diff options
Diffstat (limited to '1661-h/1661-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | 1661-h/1661-h.htm | 17202 |
1 files changed, 17202 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/1661-h/1661-h.htm b/1661-h/1661-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..399cd35 --- /dev/null +++ b/1661-h/1661-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17202 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 0.25em; } + +.big {font-size: 1.3em;} +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Arthur Conan Doyle</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 29, 2002 [eBook #1661]<br> +[Most recently updated: October 10, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ***</div> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td> +THERE IS AN ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THIS TITLE WHICH MAY VIEWED AT EBOOK <span class="big"><b><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48320"> +[ #48320 ]</a></b></span> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<div class="fig" style="width:65%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="cover"><br><br> +</div> + +<h1>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</h1> + +<h2>by Arthur Conan Doyle</h2> + +<hr> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table class="autotable"> + +<tr> +<td>I.</td><td> <a href="#chap01">A Scandal in Bohemia</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>II.</td><td> <a href="#chap02">The Red-Headed League</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>III.</td><td> <a href="#chap03">A Case of Identity</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>IV.</td><td> <a href="#chap04">The Boscombe Valley Mystery</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>V.</td><td> <a href="#chap05">The Five Orange Pips</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>VI.</td><td> <a href="#chap06">The Man with the Twisted Lip</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>VII.</td><td> <a href="#chap07">The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>VIII.</td><td> <a href="#chap08">The Adventure of the Speckled Band</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>IX.</td><td> <a href="#chap09">The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>X.</td><td> <a href="#chap10">The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>XI.</td><td> <a href="#chap11">The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>XII.</td><td> <a href="#chap12">The Adventure of the Copper Beeches</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>I.<br>A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA</h2> + +<h3>I.</h3> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">T</span>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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Wedlock suits you,” he remarked. “I think, Watson, that you +have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Seven!” I answered. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Then, how do you know?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Frequently.” +</p> + +<p> +“How often?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, some hundreds of times.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then how many are there?” +</p> + +<p> +“How many? I don’t know.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +The note was undated, and without either signature or address. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“This is indeed a mystery,” I remarked. “What do you imagine +that it means?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was written. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Peculiar—that is the very word,” said Holmes. “It is +not an English paper at all. Hold it up to the light.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What do you make of that?” asked Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“The paper was made in Bohemia,” I said. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I think that I had better go, Holmes.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But your client—” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Come in!” said Holmes. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I promise,” said Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“And I.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I was aware of it,” said Holmes dryly. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I was also aware of that,” murmured Holmes, settling himself down +in his armchair and closing his eyes. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“If your Majesty would condescend to state your case,” he remarked, +“I should be better able to advise you.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Then, pray consult,” said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Precisely so. But how—” +</p> + +<p> +“Was there a secret marriage?” +</p> + +<p> +“None.” +</p> + +<p> +“No legal papers or certificates?” +</p> + +<p> +“None.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“There is the writing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pooh, pooh! Forgery.” +</p> + +<p> +“My private note-paper.” +</p> + +<p> +“Stolen.” +</p> + +<p> +“My own seal.” +</p> + +<p> +“Imitated.” +</p> + +<p> +“My photograph.” +</p> + +<p> +“Bought.” +</p> + +<p> +“We were both in the photograph.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an +indiscretion.” +</p> + +<p> +“I was mad—insane.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have compromised yourself seriously.” +</p> + +<p> +“I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now.” +</p> + +<p> +“It must be recovered.” +</p> + +<p> +“We have tried and failed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought.” +</p> + +<p> +“She will not sell.” +</p> + +<p> +“Stolen, then.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“No sign of it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Absolutely none.” +</p> + +<p> +Holmes laughed. “It is quite a pretty little problem,” said he. +</p> + +<p> +“But a very serious one to me,” returned the King reproachfully. +</p> + +<p> +“Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the +photograph?” +</p> + +<p> +“To ruin me.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am about to be married.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I have heard.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And Irene Adler?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“You are sure that she has not sent it yet?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am sure.” +</p> + +<p> +“And why?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the Count +Von Kramm.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, as to money?” +</p> + +<p> +“You have <i>carte blanche</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +“Absolutely?” +</p> + +<p> +“I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom to have +that photograph.” +</p> + +<p> +“And for present expenses?” +</p> + +<p> +The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak and laid it on +the table. +</p> + +<p> +“There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in +notes,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and handed it to him. +</p> + +<p> +“And Mademoiselle’s address?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John’s Wood.” +</p> + +<p> +Holmes took a note of it. “One other question,” said he. “Was +the photograph a cabinet?” +</p> + +<p> +“It was.” +</p> + +<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.” +</p> + +<h3>II.</h3> + +<p> +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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What is it?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I can’t imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the habits, +and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“And what of Irene Adler?” I asked. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I am following you closely,” I answered. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘The Church of St. Monica, John,’ she cried, +‘and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Thank God,’ he cried. ‘You’ll do. Come! +Come!’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘What then?’ I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won’t be +legal.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“This is a very unexpected turn of affairs,” said I; “and +what then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Which are?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I shall be delighted.” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t mind breaking the law?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not in the least.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nor running a chance of arrest?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not in a good cause.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, the cause is excellent!” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I am your man.” +</p> + +<p> +“I was sure that I might rely on you.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what is it you wish?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And what then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I am to be neutral?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Entirely.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Precisely.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you may entirely rely on me.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I prepare +for the new role I have to play.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Where, indeed?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Where, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But it has twice been burgled.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pshaw! They did not know how to look.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how will you look?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not look.” +</p> + +<p> +“What then?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will get her to show me.” +</p> + +<p> +“But she will refuse.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Is the poor gentleman much hurt?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“He is dead,” cried several voices. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, there’s life in him!” shouted another. “But +he’ll be gone before you can get him to hospital.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“He can’t lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?” +</p> + +<p> +“Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable sofa. +This way, please!” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You did it very nicely, Doctor,” he remarked. “Nothing could +have been better. It is all right.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have the photograph?” +</p> + +<p> +“I know where it is.” +</p> + +<p> +“And how did you find out?” +</p> + +<p> +“She showed me, as I told you she would.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am still in the dark.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I guessed as much.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“That also I could fathom.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“How did that help you?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And now?” I asked. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And when will you call?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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.” +</p> + +<h3>III.</h3> + +<p> +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> + +<p> +“You have really got it!” he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by +either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. +</p> + +<p> +“Not yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you have hopes?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have hopes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone.” +</p> + +<p> +“We must have a cab.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, my brougham is waiting.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then that will simplify matters.” We descended and started off +once more for Briony Lodge. +</p> + +<p> +“Irene Adler is married,” remarked Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“Married! When?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yesterday.” +</p> + +<p> +“But to whom?” +</p> + +<p> +“To an English lawyer named Norton.” +</p> + +<p> +“But she could not love him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am in hopes that she does.” +</p> + +<p> +“And why in hopes?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?” said she. +</p> + +<p> +“I am Mr. Holmes,” answered my companion, looking at her with a +questioning and rather startled gaze. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What!” Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and +surprise. “Do you mean that she has left England?” +</p> + +<p> +“Never to return.” +</p> + +<p> +“And the papers?” asked the King hoarsely. “All is +lost.” +</p> + +<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: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“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.<br> + “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.<br> + “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> + +<p class="right"> +“Very truly yours,<br> +“IRENE NORTON, <i>née</i> ADLER.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I am glad to hear your Majesty say so.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Your Majesty has something which I should value even more highly,” +said Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“You have but to name it.” +</p> + +<p> +“This photograph!” +</p> + +<p> +The King stared at him in amazement. +</p> + +<p> +“Irene’s photograph!” he cried. “Certainly, if you wish +it.” +</p> + +<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. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>II.<br>THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">I</span> 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> + +<p> +“You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear +Watson,” he said cordially. +</p> + +<p> +“I was afraid that you were engaged.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I am. Very much so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I can wait in the next room.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me,” I +observed. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger upon the paper, +but his eyes upon my companion. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Well, but China?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +I took the paper from him and read as follows: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“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 £ 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> + +<p> +“What on earth does this mean?” I ejaculated after I had twice read +over the extraordinary announcement. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is <i>The Morning Chronicle</i> of April 27, 1890. Just two months +ago.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What is the name of this obliging youth?” asked Sherlock Holmes. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an <i>employé</i> 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> + +<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> + +<p> +“He is still with you, I presume?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed +man.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Why that?’ I asks. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed +Men?’ he asked with his eyes open. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Never.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for +one of the vacancies.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘And what are they worth?’ I asked. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Tell me all about it,’ said I. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘But,’ said I, ‘there would be millions of +red-headed men who would apply.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,’ said my assistant, +‘and he is willing to fill a vacancy in the League.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I answered that I had not. +</p> + +<p> +“His face fell immediately. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business +already,’ said I. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!’ said Vincent +Spaulding. ‘I should be able to look after that for you.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘What would be the hours?’ I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Ten to two.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘That would suit me very well,’ said I. ‘And the +pay?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Is £ 4 a week.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘And the work?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Is purely nominal.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘What do you call purely nominal?’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘It’s only four hours a day, and I should not think of +leaving,’ said I. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘And the work?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Is to copy out the <i>Encyclopædia 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> + +<p> +“‘Certainly,’ I answered. +</p> + +<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> + +<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>Encyclopædia 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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“To an end?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet of note-paper. +It read in this fashion: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED. October 9, 1890.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Well,’ said I, ‘the gentleman at No. 4.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘What, the red-headed man?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Where could I find him?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 +King Edward Street, near St. Paul’s.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And what did you do then?” asked Holmes. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Grave enough!” said Mr. Jabez Wilson. “Why, I have lost four +pound a week.” +</p> + +<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 £ 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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“About a month then.” +</p> + +<p> +“How did he come?” +</p> + +<p> +“In answer to an advertisement.” +</p> + +<p> +“Was he the only applicant?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I had a dozen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why did you pick him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because he was handy and would come cheap.” +</p> + +<p> +“At half wages, in fact.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he was a +lad.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hum!” said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. “He is +still with you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him.” +</p> + +<p> +“And has your business been attended to in your absence?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing to complain of, sir. There’s never very much to do of a +morning.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Well, Watson,” said Holmes when our visitor had left us, +“what do you make of it all?” +</p> + +<p> +“I make nothing of it,” I answered frankly. “It is a most +mysterious business.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What are you going to do, then?” I asked. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very absorbing.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Thank you,” said Holmes, “I only wished to ask you how you +would go from here to the Strand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Third right, fourth left,” answered the assistant promptly, +closing the door. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Not him.” +</p> + +<p> +“What then?” +</p> + +<p> +“The knees of his trousers.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what did you see?” +</p> + +<p> +“What I expected to see.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why did you beat the pavement?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor,” he remarked as we emerged. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it would be as well.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This business +at Coburg Square is serious.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why serious?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“At what time?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ten will be early enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall be at Baker Street at ten.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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>Encyclopædia</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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase,” +observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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 £ +30,000; and for you, Jones, it will be the man upon whom you wish to lay your +hands.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You are not very vulnerable from above,” Holmes remarked as he +held up the lantern and gazed about him. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is our French gold,” whispered the director. “We have had +several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your French gold?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“And sit in the dark?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent and +wait.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“It’s no use, John Clay,” said Holmes blandly. “You +have no chance at all.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“There are three men waiting for him at the door,” said Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I must +compliment you.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I you,” Holmes answered. “Your red-headed idea was very +new and effective.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“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>Encyclopædia</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 £ 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> + +<p> +“But how could you guess what the motive was?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“And how could you tell that they would make their attempt +to-night?” I asked. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“You reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed in unfeigned +admiration. “It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings true.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And you are a benefactor of the race,” said I. +</p> + +<p> +He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, perhaps, after all, it is of some +little use,” he remarked. “‘<i>L’homme +c’est rien—l’œuvre c’est tout</i>,’ as Gustave +Flaubert wrote to George Sand.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>III.<br>A CASE OF IDENTITY</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">“M</span>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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“And the ring?” I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which +sparkled upon his finger. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And have you any on hand just now?” I asked with interest. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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 cœur</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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Do you not find,” he said, “that with your short sight it is +a little trying to do so much typewriting?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Your father,” said Holmes, “your stepfather, surely, since +the name is different.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And your mother is alive?” +</p> + +<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 £ 4700 for the goodwill and interest, which wasn’t near as much as +father could have got if he had been alive.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Your own little income,” he asked, “does it come out of the +business?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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 £ 60.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I see. Then at the gasfitters’ ball you met, as I understand, a +gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“No?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see +you?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What office?” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don’t know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where did he live, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“He slept on the premises.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you don’t know his address?” +</p> + +<p> +“No—except that it was Leadenhall Street.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where did you address your letters, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, returned to +France?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It missed him, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for the +Friday. Was it to be in church?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated,” said +Holmes. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some unforeseen +catastrophe has occurred to him?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But you have no notion as to what it could have been?” +</p> + +<p> +“None.” +</p> + +<p> +“One more question. How did your mother take the matter?” +</p> + +<p> +“She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter +again.” +</p> + +<p> +“And your father? Did you tell him?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Then you don’t think I’ll see him again?” +</p> + +<p> +“I fear not.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then what has happened to him?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Thank you. And your address?” +</p> + +<p> +“No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Angel’s address you never had, I understand. Where is your +father’s place of business?” +</p> + +<p> +“He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers of +Fenchurch Street.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite invisible to +me,” I remarked. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It surprised me.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And what else?” I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by my +friend’s incisive reasoning. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +I held the little printed slip to the light. “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,” &c, +&c. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“They are typewritten,” I remarked. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Of what?” +</p> + +<p> +“My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it bears upon +the case?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Well, have you solved it?” I asked as I entered. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, the mystery!” I cried. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss +Sutherland?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“On the contrary,” said Holmes quietly; “I have every reason +to believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. “I am +delighted to hear it,” he said. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Certainly,” said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in the +door. “I let you know, then, that I have caught him!” +</p> + +<p> +“What! where?” shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips and +glancing about him like a rat in a trap. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“It was only a joke at first,” groaned our visitor. “We never +thought that she would have been so carried away.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning,” I +remarked. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And how did you verify them?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And Miss Sutherland?” +</p> + +<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.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a> IV.<br>THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">W</span>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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What do you say, dear?” said my wife, looking across at me. +“Will you go?” +</p> + +<p> +“I really don’t know what to say. I have a fairly long list at +present.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Have you heard anything of the case?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“That sounds a little paradoxical.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is a murder, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I could hardly imagine a more damning case,” I remarked. “If +ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so here.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“How on earth—” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What are they?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It was a confession,” I ejaculated. +</p> + +<p> +“No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence.” +</p> + +<p> +“Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at least a +most suspicious remark.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +I shook my head. “Many men have been hanged on far slighter +evidence,” I remarked. +</p> + +<p> +“So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is the young man’s own account of the matter?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before he died? +</p> + +<p> +“Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some allusion to +a rat. +</p> + +<p> +“The Coroner: What did you understand by that? +</p> + +<p> +“Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was delirious. +</p> + +<p> +“The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father had this +final quarrel? +</p> + +<p> +“Witness: I should prefer not to answer. +</p> + +<p> +“The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Witness: I must still refuse. +</p> + +<p> +“The Coroner: I understand that the cry of ‘Cooee’ was a +common signal between you and your father? +</p> + +<p> +“Witness: It was. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Witness: Nothing definite. +</p> + +<p> +“The Coroner: What do you mean? +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for +help?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, it was gone.’ +</p> + +<p> +“ ‘You cannot say what it was?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘No, I had a feeling something was there.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘How far from the body?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘A dozen yards or so.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘And how far from the edge of the wood?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘About the same.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen +yards of it?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, but with my back towards it.’ +</p> + +<p> +“This concluded the examination of the witness.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“It was very nice and complimentary of you,” Holmes answered. +“It is entirely a question of barometric pressure.” +</p> + +<p> +Lestrade looked startled. “I do not quite follow,” he said. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner,” said Sherlock Holmes. +“You may rely upon my doing all that I can.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I think that it is very probable.” +</p> + +<p> +“There, now!” she cried, throwing back her head and looking +defiantly at Lestrade. “You hear! He gives me hopes.” +</p> + +<p> +Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. “I am afraid that my colleague has been +a little quick in forming his conclusions,” he said. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“In what way?” asked Holmes. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And your father?” asked Holmes. “Was he in favour of such a +union?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Thank you for this information,” said he. “May I see your +father if I call to-morrow?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am afraid the doctor won’t allow it.” +</p> + +<p> +“The doctor?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Ha! In Victoria! That is important.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, at the mines.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner made his +money.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, certainly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to +me.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I will, Miss Turner.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy,” said +Holmes. “Have you an order to see him in prison?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but only for you and me.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Ample.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, for Lestrade +was staying in lodgings in the town. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And what did you learn from him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Could he throw no light?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“But if he is innocent, who has done it?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“An elderly man, I presume?” said Holmes. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Indeed! That is interesting,” said Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody about here +speaks of his kindness to him.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You are right,” said Holmes demurely; “you do find it very +hard to tackle the facts.” +</p> + +<p> +“Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it difficult to +get hold of,” replied Lestrade with some warmth. +</p> + +<p> +“And that is—” +</p> + +<p> +“That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that all +theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What did you go into the pool for?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon or +other trace. But how on earth—” +</p> + +<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 high road, where all traces were lost. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“This may interest you, Lestrade,” he remarked, holding it out. +“The murder was done with it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I see no marks.” +</p> + +<p> +“There are none.” +</p> + +<p> +“How do you know, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And the murderer?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“And leave your case unfinished?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, finished.” +</p> + +<p> +“But the mystery?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is solved.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who was the criminal, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“The gentleman I describe.” +</p> + +<p> +“But who is he?” +</p> + +<p> +“Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a +populous neighbourhood.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> + “Pray do so.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What of this ‘Cooee!’ then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What of the rat, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“ARAT,” I read. +</p> + +<p> +“And now?” He raised his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“BALLARAT.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is wonderful!” I exclaimed. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Certainly.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Quite so.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But how did you gain them?” +</p> + +<p> +“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of +trifles.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes, they were peculiar boots.” +</p> + +<p> +“But his lameness?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But his left-handedness.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And the cigar-holder?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Mr. John Turner,” cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of our +sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Pray sit down on the sofa,” said Holmes gently. “You had my +note?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to see me +here to avoid scandal.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. +“It is so. I know all about McCarthy.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I am glad to hear you say so,” said Holmes gravely. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It may not come to that,” said Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“What?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>V.<br>THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">W</span>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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Except yourself I have none,” he answered. “I do not +encourage visitors.” +</p> + +<p> +“A client, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Come in!” said he. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes, from Horsham.” +</p> + +<p> +“That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is quite +distinctive.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have come for advice.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is easily got.” +</p> + +<p> +“And help.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is not always so easy.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast how you +saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards.” +</p> + +<p> +“He said that you could solve anything.” +</p> + +<p> +“He said too much.” +</p> + +<p> +“That you are never beaten.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have been beaten four times—three times by men, and once by a +woman.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what is that compared with the number of your successes?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is true that I have been generally successful.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you may be so with me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me with +some details as to your case.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is no ordinary one.” +</p> + +<p> +“None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of +appeal.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out towards the +blaze. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘What is it, uncle?’ I cried. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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 £ 14,000, which lay to his credit at the bank.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks later, +upon the night of May 2nd.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you. Pray proceed.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Why, what on earth does this mean, John?’ he +stammered. +</p> + +<p> +“My heart had turned to lead. ‘It is K. K. K.,’ said I. +</p> + +<p> +“He looked inside the envelope. ‘So it is,’ he cried. +‘Here are the very letters. But what is this written above them?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Put the papers on the sundial,’ I read, peeping over +his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“‘What papers? What sundial?’ he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘The sundial in the garden. There is no other,’ said +I; ‘but the papers must be those that are destroyed.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘From Dundee,’ I answered, glancing at the postmark. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘I should certainly speak to the police,’ I said. +</p> + +<p> +“‘And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Then let me do so?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘No, I forbid you. I won’t have a fuss made about such +nonsense.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What have you done?” asked Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I have seen the police.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. “Incredible +imbecility!” he cried. +</p> + +<p> +“They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in the house +with me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Has he come with you to-night?” +</p> + +<p> +“No. His orders were to stay in the house.” +</p> + +<p> +Again Holmes raved in the air. +</p> + +<p> +“Why did you come to me?” he said, “and, above all, why did +you not come at once?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. +</p> + +<p> +“7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and John Swain of St. +Augustine. +</p> + +<p> +“9th. McCauley cleared. +</p> + +<p> +“10th. John Swain cleared. +</p> + +<p> +“12th. Visited Paramore. All well.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What shall I do?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Entirely.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“By train from Waterloo.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I am armed.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall see you at Horsham, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek it.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I think, Watson,” he remarked at last, “that of all our +cases we have had none more fantastic than this.” +</p> + +<p> +“Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But have you,” I asked, “formed any definite conception as +to what these perils are?” +</p> + +<p> +“There can be no question as to their nature,” he answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue this +unhappy family?” +</p> + +<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 +encyclopædias, 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> + +<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> + +<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 +Encyclopædia</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> + +<p> +“The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the third +from London.” +</p> + +<p> +“From East London. What do you deduce from that?” +</p> + +<p> +“They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“A greater distance to travel.” +</p> + +<p> +“But the letter had also a greater distance to come.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I do not see the point.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is possible.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Good God!” I cried. “What can it mean, this relentless +persecution?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But of what society?” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you never—” said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and +sinking his voice—“have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?” +</p> + +<p> +“I never have.” +</p> + +<p> +Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. “Here it +is,” said he presently: +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Then the page we have seen—” +</p> + +<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.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What steps will you take?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. I may +have to go down to Horsham, after all.” +</p> + +<p> +“You will not go there first?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the maid will +bring up your coffee.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Holmes,” I cried, “you are too late.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading ‘Tragedy Near +Waterloo Bridge.’ Here is the account: +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and shaken than I had +ever seen him. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“To the police?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may take the +flies, but not before.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“You are hungry,” I remarked. +</p> + +<p> +“Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since +breakfast.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not a bite. I had no time to think of it.” +</p> + +<p> +“And how have you succeeded?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have a clue?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What do you mean?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“And who is this Captain Calhoun?” +</p> + +<p> +“The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first.” +</p> + +<p> +“How did you trace it, then?” +</p> + +<p> +He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with dates and +names. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Texas, I think.” +</p> + +<p> +“I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must have an +American origin.” +</p> + +<p> +“What then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What will you do, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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>. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>VI.<br>THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">I</span>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> + +<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> + +<p> +“A patient!” said she. “You’ll have to go out.” +</p> + +<p> +I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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 +lighthouse. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Nearly eleven.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of what day?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of Friday, June 19th.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes, I have one waiting.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Holmes!” I whispered, “what on earth are you doing in this +den?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I have a cab outside.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I was certainly surprised to find you there.” +</p> + +<p> +“But not more so than I to find you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I came to find a friend.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I to find an enemy.” +</p> + +<p> +“An enemy?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What! You do not mean bodies?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had £ 1000 for every +poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It is the vilest murder-trap +on the whole 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> + +<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> + +<p> +“If I can be of use.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“The Cedars?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair’s house. I am staying there while I +conduct the inquiry.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where is it, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I am all in the dark.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You forget that I know nothing about it.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Proceed, then.” +</p> + +<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 £ 88 10<i>s</i>., +while he has £ 220 standing to his credit in the Capital and Counties Bank. +There is no reason, therefore, to think that money troubles have been weighing +upon his mind. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is very clear.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“But a cripple!” said I. “What could he have done +single-handed against a man in the prime of life?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Pray continue your narrative.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I cannot imagine.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the room. +Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It certainly sounds feasible.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?” I +asked. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“No good news?” +</p> + +<p> +“None.” +</p> + +<p> +“No bad?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have had a +long day.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Certainly, madam.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Upon what point?” +</p> + +<p> +“In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Frankly, then, madam, I do not.” +</p> + +<p> +“You think that he is dead?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Murdered?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t say that. Perhaps.” +</p> + +<p> +“And on what day did he meet his death?” +</p> + +<p> +“On Monday.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been galvanised. +</p> + +<p> +“What!” he roared. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, to-day.” She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of paper +in the air. +</p> + +<p> +“May I see it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Coarse writing,” murmured Holmes. “Surely this is not your +husband’s writing, madam.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, but the enclosure is.” +</p> + +<p> +“I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go and +inquire as to the address.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can you tell that?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you are sure that this is your husband’s hand?” +</p> + +<p> +“One of his hands.” +</p> + +<p> +“One?” +</p> + +<p> +“His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual writing, +and yet I know it well.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“None. Neville wrote those words.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only posted +to-day.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is possible.” +</p> + +<p> +“If so, much may have happened between.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable.” +</p> + +<p> +“And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?” +</p> + +<p> +“Very much so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Was the window open?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then he might have called to you?” +</p> + +<p> +“He might.” +</p> + +<p> +“He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“A call for help, you thought?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. He waved his hands.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is possible.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you thought he was pulled back?” +</p> + +<p> +“He disappeared so suddenly.” +</p> + +<p> +“He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the +room?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and the Lascar +was at the foot of the stairs.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his ordinary +clothes on?” +</p> + +<p> +“But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare throat.” +</p> + +<p> +“Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?” +</p> + +<p> +“Never.” +</p> + +<p> +“Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?” +</p> + +<p> +“Never.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Awake, Watson?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Game for a morning drive?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“And where is it?” I asked, smiling. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Who is on duty?” asked Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“Inspector Bradstreet, sir.” +</p> + +<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.” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here.” +</p> + +<p> +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> + +<p> +“What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I heard. You have him here?” +</p> + +<p> +“In the cells.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is he quiet?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel.” +</p> + +<p> +“Dirty?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I should like to see him very much.” +</p> + +<p> +“Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave your +bag.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I think that I’ll take it.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“He is asleep,” said he. “You can see him very well.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“He’s a beauty, isn’t he?” said the inspector. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“He! he! You are a funny one,” chuckled the inspector. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Let me introduce you,” he shouted, “to Mr. Neville St. +Clair, of Lee, in the county of Kent.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Great heavens!” cried the inspector, “it is, indeed, the +missing man. I know him from the photograph.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“No crime, but a very great error has been committed,” said Holmes. +“You would have done better to have trusted your wife.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him kindly on the +shoulder. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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 £ +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> + +<p> +“Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous work at +£ 2 a week when I knew that I could earn as much in a day by smearing my face +with a little paint, laying my cap on the ground, and sitting still. It was a +long fight between my pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I +threw up reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first +chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets with coppers. +Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a low den in which I used to +lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could every morning emerge as a squalid beggar +and in the evenings transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This +fellow, a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that my +secret was safe in his possession. +</p> + +<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 £ 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 £ 2. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“That note only reached her yesterday,” said Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“Good God! What a week she must have spent!” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“That was it,” said Holmes, nodding approvingly; “I have no +doubt of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?” +</p> + +<p> +“Many times; but what was a fine to me?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>VII.<br>THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">I</span> 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> + +<p> +“You are engaged,” said I; “perhaps I interrupt you.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is to him that this trophy belongs.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is his hat.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Which surely he restored to their owner?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What, then, did Peterson do?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Did he not advertise?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?” +</p> + +<p> +“Only as much as we can deduce.” +</p> + +<p> +“From his hat?” +</p> + +<p> +“Precisely.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered +felt?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I can see nothing,” said I, handing it back to my friend. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“My dear Holmes!” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“You are certainly joking, Holmes.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“The decline of his fortunes, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the foresight and +the moral retrogression?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Your reasoning is certainly plausible.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But his wife—you said that she had ceased to love him.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But he might be a bachelor.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his wife. +Remember the card upon the bird’s leg.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!” he gasped. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though it were +putty.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s more than a precious stone. It is <i>the</i> precious +stone.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not the Countess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle!” I ejaculated. +</p> + +<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 £ 1000 is certainly not within a twentieth part of the market +price.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan,” I +remarked. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What will you say?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Very. But will he see it?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“In which, sir?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, in the <i>Globe</i>, <i>Star</i>, <i>Pall Mall</i>, <i>St. +James’s Gazette</i>, <i>Evening News</i>, <i>Standard</i>, <i>Echo</i>, +and any others that occur to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well, sir. And this stone?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?” +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot tell.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had +anything to do with the matter?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And you can do nothing until then?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to eat +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“To eat it!” Our visitor half rose from his chair in his +excitement. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Oh, certainly, certainly,” answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of +relief. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of your own +bird, so if you wish—” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug of his +shoulders. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Not particularly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow up this +clue while it is still hot.” +</p> + +<p> +“By all means.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese,” +said he. +</p> + +<p> +“My geese!” The man seemed surprised. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, who was a +member of your goose club.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them’s not <i>our</i> +geese.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed! Whose, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Breckinridge is his name.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! I don’t know him. Well, here’s your good health +landlord, and prosperity to your house. Good-night.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Good-evening. It’s a cold night,” said Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my companion. +</p> + +<p> +“Sold out of geese, I see,” continued Holmes, pointing at the bare +slabs of marble. +</p> + +<p> +“Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s no good.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, but I was recommended to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who by?” +</p> + +<p> +“The landlord of the Alpha.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?” +</p> + +<p> +To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the salesman. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the geese +which you supplied to the Alpha.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well then, I shan’t tell you. So now!” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Well, then, you’ve lost your fiver, for it’s town +bred,” snapped the salesman. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s nothing of the kind.” +</p> + +<p> +“I say it is.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe it.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“You’ll never persuade me to believe that.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will you bet, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +The salesman chuckled grimly. “Bring me the books, Bill,” said he. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Well?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road—249,” read Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger.” +</p> + +<p> +Holmes turned to the page indicated. “Here you are, ‘Mrs. Oakshott, +117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.’” +</p> + +<p> +“Now, then, what’s the last entry?” +</p> + +<p> +“‘December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7<i>s</i>. +6<i>d</i>.’” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so. There you are. And underneath?” +</p> + +<p> +“‘Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at +12<i>s</i>.’” +</p> + +<p> +“What have you to say now?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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 £ 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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“No; but one of them was mine all the same,” whined the little man. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it.” +</p> + +<p> +“She told me to ask you.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Who are you, then? What do you want?” he asked in a quavering +voice. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?” +</p> + +<p> +“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people +don’t know.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you can know nothing of this?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +The man hesitated for an instant. “My name is John Robinson,” he +answered with a sidelong glance. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no; the real name,” said Holmes sweetly. “It is always +awkward doing business with an alias.” +</p> + +<p> +A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. “Well then,” +said he, “my real name is James Ryder.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +Ryder quivered with emotion. “Oh, sir,” he cried, “can you +tell me where it went to?” +</p> + +<p> +“It came here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Here?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it,” said he in a crackling +voice. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the charge +against him will break down.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?’ says +she. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Well,’ said I, ‘you said you’d give me +one for Christmas, and I was feeling which was the fattest.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘The other is a good three pound heavier,’ said she, +‘and we fattened it expressly for you.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Never mind. I’ll have the other, and I’ll take +it now,’ said I. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Oh, just as you like,’ said she, a little huffed. +‘Which is it you want, then?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of +the flock.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Where are they all, Maggie?’ I cried. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Gone to the dealer’s, Jem.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Which dealer’s?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘But was there another with a barred tail?’ I asked, +‘the same as the one I chose?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could +never tell them apart.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Get out!” said he. +</p> + +<p> +“What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!” +</p> + +<p> +“No more words. Get out!” +</p> + +<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> + +<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.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>VIII.<br>THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">O</span>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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What is it, then—a fire?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is not cold which makes me shiver,” said the woman in a low +voice, changing her seat as requested. +</p> + +<p> +“What, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You know me, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my companion. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small case-book, which +he consulted. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I am all attention, madam.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +Holmes nodded his head. “The name is familiar to me,” said he. +</p> + +<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> + +<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 £ 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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Your sister is dead, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Pray be precise as to details,” said he. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Perfectly so.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Tell me, Helen,’ said she, ‘have you ever heard +anyone whistle in the dead of the night?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Never,’ said I. +</p> + +<p> +“‘I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in +your sleep?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Certainly not. But why?’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the +plantation.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that +you did not hear it also.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Indeed,” said Holmes. “Was it your custom always to lock +yourselves in at night?” +</p> + +<p> +“Always.” +</p> + +<p> +“And why?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“One moment,” said Holmes, “are you sure about this whistle +and metallic sound? Could you swear to it?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Was your sister dressed?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“How about poison?” +</p> + +<p> +“The doctors examined her for it, but without success.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, there are nearly always some there.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band—a +speckled band?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. +</p> + +<p> +“These are very deep waters,” said he; “pray go on with your +narrative.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“You have done wisely,” said my friend. “But have you told me +all?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, what do you mean?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“You have been cruelly used,” said Holmes. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin upon his hands +and stared into the crackling fire. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?” +</p> + +<p> +“By no means.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“And what do you think of it all, Watson?” asked Sherlock Holmes, +leaning back in his chair. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business.” +</p> + +<p> +“Dark enough and sinister enough.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the very +peculiar words of the dying woman?” +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot think.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But what, then, did the gipsies do?” +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot imagine.” +</p> + +<p> +“I see many objections to any such theory.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Which of you is Holmes?” asked this apparition. +</p> + +<p> +“My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me,” said my companion +quietly. +</p> + +<p> +“I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed, Doctor,” said Holmes blandly. “Pray take a +seat.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is a little cold for the time of the year,” said Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“What has she been saying to you?” screamed the old man furiously. +</p> + +<p> +“But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,” continued my +companion imperturbably. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +My friend smiled. +</p> + +<p> +“Holmes, the busybody!” +</p> + +<p> +His smile broadened. +</p> + +<p> +“Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I will go when I have had 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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +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> + +<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 £ 1,100, is now, through the +fall in agricultural prices, not more than £ 750. Each daughter can claim an +income of £ 250, in case of marriage. It is evident, therefore, that if both +girls had married, this beauty 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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Look there!” said he. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Stoke Moran?” said he. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,” remarked the +driver. +</p> + +<p> +“There is some building going on there,” said Holmes; “that +is where we are going.” +</p> + +<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 footpath +over the fields. There it is, where the lady is walking.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way to Leatherhead. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Good heavens!” she cried, “he has followed me, then.” +</p> + +<p> +“So it appears.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What will he +say when he returns?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from my +room.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass through.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“It goes to the housekeeper’s room.” +</p> + +<p> +“It looks newer than the other things?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your sister asked for it, I suppose?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we wanted +for ourselves.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Why, it’s a dummy,” said he. +</p> + +<p> +“Won’t it ring?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“How very absurd! I never noticed that before.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“That is also quite modern,” said the lady. +</p> + +<p> +“Done about the same time as the bell-rope?” remarked Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that +time.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What’s in here?” he asked, tapping the safe. +</p> + +<p> +“My stepfather’s business papers.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! you have seen inside, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers.” +</p> + +<p> +“There isn’t a cat in it, for example?” +</p> + +<p> +“No. What a strange idea!” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, look at this!” He took up a small saucer of milk which stood +on the top of it. +</p> + +<p> +“No; we don’t keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a +baboon.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Thank you. That is quite settled,” said he, rising and putting his +lens in his pocket. “Hullo! Here is something interesting!” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What do you make of that, Watson?” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a common enough lash. But I don’t know why it should be +tied.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is very essential, Miss Stoner,” said he, “that you +should absolutely follow my advice in every respect.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall most certainly do so.” +</p> + +<p> +“The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may depend upon +your compliance.” +</p> + +<p> +“I assure you that I am in your hands.” +</p> + +<p> +“In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in your +room.” +</p> + +<p> +Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the village +inn over there?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, that is the Crown.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Oh, yes, easily.” +</p> + +<p> +“The rest you will leave in our hands.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what will you do?” +</p> + +<p> +“We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate the +cause of this noise which has disturbed you.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Perhaps I have.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, for pity’s sake, tell me what was the cause of my +sister’s death.” +</p> + +<p> +“I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.” +</p> + +<p> +“You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and if she +died from some sudden fright.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Can I be of assistance?” +</p> + +<p> +“Your presence might be invaluable.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I shall certainly come.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is very kind of you.” +</p> + +<p> +“You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than +was visible to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine that +you saw all that I did.” +</p> + +<p> +“I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose that could +answer I confess is more than I can imagine.” +</p> + +<p> +“You saw the ventilator, too?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to Stoke +Moran.” +</p> + +<p> +“My dear Holmes!” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But what harm can there be in that?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I cannot as yet see any connection.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened like that +before?” +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot say that I have.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +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> + +<p> +“That is our signal,” said Holmes, springing to his feet; “it +comes from the middle window.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“My God!” I whispered; “did you see it?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It is a nice household,” he murmured. “That is the +baboon.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“The least sound would be fatal to our plans.” +</p> + +<p> +I nodded to show that I had heard. +</p> + +<p> +“We must sit without light. He would see it through the +ventilator.” +</p> + +<p> +I nodded again. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You see it, Watson?” he yelled. “You see it?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What can it mean?” I gasped. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“The band! the speckled band!” whispered Holmes. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“With the result of driving it through the ventilator.” +</p> + +<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.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>IX.<br>THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">O</span>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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I’ve got him here,” he whispered, jerking his thumb over his +shoulder; “he’s all right.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Stop it!” I cried; “pull yourself together!” and I +poured out some water from a caraffe. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I have been making a fool of myself,” he gasped. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Good heavens!” I cried, “this is a terrible injury. It must +have bled considerably.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Excellent! You should have been a surgeon.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own +province.” +</p> + +<p> +“This has been done,” said I, examining the wound, “by a very +heavy and sharp instrument.” +</p> + +<p> +“A thing like a cleaver,” said he. +</p> + +<p> +“An accident, I presume?” +</p> + +<p> +“By no means.” +</p> + +<p> +“What! a murderous attack?” +</p> + +<p> +“Very murderous indeed.” +</p> + +<p> +“You horrify me.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“How is that?” I asked when I had finished. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently trying +to your nerves.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I’ll do better. I’ll take you round to him myself.” +</p> + +<p> +“I should be immensely obliged to you.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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 £ 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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘If I promise to keep a secret,’ said I, ‘you +may absolutely depend upon my doing so.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Do you promise, then?’ said he at last. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, I promise.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No +reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘I have already given you my word.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘How would fifty guineas for a night’s work suit +you?’ he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Most admirably.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the +last train.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Where to?’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Very good.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘There is a drive, then?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a +good seven miles from Eyford Station.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more +convenient hour?’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Entirely.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘I have heard so.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘I shall certainly be there.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“One horse?” interjected Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, only one.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you observe the colour?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the carriage. +It was a chestnut.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tired-looking or fresh?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, fresh and glossy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue your most +interesting statement.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘On the contrary,’ said I, ‘I opened the door +myself because I felt the room to be a little close.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘I had better put my hat on, I suppose.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Oh, no, it is in the house.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘What, you dig fuller’s-earth in the house?’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘What are you doing there?’ he asked. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘It is your only chance,’ said she. ‘It is high, +but it may be that you can jump it.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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 high road, and just +a little lower down was a long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, +to be the very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were it +not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed during those dreadful +hours might have been an evil dream. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Good heavens!” cried my patient. “Then that explains what +the girl said.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“It was an hour’s good drive.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you think that they brought you back all that way when you were +unconscious?” +</p> + +<p> +“They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having been +lifted and conveyed somewhere.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face in my +life.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I think I could lay my finger on it,” said Holmes quietly. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And I say east,” said my patient. +</p> + +<p> +“I am for west,” remarked the plain-clothes man. “There are +several quiet little villages up there.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You are all wrong.” +</p> + +<p> +“But we can’t all be.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But the twelve-mile drive?” gasped Hatherley. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“A house on fire?” asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off again +on its way. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir!” said the station-master. +</p> + +<p> +“When did it break out?” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, and the +whole place is in a blaze.” +</p> + +<p> +“Whose house is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Dr. Becher’s.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me,” broke in the engineer, “is Dr. Becher a German, +very thin, with a long, sharp nose?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>X.<br>THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">T</span>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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not social, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, distinctly professional.” +</p> + +<p> +“And from a noble client?” +</p> + +<p> +“One of the highest in England.” +</p> + +<p> +“My dear fellow, I congratulate you.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It looks like it,” said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in +the corner. “I have had nothing else to do.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Oh, yes, with the deepest interest.” +</p> + +<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: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“‘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> + +<p class="right"> +“‘ROBERT ST. SIMON.’ +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“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> + +<p> +“He says four o’clock. It is three now. He will be here in an +hour.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Terse and to the point,” remarked Holmes, stretching his long, +thin legs towards the fire. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Anything else?” asked Holmes, yawning. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Before the what?” asked Holmes with a start. +</p> + +<p> +“The vanishing of the lady.” +</p> + +<p> +“When did she vanish, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“At the wedding breakfast.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite dramatic, +in fact.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I warn you that they are very incomplete.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps we may make them less so.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“And is that all?” +</p> + +<p> +“Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is a +suggestive one.” +</p> + +<p> +“And it is—” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“No, I am descending.” +</p> + +<p> +“I beg pardon.” +</p> + +<p> +“My last client of the sort was a king.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?” +</p> + +<p> +“The King of Scandinavia.” +</p> + +<p> +“What! Had he lost his wife?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +Lord St. Simon glanced over it. “Yes, it is correct, as far as it +goes.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Pray do so.” +</p> + +<p> +“When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?” +</p> + +<p> +“In San Francisco, a year ago.” +</p> + +<p> +“You were travelling in the States?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you become engaged then?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you were on a friendly footing?” +</p> + +<p> +“I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was amused.” +</p> + +<p> +“Her father is very rich?” +</p> + +<p> +“He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope.” +</p> + +<p> +“And how did he make his money?” +</p> + +<p> +“In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, invested +it, and came up by leaps and bounds.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady’s—your +wife’s character?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Have you her photograph?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your +acquaintance?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?” +</p> + +<p> +“A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family.” +</p> + +<p> +“And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a <i>fait +accompli</i>?” +</p> + +<p> +“I really have made no inquiries on the subject.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the +wedding?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Was she in good spirits?” +</p> + +<p> +“Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our future +lives.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the +wedding?” +</p> + +<p> +“She was as bright as possible—at least until after the +ceremony.” +</p> + +<p> +“And did you observe any change in her then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Pray let us have it, for all that.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of the +general public were present, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is +open.” +</p> + +<p> +“This gentleman was not one of your wife’s friends?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I saw her in conversation with her maid.” +</p> + +<p> +“And who is her maid?” +</p> + +<p> +“Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California with +her.” +</p> + +<p> +“A confidential servant?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“How long did she speak to this Alice?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of.” +</p> + +<p> +“You did not overhear what they said?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your wife do +when she finished speaking to her maid?” +</p> + +<p> +“She walked into the breakfast-room.” +</p> + +<p> +“On your arm?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, and your +relations to her.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Did your wife hear all this?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, thank goodness, she did not.” +</p> + +<p> +“And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Well, it is a possible supposition.” +</p> + +<p> +“You think so, too?” +</p> + +<p> +“I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon this as +likely?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not think Flora would hurt a fly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray what is +your own theory as to what took place?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“We could see the other side of the road and the Park.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. I shall +communicate with you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem,” said our +client, rising. +</p> + +<p> +“I have solved it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Eh? What was that?” +</p> + +<p> +“I say that I have solved it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where, then, is my wife?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is a detail which I shall speedily supply.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“My dear Holmes!” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But I have heard all that you have heard.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What’s up, then?” asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. +“You look dissatisfied.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage case. I +can make neither head nor tail of the business.” +</p> + +<p> +“Really! You surprise me.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And very wet it seems to have made you,” said Holmes laying his +hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine.” +</p> + +<p> +“In Heaven’s name, what for?” +</p> + +<p> +“In search of the body of Lady St. Simon.” +</p> + +<p> +Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?” he +asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Why? What do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in the one +as in the other.” +</p> + +<p> +Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. “I suppose you know all +about it,” he snarled. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in the +matter?” +</p> + +<p> +“I think it very unlikely.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Oh, indeed!” said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. +“You dragged them from the Serpentine?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am afraid that you will find it difficult.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And how?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Ha! you find it so?” +</p> + +<p> +“Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly.” +</p> + +<p> +Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. “Why,” he +shrieked, “you’re looking at the wrong side!” +</p> + +<p> +“On the contrary, this is the right side.” +</p> + +<p> +“The right side? You’re mad! Here is the note written in pencil +over here.” +</p> + +<p> +“And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel bill, which +interests me deeply.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“They have laid the supper, then,” he said, rubbing his hands. +</p> + +<p> +“You seem to expect company. They have laid for five.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“My messenger reached you, then?” asked Holmes. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. Have +you good authority for what you say?” +</p> + +<p> +“The best possible.” +</p> + +<p> +Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his forehead. +</p> + +<p> +“What will the Duke say,” he murmured, “when he hears that +one of the family has been subjected to such humiliation?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any +humiliation.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“It was a slight, sir, a public slight,” said Lord St. Simon, +tapping his fingers upon the table. +</p> + +<p> +“You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so unprecedented a +position.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have been +shamefully used.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You’re angry, Robert,” said she. “Well, I guess you +have every cause to be.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pray make no apology to me,” said Lord St. Simon bitterly. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave the room +while you explain this matter?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I saw it in a paper,” explained the American. “It gave the +name and the church but not where the lady lived.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Excuse me,” he said, “but it is not my custom to discuss my +most intimate personal affairs in this public manner.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you won’t forgive me? You won’t shake hands before I +go?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I had hoped,” suggested Holmes, “that you would have joined +us in a friendly supper.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“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> + +<p> +“You were not yourself at fault at all, then?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“And how in the world did you find them?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“How did you deduce the select?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But with no very good result,” I remarked. “His conduct was +certainly not very gracious.” +</p> + +<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.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>XI.<br>THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">“H</span>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> + +<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 footpaths 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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What on earth can be the matter with him?” I asked. “He is +looking up at the numbers of the houses.” +</p> + +<p> +“I believe that he is coming here,” said Holmes, rubbing his hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Here?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“No doubt you think me mad?” said he. +</p> + +<p> +“I see that you have had some great trouble,” responded Holmes. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Mr. Holder,’ said he, ‘I have been informed +that you are in the habit of advancing money.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘The firm does so when the security is good.’ I +answered. +</p> + +<p> +“‘It is absolutely essential to me,’ said he, ‘that I +should have £ 50,000 at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a sum ten +times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it a matter of business +and to carry out that business myself. In my position you can readily +understand that it is unwise to place one’s self under obligations.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?’ I +asked. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘One of the most precious public possessions of the +empire,’ said I. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some perplexity +from it to my illustrious client. +</p> + +<p> +“‘You doubt its value?’ he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Not at all. I only doubt—’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Ample.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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 £ 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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and I shall +continue with my miserable story. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Where have you put it?’ asked Arthur. +</p> + +<p> +“‘In my own bureau.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Well, I hope to goodness the house won’t be burgled +during the night.’ said he. +</p> + +<p> +“‘It is locked up,’ I answered. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Look here, dad,’ said he with his eyes cast down, +‘can you let me have £ 200?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘No, I cannot!’ I answered sharply. ‘I have been +far too generous with you in money matters.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘And a very good thing, too!’ I cried. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Certainly not.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you +prefer it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Quite sure, dad.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Then, good-night.’ I kissed her and went up to my +bedroom again, where I was soon asleep. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Arthur!’ I screamed, ‘you villain! you thief! +How dare you touch that coronet?’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Stolen!’ he cried. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, thief!’ I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“‘There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,’ +said he. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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 housemaid 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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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 £ 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> + +<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> + +<p> +Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows knitted and his +eyes fixed upon the fire. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you receive much company?” he asked. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Do you go out much in society?” +</p> + +<p> +“Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is unusual in a young girl.” +</p> + +<p> +“She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She is +four-and-twenty.” +</p> + +<p> +“This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to her +also.” +</p> + +<p> +“Terrible! She is even more affected than I.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have neither of you any doubt as to your son’s guilt?” +</p> + +<p> +“How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet in his +hands.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of the +coronet at all injured?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it was twisted.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to straighten +it?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“They considered that it might be caused by Arthur’s closing his +bedroom door.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture in the +hope of finding them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have they thought of looking outside the house?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has already +been minutely examined.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you not, +dad?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?” +</p> + +<p> +“Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should suspect +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with the +coronet in his hand?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“This gentleman?” she asked, facing round to me. +</p> + +<p> +“No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in the +stable lane now.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up.” +</p> + +<p> +“You heard nothing yourself last night?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard that, and I +came down.” +</p> + +<p> +“You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you fasten all +the windows?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Were they all fastened this morning?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Do you know him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes! he is the greengrocer who brings our vegetables round. His +name is Francis Prosper.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes, he did.” +</p> + +<p> +“And he is a man with a wooden leg?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Which key was used to open it?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“That which my son himself indicated—that of the cupboard of the +lumber-room.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you it here?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is it on the dressing-table.” +</p> + +<p> +Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +The banker recoiled in horror. “I should not dream of trying,” said +he. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, Miss +Holder?” +</p> + +<p> +“I confess that I still share my uncle’s perplexity.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?” +</p> + +<p> +“He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?” +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot tell.” +</p> + +<p> +The banker wrung his hands. “I shall never see them again!” he +cried. “And my son? You give me hopes?” +</p> + +<p> +“My opinion is in no way altered.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, for God’s sake, what was this dark business which was acted +in my house last night?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I would give my fortune to have them back.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I only looked in as I passed,” said he. “I am going right +on.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where to?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“How are you getting on?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Deserted you?” +</p> + +<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: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“‘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> + +<p class="right"> +“‘MARY.’ +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it points to +suicide?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have learned +something! Where are the gems?” +</p> + +<p> +“You would not think £ 1000 apiece an excessive sum for +them?” +</p> + +<p> +“I would pay ten.” +</p> + +<p> +“That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. And +there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your cheque-book? Here is a pen. +Better make it out for £ 4000.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. +</p> + +<p> +“You have it!” he gasped. “I am saved! I am saved!” +</p> + +<p> +The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and he hugged his +recovered gems to his bosom. +</p> + +<p> +“There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder,” said Sherlock +Holmes rather sternly. +</p> + +<p> +“Owe!” He caught up a pen. “Name the sum, and I will pay +it.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Then it was not Arthur who took them?” +</p> + +<p> +“I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him know +that the truth is known.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“For Heaven’s sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary +mystery!” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“My Mary? Impossible!” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I cannot, and I will not, believe it!” cried the banker with an +ashen face. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Is it possible?” gasped the banker. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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 high road at the +other end, I found that the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to +that clue. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening,” said +Mr. Holder. +</p> + +<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—£ 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 £ 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> + +<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> + +<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.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>XII.<br>THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES</h2> + +<p class="pfirst"> +<span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 1.50em">“T</span>o the man who +loves art for its own sake,” remarked Sherlock Holmes, tossing aside the +advertisement sheet of <i>The 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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“The end may have been so,” I answered, “but the methods I +hold to have been novel and of interest.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and ran thus: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“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> + +<p class="right"> +“VIOLET HUNTER.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Do you know the young lady?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Not I.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is half-past ten now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything that I +can to serve you.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘You are looking for a situation, miss?’ he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, sir.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘As governess?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, sir.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘And what salary do you ask?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘I had £ 4 a month in my last place with Colonel Spence +Munro.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you +imagine,’ said I. ‘A little French, a little German, music, and +drawing—’ +</p> + +<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 £ 100 a year.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘May I ask where you live, sir?’ said I. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they +would be.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘My sole duties, then,’ I asked, ‘are to take +charge of a single child?’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘I should be happy to make myself useful.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘No,’ said I, considerably astonished at his words. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive +to you?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Oh, no.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to +us?’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘No, sir, I really could not,’ I answered firmly. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?’ +she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘If you please, Miss Stoper.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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 £ 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> + +<p class="letter"> +“‘The Copper Beeches, near Winchester.<br> +“‘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 £ 30 a quarter, or £ +120 a year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which our fads +may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My wife is fond of a +particular shade of electric blue and would like you to wear such a dress +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> + +<p class="right"> +“‘JEPHRO RUCASTLE.’ +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“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> + +<p> +“Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the +question,” said Holmes, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +“But you would not advise me to refuse?” +</p> + +<p> +“I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to see a +sister of mine apply for.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself formed some +opinion?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, yes, of course the pay is good—too good. That is what makes +me uneasy. Why should they give you £ 120 a year, when they could have their +pick for £ 40? There must be some strong reason behind.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Danger! What danger do you foresee?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Just look up the trains in Bradshaw,” said he, and turned back to +his chemical studies. +</p> + +<p> +The summons was a brief and urgent one. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“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> + +<p class="right"> +“HUNTER.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Will you come with me?” asked Holmes, glancing up. +</p> + +<p> +“I should wish to.” +</p> + +<p> +“Just look it up, then.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is a train at half-past nine,” said I, glancing over my +Bradshaw. “It is due at Winchester at 11:30.” +</p> + +<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.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +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> + +<p> +“Are they not fresh and beautiful?” I cried with all the enthusiasm +of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. +</p> + +<p> +But Holmes shook his head gravely. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Good heavens!” I cried. “Who would associate crime with +these dear old homesteads?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“You horrify me!” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so. She has her freedom.” +</p> + +<p> +“What <i>can</i> be the matter, then? Can you suggest no +explanation?” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Pray tell us what has happened to you.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“What can you not understand?” +</p> + +<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 high road, which curves past about a hundred yards from +the front door. This ground in front belongs to the house, but the woods all +round are part of Lord Southerton’s preserves. A clump of copper beeches +immediately in front of the hall door has given its name to the place. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“I am glad of all details,” remarked my friend, “whether they +seem to you to be relevant or not.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Jephro,’ said she, ‘there is an impertinent +fellow upon the road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?’ he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘No, I know no one in these parts.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion +to him to go away.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Surely it would be better to take no notice.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly +turn round and wave him away like that.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Pray continue,” said Holmes. “Your narrative promises to be +a most interesting one.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Look in here!’ said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit +between two planks. ‘Is he not a beauty?’ +</p> + +<p> +“I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a vague +figure huddled up in the darkness. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled at my +remark. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘So,’ said he, smiling, ‘it was you, then. I +thought that it must be when I saw the door open.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Oh, I am so frightened!’ I panted. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I was keenly +on my guard against him. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘Only that?’ said he, looking at me keenly. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Why, what did you think?’ I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Why do you think that I lock this door?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘I am sure that I do not know.’ +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“‘I am sure if I had known—’ +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Is Toller still drunk?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do nothing with +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, the wine-cellar.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I will try. What is it?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“I will do it.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“What on earth has that to do with it?” I ejaculated. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Have you managed it?” asked Holmes. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“There has been some villainy here,” said Holmes; “this +beauty has guessed Miss Hunter’s intentions and has carried his victim +off.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how?” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“But it is impossible,” said Miss Hunter; “the ladder was not +there when the Rucastles went away.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“You villain!” said he, “where’s your daughter?” +</p> + +<p> +The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open skylight. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“He’s gone for the dog!” cried Miss Hunter. +</p> + +<p> +“I have my revolver,” said I. +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Mrs. Toller!” cried Miss Hunter. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Ha!” said Holmes, looking keenly at her. “It is clear that +Mrs. Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<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> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of the +disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler.” +</p> + +<p> +“That was it, sir.” +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman,” said +Mrs. Toller serenely. +</p> + +<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> + +<p> +“You have it, sir, just as it happened.” +</p> + +<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> + +<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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin-top:1em; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE</div> +<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE</div> +<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms + of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online + at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</div> + + +</body> + +</html> + + |