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A SCANDAL IN BOHE:(\1IA

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ji'i;;C'.:t9;J by i:q.lyright Skvloet:- ~fAo-t \'. rJu.J ~'(t lavdrlile 17 U, S. C:''1;le} 1\Iit,J Yov't: ~(A.t'''- h6dt S:

To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. Irl~~!S e~~~~e~<:gp~~~.~nd predominates the whole ofher.~. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to ~love foarcne Adlei:i 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 fmdy 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 t!la,tW9rnan was

the l~v;JreJ:,l~:1919EI.ofql,IbiQJJs..@~~~~a!>1s:.111eIDory. I had seen little ofHolmes 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 fmds 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,2 remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between

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(()faint' and ambition, the drowsincss of the drug, and the ficrce energy of his mm keen nature. He was still, as ever, deeply attracted bv the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties and extra­ (\~dillary p~!wers of observation in following out those clues, and dC'<lring up th05t: mysteries, which had been abandoned as hopeless hy the uHkial police. From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his smnmons to Odessa3 in the case of the Trepoff murder.4 of his clearing lip of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee,s 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 ofmy former Iriend and companion.

One night· it was all the 20th 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 st'ized 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 flooked 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.

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 comer. Then he stood before the nrc, and looked me over in his singular introspective fashion.

'Wedlock suits you,' he remarked. 'I think, Watson, that you have put on seven and a halfpounds since I saw you.'

'Seven,' I answered.

4

'Indeed, ] fancy, WatsC that yOU inte

'Then, he 'I see it, ]

yourself very servant girl?

'My dear have been b had a count but, as I ha\ it As to M! notice; but t

Hcchud 'It is sUn]

your left shl by six ahnl ,

I someone wl in order to deduction t

I particularly As to your iodoform, '

\ finger, and secreted h~ him to be a

I could processof{ 'the thing could easil reasoning believe thE

'Quite down int( distinctior which lea

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA

'Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trille more, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not tell me that you intended to go into harness.'

'Then, how do you know?' '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?'

'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 deduced it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice; but there again I fail to see how you work it out.'

He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long nervous hands togetller. 'It is simplicity itself,' said he; 'my eyes tell me iliat on the inside of

your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, ilie leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round ilie edges of ilie sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and iliat 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 fore­ finger, and a bulge 011 the side of his top hat to show where he has secreted his steilioscope, I must be dull indeed if! do not pronounce him to be an active member of the medical profession.'

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 areas good as yours.'

'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.'

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THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

'Frequendy.' 'How often?' 'Well, some hundreds of times.' 'Then how many are there?' 'How many! I don't know.' 'Quite so. You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is

just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed. By the way, since you are interested in these little problems, and since you are good enough to chronicle one or n'lo of my trifling experiences, you may be interested in this.' He threw over a sheet of thick, pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. 'It came by the last post,' said he. 'Read it aloud.'

The note was undated, and without either signature or address. 'There will call upon you tonight, 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 ofthe Royal Houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may safely be trusted with matters which are ofan :imparlance which can hardly be exagger­ ated. This account of you we have from all quarters received. Be ill your chamber then at that hour, and do not take it amiss ifyour visitor wear a mask.'

'This is indeed a mystery,' I remarked. 'What do you imagine that it means?'

'I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to nvlst facts to suit theories, instead oftheories to suit facts. But the note itself. What do you deduce from it?'

I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was written.

'The man who wrote it was presumably well-to-do,' I remarked, endeavouring to :imitate m)' companion's processes. 'Such paper could not be bought under half a crownll a packet. It is peculiarly strong and stiff. '

'Peculiar - that is the very word,' said Holmes. 'It is not an English paper at all. Hold it up to the light.'

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A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA

I did so, and saw a large E with a small g, a P, and a large Gwith a small t woven into the texture of the paper.

'What do you make of that?' asked Holmes. 'The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather.' 'Not at all. The Gwith the small t stands for "Gesellsckaft", which is

l!b the German for "Company". It is a customary contraction like our leI "Co.". P, ofcourse, stands for "Papier". Now for the Eg. Let us glance I in at our Continental Gazetteer.,g He took down a heavy brown volume lt1C from his shelves. 'Eglow, Eglonitz - here we are, Egria. It is in a He German-speaking countrylO - in Bohemia, not far from CarlsbadY tin "Remarkable as being the scene ofthe death ofWallenstein, 12 and for I it 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.

it 'The paper was made in Bohemia,' 14 I said. Ie 'Precisely. And the man who 'wrote the note is a German. Do you ~s note the peculiar construction of the sentence ~ "This account ofyou d 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! am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts.'

As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and grating wheels against the kerb, followed by a sharp pull at the bell. Holmes whistled.

'A pair by the sound,' said he. 'Yes,' he continued, glancing out of tl1e window. 'A nice little broughaml5 and a pair of beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas 16 apiece. There's money in this case, Watson, if there is nothing else.'

'I think that I had better go, Holmes.' <Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. t~JQg_vvi.tl101:l(J11Y

;BoswelL 11 And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss it.'

'But your client-' , 'Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he

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THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best attention.'

A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there was a loud and authoritative tap.

'Come in!' said Holmes. A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six

inches in height, with the chest and limbs ofa Hercules. His dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands ofastrakhan were slashed across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while the deep blue cloak which was thrO'vVTI 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 half-way up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with a 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 cheek-bones, a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted tllat 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, willi a thick, hanging lip,l8 and a long straight chin, suggestive of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy . . 'You had my note?' he asked, with a deep, harsh voice and a

strongly marked German accent. 'I told you that I would calL' He looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to address,

'Pray take a seat,' said Holmes. 'This is my friend and colleague, Dr Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?'

'You may address me as the Count von Kramm, a' Bohemian I

nobleman. I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of( honour and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of tlle most extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate with you alone,'

I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me

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A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA

back into my chair. 'It is both, or none,' said he. 'You may say before this gentleman anything which you may say to me.'

The Count shrugged his broad 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 ofsuch weight that it may have an influence upon European history.'

'I promise,' said Holmes. 'And I.'

'You will excuse this mask,' continued our strange visitor. 'The august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have just called myself is not exactly my own.'

'I was aware ofit,' said Holmes dryly. 'The circumstances are ofgreat 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,19 hereditary kings of Bohemia.'

'I was also aware ofthat,' murmured Holmes, settling himself down in his armchair, and closing his eyes.

Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him as the most incisive reasoner, and most energetic agent in Europe. HolInes slowly reopened his eyes, and looked impatiently at his gigantic client.

'If Your Majesty would condescend to state your case,' he remarked, 'I should be better able to advise you.' .

i

I The man sprang from his chair, and paced up and down the room i

in uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he I tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. 'You are n right,' he cried, 'I am the King. Why should I attempt to conceal it?' 11

'Why, indeed?' murmured Holmes. 'Your Majesty had not spoken 1I .j

before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigis­ mond von Ormstem, Grand Duke ofCassel-Falstein, and hereditary King of Bohemia. '20

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.. THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

'But you can understand,' said our 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 mvn person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not confide it to an agent without puttingmyselfin his power. I have come incognito from Prague2 ( for the purpose of consulting you.'

'Then, pray consult,' said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. 'The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a lengthy

visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance ofthe well-knmvn adventur­ ess Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you.'

'Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor,' murmured Holmes, 'without opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of docketing aU 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 Rabbi22 and that ofa staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea fishes.

'Let me see,' said Holmes. 'Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto hum! LaScala,23 hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera of Warsaw Yes! Retired from operatic stage hal Living in London

quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and is now desirous of getting those letters back'

'Precisely so. But how-' '\Vas there a secret marriage?' 'None.' 'No legal papers or certificates?' 'None.'

'Then I fail to follow Your Majesty. If this young person should produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is she to prove their authenticity?'

'There is the writing.' 'Pooh, pooh! Forgery.' 'My private note-paper.' 'Stolen.' 'My own seal.'

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A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA

'Imitated. ' 'My photograph.' 'Bought.' 'We were both in the photograph.' 'Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Ml;l.jesly has indeed committed

an indiscretion.' 'I was mad insane.' 'You have compromised yourself seriously.' 'I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty

now.' 'It must be recovered.' 'We have tried and failed.' 'Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought.' 'She will 110t sell.' 'Stolen, then.' 'Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ran­

sacked her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice she has been waylaid. There has been no result.'

'No sign of it?' 'Absolutely none.' Holmes laughed. 'It is quite a pretty little problem,' said he. 'But a very serious one to me,' returned the King, reproachfully. 'Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the

photograph?' 'To ruin me.' 'But how?' 'I am about to be married.' 'So I have heard.' 'To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter oftha

King of Scandinavia.24 You may know the strict principles of her family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end.'

'And Irene Adler?' 'Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I know

that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the

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THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry another woman, there arc no lengths to which she would not go - none.'

'You are sure that she has not sent it yet?' 'I am sure.' 'And why?' 'Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the

betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday.' 'Oh, then, we have three days yet,' said Holmes, with a yawn.

'That is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to look into just at present. Your Majesty will, ofcourse, stay in London for the present?'

'Certainly. You will find me at the Langham,25 under the name of the Count von Kramm.'

'Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress.' 'Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety.' 'Then, as to money?' 'You have carte blanche.' 'Absolutely?'

'1 tell you that I would give one ofthe provinces ormy kingdom to have that photograph.'

'And for present expenses?'

The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak, and laid it on the table.

'There are three hundred pounds in gold, and seven hundred in notes,' he said.

Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his notebook, and handed it to him.

'And mademoiselle's address?' he asked. 'Is Briony Lodge, Se:rpentine Avenue, Stjohn's Wood.'26 i Holmes took a note of it. 'One other question,' said he. 'Was the

photograph a cabinet?'21 'It was.' I 'Then, good night, Your M<tiesty, and 1 trust that we shall SOOl1 i.

have some good news for you. And good night, Watson,' he added, as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. 'Ifyou will

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-- A SCANDAl, TN BOlmMIA

be good enough to call tomorrow afternoon, at three o'clock, I should like to chat this little matter over with you.'

2

<.:11 the At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Hohnes had not

y~LWJ1. yet retul'I1cd. The landlady informed mc that he had left the house

nee to shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down beside the fire,

.Hldc,n however, with the intention of awaiting him, however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his inquiry, lor, though it was

me of surrounckd by nonc or the grim and strangc fcatures which werc aHsociated with tlw two crimes which I have elsewhere n:corded,26

Ill. , still, the natlln: or the case and the exalted station ofhis client gave it a

character ofits own. Indeed, apart from the nature ofthe investigation which my ffiend had on haud, there was something in his masterly grasp of a situation, and his kecn, incisive reasoning, which made it a pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the quick,

1U1 to subtle methods by which he disentangled the most inextricable mys­ teries. So accustomed wa.~ I to his jnvariabl(~ success that the very possibility oehis (~liling had ceased to enter into my heae!.

It was close upon ((Illf before the door opened, and a drunk(!n­ looking groom, iIl-kcl1lpt and skk-whiskt~rcd with .til inflamed face

,(I in and disreputabk! dothes, walked into the room. Accustomed as 1 was to my li'iend's amazing powers ill th(~ use or clisguL'Ics, I had to look

and three times before I was certain that it was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the iJ(~dro(ll11, whence he emr.rgccI ill five minutes tweed-suited and resp(~etnbk, as 0[' old. Putting his hands into his pm:kets, he sl.rt!tched Ollt his legs in lhmt of (he fire, and laughed heartily Ibr some minutell.

'W(~ll, rt~aHy!' h(~ cried, <Iud then he choked; and laughed again until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpl(~ss, in the chair.

lCUI 'What is ili>' 'It's quite too Iimny. I am sure you could never bru(~SS how I

employed my morning, or what I ended by doing.'

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOI.MES

'I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the habits,

and perhaps the house, ofMiss Irene Adler.' 'Quite so, but the sequel was rather unusuaL I will tell you, however.

I left the house a little after eight o'clock this morning, in the character of a groom out of work. There is a wonderful sympathy and free­ masonry among horsy men. Be one of them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but built out in front right up to the road, two storeys. 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 £1.steners 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 ofview, but without noting anything else of interest.

'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 ofthe garden. I lent the ostleTs a hand in rubbing down their horses, and I received in exchange twopence, a glass of half-and-half,29 two HUs 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.'

'And what ofIrene Adler?' I asked. '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 ofhim. He is dark, handsome, and dashing; never calls less than once a day,and often twice. He is a Mr Godfrey Norton, oCthe Inner Temple.30 See the advantages ofa cabman as a eonfidant. They had driven him home a dozen times from Serpentine Mews, and knew all about him. When I had listened to all that they had to tell, I began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan of campaign.

II. SCANDAl. IN nOIlEM[A

'This Godfi'ey 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 ol~icct ofhis repeated visits? Was shc his client, his friend, or his mistress? Ifthe fimner, she had probably transferred the photograph to his keeping. Ifthe latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this question depended whether I should continue my work at Bricmy Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers ill tlw Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widcned the field ol'rny inquhy. I l(~at·that I bore YOli with these details, but I have to let you sec my little c1iJIicuitics, ifyOll arc to understand the situation.'

'1 am f()llnwing you c1mlely,' I answ(;red. 'I was still balallcing the muHer in my mind when a hansom cabill

drove up to BriollY Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a remarkahly handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached ~. evi­ dently the man of wbol11 I had hcard. He appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the maid who opened the (\001' with the air ora mall who was thoroughly' at home.

'f-Ic was iUlhe hOllse about half an hour, and I could catch glimpse~ or him, in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up anel down, talking excitedly <mel waving his arms. Of her I Gould see nothing. Presently he emerged, looking evt~1l more Hurried than before. As he slepp(~d up to the cah, he pull(~d a gold watch li'om his pocket and looked at it earnestly. "Driw lik(~ the devil," he shouted, "first to Gross ami Hank(~y 'Ii in Regcnt Street,~l? and tlwll to the Church ofSt MOllica ill th(~ Edh"vare Roacl.:J~l Haifa guinea iI'you do it in twenty minutes!"

'Awny tlH~y w(mt, and I wa~ just wotlcl(~ring whether I should not do wdl to Jil1l0W them, when IIp the lane came it Ileat little landau,:'4 the (;ouclmml1 with hi~ coat only hall' buttoned, and his lie uncleI' his ear, whilt' all lh,~ lagH or his harm's:; were sticking out of the buckles. It hadn't pulled up hefore she ~hOl (JUt or the hall door .md into it. I oilly caught u glimpse or her at the moment, hut she was a lovely womall, with !l filn~ that a man might die Ihr.

"'TIH' Churdl or:-it MOllica, .John," she cried, "and hall' a sovereign if y(m r(~a<!h it in lwenLy minutes."

'This WUH quile too goud to lose, Watson. I was just balandng whetlH'l' I should run {or it, or wheth{!r I should perch behind her

'5

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

landau when a cab c:;tme 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 ifyou reach it in twenty minutes." It was twenty-five minutes to twelve,35 and ofcourse it was clear enough what was in the wind.

'My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there save the two whom I had followed, and a surpliced clergyman, who seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards me.

'''Thank God!" he cried. "You'll do. Come! Comd" , "What then?" I asked. , "Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal." '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, al1d generally assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfi'cy 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 preposter­ ous 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 licence, 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.S6 The bride gave me a sovereign,s7 and I mean to wear it on my watch-chain in melTIory of the occasion.'

'This is a very unexpected tum of affairs,' said Ii 'and what then?' 'Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if the

pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate velY

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.

A S(JANllAI, IN 1l01·mMIA

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 Park3u at five as usual," she said as she lell him. I heard no more. They drove away in diHcrclll directions, and I went oO'to make my OWll arrangements.'

'Which areP' 'Some eold beef and a glass of beer,' he answered, rin!.,ring the bell.

'I have been too busy to think of/bod, and I am likely to be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want your co-operation.'

'I shall be delighted: 'You don't mind breaking the lawlP

'Not in the leasl.' 'Nm running a chance of arrest?' 'Not ill a good caus!:.' 'Oh, the caust~ is excellent!' 'Then I am your man.' 'I was sun: that I mig-ht rely 011 yotl.' 'But what is it you wil{hi)\ 'When Mrs TurneI'3!) hal{ brought ill the tray I will make it clear lo

you. Now,' he said, as he turned hungrily 011 the simple Ihr!! that Olll' landlady had provided, 'I must discuss it while I eat, for I haw 110t much time. It is nearly liv() now. In two hours we must be on the sccne of action. MiiiS Inal!!, or Madame, rathel', returns fi'om her drive at seven, We lllllst b(~ al Briony Locl~e to meet her.'

'And whatllwni" 'You musl leave tlm.l to me. I have aln~ady nrrunged what is to

oew!'. TIH'l'e is only one point Oil which I must insist. You mllst not il1tl~rl(:1'(1, eonw what may. You underiltand?'

'[ am to lw lwutl'lll?' 'To do nothing whulever. 'l'h()l'l: will probably be some small

unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my bdng conveyed into the hotIS(!. Four 01' liv(! minutes aft(!rwal'cls thn sitting-worn window will 0IWll. YOII art: lo slalion YOl1fse](' dose lo that open window.'

'Yes.' 'You :U't~ to watch me, fbI' rwill he visible to you.'

•

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

'Yes.' '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?'

'Entirely.' 'It is nothing very forinidable,' 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 ofpeople. You may then walk to the end of the street, and I .viil rejoin you in ten minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?'

'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 await you at the corner of the street.'

'Precisely. ' 'Then you may entirely rely on me.' 'That is excellent. I think perhaps it is almost time that I prepared

for the new role I have to play.' He disappeared into his bedroom, and returned in a few minutes

in the character of an amiable and simple-minded Non-conformist 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 MrJohn Hare40 alone could have equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime.

It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes's 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

18

seissO a nut LIP af

''Y. the \1 bero: be as to its are 1J

'V 'II

size. knOV Two then

" 'I

am i like I elsc': wha busi afc, in h.

'I '1 '] ,~

J

,.

carl

the' to t

A ~(1ANIlAL IN 1l00mMIA

scissors-grinder with his wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and sev(~ral well-dressed young men who were lounging up ami down with cigars in tbeir mouths.

'You set,,' remarked I-lohnes, as we paced to and fro in front or the house, 'this lllal"1'iage ruther simplilies matters. The photograph becomes a double-cdgt'd weapon now. The chances [Lre that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr God[h~y Norton; as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his Prim;css. Now th(~ question is ,- Where arc we to lind the' photogmph:)'

'Wlwre, indeed!l' 'It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is cabinet

siy,(~. Too large ror (~asy concenlnH~lIt about u woman's dress. She knows that tht' Kiug is rapahle ofhavitlg her way-laid and seardH~d. Two iltternptH or tlH~ HOlt have ah'eady been marie. We mny take it lh,~n that she does \lot carry it about with her.'

'Wlwrt~, tb('n':l' 'Her hanker or ht'!' lawyer. Th(~l"e is that d(lublt~ possibility, But 1

mil inclined to think ndlhel', Womt~ll arc naturally secretive, and they like to do theil' uwn sen·eling. Why should sh(~ hand it OV{~I' to anyone ds(~:' Hlw conld trust llel" own gUtll'clianship, but she could nol tdl what indirect 01' political iulllwlH'e Inight be brought to bear upon a llllsillessman. lksicles, I'emember that she had I'esolved to use it within a few days, IL must 1)(' whITe she call lay her bands upon it. It must be ill lit'\" own house.'

'But it has twiel' bt'c'lI burgled.' 'Pshaw! They did not know how to look.' 'Hut how will you look:" \ I wiJIl10 t look.' 'What then?' 'I will w~t hm' In show me.' 'But Mil" will t'ldh~('.' 'Hill' will not Ill' ahle to. But I hear the I'urnbk ()fwhcel~. It is lH~\"

e:U'I·iag(~. Now carry out my (Jrd<m! to the I(~llel'" As hl' ~p()kt" tht~ gJrilrn of the sidelights or it (~arriag(~ came round

the nU'Vt~ of the avenue, It was a smart little landau which rattled up to the door of Uriony Lodge, As it pulled up, one ofthe loafing men

4>

THE ADVEN'l'URgS OF SHERl.OOK I101.Ml'S

at the corner dashed forward to open the door in the hope or 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 Iall 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 sGuffle without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to attend to the il1iured 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.

'Is the poor gentleman much hurt?' she asked. 'He is dead,' cried several voices. 'No, no, there's life in him,' shouted another. 'But he'll be gone

before you can get him to hospital.' 'He's a brave f('~llow,' said a woman. 'They would have had the

lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now.'

'He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?' 'Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable

sofa. This way, please!' Slowly <md 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 ttpon 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 bc the blackest

20

trcache entrust< under r but pre

Hall man wI windov signal I wa.~ no well dr' in a g(! room, figures l them tl made I rejoice' scene ( minute toward

'Yo been b

'Yo 'lie 'An 'Sb 'I a 'I d

was pc wasar

'1 f.\ "n

palm' my fa!

'Tt 'Tt

could

A SCANDAl. IN BOHEMIA

treachery to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had entrusted to me. I hardened my heart and took the smoke rocket from under my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are but preventing her from injuring another.

Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man who is in want 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·H 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 into 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 thcm that it was a falsc 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 fi:iend's ann in mine, and to get away from the scene of the uproar. He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes, until we had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the Edgware Road.

'You did it vcry nicely, Doctor,' he remarked. 'Nothing could have been better. It is all right.'

'You have the photograph!' 'I know where it is.' 'And how did you find out?' 'She showed me, as I told you she would.' 'I am still in the dark.' 'I do not wish to make a mystery,' said he, laughing. 'The matter

was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening.'

'I guessed as mllch.' 'Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in the

palm cif my hanel. I rushed forward, fdl down, clapped my hand to my face, and became a piteolls spectacle. It is an old trick.'

'That also I could fathom.' 'Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else

could she do? And into her sitting-room which was the very room

21

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERI.OCK HOLMI'.S

which I suspected. It lay between that and her bcdroom, and I was determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for air, they were compelled to open the window and you had your

chance.' 'How did that help you?' '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, ancl I have more than Ollce taken advantage of it. In the case of the Darlington Substitution Scandal+2 it was of usc to me, and also in the Arnsworth Castle business.49 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 today had nothing in the house more precious to her than what we arc in quest of. She would rush to secUl'c it. The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting was 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 saleI' to wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all.'

'And now?' I asked. 'Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King

tomorrow, 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 fmd neither LIS nor the photograph. It might be a satisfaction to His Majesty to regain it with his own hands.'

'And when will you call?'

( r '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 mllst wire to the King without delay.'

We had reached Baker Street, and had stopped at the door. He

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA

d I Was was searching his pockets for the key, when some one passing said: ned for 'Good night, lVIister Sherlock Holmes.' d your 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.

e is on 'I've heard that voice before,' said Holmes, staring down the dimly irnost. lit street. 'Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have been.' 1 once :tution Castle 3 done ldyof I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were upon our toast at we and coffee when the King of Bohemia rushed into the room. e was 'You have really got it!' he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by erves either shoulder, and looking eagerly into his face. 'ecess 'Not yet.' Te in 'But you have hopes?' I'hen 'I have hopes.' t the 'Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone.' rose, 'We must have a cab.' :ther 'No, my brougham is waiting.' had 'Then that will simplifY matters.' \fait. We descended, and started off once more for Briony Lodge.

'Irene Adler is married,' remarked Holmes. 'Married! When?'

.lUg 'Yesterday.' be 'But to whom?'

hat 'To an English lawyer named Norton.' ght 'But she could not love him?'

'I am in hopes that she docs.' 'And why in hopes?'

Ne 'Because it would spare Your Majesty all fear offuture annoyance. an 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.'

Ie 'It is true. And yet-! Well! I wish she had been ofmy own station!

23

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

What a queen she would have made!' He relapsed into a moody silence which was not broken until we drew up in Serpentine Avenue.

The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood

upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped

from the brougham. 'Mr Sherlock Holmes, I believe?' said she. 'I am Mr Holmes,' answered my companion, looking at her with a

questioning and rather startled gaze. 'Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She lelt

this morning with her husband, by the 5.15 train from Charing Cross,H for the Continent.'

'What!' Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and

surprise. 'Do you mean that she has left England?' 'Never to return.' 'And the papers?' asked the King hoarsely. 'All is lost.' 'We shall see.' He pushed past the servant, and rushed into tlle

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 tht!m belare her night. 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 ofIrene 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:

My Dear Mr Sherlock Holmes, You really did it very well. You took me in completdy. Until nIter the

alarm offire, 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

'I

t 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

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA

upstairs, got into my walking clothes, as I call them, and came down just as you departed.

Well, I followed you to your door and so made sure that I was really an

object of interest to the celebrated Mr Sherlock Holmes. Then I, rather

hnprudently, wished you good night, and started for the Temple to see my husband.

We both thought the best resource was llight when pursued by so formid­ able an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when you call tomorrow. 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 kept 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 eare to possess; and I remain, dear Mr Sherlock Holmes, very truly yours,

IRENE NORTON, nee ADLER

'What a woman oh, what a woman!' cried the King ofBohemia, 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 she was not on my level?'

'From what I have seen of the lady, she seems, indeed, to be on a very different level to Your Majesty,' said Holmes, coldly. 'I am sorry that I have not been able to bring Your Majesty's business to a more successful conclusion.'

'On the contrary, my dear sir,' cried the King. 'Nothing could be more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire.'

'I am glad to hear Your Majesty say so.' '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.

'Your Majesty has something which I should value even more highly,' said Holmes.

'You have but to name it.' 'This photograph!' The King stared at him in amazement.

25

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

'Irene's photograph!' he cried. 'Certainly, ifyou wish it.' '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 stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his chambers.

And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr Sherlock I-Iolines were beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the devemess of women, but I have not heard him do it oflate. And when he speaks ofIrene Adler, or when he refers to her photo!,rraph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman.

te in the ng.' He he King ~rs.

ingdom es were verness speaks

;under

A CASE OF IDENTITY

'My 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 ofexistence. 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 genera­ tions, and leading to the most outre results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitable.'·

'And yet I am not convinced of it,' I answered. 'The 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.'

'A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a realistic effect,' remarked Holmes. 'This is wanting in the police report, where more stress is laid perhaps upon the platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend upon it there. is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace.'

I smiled and shook my head. '1 can quite understand you thinking so,' 1 said. 'Ofcourse, 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

THE ADVENTURES OF nmRLOUK HOI,MHS

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 ol'print, but I know without reading it that it is all perfectly [amiliar to me.. ['here

is, of course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the bmise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest ofwriters cuuld

invent nothing more crude.' 'Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one ior your arf::,TUmcnt,'

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 teetotaller, there was no other woman, and the conduct complained ofwas that he had drifted into the habit ofwinding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling them at his wife, which you will allow is not an action likely to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I

have scored over you in your example.' He held out his snuff-box of old gold, with a great amethyst in the

centre ofthe lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon it.

'Ah,' said he, 'I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. It is a little souvenir from the King ofBohemia in return for my assistanee in the case of the Irene Adler papers.'2

'And the ring?' I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which sparkled upon his finger.

'It was from the reigning family of Hol\and,3 though the matler 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 lwo of my little problems.'

'And have you any on hand just now?' I asked with interest. 'Some ten or twelve, but none which presents any feature ofintercst.

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 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,

A CAS!, OF IDENTITY

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 featl.lreS of interest. It is possible, however, that I may have something better before very many minutes are over, for this is one oC my clients, or I am much mistaken.'

He had risen from his chair, and was standing between the parted blinds, gazing down into the dull, neutral-tinted London street. Look­ ing 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 ill a coquettish Duchess-of-Devonshire fashion4 over her ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated backwards and forwards, 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.

'I have seen those symptoms before,' said Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire. 'Oscillation upon the pavement always means an affaire du ca:ur. 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 pCll)lexecl, or grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts.'

Aq he spoke there was a lap at the door, and the boy in buttons entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself loomed hehind his small black figure like a full-sailed merchantman 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 over her in the minute and yet abstracted nlshiol1 which was peculiar to him.

'Do you not find,' he said, 'that with your short sight it is a little trying to do so much typewriting?'

'I did at first,' she answered, 'but now I know where the letters arc without looking.' Then, suddenly realizing the full purport of his

THE ADVRNTURES OIl SHl\RLOCK HOI,!'>\l>:S

words, she gave a violent start, and looked up with fear and astonish­ ment upon her broad, good-humoured face. 'You've heard about me, Mr Holmes,' she cried, 'else how could you know aU that?'

'Never mind,' said Holmes, laughing, 'it is my business to know things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others overlook. If

not, why should you come to consult me?' '1 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 yOll 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 ofMr Hosmer Angel.'

'Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?' asked Sherlock Holmes, with his fingertips together, and his eyes to the ceiling.

, Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous Ihce ofMiss Mary Sutherland. 'Yes, I did bang out of the house,' she said, 'lbr 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 poliee, 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 011 with my things and came right away to you.'

'Your father?' said Holmes. 'Your stepfather, surely, since the name is differen t?'

'Yes, my stepfather. I eall him father, though it sounds ltlllllY, too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself.'

'And your mother is alive?' 'Oh, yes, motheris alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr Hohnes,

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,S and he left a tidy business behind him, which mother carried on with Ml' 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 four thousand seven hundred for goodwill and interest, which wasn't ncar as much as father could have got if he had been alive.'

30

A CASI, OF IDENTITY

I had expected to sec Sherlo(:k Holmes impatient under this ram­ bling ancl inconsequential narrative, but, OIl the contrary, he had listened with the greatest concentration of attention.

'Your own little income>, he asked, 'does it come out or the business!!'

'Oh, no, sir, it is quite separate, and was left 111C by my uncle Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand Stock, paying 4.11~ per cent. Two thousand live hundred pounels was the amount, but I can oilly tOllch the interest'

'You interest me extremely,' said Holmes. 'And since YOLl draw so large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn iuto the bargain, YOli 110 doubt tmvel it little and iudulge ill every way. I believe Ihat a single lady can get on very nicely upon an iucome of about sixty pounds.'

'I could do with much less than that, Mr Holmes, but you under­ stand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a burden to them, and so they have the liSt; of the money just while I am staying with them. or cOUl'se that is only just fol' the time. Mr Windibank draws my interest evcry quarter, and pays it over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I earn at typewriting. It hrings me twopell('(~ a sheet, and I can oJlcn do from Iifh:cn to twenty sheetij in a day.'

'You have made your position vet)' deal' to me,' said Holmes. 'This is my IHtmd, Dr Watson, bdcll'(~ whom you Call speak as fredy as lwf()l'e myself: KhH.l1y tell us IlOW all about your connection with MI' I'losmer Angd.·

A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's lilC(!, and she picked nervously ttl lilt: [I'inge or her jacket. 'I met him lil'St at the gasHtt(~rs' ball,' she said. 'They llsed to st:lld lilthcr tickt~ts when he was alive, <tnd then allel'WIll'ds they rt~n1(!mbel'<:d us, and sent them lo mother. Nil' Wincli­ hank did not wish us to go. He mwcr did wish us to go anywhm·e. He would gl~t quite mad if' I wanted so much as to join !, Sunday school trent. But lhis time rwas sm on going, and I would go, Jor what right had he to prevent? He said the ti:Jlk were not fit 101' us to know, when nil filthds Ii'iends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing fit to wear, when I bad my purplt~ plush that I had never so much .IS

31

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

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.'

'I suppose,' said Holmes, 'that when Mr Windibank came back from France, he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball.'

'Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, ancl shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying anything to a woman, for she would have her way.'

'I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a gentleman called Mr Hosmer Angel.'

'Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to 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.'

'No?'

'Well, you know, father didn'tlike anything ofthe sort. He wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to begin with, and I had not got mine yet.'

'But how about Mr Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see you?'

'Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each other until he had gone. We would 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.'

'Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?'

'Oh, yes, Mr Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that we took. Hosmer - Mr Angel - was a cashier in an office in Leadenhall Stree~ - and ­

'What office?'

'That's the worst of it, Mr Holmes, I don't know.' 'Where did he live then?' 'He slept on the premises.'

32

A CASE Oil IDHN'l'I1'Y

'And you don't know his address?' 'No··' except that it was Leadcnhal\ Street.' 'vVhcrc did you acldres~ your letters, then?' 'To the Leadcnhall Street Post OlTice, to be left till called for. He

said that ir they were sent to the oHicc he would be chalfed by all the other clerks about having letters [rom 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 IhJll1 mc but when they were typewritten he always {Ht that the machinc had GOme between us. That will just show you how lOIld he was of me, Mr Holmes, and the little things that he would think 0[.' .

'It was most suggestive,' said Holmes. 'It has long been an axiom or mille that the little things are infillit(:ly the most important. Can you remember any other liUle things about Mr Hosmer Angel?'

'He was a very ~hy man, Ml' Holmes. He would rather walk with me in the evening than in the daylighl, fbI' he said that he hated to be COllBpicliOliS. V(~l)' retiring and gentlematlly he was. Even his voke wa~ gelltl(~. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he was young, he told me, and it had lefl him with a weak tllroat, and a hesitating, whispering lilshion or sp(~ceh. He was always well-dressed, V(~I)' lH~at alld plain, but his eyes were weak, just as mine HI'C, and he wore tinted glasses agHinst the glat·e.'

'Wdl, and what lIapp(~Iled when Ml' Windibauk, yom' stcpnlthm', returned to Fl'al)(.:ct

'Mr Hosmer Allgel cam(: to the house again, and prnpo~ccl that we slwuld malTY bdor<~ father carne back. H(~ was in dn:adlltl earnest, and nmd(~ nw Hwear, with my hands 011 the Testament, tlIat whatever happell{~d r would always bt~ tnw to him. Mothel' said he was quite right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. Mother was all in his Lhv()ul' from the first, and was cv(m llmdel' ol'him than I was. Then, when they talked oi'marl'ying within tbe week, I begm1 to ask about {hther; but tht:y both said never to mind about lillher, but just to t(,l1 him an(~l'wards, and mOl!wl' ~aid she would make it all right with him: I didn't quite like: that, Mr Hohn<!s. It seemed funny that I should usk his kave, as he was only H few years older thall me; but I didn't want to do anything on th<: sly, so I wrote to l~ltlH~r at Bordeaux,

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMI',S

where the company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on the very morning of the wedding.'

'It missed him then?' 'Yes, sir, for he had started to Englancljust before it arrived.' 'Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, lor

the Friday. Was it to be in church?' 'Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St Saviour's Ilear King's

Cross/ and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St PUlleras Hotel.s Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there wen: two orus, he put us both into it, and stepped himself into U four-wheeler which happened to be the only other cab in the street. We got to the church first, and 'yhen the four-wheeler drove up we waited tor him to step out, but he never did, and when the cabman got clown from the box and looked, there was no one there! The cabman said 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 01' heard anything since then to throw any light upon what became or him.'

'It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated,' said Holmes.

'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 ifsomething quite unforeseen oceun'ed to separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, and that he would cl~im his pledge sooner or later. It seemed strange talk fbr It wedding morning, but what has happened since gives a meaning to it'

'Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?'

'Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw happened.'

'But you have no notion as to what it could have been?' 'None.'

. 'One more question. How did your mother take the matter?'

'She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter again.'

34

A GAH: ill" IlH:NTITY

your fatherl l Did you tell him!)' and he :.;cemed to think, with me, lhat ~omethiHg had hap­ mel that I should Ileal' of' Hosmer again. As he said, what ~ould any()nc~ have ill brillgillg me to the dours or the church, 1 leaving mel) Now, ir he had bOITowed my mOlley, or if he Tied me and got Illy money lIeuled on him, tlwre might be ason; but Hosl1lt'r was very independent about ll10Iley, ami ollid look at a shilling or minc, And yet what cuuld llave :d? And why could lJe lIot Wdl(~:1 Oh, it drives llW hall'mnd to 'ill and I can't !;leep a wink at night.' She pulled a little chief out ofh,'r l1lull~ and hegan to sob lwavily into it. III glance into the cmlP li)l' you,' said Hnlnws, rising, 'and I doubt that we shalll'(~ach smne d('finite result. I .eltlw wdgh( alter rest upon me now, and do noL let your mind dwellu]Joll I.. Above ail, try to h,t IvIr Htl~nH~I' Angd vanish li'OIl) your " as he has dOlIt~ Ihllll yotll·lin~.' n you dOIl't think I'll He!' him HAaillil ' r nol.'

11 what has haplwlH~d to himil' willlmlv(: that qlll:stioll ill my hands. I should like all <teem'ate ion ofhirn, and allY letters n1'his which you c:all spaJ·c.' vertis(:d fhl' him ill la~l }iaturday'li (''ll1'llllidl',' ~aid she, 'Hpre is and here an: j(1l1l'1(~tlers li'om hilli.'

nk you. And yoUI' at\dresHiP

yon Plm:c, Cnmherwdl.'!l i\ngeJ's address yon Il(~vt'r had, I tlnd('r~talld, Whel'l~ is yoUI' place of ImHhw~H~' ,ravels Illr W(~Hthmlse & Mal'bank, tilt: hll'eat ('hm:1 impOl'h'l's lUrch Street.'11i Ilk yCll1. You hav!: marh, youI' stal(:nwnt wl'y deady. You will e papers IWl'e, and l't'lla:milel' tIle' advin: whil'll I have' givw t the who!!: incident [w a s('alt:d book, and do llot allow it lU mr life.' arc very kind. Mr Hnlm{~fI, hut I ('alltlot do that. I ~hall b(:

Hosmer. H,(~ shall flnd me \'{~ady wtwn he cnnlt:s hack.' all the PI'('pOSlCrOll!l hat Hnd the V.W\lOl!S nICe, thel'c was

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

something noble in the simple faith ofour visitor which compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle ofpapers upon the table, and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever she might be summoned.

Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, and his gaze directed upwards 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 leaned back in his chair, with the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of infinite languor in his face.

'Quite an interesting study, that maiden,' he observed. 'I found her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something ofthe sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, there were one or two details which were new to me. But the maiden herself was most instructive.'

'You appear to read a good deal upon her which was quite invisible to me,' I remarked.

'Not invisible, but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring YOLI to realize the importance ofsleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a bootlace. Now what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe it.'

'Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a feather ofa brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads sewn upon it, and a fringe oflittle blackjet 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 car-rings, and a general air ofbeing fhirly well-to-do, in a vulgar, comfortable, easy-going way.'

Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You

have really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed everything ofimportance, but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general impressions, my

36

A CASE OF IDENTITY

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, ofthe hand type, leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side of it farthest from the thumb, instead ofbeing right across the broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and observing the dint ofa pince-nez at either side of her nose, I ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed to surprise her.'

'It surprised me.' 'But, surely, it was very obvious. I was then much surprised and

interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were really odd ones, the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry.'

'And what else?' I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by my friend's incisive reasoning.

'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 ofMr Hosmer Angel?'

I held the little printed slip to the light. 'Missing,' it said, 'on the ~orning ofthe 14th, a gentleman named Hosmer Angel. About 5 ft 7 in in height; strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in the centre, bushy black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted glasses,

37

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

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', etc., etc.

'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 Balzacll once. There is one remark­ able point, however, which will no doubt strike you.'

'They are typewritten,' I remarked. '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, '

'Ofwhat?'

'My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it bears upon the case?'

'I cannot say that I do, unless it were that he wished to be able to deny his signature ifan action for breach ofpromise were instituted,'

'No, that was notthe 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 Winclibank, asking him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem upon the shelf for the interim.'

I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers of reasoning, and extraordinary energy in action, that I felt that he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had been called upon to fathom. Only once had I known him to fail, in the case of the KingofBohemia and ofthe Irene Adl~rphotograph, butwhen I looked back to the weird business ofthe Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with the Study in Scariet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle indeed which he could not unravel.

A (:ASE (n' iIlENTITY

I Jell him lhell, Ktill pullin/!; alllis blaek day pipe, with the conviction thal whell I eallle aMain 011 tlw lH;xl evenillg I would find that he held ill his hauds all llw dll(:S whkh would lead lip to lhe identity of the diHappearing brid(~p;roolll of Mis!l Mary Sutherland.

A prof{~ssiollal rase orgl'l'al gravity was engaging my own attention al t1w lime, uud tlw whole ornext dny I was busy at the bedside or the Sllm~1't'I" It was lIot uIItil dose U(lOIl six o'clock lhat 1 fbund myself !h~c, all< I was ahle to spring illlo a hawmm and driv(~ to Baker Strcet, Iml!' ali'aid that I might\)(, too late to assist at the denouement of the little lIlysl!:ry. I fiHIlHI S\wdol'k Hohnes alone, IlOwevel" hall' asleep, with his long, thill i€um nu'icd up in the l'CceSHCS of his nrmchair. A lCll'Illi<iailie army or IIOuks Hnd t(~st-illbl~S, with the pungent cbmly slI1ell of lJydl'Odtllll'k add, told nle that Iw had li])Cnt his day in the dwmical work whirh was w <kat' to him.

'Well, hav(~ YOII s()lved it:1' I asked us I entered. 'Yes. It wa!! tl\(~ bisl1lplmt(~ 01' haryta.' 'No, !ln, llw mystery!' 1(Tit'( I. 'Oh, tliat! I lilollA'lit of til!' salt thal [ hav(~ he(~u working upon.

Th('n~ was lI('v(~r HlIy mystery ill til<' Jlmllnl', though, all I SHill yesterday, ~OIlW or til(' details an' or irHcl't~St. .I'iw only drawback is that there is 110 law, I J(~m', thilll'UI\ toue"ll till' scoumlrel.'

'WllO was 1[(', !lll'n, and what wa~ his ol>.ject in de!\eJ'tillg' Miss Stltlwriatl( It

The <[uI'sliml was hardly out or Illy mouth, unci HoinH$ had not yl't opell('d hb lips to reply, Wh~'ll w(' Iward a h('avy fhotlhll in the Jlas~ag!~, ami it tap at lIw do()!',

'This is tIlt' p;il'l's !llI'pliltlll'I', M (. Jmrws Windibank,' said Holmes, 'H(' has wdltt~n to Ill(' 10 HUY that 11(: wt)lIld be Iwn! ill six. Corne illJl

'I'lli' IIIali who ('lIlc'f'(!d wax it sturdy midclk-liil':t~d Il~llow, S01ll(' thirty Y('a/'S or a~(', dc,tll\¥:;IHlVt'lI, and liallow·ski!uH~d, with a bland, insiullatiliA maHlwr, and a puir or wond('dltlly sharp and penetrating I{l'ty (:Y('s. H(~ ~h()l It q\le~li()nillg glallt:c' at (!,\ch oru~, placed his shiny lop-hal upon lht: sidehoard, and with a slight bow, sidled down into t1w IW,\r{'st dmil..

'Oom[ t:v('nillg, MI'Ja!Hrs Windilmnk,' said Holrm~s, 'I think that

I

THE ADVENTURES 01' SHERLOCl< I-lOLMI,S

this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an appointment with me for six o'clock!'

'Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far better not to wash linen of this 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 do not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family misu>rtunc like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless expense, 1'01' how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?'

'On the contrary,' said Holmes quietly; 'I have every reason to believe that I ",rill succeed in discovering Mr Hosmer Angel.'

Mr Windibank gave a violent start, and dropped his gloves. 'I am delighted to hear it,' he said.

'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 arc the more obvious.'

'We do all our correspondence with this machine at the oHice, and no doubt it is a little worn,' our visitor answered, glancing keenly at Homes with his bright little eyes.

'And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, :tvfr Windibank,' Holmes continued. '1 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 slun'ed and the 1"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.'

A CASE OF rDlt.NT1TY

Mr Windibank sprang out of his chair, and picked up his hat. 'I cannot waste time over this sort offantastic talk, Mr Holmes,' he said. 'Ifyoll can catch the man, catch him, and let me know when you have done il.'

'Certainly,' said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in the door. 'I let you know, then, that I have caught him!'

'What! where?' shouted Mr Windibank, turning white to his lips, and glancing about him like a rat in a trap.

'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 It very bad compliment when you said it was impossible for mt~ to solve so simple a qu<~stion. That's right! Sit down, and let us talk it over.'

Our visitor collapsed into a chair with a ghastly face and a glitter of moisture on his brow. 'It~" it's not actionable,' he stammered.

'I am VCIY much afmid that it is not. But between ourselves, Windibank, it was as crud, and selfish, and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run ovcr the course of evenls, and you will contradict me in go wrong.'

The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head s1.mk 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 1:0 himself, as it sceml~cl, than to us.

'The man llmrl'ied a woman very much older than hilnself £01' her money,' said he, 'and he enjoyed tht.: use of the money of the daughter as long as she lived with them. It wall a considerable sum fbI' people in their positioll, and tilt! loss urit would have made a S(~riQUS diHerencc. It was worth an dlilrt to preserve it. The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but a1T<:ctionatc and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it wns evident that with her lair personal advantages, and her li.ttle ineome, she would not be allowed W remain single long. Now her marriage would m(~an, of C(JurRt:, the i05S of a hundrcd a year, so what doe~ h(:r stepfather do to preVtmL iff H(~ takes the obvious cot11'se of keeping hel' at home, and JorbidcLing h(~r to se(~k the company of people oCher own age. But soon he fO\.lIld that that would not answer for ever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and finally

4 • THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

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 ofbushy 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.'

'It was only a joke at first,' groaned our visitor. 'We never thought that she would have been so carried away.' .

'Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very decidedly carried away, and having quite made up h~T mind that her stepfather was in France, the suspicion oftreachery 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 tlle matter should be pushed as far as it would go, if a real efIect were to be produ·ced. T}1ere 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 for ever. These pretended journeys to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was dearly 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 comc. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and hence also the allusions to a possibility ofsomething happening on the vcry 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 further, he conveniently vanished away by the old trick of stepping in atone door'ofa four-wheeler, and out at the other, I think that that was the chain of events, Mr Windibank!'

Ourvisitor had recovered something ofhis assurance while Holmes had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold sneer upon his pale face,

42

A CASE OF IDENTITY

Ihatdoes 'It may be so, or it may not, Mr Holmes,' said he, 'but ifyou are

reditable so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is you who

Itance of are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing actionable :h tinted from the first, but as long as you keep that door locked you lay yourself vhiskers, open to an action for assault and illegal constraint.'

y secure 'The law cannot, as you say, touch you,' said Holmes, unlocking

rAngel, 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

thought 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

as very ofmy duties to my client, but here's a hunting-crop handy, and I think

hat her I snail just treat myself to -' He took two swift steps to the whip, but

instant before he could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the

tlS, and stairs, the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see

of her MrJames Windibank running at the top ofhis speed down the road.

tat the 'There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!' said Holmes, laughing, as he

'ere to threw himself down into his chair once more. 'That fellow will rise would

from crime to crime until he does something very bad and ends on a ~ else.

gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not entirely devoid of mded

interest.' learly

'I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning,' I haHt remarked. " and

'Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr Hosmer orne.

Angel must have some strong object for his curious conduct, and it ence was equally clear that the only man who really profited by the incident, very as far as we could see, was the stepfather. Then the fact that the two land men were never together, but that the one always appeared when the that other was away, was suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the ther curious voice, which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy mld whiskers. My suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in { of typewriting his signature, which ofcourse inferred that his handwriting link was so familiar to her that she would recognize even the smallest

sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, together with many minor nes ones, all pointed in the same direction.' eer 'And how did you verify them?'

'Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I

43

THE ADVRNTURgS 01' SfOml.OUlC HOLMES

knew the firm for which this man worked. I-laving laken the printed description, I eliminated everything Irom it which could be the result of a disguise the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I ~ent it to the Brm, with a request that they would inform me whether it answered the description of any of their travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the typewriter, and I wrole to the man hirnsdf at his business address, asking him ifhe would come here. As I expected, his reply was typewritten, and revealed the smne trivial but characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from Westhous(~ & Mar­ bank, of Fen church Street, to say that the description tallied ill every respect with that of their employee, james Windibank. Voikllout!'

'And Miss Sutherland?'

'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 eub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman. " There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace,12 and as milch knowledge 01' the world.'

44

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE

I Imd called UpOlI my n'icml, Ml' Sberlock Holmes, one day in the autumn ot'last y(:al', alld f(nllld him ill deep conv(:rsation with a very stout, Ilodd-lhccd, dtb'ly g-entlcm<lu, with fiery red hair. With ,Ul apoloh'Y lhr my intrllsion, I was about to withdraw, when Holmes ]lulled me abruptly into the rllmn, and dos(:c\ the door behind me.

'YOl! could not pOf\sihly have come at a h(:tlcl' lime, my <kat' Watson; he said (:nrdially.

'I was afraid that you were engaged.' 'Ho I am. V(:ry l11t1eh so.' 'Then I (:an wait ill the nexll'oom.' 'Not at all. Tlds genlll'llmll, Mr Wi/sou, Itas betm my partnel' and

hclp(:r in many ormy most StlC(;(:lIs/1.i1 eases, and r have no doubt thaI. he will 1)(' or the utmost tlSc: to me in yours also.'

The stoul g(:l1tbmm halrros(: fi:mll hill (~hair, and gave a hob or gn:ding, with a quick litll(~ questiouing ghUlC(~ f!'Om his small) lhl-elldl'ded eyes,

'Try the s(~w~e,' said HO!tlWll, l'dapsing inlCl his lll'mdmit', and pULLing hi:; lillgel'lips (ngethm" us was his custom when in judicial IllOods. '1 know, my ([t'(\I' Wat~on, that YOli share my love 0[' all that i:; bhmrn' tlllel outside Lhe t:Onv(~nti( ll1S Hnd humdrum l'Ontirw o{'(wclydllY life. You hav(~ shown yOtH' relish fbI' it by tht~ en( husiasm which ha~ prompwd you to chronid(\ (Ulel, ir you will nXCtlH(~ my saying so., somcwhal(o (:mlwllish so many of my own liul<' adventures.'

'Your ta.'i($ haw indeed be(m of the! gnmtt:st interest to nw,' I obscrv(~d.

'You will rmH~ml:)(~r that I rcmal'k(~d tl,,: other day, just before we

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

went into the ve!)' simple problem presented by Miss Mary Suther­ land, I that for strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the

imagination. ' 'A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.' 'You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my

view, for otherwise I shall keep piling fact upon fact on you, until your reason breaks down under thcm and acknowledges me to be right. Now, MrJabez 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 smallcr 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 casc 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 eve!)' possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some slight indication ofthe course ofevents I am able to guide myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my memo!),. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the facts are, to the best ofmy belief, unique.'

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 ofhis 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.

I did not gain ve!)' much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor bore every mark ofbeing an average commonplace British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey shepherds'

TlIE IUm-HEAIJED l.EAGtJIo:

check trousers, allot over-cleaIl black H'ock-coat, unbuttoned in the li'OlH, and a drah waistcoat with a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square piet'C(~d bit of melaJ2 dangling down as an ornament. A Ihlyed top-hat, and a Elclecl brown overcoat with a wrinkled velvd collar lay upon a chair beside him. AlLogether, look as I would, there was l10lhing remarkable about the man save his blazing red head, alld the expression or extreme chagrin and discontent upon his lt~atllres.

SIH'riock Holmes's quick eye took in my occupation and he shook his heac! with a stnile as he notic(:cimy <Illestioning glances. 'Beyond the obvious [~u:ts that he has at wme time done manual labour, that he takes sllulI~ thal he is a Fl'(~(~mas()n,3 that he has been in China, and that he has dOlle a considerable amount ofwriting lately, I can deduce nothing else.'

Mr Jabez WilSOIl slartet! lip in his chair, with his ftJrcfinger UpOIl the pap(~l', bu( his eyl:S upon my companion.

'How, in the mLt1H~ n/'g()od liH·tune, did you know (hat, Ml' Holrnest he asked. 'How did YOll know, fhl' example, that I did rnalluallabouril

It's as true a~ gospel, ancll begall as a ship's carpenter.' 'Your hands, llly deal' sir. Your right hand is qllit(~ a size larger

than yoU!' left. You have worked with it, and the muscles Hrc lllore d(~vdnpecl. '

'W('Il, til(' silltn; liH:n, and the Fl'(~ernaSCJllry?' 'I WO\l't im;ult yOttl' intelligence by telling you how I read that,

cHlwcially as, mth(~r agaiIlHt the ~trict l'llk~ ol'YOlll' order, YOll u~(~ an arc and compass bl'ealltpin."~

'All, ()rCOllr~(:, r Ihl'got that. BIll the writing?' 'What ('ls(~ can be indicated by thal right cufrw very shiny llJl' /lve

itldH's, and tl1<' I<~n one: with tIl<: stll()otii patch I'H:al' the elbow where: you t'l~st it UPOIl tlH~ clesk.'

'W(,ll, \Jut Chitla':!, 'The fish which you have tatt()(.)(~d iml11(~diatdy above your rigl}t

wrist could ollly haw h(~Cll cl()IW ill China. I have made a small ~tudy or tattoo marks, and have (~ven wntributed to the Jit<!l',lture or the snbj(~ct. That trick oi'staining the risht~s' scales or a delicate pink is quite pt~elllial' to (:Jtitla.~ When, in additioIl, I see a Chinese coin

47

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

hanging from your watch-chain, the matter becomes even more

simple.' MrJabez Wilson laughed heavily. 'Well, I never!' said he. '!thought

at first you had done something clever, but I see that there was nothing

in it after all.' 'I begin to think, Watson,' said Holmes, 'that I make a mistake in

explaining. "Omne ignotum pr(J magnifico, "6 you know, and my poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr Wilson?'

'Yes, I have got it now,' he answered, with his thick, red finger planted half-way down the column. 'Here it is. This is what began it all. You must read it for yourself, sir.'

I took the paper from him and read as follows:

To the Red-headed League

- On account of the bequest of the late Ezekiah Hopkins of Lebanon,

Penn.,? U.S.A., there is now another vacancy open which entitles a member

of the League to a salary of four pounds 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 ofthe League, 7 Pope's Court,S Fleet Sh·eet.

'V,{hat on earth does this mean?' I ejaculated, after I had twice read over the extraordinary announcement.

Holmes chuckled, and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when in high spirits. 'It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?' said he. 'And now, Mr Wilson, offyou 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.'

'It is the Morning Chronicle,9 of9.7 April I8go,Just two months ago. '10 'VeIY good. Now, Mr Wilson?' 'Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr Sherlock Holmes,'

saidJabez Wilson, mopping his forehead, 'I have a small pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City.lI It's not a very large affair, and oflate 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 lm.lf~wages, so as to learn the business.'

'What is the name of this obliging youth?' asked Sherlock Holmes. 'His Ilame is Vincent Spaulding, and he's nm sllch a youth either.

It's hard to say his age. [ should not wish it smarter assistant, Mr Holmes; and I know v{~ry well that he could bettel' himself: and even twice what I am able to give him. But aller all, if' he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?'

'Why, indeed? You scem most Hn'ttllmlt! in having nil employee who comes under the lltll market priCt~. It is nol n common exp{~rience among cmployers in lhis aRe. I don't know that your assislallt is not as remarkable as your adverlist~nIent.'

'Oh, he has hili limits, too,' said MI' Wilsoll. 'N(~ver was sudl It li.:l\ow fbI' photoRI'aphy, Snapping away with a camera when he ought to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cella!' like a rabbit into itll hole to develop his pictures. Tlmt is Ilill main [hulL; bUl on the whol(~, be's a good worker. 'rhel'(~'1i nu vk(~ in him.'

'He is slilL wilh y()U, 1pl"(~SUI1l('!I' 'Yes, sir. He and a girl nrlhurtcml, who does a bil of1!il1lple cooking,

and keeps the plm:e dean that's aU I haw in the house, IbI' I am it widower, and ncv(~l' had allY lhrnHy. We liV{~ very quietly, sir, th(~ three of' UlI; and wr~ keep a roof' elver OUI' heads, and pay Olll' debts, il' we {lo nothing mon~,

'The llr!;t tlling thal put liS oul was lhat advcrtis(,lnent. Spaulding, he came dowll into the olJk(~ just lhis day eight wc(~ks with this very pap!'1' in his hand, and he says:

, "I wish to the Lord, M r WiI:mn, lhat rwas a r(~d-h('ad(!d I11nl1." , "Why thae" I asks. \ "Why," says he, "hcrl~'s anolher vaeancy on the Leagll(~ of'llm

Rccl-Iicad('d Men. It's worth quite a lillie Ibl'tlltw to any man who gNs it, and I Ulldel'Slimd lhat thm'e art) mm'c vaeandcli than then~ aI'{~ m(~Il, HO that the trustees al't~ <tl thdr wits' {'lld what In do with the m()m~y. If my hair would only dHmg(~ colour, ht:rt~':; ,L like lilllt~ crib all ready fbi' me to step into,"

•"Why, what L~ it, lhtmr" I asked. You se(~, Mr Holmes, 1 am a ve!l), slay-at-home man, and, as my btlsine~!! ('mm~ to m(~ inst(~ad of'

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK IlOLMES

my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news.

'''Have you never heard of the League of the Red-Headed Men?" he asked, with his eyes open.

'''Never.'' '''Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourselfIhr one of the

vacancies. " '''And what arc they worth?" I asked. '''Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight,

and it need not interfere much with one's other occupations," 'Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, for

the business has not been over-good for some years, and an extra couple ofhundred would have been very handy.

'''Tell me all about it," said L '''Well,'' said he, showing me the advertisement, "you can see for

yourselfthat 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 An1erican 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."

'''But,'' said I, "there would be millions of red-headed men who would apply."

, "Not so many as you might think," he answered. "You sec, it is really confmed 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 tum. Then, again, I have heard it is 110 use your applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but recll, bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a few hundred pounds."

'Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, that

50

'!'Ill> R~:n-ImADlm LEAGUE

my hail' is or a vcry full and rich tint, so that it seemed to me that, if there was to be any competition ill the malter, I stood as good a chance as allY man that I had ever met. Vincent Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might PI'OVG useful, so Ijust ordered him to put up the shutters irJr the day, and to come right away with me. He was vel)' willing to have a holiday, so we shut the business up, and starwd oIrliw tlu; address that was given tiS in the advertisement.

'I never hope to see such it sight as that ag'ain, Ivlr Ho\tnes. From north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade or n;d in his lmh' had tramped into tlw City to amwer the adverlisel11(~nt. Fleet Stn;(;t was choked with x'cd-headed folk, and Pope 'H Court lookl:d like a co~tel"s Ol'lIng(: barrow. 12 I lihould not hav(~ thought the.r(~ wen: so many in the whole country as wert: brought together by that single advI~rti~,~m(mt. EVI:ry ~had(~ or coloUJ' they were straw, lemoll, omnge, brick, ll'ish-3(~tLer, liver, day; but, as Spaulding said, th(~re were not many who had the real vivid flame-coloured tint, When I saw how lllallY were wailing I would have given it lip in despair; but Spaulding would 110t lwar or it. How lw did it I !:ould not imagine, hut he pushed and pulled 1Il1d butLml unlil he got me through the erowd, and right up to the steps which led to the ollkc'. Tlu~n' was a dOllbh~ stream upon the stair, liOIlW going up ill hope, and wnw cornillg I lack d(:i(~I~te(l; Iml we wl'dgcd in tlR well as we (:tmld, alld SOUl! [illmd oUffidves in tlw Ome(~.'

'Yom \~Xlwd<:ncl' has be('n a Illost entertaining OlH~,' l't~mark(:d Holmc's, as his client paused and rcli'l'slwd his nwmol)' with ll. hUI!;() {lilldl oj'snun: 'Pmy continue yOUI' vel)' illtl't'l~stillg statemc:nl.'

''!'lwn' was Ilotlting' in the ()lfic(~ but a COLlplt~ orwooden rlmirs and a deal tllllk, behind which Sill a ~man lTWU, with a hend thal was t~V(:n redder thall mine, He !laid a f(~w words to c~a.dl nuulidate as he GHl1W lip, ami tlwll lw always ll1anaged to liud sonu: Enllt in th(~m which would disqtmlily them, Geltitlg a vaeaney did not seem to lw such a vet)' (~asy matWr ~tfkl' all. Howev(:l', when ollr turn came, tl1(~ Iit!l(~ mall was mn!'l) fhv(lllrahle to me than to any or ttll' O!lWl'S. and he dOHed the doOl' as we (~ntt~rtd, so that he might hav(~ a private word with ll~.

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

'''This is Mr Jabez Wilson," said my assistant, "ancl he is willing to fill a vacancy in the League."

'''And he is admirably suited for it," the other answered. "I-Ie has every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so fine." He took a step backwards, cocked his head 011 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.

, "It would be injustice to hesitate," said he. "You will, however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obviolls 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 cardill, for we have twicc 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 aU trooped away in difIerent directions, until there was not a red head to be seen except my own and that of the manager.

, "My name," said he, "is Mr Duncan Ross, and I am myself one ofthe pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benet.1.ctor. Are you a married man, Mr Wilson? Have you a familyi)"

'I answered that I had not. 'His face fell immediately. '''Dear me!" he said gravely, "that is very serious indeed! I mn

sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, ofcourse, for the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a bachelor."

'My face lengthened at this, Mr Holmes, for I thought that I was not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for a few minutes, he said that it would be all right.

'''In the case of another," said he, "the objection might be fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to entcr upon your new duties?"

, "Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already," said I.

52

'''Oh, never mind about that, Mr Wilson!" said Vincent Spaulding. "I shall be able to look after that for you."

, "What would be the hours?" I asked. , "Ten to two." 'Now a pawl1broker'H business is mostly done of an evening, Mr

Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which isjust before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to cam a little in the morninh"" Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good mall, and that he would see to anything that turned up.

''''Dmt would suit me very well," said I. "And the payP" , "Is four pounds a week." , "And the workP" , "10 purely llominal." , "What do you call purdy nominalP" , "\'\'cll, you haw to be ill the offic.e, or at least in the building, the

whole time. Uyau leave, youlilri!:!it your whole position li,r ever. The will is very dear upon that point. You don't comply with the conditions if you budge II'om the oHicc during that time."

'''It's only lotlr hours a clay, and I ~botlld not think of I(~avitlg," said I.

'''No excuse will avail," said Mr Duncan Ross) "neitht:r sickness, nor busineHs j HOI' anythillg else. There you musllllay, or you lose your billet. "

'''And the worki'" '''Is to copy out the RTI~JJdlJ/JIJ(lia Bl'ilntlnir.a.l~ There is the linn

volume of it in that preH~. You musl nnc! youI' own ink, pens, ami blotling-paper, but w,~ provide tbis tabl<! and chair. Will you be ready tomol'rowil "

'''Certuinly,'' 1 amwered. '''Then good-bye, MrJabt:;.: Wilson, and i(!t me r:utl,h'Tatulate you

once llIor(~ on the important posilion which you have heen [brl,Unale enough to gain." He bowed me OUl of the mom, and I Wl:Ilt home with my assistant, hardly knowing what to say 01' do, I was so pleased at my own good forLlme.

'Well, I thought over the maHer all day, and by (~vcning I was in low spit'itH again; {hI' J had quil(~ pcrsu(lcbl mysclfthat the whol(~ affitil'

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

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 a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the Encyclopedia Britannica. Vincent Spaulding did what he could to cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a quill pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for Pope's Court.

'Well, to my surprise and delight everything was as right as possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr Duncan Ross was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he bade me good day, complimented me upon the amount that I had written, and locked the door of the office after me.

'This went on day after day, Mr Holmes, and on Saturday the manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I left at two. By degrees Mr Duncan Ross took to coming in only once ofa 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 1would not risk the loss of it.

'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 Us before very long. '4 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.'

'To an end?' 'Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as

usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself.'

54

Sherll rueful fa over-top roar of!:

'I ear flushing better th

'No, I he had 1 most ref

\ so, some I

when yo

\ 'Iwa the offie it. Finall ground: the Red body. T thenam

'''WI '''Wi '''Ye

'''01 and wa: premise

'''W '''0·

Edwarc 'I st:

manuf~

ofeith(

'nl/\ lUm-HEADED LEAGUE

He held up a piece of white cardboard, about the size ofa sheet of note-paper, It read in this fashion:

'l'lm RED-IIRADIm LEAmm IS DISSOLVED

OCT. g, 18!J015

Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt annonncement and the ruefitllhce behind it, until the comical side of the affair so completely over-topped every other consideration that we both burst out into a roar oflaughter,

'I cannot sec that there is anything very lunny,' cried our client, Hushing up to the roots of his flaming head. 'If you can do nothing beller than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere.'

'No, no,' cried Holmes, shoving him back into the dmir from which he had half risen. '1 really wouldn't miss your case tor tile wodel. IL is most reli'eshingly unusual. But therG is, if you will excuse me saying so, sornethingjust it little (tinny aboUL it. Pray what steps did YOll take when you found the card upon the door?'

'I WllS staggered, sir, 1 did not know what to do, 'l'hcll I called at the onkes round, but none or them seemed lo know anything about it. Finally, r went to the landlord, who is an accountant living on the 1-,'1'(mnd Hom', and I asked him il'he could lell me what had b(~c()mc of the Red-Headed League. He said that h(~ had llevel'I1(~al'd neany sHeh body. Then I asked him who Mr Duncan Ros.~ W<IS. He answered that the name wail new to him.

"'Well," said I, "the gentl(~man at No. 4,."w '''What, the red-h(~a(k:d man?" '''Y~:N,''

, "Oh," said he, "his name was William MOl'riS. 17 He was a solicitor, and wa~ using my room as a tempomry cOllvenience until his new pl'emis($ were l'l:ady. He mov(!d oul y(1st(~I'day."

\"WIwf(~ could I lind him;)"

"'Oh, at his new oflices. He did teU me the addr<:ss. Yes, 17 King Edward i'itrc:et, III twar ~t Paul's."

'I starwc! oIl: Mr Hoitm:s, but when I ge>l lo that address it wa!l a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, llllclilo one in it had ever heard o1'eitIH:r Mr William Morris, or Mr Duncan RORS.'

55

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

'And what did you do then?' asked Holmes. '1 went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice ofmy

assistant. But he could not help me in any way.19 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 [0 poor folk who were in need of it, I came right away to you.'

'And you did very wisely, ' said Holmes. 'Your case .is an exceedingly remarkable one, and 1shall be happy to look into it. From what you have told me 1 think that it is possible that graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear.'

'Grave enough!' said Mr Jabez Wilson. 'Why, I have lost four pounds a week.'

'As far as you are personally concerned,' remarked Holmes, 'I do not sec that you have any grievance against thls extraordinary league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some thirty pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have gained on every subject which comes under the letter A.20 You have lost nothing by them.'

'No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, and what their object was in playing thls prank - if it was a prank upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it cost them two-and-thirty pounds.'

'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?'

'About a month then.' 'How did he come?' 'In answer to an advertisement.' 'Was he the only applicant?' 'No, I had a dozen.' '\,\'hy did you pick him?' 'Because he was handy, and would come cheap.' 'At half-wages, in fact.' 'Yes.'

'What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?' 'Small, stollt-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face,

though Iw's not short of thirty, Has a white Nplash of acid upon his j()f{~head.'

I-Iobnes sat up in his chait' in considerable exciLl!rnenl. '1 thought as much,' said he. 'I-lave you ever observed that hi~ ears

arc pierced f()I' ear-rings?' 'Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it fbr him when he was

a lad.' 'I-hun!' said Holmes, sinking bad: in decp thought. 'He is still with

you:» "Oll, yes, sir; I have only just lefl him.' 'And has your hllSiJl(~ss been attc~nded to ill your absence:)' 'Nothing to complain (11~ sil', 'rht~I't!'s never vcry much to do of a

morning.' 'That will do, Ml' Wilsoll. I shall be happy to giw you all opinion

upon the sul~it~ct in lh(" course or it day or two. Today is Saturday, and I hope that by Monday WI' may (:ome to a c()udu:-;ioll.'

'Well, Watson,' saki Holmes, when our vi~ilor had lell us, 'what do you makt· of it all!"

'1 make n(Jthing of it,' I answercd, Irankly. '] lis a mo~l mysterious business. '

'As a ruk,' said H()lrn{'~, 'the mort: bizarre a thiug is the l('~s mysterious it proV(!S to be. It is yom e()l1lm(mplac(~, t!~alurdess crimes which art really puzzling, jWH a~ a COllllllOtlplace ItlC(' is the most dillicullto identify. Butl musllH' prompt OWl' thiN maller.'

'What an~ you I{oing' to do, tl1('II':)' I n~ked, 'To smoke; he answered. 'It is qUitl~ a lhn·~~·pipc problc!rn, and I

lwg llUlt you wOIl't sl)('ak to IIlt~ fhl' Iiny lllillUh~s.' Ht, t'tll'kd himsdr up in his chait., with his thin klH~(~S drawn up to his hawk-lik(~ nose, and there he sal with his cyt'N dmwd alld his bltl,~k day pipe~ thrusting out like tht~ hill of s()lnt~ stnmg't! bit'ci. I had COt1lt! t(l the conclusion thal he had dropped Hi\lt~ep, <UHi iudt'eel w<l!llloddillg mysd(~ when he suddenly sprang out or his chai!' with the g(!sturc! or a man who had made up his mind, and put his pipe down upon tht~ nmntelpiece.

'Sara:;aW21 plays (it tbt~ St Jmnt~s's Ha1l22 this aH:cl'lloon,' he

57

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

remarked. 'What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare you for a few hours?'

'I have nothing to do today. My practice is never very absorbing.' 'Then put on your hat, and come. I am going through the City

first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that there is a good deal ofGerman music on the programme which is rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is lntrospective, and I want to introspect. Come along!'

We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate;23 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-storeyed 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 balls24 and a brown board withJABEz 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 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, dean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step in.

'Thank you; said Holmes, '1 only wished to ask you how you would go from here to the Strand.'25

'Third right, fourth left,'26 answered the assistant promptly, closing the door.

'Smart fellow, that,' observed Holmes as we walked away. 'He is, in my judgement, the fonrth smartest man in London, and for daring I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third, 1 have known something ofhim before.'

'Evidently,' said I, 'Mr Wilson's assistant counts for a good deal in this mystery of the Red-Headed League. I am sure that you inquired your way merely in order that you might see him.'

THE RIW-lmADEn J.EAGtm

'Not him: 'What then!>' 'The knees of his trousers.' 'And what did you sec?' 'What I expected to see.' 'Why did you beat the pavement?' 'My dear Doctor, this is a tune for observation, not for talk. We

arc spies in an enemy's COtllltly. We know something ofSaxe-Coburg Square. Let LIS now explore the paths which lie behind it.'

The road in which we I<mnd ourseIves27 as we turned round the comer from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a contJ'aRt to it as the front of' a picture docs to the back. It was one of the main arteries which convey the traffic of the City to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense stream ofcommerce flowing in a double tide inwardg and outwards, while the footpaths were black with the hll1'lying swarm ofpedestrians. It was difficult to realize as w(~ looked at the line of line shops and stately business premises that they n:ally abutted Oil the other side upon the faded and stagnant square which we had just quitted.

'Let me sec,' said I-lohnes, standing at the corner, and glancing' along the line, '[ should like just to remember the order of the houses 11<:r<:. It is a hobby orrnine to have an exact knowledge of Lond()n.~11 'J'hcl'e is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little newspaper shop, the Cohurg branch or tlw City and Suburban Bank,~9 the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's earriagc-building depot. That cfluies us right Oil to the other block. And now, Doctor, we've done our work, so it's lime w(: had some: play. A SfUldwich and a cup ofcoffee, and then alfto violin land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no red~lwadcd clients to vex tiS with their conundrums.'

My friend was an enthusiastic musieian being himself not only a very GlpaGle perf()fIm~l', but a composer o('no ordinary merit. All the allc!'llooll he sal in tlw stalls wrappt~d in the most perfect happiness, gently waving his long thin fiugel's in time Lo the music, while his gently smiling f~let: and his lanl,>uid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those o!'Uolmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was possible to conceive. In his

59

THE ADVENTURES o~' SHERLOCK HOLMES

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 hini 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.so Then it was that the lust ofthe chase would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning power would rise to the level ofintuition, unlil those who were unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a man whose knowledge was not that ofother mortals. When I saw him that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at Stjames's Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set himself to hunt down.

'You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor,' he remarked, as we emerged.

'Yes, it would be as wel!.' 'And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This

business at Coburg Square is serious.' 'Why serious?'

'A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But today being Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help tonight.'

'At what time?' 'Ten will be early enough. ' 'I shall be at Baker Street at ten.' 'Very well. And I say, Doctor! there may be some little danger, so

kindly put your army revolver in your pocket.' He waved his hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the crowd.

I trust that 1 am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was always oppressed with a sense ofmy own stupidity in my dealings with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, 1 had seen what he had seen, and yet from hiB 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 Kensington31 I thought over it all, from

60

the extra( down toti which he1 whyshou

do? I had assistant \ I tried to aside unti

ltwas

way aero Two han: 1heard tl Holmes.

recogniz! was aIon respectal

'Hal [

jacket32 2 thinkym MrMen

'We'r conseqw chase. A

'I hal observe(

'You the poli( he won' but he h that one Agra tr, force.'

'Oh, deferen night fc

'Ith

extraordinary story 0(' the red-headed GOpier of the Ellcyc/ojledia ~h~:o to the visit to Saxe-Coburg Square, and the ominous words with 0, e h he had parted (hun me, What was this nocturnal expedition, and

vv~~ .should I go armed? Where were we going, and what were we to ; ? r had the hilll /i'om I-Iolrnes that this smooLh-Gteed pawnbroker's

0"5tant was a f())'midabl(~ man a mall who might playa deep game. ass! I' L .• 1 . II . ied to puzz e It out, lllt gave It tip m ( t~I\PaIr, am set the matter ~~e until night should bring an exp.lanation.

a.Sl. :[t was a quarl(~r past lline when I started {i'OIll home and made my vva.)'" fteross the Park, <tll(~ so through Oxlhl'd Street to Bakel' fill'eel. TWO hansoms were stamhng at the (1001', and, as [ ellte('(~c1 the passage, I h,c~rd lhe smllld o("voices /i'on! abow. On t'llwriug his mom, I Jonnd Holrncs in animated ('otlversaLiol1 wilh two mel!, one of' whom 1 recogni7.ed as Pett:!' Jones, the oIIidal poliec agent; while the other vva5 ~\ long, thin, sad"lheed man, with a wry shiny hat and ()ppl'(~ssively respectable [h){'k-cOHt.

'rIa! our party is complete,' said Holmes, buttoning up hi:; pea­ jacket:i2 and taking his h(~avy hUllting-crop from the rack. 'Watson, I think you know Mr.Jollr'lI, of&:otJand Yard';) L<'t IIW illtroduce you to Mr Merryweather, who is to 1w nul' companion in (might's ac!v<mtun::

'We'r<~ htlnting ill couple:; agaill, Doctor! you see; saidJoll(:S ill his consequential way. 'Our fi'it:nd here is a woudedhlrnallliJl' starting a ch.ase. AlllH' wants i~ all old dO,1{ to hdp him to do tiw ruulIing dowll,'

"I hope a wild goose may noL proV(' to lw the' end or Otll' ehas!',' observt·d M.l' lVlenyw(!allwl' gloomily.

'You may pIllet' cnll!ljdl~rabl(' con Ikl('lice ill Mr Holmes, sh,,' said the police agent InlUly. 'He has his own Jiull' lllNhods, whit'll nrt\ if h.e won't mind Illy saying ~O, just a little tno tlworetkalulld Jitntastic, bu.t 1l(~ has the makillg~ ora del(,flive in him, It is not too 111l1ch to gay that onnl or lwke, us in that busillt~s!i 0(' t1w Sholto murdL~r and the Agra tn:a811re/!~ he has Iwen tI'lm'c nearly (:Ol'l'ect than tht~ Ol1id'll loree.'

~Oh. i['y()u ~ay so., MrJ()m~R, it ill all right!' ~aid the stranger, wilh def'erem~e, 'Still, T c()nl~!I~ that I mi5~ my ruhber.:I'llt is th{~ Erst Saturday night fi:w scven-and-lhirly years tlull I have not had rny l1lbber.'

'I think you will find.' said Sherlock Holmes, 'that you will play for

til

• I THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

a higher stake tonight than you have ever done yet, and that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr Merryweather, the stake will be some thirty thousand pounds; and for you, Jones, it will be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands.'

John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a young man, Mr Merryweather, 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 youngJohn 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 himsel£ 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.'

'I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you tonight. I've had one or two little turns also with MrJohn Clay, and I agree with you that he is at the head ofb-is profession. It is past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the second.'

Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive, and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit streets until we emerged into Farringdon Street.35

'We are close there now,' my friend remarked. 'This fellow Mer­ ryweather 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 hi~ claws upon anyone. Here we are, and they are waiting for us.'

We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, following the guidance ofMr 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

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE

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.

'You are not very vulnerable from above,' Holmes remarked, as he held up the lantern and gazed about him.

'Nor from below,' said Mr Merryweather, striking his stick upon the flags which lined the floor. 'Why, dear me, it sounds quite hollow!' he remarked, looking up in surprise.

'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?'

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.

'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. Weare at present, Doctor - as no doubt you have divined in the cellar of the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr NIerryweather is the chainnan ofdirectors, 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.'

'It is our French gold,'36 whispered the director. 'We have 'had several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it.'

'Your French gold?' 'Yes. "We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our

resources, and borrowed, for thatpurpose, thirty thousand napoleonsa1

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 two thousand napoleons

..,

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

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.'

'Which were very well justified,' observed Holmes. 'And now it is time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that v.rithin an hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime, Mr Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern.'

'And sit in the dark?' 'I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and I

thought that, as we were a partie carree,38 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 ofa light. And, first ofall, 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 yourself behind those. Then, when 1 flash a light upon them; close in swiftly. If they fIre, Watson, have no compunction about shooting them down.'

1 placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front ofhis 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 ofthe vault.

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?'

'I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door.' 'Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent

and wait.'

What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must have almost gone, and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position, yet my nerves were worked up to the highest pitch oftension, and my hearing was so acute

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE

that I could not only hear the gentle breathing ofmy companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, heavier in-breath of thc 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.

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 arca of light. For a minute or more the hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out or 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 belween the stoncs.

Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, tearing sound, one ofthe 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 itselfshoulder 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 ofvery red hair.

'It'~ all clear,' he whispered. 'Have you the chisel and the bags'? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!'!!!)

Sh(~rlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intrllc\(:r by the coliar. The other dived down the hole, ane! I heard the sound of relldirlg doth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light Hashed upon the bl:UTel of a revolver, but Holmes's hunting-crop came down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone floor.

'It's no use,John Clay,' said I-Iohnes blandly; 'you have no chance at all.'

'So I see,' the other answered with the utmost coolness. 'I fancy that my pal is all right~ though I see you have got his coat-tails.'

'There an: three men waiting for him at the door,' said Holmes. 'Oh, indeed. You seem to have done the thing very completely. I

must compliment you.'

65

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

'And r you,' Holmes answered. 'Your red-headed idea was very new and effective.'

'You'll see your pal again presently,' said]ones. 'He's quicker at climbing down holes than ram.]ust hold out while r fix the derbies.'411

'r 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".'

'All right,' said]ones, 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.'

'That Is better,' saidJohn Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow to the three ofus, and walked quietly offin the custody of the detective.

'Really, Mr Holmes,' said Mr Merryweather, as we followed them from the cellar, '1 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.'

'I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr John Clay,' said Holmes. '1 have been at some small expense over this matter, which 1 shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of the Red­ Headed League.'

'You see, Watson,' he explained in the early hours of the morning, as we sat over a glass ofwhisky-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 ofthe League, and the copying of the Engclopedia, must be to 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 four pounds 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 tempor­

66

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE

ea Was Very ary 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

l quicker~ the time that I heard of the assistant having come for half-wages, it ederbies.'~ was obvious to me that he had some strong motive for securing the ,'remarked . situation.')u may no!

'But how could you guess what the motive was?' )dness also 'Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a

mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The wouJdyou man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his housearryYOU1 which could account for such elaborate preparations and such an expenditure as they were at. It must then be something out of the

:Pingbow house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's fondness for

detective. photography, and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar!

wedtbem There was the end of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries a~ to

. or repay this mysterious assistant, and found that I had to deal with one of the

cd in the coolest and most daring criminals in London. He was doing something

s at bank 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

with Mr he was running a tunnel-l! to some other building.

overl:Jili 'So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I

bat I am surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was

ny ways ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. It was

Ie Red- 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 on each other before. I hardly looked at his face, His knees were what

ling, as I wished to see. You must yourself have remarked how worn, wrinkled ~rfectly and stained they were. They spoke of those hours of burrowing. The rather only remaining point was what they were burrowing for. I walked

opying round the corner, saw the City and Suburban Bank abutted on our ,erout friend's premises, and felt that I had solved my problem. When you N'ayof drove home after the concert I called upon Scotland Yard, and upon :. The the chairman ofthe bank directors, with the result that you have seen.' ly the 'And how could you tell that they would make their attempt a lure tonight?' I asked. 19for 'Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that npor­ they cared no longer about Mr Jabez Wilson's presence; in other

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOOK HOLMgS

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 tonight.'

'You reasoned it out beautifully,' I exclaimed in unfeigned admira­ tion. 'It is so long a chain, and yet evelY link rings true. '

'It saved me from ennui,'42 he answered, yawning. 'Alas, I already feel it dosing in upon me! My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little problems help me to do so.'

'And you are a benefactor of the race,' said I. He shrugged his shoulders. 'Well, perhaps, after all, it is of some

little use,' he remarked. '''L'llOmme c'est rien - l'wuvre c'est tout,"'18 as Gustave F1aubert wrote to George Sand.'

68