shall I do!” +<p> +He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to +and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got +beyond words. +<p> +Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows +knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. +<p> +“Do you receive much company?” he asked. +<p> +“None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of +Arthur’s. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No +one else, I think.” +<p> +“Do you go out much in society?” +<p> +“Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for +it.” +<p> +“That is unusual in a young girl.” +<p> +“She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She +is four-and-twenty.” +<p> +“This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to +her also.” +<p> +“Terrible! She is even more affected than I.” +<p> +“You have neither of you any doubt as to your son’s guilt?” +<p> +“How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet +in his hands.” +<p> +“I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of +the coronet at all injured?” +<p> +“Yes, it was twisted.” +<p> +“Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to +straighten it?” +<p> +“God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. +But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If +his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?” +<p> +“Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? +His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several +singular points about the case. What did the police think of the +noise which awoke you from your sleep?” +<p> +“They considered that it might be caused by Arthur’s closing his +bedroom door.” +<p> +“A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door +so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the +disappearance of these gems?” +<p> +“They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture +in the hope of finding them.” +<p> +“Have they thought of looking outside the house?” +<p> +“Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has +already been minutely examined.” +<p> +“Now, my dear sir,” said Holmes. “is it not obvious to you now +that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you +or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you +to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider +what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came +down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, +opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main +force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, +concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that +nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six +into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger +of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?” +<p> +“But what other is there?” cried the banker with a gesture of +despair. “If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain +them?” +<p> +“It is our task to find that out,” replied Holmes; “so now, if +you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, +and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into +details.” +<p> +My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, +which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy +were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I +confess that the guilt of the banker’s son appeared to me to be +as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such +faith in Holmes’ judgment that I felt that there must be some +grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted +explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the +southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his +hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client +appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope +which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a +desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway +journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest +residence of the great financier. +<p> +Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing +back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a +snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates +which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden +thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges +stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the +tradesmen’s entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the +stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a +public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing +at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the +front, down the tradesmen’s path, and so round by the garden +behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I +went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should +return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and +a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, +slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against +the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever +seen such deadly paleness in a woman’s face. Her lips, too, were +bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept +silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of +grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the +more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong +character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding +my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand +over his head with a sweet womanly caress. +<p> +“You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you +not, dad?” she asked. +<p> +“No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom.” +<p> +“But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman’s +instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will +be sorry for having acted so harshly.” +<p> +“Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?” +<p> +“Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should +suspect him.” +<p> +“How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with +the coronet in his hand?” +<p> +“Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take +my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say +no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in +prison!” +<p> +“I shall never let it drop until the gems are found—never, Mary! +Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences +to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman +down from London to inquire more deeply into it.” +<p> +“This gentleman?” she asked, facing round to me. +<p> +“No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in +the stable lane now.” +<p> +“The stable lane?” She raised her dark eyebrows. “What can he +hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, +that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, +that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime.” +<p> +“I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may +prove it,” returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the +snow from his shoes. “I believe I have the honour of addressing +Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?” +<p> +“Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up.” +<p> +“You heard nothing yourself last night?” +<p> +“Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard +that, and I came down.” +<p> +“You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you +fasten all the windows?” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“Were they all fastened this morning?” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked +to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?” +<p> +“Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and +who may have heard uncle’s remarks about the coronet.” +<p> +“I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her +sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery.” +<p> +“But what is the good of all these vague theories,” cried the +banker impatiently, “when I have told you that I saw Arthur with +the coronet in his hands?” +<p> +“Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this +girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I +presume?” +<p> +“Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I +met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom.” +<p> +“Do you know him?” +<p> +“Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. +His name is Francis Prosper.” +<p> +“He stood,” said Holmes, “to the left of the door—that is to +say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?” +<p> +“Yes, he did.” +<p> +“And he is a man with a wooden leg?” +<p> +Something like fear sprang up in the young lady’s expressive +black eyes. “Why, you are like a magician,” said she. “How do you +know that?” She smiled, but there was no answering smile in +Holmes’ thin, eager face. +<p> +“I should be very glad now to go upstairs,” said he. “I shall +probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps +I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up.” +<p> +He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at +the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. +This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill +with his powerful magnifying lens. “Now we shall go upstairs,” +said he at last. +<p> +The banker’s dressing-room was a plainly furnished little +chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. +Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. +<p> +“Which key was used to open it?” he asked. +<p> +“That which my son himself indicated—that of the cupboard of the +lumber-room.” +<p> +“Have you it here?” +<p> +“That is it on the dressing-table.” +<p> +Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. +<p> +“It is a noiseless lock,” said he. “It is no wonder that it did +not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must +have a look at it.” He opened the case, and taking out the diadem +he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the +jeweller’s art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I +have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, +where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. +<p> +“Now, Mr. Holder,” said Holmes, “here is the corner which +corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I +beg that you will break it off.” +<p> +The banker recoiled in horror. “I should not dream of trying,” +said he. +<p> +“Then I will.” Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but +without result. “I feel it give a little,” said he; “but, though +I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my +time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do +you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would +be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this +happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard +nothing of it?” +<p> +“I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me.” +<p> +“But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, +Miss Holder?” +<p> +“I confess that I still share my uncle’s perplexity.” +<p> +“Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?” +<p> +“He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt.” +<p> +“Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary +luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault +if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your +permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations +outside.” +<p> +He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any +unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an +hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet +heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. +<p> +“I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. +Holder,” said he; “I can serve you best by returning to my +rooms.” +<p> +“But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?” +<p> +“I cannot tell.” +<p> +The banker wrung his hands. “I shall never see them again!” he +cried. “And my son? You give me hopes?” +<p> +“My opinion is in no way altered.” +<p> +“Then, for God’s sake, what was this dark business which was +acted in my house last night?” +<p> +“If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow +morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to +make it clearer. I understand that you give me <i>carte blanche</i> to +act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you +place no limit on the sum I may draw.” +<p> +“I would give my fortune to have them back.” +<p> +“Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. +Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here +again before evening.” +<p> +It was obvious to me that my companion’s mind was now made up +about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than +I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward +journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always +glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in +despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our +rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in +a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned +up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he +was a perfect sample of the class. +<p> +“I think that this should do,” said he, glancing into the glass +above the fireplace. “I only wish that you could come with me, +Watson, but I fear that it won’t do. I may be on the trail in +this matter, or I may be following a will-o’-the-wisp, but I +shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few +hours.” He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, +sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this +rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. +<p> +I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in +excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his +hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a +cup of tea. +<p> +“I only looked in as I passed,” said he. “I am going right on.” +<p> +“Where to?” +<p> +“Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time +before I get back. Don’t wait up for me in case I should be +late.” +<p> +“How are you getting on?” +<p> +“Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham +since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a +very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a +good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get +these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly +respectable self.” +<p> +I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for +satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, +and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He +hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of +the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his +congenial hunt. +<p> +I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so +I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away +for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that +his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he +came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there +he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the +other, as fresh and trim as possible. +<p> +“You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson,” said he, “but +you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this +morning.” +<p> +“Why, it is after nine now,” I answered. “I should not be +surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring.” +<p> +It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the +change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally +of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, +while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered +with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than +his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into +the armchair which I pushed forward for him. +<p> +“I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried,” said +he. “Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without +a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured +age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, +Mary, has deserted me.” +<p> +“Deserted you?” +<p> +“Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was +empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to +her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had +married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was +thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers +in this note: +<br><br><p> +“ ‘MY DEAREST UNCLE:—I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, +and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune +might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my +mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must +leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is +provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will +be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in +death, I am ever your loving<p align="right"><br>“ ‘MARY.’ +<br><br><p> +“What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it +points to suicide?” +<p> +“No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible +solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of +your troubles.” +<p> +“Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have +learned something! Where are the gems?” +<p> +“You would not think <i>£</i>1000 apiece an excessive sum for +them?” +<p> +“I would pay ten.” +<p> +“That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. +And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? +Here is a pen. Better make it out for <i>£</i>4000.” +<p> +With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes +walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of +gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. +<p> +With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. +<p> +“You have it!” he gasped. “I am saved! I am saved!” +<p> +The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and +he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. +<p> +“There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder,” said Sherlock +Holmes rather sternly. +<p> +“Owe!” He caught up a pen. “Name the sum, and I will pay it.” +<p> +“No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that +noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I +should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to +have one.” +<p> +“Then it was not Arthur who took them?” +<p> +“I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not.” +<p> +“You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him +know that the truth is known.” +<p> +“He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an +interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the +story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was +right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite +clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his +lips.” +<p> +“For heaven’s sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary +mystery!” +<p> +“I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached +it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me +to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding +between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now +fled together.” +<p> +“My Mary? Impossible!” +<p> +“It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither +you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you +admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most +dangerous men in England—a ruined gambler, an absolutely +desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece +knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he +had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she +alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, +but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing +him nearly every evening.” +<p> +“I cannot, and I will not, believe it!” cried the banker with an +ashen face. +<p> +“I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. +Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, +slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which +leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right +through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the +coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he +bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but +there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all +other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had +hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming +downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you +about one of the servants’ escapade with her wooden-legged lover, +which was all perfectly true. +<p> +“Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but +he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. +In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, +so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin +walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared +into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad +slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what +would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the +room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw +that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed +down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and +slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see +what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the +window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then +closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close +to where he stood hid behind the curtain. +<p> +“As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action +without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the +instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune +this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it +right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened +the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, +where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George +Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was +a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the +coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son +struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something +suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet +in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your +room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in +the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you +appeared upon the scene.” +<p> +“Is it possible?” gasped the banker. +<p> +“You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when +he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not +explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who +certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He +took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her +secret.” +<p> +“And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the +coronet,” cried Mr. Holder. “Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have +been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! +The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the +scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!” +<p> +“When I arrived at the house,” continued Holmes, “I at once went +very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in +the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since +the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost +to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen’s path, but +found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, +however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood +and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed +that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been +disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was +shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had +waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time +that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had +already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed +round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, +which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable +lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in +front of me. +<p> +“There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second +double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked +feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the +latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the +other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over +the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed +after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the +hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while +waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred +yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, +where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, +and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me +that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and +another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been +hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that +the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. +<p> +“On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the +sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could +at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the +outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming +in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what +had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had +brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had +pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged +at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which +neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the +prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So +far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who +was it brought him the coronet? +<p> +“It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the +impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the +truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, +so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were +the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in +their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his +cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should +retain her secret—the more so as the secret was a disgraceful +one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and +how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture +became a certainty. +<p> +“And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, +for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must +feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your +circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir +George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil +reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots +and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur +had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was +safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his +own family. +<p> +“Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took +next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George’s house, +managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that +his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at +the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of +his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and +saw that they exactly fitted the tracks.” +<p> +“I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening,” +said Mr. Holder. +<p> +“Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home +and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to +play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert +scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our +hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of +course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every +particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a +life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I +clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he +became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give +him a price for the stones he held—<i>£</i>1000 apiece. That +brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. ‘Why, +dash it all!’ said he, ‘I’ve let them go at six hundred for the +three!’ I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had +them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I +set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at <i>£</i>1000 +apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all +was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o’clock, after +what I may call a really hard day’s work.” +<p> +“A day which has saved England from a great public scandal,” said +the banker, rising. “Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but +you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your +skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I +must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I +have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my +very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now.” +<p> +“I think that we may safely say,” returned Holmes, “that she is +wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that +whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than +sufficient punishment.” +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<center><h3><a name="12">XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES</a></h3></center> +<p><br> +<font size="+2">“T</font>o the man who loves art for its own sake,” remarked Sherlock +Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the <i>Daily +Telegraph</i>, “it is frequently in its least important and lowliest +manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is +pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped +this truth that in these little records of our cases which you +have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, +occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much +to the many <i>causes célèbres</i> and sensational trials in which I +have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been +trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those +faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made +my special province.” +<p> +“And yet,” said I, smiling, “I cannot quite hold myself absolved +from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my +records.” +<p> +“You have erred, perhaps,” he observed, taking up a glowing +cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood +pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a +disputatious rather than a meditative mood—“you have erred +perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your +statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing +upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is +really the only notable feature about the thing.” +<p> +“It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter,” +I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism +which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my +friend’s singular character. +<p> +“No, it is not selfishness or conceit,” said he, answering, as +was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. “If I claim full +justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing—a +thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it +is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should +dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of +lectures into a series of tales.” +<p> +It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after +breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at +Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of +dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, +shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit +and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for +the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been +silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the +advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, +having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very +sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. +<p> +“At the same time,” he remarked after a pause, during which he +had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, +“you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of +these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself +in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, +at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King +of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the +problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the +incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are +outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I +fear that you may have bordered on the trivial.” +<p> +“The end may have been so,” I answered, “but the methods I hold +to have been novel and of interest.” +<p> +“Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant +public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a +compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of +analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial. I cannot +blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at +least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As +to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an +agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to +young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched +bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my +zero-point, I fancy. Read it!” He tossed a crumpled letter across +to me. +<p> +It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and +ran thus: +<br><br><p> +“DEAR MR. HOLMES:—I am very anxious to consult you as to whether +I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered +to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I +do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, +<p align="right"><br>“VIOLET HUNTER.” +<br><br><p> +“Do you know the young lady?” I asked. +<p> +“Not I.” +<p> +“It is half-past ten now.” +<p> +“Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring.” +<p> +“It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You +remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to +be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. +It may be so in this case, also.” +<p> +“Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, +for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question.” +<p> +As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. +She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, +freckled like a plover’s egg, and with the brisk manner of a +woman who has had her own way to make in the world. +<p> +“You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure,” said she, as my +companion rose to greet her, “but I have had a very strange +experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort +from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be +kind enough to tell me what I should do.” +<p> +“Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything +that I can to serve you.” +<p> +I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner +and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching +fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and +his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. +<p> +“I have been a governess for five years,” said she, “in the +family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel +received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his +children over to America with him, so that I found myself without +a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but +without success. At last the little money which I had saved began +to run short, and I was at my wit’s end as to what I should do. +<p> +“There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End +called Westaway’s, and there I used to call about once a week in +order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. +Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is +really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, +and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, +and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers +and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. +<p> +“Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office +as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A +prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy +chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at +her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very +earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a +jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. +<p> +“ ‘That will do,’ said he; ‘I could not ask for anything better. +Capital! capital!’ He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his +hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a +comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at +him. +<p> +“ ‘You are looking for a situation, miss?’ he asked. +<p> +“ ‘Yes, sir.’ +<p> +“ ‘As governess?’ +<p> +“ ‘Yes, sir.’ +<p> +“ ‘And what salary do you ask?’ +<p> +“ ‘I had <i>£</i>4 a month in my last place with Colonel Spence +Munro.’ +<p> +“ ‘Oh, tut, tut! sweating—rank sweating!’ he cried, throwing his +fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling +passion. ‘How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with +such attractions and accomplishments?’ +<p> +“ ‘My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,’ said I. +‘A little French, a little German, music, and drawing—’ +<p> +“ ‘Tut, tut!’ he cried. ‘This is all quite beside the question. +The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment +of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are +not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a +considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have +why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to +accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, +madam, would commence at <i>£</i>100 a year.’ +<p> +“You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, +such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, +however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, +opened a pocket-book and took out a note. +<p> +“ ‘It is also my custom,’ said he, smiling in the most pleasant +fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid +the white creases of his face, ‘to advance to my young ladies +half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little +expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.’ +<p> +“It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so +thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the +advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something +unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know +a little more before I quite committed myself. +<p> +“ ‘May I ask where you live, sir?’ said I. +<p> +“ ‘Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles +on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my +dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.’ +<p> +“ ‘And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would +be.’ +<p> +“ ‘One child—one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if +you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! +smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!’ He leaned back +in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. +<p> +“I was a little startled at the nature of the child’s amusement, +but the father’s laughter made me think that perhaps he was +joking. +<p> +“ ‘My sole duties, then,’ I asked, ‘are to take charge of a single +child?’ +<p> +“ ‘No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,’ he +cried. ‘Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would +suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided +always that they were such commands as a lady might with +propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?’ +<p> +“ ‘I should be happy to make myself useful.’ +<p> +“ ‘Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you +know—faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress +which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. +Heh?’ +<p> +“ ‘No,’ said I, considerably astonished at his words. +<p> +“ ‘Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to +you?’ +<p> +“ ‘Oh, no.’ +<p> +“ ‘Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?’ +<p> +“I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, +my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of +chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of +sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. +<p> +“ ‘I am afraid that that is quite impossible,’ said I. He had been +watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a +shadow pass over his face as I spoke. +<p> +“ ‘I am afraid that it is quite essential,’ said he. ‘It is a +little fancy of my wife’s, and ladies’ fancies, you know, madam, +ladies’ fancies must be consulted. And so you won’t cut your +hair?’ +<p> +“ ‘No, sir, I really could not,’ I answered firmly. +<p> +“ ‘Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a +pity, because in other respects you would really have done very +nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more +of your young ladies.’ +<p> +“The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers +without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so +much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting +that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. +<p> +“ ‘Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?’ she asked. +<p> +“ ‘If you please, Miss Stoper.’ +<p> +“ ‘Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the +most excellent offers in this fashion,’ said she sharply. ‘You +can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such +opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.’ She struck a gong +upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. +<p> +“Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found +little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the +table. I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very +foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and +expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were +at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few +governesses in England are getting <i>£</i>100 a year. Besides, +what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing +it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was +inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after +I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go +back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open +when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it +here and I will read it to you: +<p align="right"><br> +“ ‘The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. +<p>“ ‘DEAR MISS HUNTER:—Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your +address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have +reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you +should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of +you. We are willing to give <i>£</i>30 a quarter, or <i>£</i>120 a +year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which +our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My +wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would +like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need +not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one +belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which +would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting +here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that +need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no +doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty +during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain +firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary +may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child +is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall +meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. +Yours faithfully,<p align="right"><br>“ ‘JEPHRO RUCASTLE.’ +<br><br><p> +“That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and +my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, +that before taking the final step I should like to submit the +whole matter to your consideration.” +<p> +“Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the +question,” said Holmes, smiling. +<p> +“But you would not advise me to refuse?” +<p> +“I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to +see a sister of mine apply for.” +<p> +“What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?” +<p> +“Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself +formed some opinion?” +<p> +“Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. +Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not +possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the +matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that +he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an +outbreak?” +<p> +“That is a possible solution—in fact, as matters stand, it is +the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a +nice household for a young lady.” +<p> +“But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!” +<p> +“Well, yes, of course the pay is good—too good. That is what +makes me uneasy. Why should they give you <i>£</i>120 a year, when +they could have their pick for <i>£</i>40? There must be some +strong reason behind.” +<p> +“I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would +understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so +much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me.” +<p> +“Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that +your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has +come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel +about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt +or in danger—” +<p> +“Danger! What danger do you foresee?” +<p> +Holmes shook his head gravely. “It would cease to be a danger if +we could define it,” said he. “But at any time, day or night, a +telegram would bring me down to your help.” +<p> +“That is enough.” She rose briskly from her chair with the +anxiety all swept from her face. “I shall go down to Hampshire +quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, +sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester +to-morrow.” With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both +good-night and bustled off upon her way. +<p> +“At least,” said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending +the stairs, “she seems to be a young lady who is very well able +to take care of herself.” +<p> +“And she would need to be,” said Holmes gravely. “I am much +mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past.” +<p> +It was not very long before my friend’s prediction was fulfilled. +A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts +turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of +human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual +salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to +something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether +the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond +my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat +frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an +abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his +hand when I mentioned it. “Data! data! data!” he cried +impatiently. “I can’t make bricks without clay.” And yet he would +always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever +have accepted such a situation. +<p> +The telegram which we eventually received came late one night +just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down +to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently +indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a +test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came +down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, +and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. +<p> +“Just look up the trains in Bradshaw,” said he, and turned back +to his chemical studies. +<p> +The summons was a brief and urgent one. +<br><br><p> +“Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday +to-morrow,” it said. “Do come! I am at my wit’s end.<p align="right"><br>“HUNTER.” +<br><br><p> +“Will you come with me?” asked Holmes, glancing up. +<p> +“I should wish to.” +<p> +“Just look it up, then.” +<p> +“There is a train at half-past nine,” said I, glancing over my +Bradshaw. “It is due at Winchester at 11:30.” +<p> +“That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my +analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the +morning.” +<br><br><p> +By eleven o’clock the next day we were well upon our way to the +old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers +all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he +threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal +spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white +clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining +very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, +which set an edge to a man’s energy. All over the countryside, +away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and +grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light +green of the new foliage. +<p> +“Are they not fresh and beautiful?” I cried with all the +enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. +<p> +But Holmes shook his head gravely. +<p> +“Do you know, Watson,” said he, “that it is one of the curses of +a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with +reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered +houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, +and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their +isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed +there.” +<p> +“Good heavens!” I cried. “Who would associate crime with these +dear old homesteads?” +<p> +“They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, +Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest +alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin +than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.” +<p> +“You horrify me!” +<p> +“But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion +can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no +lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of +a drunkard’s blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among +the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever +so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is +but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these +lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part +with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the +deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, +year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this +lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I +should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of +country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is +not personally threatened.” +<p> +“No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away.” +<p> +“Quite so. She has her freedom.” +<p> +“What <i>can</i> be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?” +<p> +“I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would +cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is +correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we +shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of +the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has +to tell.” +<p> +The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no +distance from the station, and there we found the young lady +waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch +awaited us upon the table. +<p> +“I am so delighted that you have come,” she said earnestly. “It +is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I +should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me.” +<p> +“Pray tell us what has happened to you.” +<p> +“I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. +Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into +town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose.” +<p> +“Let us have everything in its due order.” Holmes thrust his long +thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. +<p> +“In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, +with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is +only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and +I am not easy in my mind about them.” +<p> +“What can you not understand?” +<p> +“Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just +as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and +drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he +said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, +for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all +stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds +round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which +slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about +a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs +to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord +Southerton’s preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in +front of the hall door has given its name to the place. +<p> +“I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, +and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. +There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to +us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is +not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much +younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, +while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their +conversation I have gathered that they have been married about +seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by +the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. +Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them +was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As +the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite +imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her +father’s young wife. +<p> +“Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as +in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. +She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately +devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey +eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every +little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her +also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they +seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, +this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the +saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her +in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of +her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so +utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small +for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. +His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between +savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving +pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea +of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning +the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would +rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he +has little to do with my story.” +<p> +“I am glad of all details,” remarked my friend, “whether they +seem to you to be relevant or not.” +<p> +“I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one +unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was +the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a +man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, +uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual +smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been +quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. +His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as +silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most +unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the +nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one +corner of the building. +<p> +“For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was +very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after +breakfast and whispered something to her husband. +<p> +“ ‘Oh, yes,’ said he, turning to me, ‘we are very much obliged to +you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut +your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest +iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue +dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in +your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should +both be extremely obliged.’ +<p> +“The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade +of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it +bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not +have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. +and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which +seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for +me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching +along the entire front of the house, with three long windows +reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the +central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was +asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the +other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest +stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how +comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. +Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so +much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, +anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle +suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the +day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in +the nursery. +<p> +“Two days later this same performance was gone through under +exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I +sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny +stories of which my employer had an immense <i>répertoire</i>, and which +he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and +moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not +fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for +about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then +suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and +to change my dress. +<p> +“You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to +what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly +be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face +away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire +to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be +impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been +broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of +the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst +of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able +with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I +confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that +was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I +perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, +a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in +my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are +usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the +railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I +lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her +eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, +but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my +hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. +<p> +“ ‘Jephro,’ said she, ‘there is an impertinent fellow upon the +road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.’ +<p> +“ ‘No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?’ he asked. +<p> +“ ‘No, I know no one in these parts.’ +<p> +“ ‘Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to +him to go away.’ +<p> +“ ‘Surely it would be better to take no notice.’ +<p> +“ ‘No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn +round and wave him away like that.’ +<p> +“I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew +down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have +not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor +seen the man in the road.” +<p> +“Pray continue,” said Holmes. “Your narrative promises to be a +most interesting one.” +<p> +“You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may +prove to be little relation between the different incidents of +which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper +Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands +near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp +rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving +about. +<p> +“ ‘Look in here!’ said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two +planks. ‘Is he not a beauty?’ +<p> +“I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a +vague figure huddled up in the darkness. +<p> +“ ‘Don’t be frightened,’ said my employer, laughing at the start +which I had given. ‘It’s only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, +but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do +anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, +so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose +every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs +upon. For goodness’ sake don’t you ever on any pretext set your +foot over the threshold at night, for it’s as much as your life +is worth.’ +<p> +“The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to +look out of my bedroom window about two o’clock in the morning. +It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the +house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was +standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was +aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper +beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It +was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging +jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly +across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. +That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not +think that any burglar could have done. +<p> +“And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as +you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a +great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the +child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the +furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. +There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones +empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two +with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was +naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It +struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, +so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very +first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There +was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never +guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. +<p> +“I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, +and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing +obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in +the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the +contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two +tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was +it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at +all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, +and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that +I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had +locked. +<p> +“I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, +and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. +There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited +at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of +the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. +One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle +coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on +his face which made him a very different person to the round, +jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his +brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his +temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me +without a word or a look. +<p> +“This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the +grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I +could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four +of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the +fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I +strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle +came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. +<p> +“ ‘Ah!’ said he, ‘you must not think me rude if I passed you +without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with +business matters.’ +<p> +“I assured him that I was not offended. ‘By the way,’ said I, +‘you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one +of them has the shutters up.’ +<p> +“He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled +at my remark. +<p> +“ ‘Photography is one of my hobbies,’ said he. ‘I have made my +dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we +have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever +believed it?’ He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest +in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and +annoyance, but no jest. +<p> +“Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there +was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, +I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, +though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty—a +feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this +place. They talk of woman’s instinct; perhaps it was woman’s +instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, +and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the +forbidden door. +<p> +“It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, +besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to +do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large +black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been +drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when +I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at +all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both +downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an +admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, +opened the door, and slipped through. +<p> +“There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and +uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. +Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third +of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and +cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so +thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through +them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it +had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked +at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with +stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was +not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the +shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from +beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was +a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the +passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it +might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room +and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little +slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, +unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My +overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran—ran +as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the +skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, +and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting +outside. +<p> +“ ‘So,’ said he, smiling, ‘it was you, then. I thought that it +must be when I saw the door open.’ +<p> +“ ‘Oh, I am so frightened!’ I panted. +<p> +“ ‘My dear young lady! my dear young lady!’—you cannot think how +caressing and soothing his manner was—‘and what has frightened +you, my dear young lady?’ +<p> +“But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I +was keenly on my guard against him. +<p> +“ ‘I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,’ I answered. +‘But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was +frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in +there!’ +<p> +“ ‘Only that?’ said he, looking at me keenly. +<p> +“ ‘Why, what did you think?’ I asked. +<p> +“ ‘Why do you think that I lock this door?’ +<p> +“ ‘I am sure that I do not know.’ +<p> +“ ‘It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you +see?’ He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. +<p> +“ ‘I am sure if I had known—’ +<p> +“ ‘Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over +that threshold again’—here in an instant the smile hardened into +a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a +demon—‘I’ll throw you to the mastiff.’ +<p> +“I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that +I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing +until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I +thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without +some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the +woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible +to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of +course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was +almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would +send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the +office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then +returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my +mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I +remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of +insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one +in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, +or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and +lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. +I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this +morning, but I must be back before three o’clock, for Mr. and +Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the +evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you +all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you +could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should +do.” +<p> +Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. +My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in +his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon +his face. +<p> +“Is Toller still drunk?” he asked. +<p> +“Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do +nothing with him.” +<p> +“That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?” +<p> +“Yes.” +<p> +“Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?” +<p> +“Yes, the wine-cellar.” +<p> +“You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very +brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could +perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not +think you a quite exceptional woman.” +<p> +“I will try. What is it?” +<p> +“We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o’clock, my friend +and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, +we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might +give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some +errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate +matters immensely.” +<p> +“I will do it.” +<p> +“Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of +course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been +brought there to personate someone, and the real person is +imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this +prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice +Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to +America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, +figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very +possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of +course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you +came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some +friend of hers—possibly her <i>fiancé</i>—and no doubt, as you wore +the girl’s dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your +laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, +that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer +desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent +him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly +clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of +the child.” +<p> +“What on earth has that to do with it?” I ejaculated. +<p> +“My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining +light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the +parents. Don’t you see that the converse is equally valid. I have +frequently gained my first real insight into the character of +parents by studying their children. This child’s disposition is +abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty’s sake, and whether he +derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or +from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their +power.” +<p> +“I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes,” cried our client. “A +thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you +have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to +this poor creature.” +<p> +“We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning +man. We can do nothing until seven o’clock. At that hour we shall +be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the +mystery.” +<p> +We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we +reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside +public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining +like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were +sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been +standing smiling on the door-step. +<p> +“Have you managed it?” asked Holmes. +<p> +A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. “That is +Mrs. Toller in the cellar,” said she. “Her husband lies snoring +on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates +of Mr. Rucastle’s.” +<p> +“You have done well indeed!” cried Holmes with enthusiasm. “Now +lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black +business.” +<p> +We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a +passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss +Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the +transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but +without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence +Holmes’ face clouded over. +<p> +“I trust that we are not too late,” said he. “I think, Miss +Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put +your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our +way in.” +<p> +It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united +strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There +was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a +basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner +gone. +<p> +“There has been some villainy here,” said Holmes; “this beauty +has guessed Miss Hunter’s intentions and has carried his victim +off.” +<p> +“But how?” +<p> +“Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it.” He +swung himself up onto the roof. “Ah, yes,” he cried, “here’s the +end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did +it.” +<p> +“But it is impossible,” said Miss Hunter; “the ladder was not +there when the Rucastles went away.” +<p> +“He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and +dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were +he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it +would be as well for you to have your pistol ready.” +<p> +The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at +the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy +stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the +wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and +confronted him. +<p> +“You villain!” said he, “where’s your daughter?” +<p> +The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open +skylight. +<p> +“It is for me to ask you that,” he shrieked, “you thieves! Spies +and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I’ll +serve you!” He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he +could go. +<p> +“He’s gone for the dog!” cried Miss Hunter. +<p> +“I have my revolver,” said I. +<p> +“Better close the front door,” cried Holmes, and we all rushed +down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we +heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a +horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An +elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out +at a side door. +<p> +“My God!” he cried. “Someone has loosed the dog. It’s not been +fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it’ll be too late!” +<p> +Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with +Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its +black muzzle buried in Rucastle’s throat, while he writhed and +screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and +it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great +creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and +carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid +him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered +Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to +relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door +opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. +<p> +“Mrs. Toller!” cried Miss Hunter. +<p> +“Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he +went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn’t let me know +what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains +were wasted.” +<p> +“Ha!” said Holmes, looking keenly at her. “It is clear that Mrs. +Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else.” +<p> +“Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know.” +<p> +“Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several +points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark.” +<p> +“I will soon make it clear to you,” said she; “and I’d have done +so before now if I could ha’ got out from the cellar. If there’s +police-court business over this, you’ll remember that I was the +one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice’s friend +too. +<p> +“She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn’t, from the time +that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no +say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until +after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend’s house. As well as I could +learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so +quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them +but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle’s hands. He knew he was +safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming +forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then +her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to +sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use +her money. When she wouldn’t do it, he kept on worrying her until +she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death’s door. Then +she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her +beautiful hair cut off; but that didn’t make no change in her +young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be.” +<p> +“Ah,” said Holmes, “I think that what you have been good enough +to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce +all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this +system of imprisonment?” +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +<p> +“And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of +the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler.” +<p> +“That was it, sir.” +<p> +“But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should +be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain +arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your +interests were the same as his.” +<p> +“Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman,” said +Mrs. Toller serenely. +<p> +“And in this way he managed that your good man should have no +want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment +when your master had gone out.” +<p> +“You have it, sir, just as it happened.” +<p> +“I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller,” said Holmes, “for +you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And +here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, +Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, +as it seems to me that our <i>locus standi</i> now is rather a +questionable one.” +<p> +And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the +copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but +was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of +his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who +probably know so much of Rucastle’s past life that he finds it +difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were +married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their +flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in +the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend +Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further +interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one +of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at +Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. +<br><br><hr size="3" noshade> +</DIV> +<pre>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** + +This file should be named advsh12h.htm or advsh12h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, advsh13h.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, advsh12ah.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +<a href="http://gutenberg.net">http://gutenberg.net</a> or +<a href="http://promo.net/pg">http://promo.net/pg</a> + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +<a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04">http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04</a> or +<a href="ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03">ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03</a> + +Or /etext03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html">http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html</a> + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +<a href="mailto:hart@pobox.com">hart@pobox.com</a> + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + + + +</pre> +</BODY></HTML>
\ No newline at end of file |