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-Silver Blaze
-
-
-I am afraid, Watson, that I shall have to go,” said Holmes, as we
-sat down together to our breakfast one morning.
-
-“Go! Where to?”
-
-“To Dartmoor; to King’s Pyland.”
-
-I was not surprised. Indeed, my only wonder was that he had not
-already been mixed up in this extraordinary case, which was the
-one topic of conversation through the length and breadth of
-England. For a whole day my companion had rambled about the room
-with his chin upon his chest and his brows knitted, charging and
-recharging his pipe with the strongest black tobacco, and
-absolutely deaf to any of my questions or remarks. Fresh editions
-of every paper had been sent up by our news agent, only to be
-glanced over and tossed down into a corner. Yet, silent as he
-was, I knew perfectly well what it was over which he was
-brooding. There was but one problem before the public which could
-challenge his powers of analysis, and that was the singular
-disappearance of the favourite for the Wessex Cup, and the tragic
-murder of its trainer. When, therefore, he suddenly announced his
-intention of setting out for the scene of the drama it was only
-what I had both expected and hoped for.
-
-“I should be most happy to go down with you if I should not be in
-the way,” said I.
-
-“My dear Watson, you would confer a great favour upon me by
-coming. And I think that your time will not be misspent, for
-there are points about the case which promise to make it an
-absolutely unique one. We have, I think, just time to catch our
-train at Paddington, and I will go further into the matter upon
-our journey. You would oblige me by bringing with you your very
-excellent field-glass.”
-
-And so it happened that an hour or so later I found myself in the
-corner of a first-class carriage flying along en route for
-Exeter, while Sherlock Holmes, with his sharp, eager face framed
-in his ear-flapped travelling-cap, dipped rapidly into the bundle
-of fresh papers which he had procured at Paddington. We had left
-Reading far behind us before he thrust the last one of them under
-the seat, and offered me his cigar-case.
-
-“We are going well,” said he, looking out the window and glancing
-at his watch. “Our rate at present is fifty-three and a half
-miles an hour.”
-
-“I have not observed the quarter-mile posts,” said I.
-
-“Nor have I. But the telegraph posts upon this line are sixty
-yards apart, and the calculation is a simple one. I presume that
-you have looked into this matter of the murder of John Straker
-and the disappearance of Silver Blaze?”
-
-“I have seen what the _Telegraph_ and the _Chronicle_ have to
-say.”
-
-“It is one of those cases where the art of the reasoner should be
-used rather for the sifting of details than for the acquiring of
-fresh evidence. The tragedy has been so uncommon, so complete and
-of such personal importance to so many people, that we are
-suffering from a plethora of surmise, conjecture, and hypothesis.
-The difficulty is to detach the framework of fact—of absolute
-undeniable fact—from the embellishments of theorists and
-reporters. Then, having established ourselves upon this sound
-basis, it is our duty to see what inferences may be drawn and
-what are the special points upon which the whole mystery turns.
-On Tuesday evening I received telegrams from both Colonel Ross,
-the owner of the horse, and from Inspector Gregory, who is
-looking after the case, inviting my co-operation.”
-
-“Tuesday evening!” I exclaimed. “And this is Thursday morning.
-Why didn’t you go down yesterday?”
-
-“Because I made a blunder, my dear Watson—which is, I am afraid,
-a more common occurrence than any one would think who only knew
-me through your memoirs. The fact is that I could not believe it
-possible that the most remarkable horse in England could long
-remain concealed, especially in so sparsely inhabited a place as
-the north of Dartmoor. From hour to hour yesterday I expected to
-hear that he had been found, and that his abductor was the
-murderer of John Straker. When, however, another morning had
-come, and I found that beyond the arrest of young Fitzroy Simpson
-nothing had been done, I felt that it was time for me to take
-action. Yet in some ways I feel that yesterday has not been
-wasted.”
-
-“You have formed a theory, then?”
-
-“At least I have got a grip of the essential facts of the case. I
-shall enumerate them to you, for nothing clears up a case so much
-as stating it to another person, and I can hardly expect your
-co-operation if I do not show you the position from which we
-start.”
-
-I lay back against the cushions, puffing at my cigar, while
-Holmes, leaning forward, with his long, thin forefinger checking
-off the points upon the palm of his left hand, gave me a sketch
-of the events which had led to our journey.
-
-“Silver Blaze,” said he, “is from the Isonomy stock, and holds as
-brilliant a record as his famous ancestor. He is now in his fifth
-year, and has brought in turn each of the prizes of the turf to
-Colonel Ross, his fortunate owner. Up to the time of the
-catastrophe he was the first favourite for the Wessex Cup, the
-betting being three to one on him. He has always, however, been a
-prime favourite with the racing public, and has never yet
-disappointed them, so that even at those odds enormous sums of
-money have been laid upon him. It is obvious, therefore, that
-there were many people who had the strongest interest in
-preventing Silver Blaze from being there at the fall of the flag
-next Tuesday.
-
-“The fact was, of course, appreciated at King’s Pyland, where the
-Colonel’s training-stable is situated. Every precaution was taken
-to guard the favourite. The trainer, John Straker, is a retired
-jockey who rode in Colonel Ross’s colours before he became too
-heavy for the weighing-chair. He has served the Colonel for five
-years as jockey and for seven as trainer, and has always shown
-himself to be a zealous and honest servant. Under him were three
-lads; for the establishment was a small one, containing only four
-horses in all. One of these lads sat up each night in the stable,
-while the others slept in the loft. All three bore excellent
-characters. John Straker, who is a married man, lived in a small
-villa about two hundred yards from the stables. He has no
-children, keeps one maid-servant, and is comfortably off. The
-country round is very lonely, but about half a mile to the north
-there is a small cluster of villas which have been built by a
-Tavistock contractor for the use of invalids and others who may
-wish to enjoy the pure Dartmoor air. Tavistock itself lies two
-miles to the west, while across the moor, also about two miles
-distant, is the larger training establishment of Mapleton, which
-belongs to Lord Backwater, and is managed by Silas Brown. In
-every other direction the moor is a complete wilderness,
-inhabited only by a few roaming gypsies. Such was the general
-situation last Monday night when the catastrophe occurred.
-
-“On that evening the horses had been exercised and watered as
-usual, and the stables were locked up at nine o’clock. Two of the
-lads walked up to the trainer’s house, where they had supper in
-the kitchen, while the third, Ned Hunter, remained on guard. At a
-few minutes after nine the maid, Edith Baxter, carried down to
-the stables his supper, which consisted of a dish of curried
-mutton. She took no liquid, as there was a water-tap in the
-stables, and it was the rule that the lad on duty should drink
-nothing else. The maid carried a lantern with her, as it was very
-dark and the path ran across the open moor.
-
-“Edith Baxter was within thirty yards of the stables, when a man
-appeared out of the darkness and called to her to stop. As he
-stepped into the circle of yellow light thrown by the lantern she
-saw that he was a person of gentlemanly bearing, dressed in a
-grey suit of tweeds, with a cloth cap. He wore gaiters, and
-carried a heavy stick with a knob to it. She was most impressed,
-however, by the extreme pallor of his face and by the nervousness
-of his manner. His age, she thought, would be rather over thirty
-than under it.
-
-“‘Can you tell me where I am?’ he asked. ‘I had almost made up my
-mind to sleep on the moor, when I saw the light of your lantern.’
-
-“‘You are close to the King’s Pyland training-stables,’ said she.
-
-“‘Oh, indeed! What a stroke of luck!’ he cried. ‘I understand
-that a stable-boy sleeps there alone every night. Perhaps that is
-his supper which you are carrying to him. Now I am sure that you
-would not be too proud to earn the price of a new dress, would
-you?’ He took a piece of white paper folded up out of his
-waistcoat pocket. ‘See that the boy has this to-night, and you
-shall have the prettiest frock that money can buy.’
-
-“She was frightened by the earnestness of his manner, and ran
-past him to the window through which she was accustomed to hand
-the meals. It was already opened, and Hunter was seated at the
-small table inside. She had begun to tell him of what had
-happened, when the stranger came up again.
-
-“‘Good-evening,’ said he, looking through the window. ‘I wanted
-to have a word with you.’ The girl has sworn that as he spoke she
-noticed the corner of the little paper packet protruding from his
-closed hand.
-
-“‘What business have you here?’ asked the lad.
-
-“‘It’s business that may put something into your pocket,’ said
-the other. ‘You’ve two horses in for the Wessex Cup—Silver Blaze
-and Bayard. Let me have the straight tip and you won’t be a
-loser. Is it a fact that at the weights Bayard could give the
-other a hundred yards in five furlongs, and that the stable have
-put their money on him?’
-
-“‘So, you’re one of those damned touts!’ cried the lad. ‘I’ll
-show you how we serve them in King’s Pyland.’ He sprang up and
-rushed across the stable to unloose the dog. The girl fled away
-to the house, but as she ran she looked back and saw that the
-stranger was leaning through the window. A minute later, however,
-when Hunter rushed out with the hound he was gone, and though he
-ran all round the buildings he failed to find any trace of him.”
-
-“One moment,” I asked. “Did the stable-boy, when he ran out with
-the dog, leave the door unlocked behind him?”
-
-“Excellent, Watson, excellent!” murmured my companion. “The
-importance of the point struck me so forcibly that I sent a
-special wire to Dartmoor yesterday to clear the matter up. The
-boy locked the door before he left it. The window, I may add, was
-not large enough for a man to get through.
-
-“Hunter waited until his fellow-grooms had returned, when he sent
-a message to the trainer and told him what had occurred. Straker
-was excited at hearing the account, although he does not seem to
-have quite realized its true significance. It left him, however,
-vaguely uneasy, and Mrs. Straker, waking at one in the morning,
-found that he was dressing. In reply to her inquiries, he said
-that he could not sleep on account of his anxiety about the
-horses, and that he intended to walk down to the stables to see
-that all was well. She begged him to remain at home, as she could
-hear the rain pattering against the window, but in spite of her
-entreaties he pulled on his large mackintosh and left the house.
-
-“Mrs. Straker awoke at seven in the morning, to find that her
-husband had not yet returned. She dressed herself hastily, called
-the maid, and set off for the stables. The door was open; inside,
-huddled together upon a chair, Hunter was sunk in a state of
-absolute stupor, the favourite’s stall was empty, and there were
-no signs of his trainer.
-
-“The two lads who slept in the chaff-cutting loft above the
-harness-room were quickly aroused. They had heard nothing during
-the night, for they are both sound sleepers. Hunter was obviously
-under the influence of some powerful drug, and as no sense could
-be got out of him, he was left to sleep it off while the two lads
-and the two women ran out in search of the absentees. They still
-had hopes that the trainer had for some reason taken out the
-horse for early exercise, but on ascending the knoll near the
-house, from which all the neighbouring moors were visible, they
-not only could see no signs of the missing favourite, but they
-perceived something which warned them that they were in the
-presence of a tragedy.
-
-“About a quarter of a mile from the stables John Straker’s
-overcoat was flapping from a furze-bush. Immediately beyond there
-was a bowl-shaped depression in the moor, and at the bottom of
-this was found the dead body of the unfortunate trainer. His head
-had been shattered by a savage blow from some heavy weapon, and
-he was wounded on the thigh, where there was a long, clean cut,
-inflicted evidently by some very sharp instrument. It was clear,
-however, that Straker had defended himself vigorously against his
-assailants, for in his right hand he held a small knife, which
-was clotted with blood up to the handle, while in his left he
-clasped a red and black silk cravat, which was recognised by the
-maid as having been worn on the preceding evening by the stranger
-who had visited the stables.
-
-“Hunter, on recovering from his stupor, was also quite positive
-as to the ownership of the cravat. He was equally certain that
-the same stranger had, while standing at the window, drugged his
-curried mutton, and so deprived the stables of their watchman.
-
-“As to the missing horse, there were abundant proofs in the mud
-which lay at the bottom of the fatal hollow that he had been
-there at the time of the struggle. But from that morning he has
-disappeared, and although a large reward has been offered, and
-all the gypsies of Dartmoor are on the alert, no news has come of
-him. Finally, an analysis has shown that the remains of his
-supper left by the stable-lad contain an appreciable quantity of
-powdered opium, while the people at the house partook of the same
-dish on the same night without any ill effect.
-
-“Those are the main facts of the case, stripped of all surmise,
-and stated as baldly as possible. I shall now recapitulate what
-the police have done in the matter.
-
-“Inspector Gregory, to whom the case has been committed, is an
-extremely competent officer. Were he but gifted with imagination
-he might rise to great heights in his profession. On his arrival
-he promptly found and arrested the man upon whom suspicion
-naturally rested. There was little difficulty in finding him, for
-he inhabited one of those villas which I have mentioned. His
-name, it appears, was Fitzroy Simpson. He was a man of excellent
-birth and education, who had squandered a fortune upon the turf,
-and who lived now by doing a little quiet and genteel book-making
-in the sporting clubs of London. An examination of his
-betting-book shows that bets to the amount of five thousand
-pounds had been registered by him against the favourite.
-
-“On being arrested he volunteered the statement that he had come
-down to Dartmoor in the hope of getting some information about
-the King’s Pyland horses, and also about Desborough, the second
-favourite, which was in charge of Silas Brown at the Mapleton
-stables. He did not attempt to deny that he had acted as
-described upon the evening before, but declared that he had no
-sinister designs, and had simply wished to obtain first-hand
-information. When confronted with his cravat, he turned very
-pale, and was utterly unable to account for its presence in the
-hand of the murdered man. His wet clothing showed that he had
-been out in the storm of the night before, and his stick, which
-was a Penang-lawyer weighted with lead, was just such a weapon as
-might, by repeated blows, have inflicted the terrible injuries to
-which the trainer had succumbed.
-
-“On the other hand, there was no wound upon his person, while the
-state of Straker’s knife would show that one at least of his
-assailants must bear his mark upon him. There you have it all in
-a nutshell, Watson, and if you can give me any light I shall be
-infinitely obliged to you.”
-
-I had listened with the greatest interest to the statement which
-Holmes, with characteristic clearness, had laid before me. Though
-most of the facts were familiar to me, I had not sufficiently
-appreciated their relative importance, nor their connection to
-each other.
-
-“Is it not possible,” I suggested, “that the incised wound upon
-Straker may have been caused by his own knife in the convulsive
-struggles which follow any brain injury?”
-
-“It is more than possible; it is probable,” said Holmes. “In that
-case one of the main points in favour of the accused disappears.”
-
-“And yet,” said I, “even now I fail to understand what the theory
-of the police can be.”
-
-“I am afraid that whatever theory we state has very grave
-objections to it,” returned my companion. “The police imagine, I
-take it, that this Fitzroy Simpson, having drugged the lad, and
-having in some way obtained a duplicate key, opened the stable
-door and took out the horse, with the intention, apparently, of
-kidnapping him altogether. His bridle is missing, so that Simpson
-must have put this on. Then, having left the door open behind
-him, he was leading the horse away over the moor, when he was
-either met or overtaken by the trainer. A row naturally ensued.
-Simpson beat out the trainer’s brains with his heavy stick
-without receiving any injury from the small knife which Straker
-used in self-defence, and then the thief either led the horse on
-to some secret hiding-place, or else it may have bolted during
-the struggle, and be now wandering out on the moors. That is the
-case as it appears to the police, and improbable as it is, all
-other explanations are more improbable still. However, I shall
-very quickly test the matter when I am once upon the spot, and
-until then I cannot really see how we can get much further than
-our present position.”
-
-It was evening before we reached the little town of Tavistock,
-which lies, like the boss of a shield, in the middle of the huge
-circle of Dartmoor. Two gentlemen were awaiting us in the
-station—the one a tall, fair man with lion-like hair and beard
-and curiously penetrating light blue eyes; the other a small,
-alert person, very neat and dapper, in a frock-coat and gaiters,
-with trim little side-whiskers and an eye-glass. The latter was
-Colonel Ross, the well-known sportsman; the other, Inspector
-Gregory, a man who was rapidly making his name in the English
-detective service.
-
-“I am delighted that you have come down, Mr. Holmes,” said the
-Colonel. “The Inspector here has done all that could possibly be
-suggested, but I wish to leave no stone unturned in trying to
-avenge poor Straker and in recovering my horse.”
-
-“Have there been any fresh developments?” asked Holmes.
-
-“I am sorry to say that we have made very little progress,” said
-the Inspector. “We have an open carriage outside, and as you
-would no doubt like to see the place before the light fails, we
-might talk it over as we drive.”
-
-A minute later we were all seated in a comfortable landau, and
-were rattling through the quaint old Devonshire city. Inspector
-Gregory was full of his case, and poured out a stream of remarks,
-while Holmes threw in an occasional question or interjection.
-Colonel Ross leaned back with his arms folded and his hat tilted
-over his eyes, while I listened with interest to the dialogue of
-the two detectives. Gregory was formulating his theory, which was
-almost exactly what Holmes had foretold in the train.
-
-“The net is drawn pretty close round Fitzroy Simpson,” he
-remarked, “and I believe myself that he is our man. At the same
-time I recognise that the evidence is purely circumstantial, and
-that some new development may upset it.”
-
-“How about Straker’s knife?”
-
-“We have quite come to the conclusion that he wounded himself in
-his fall.”
-
-“My friend Dr. Watson made that suggestion to me as we came down.
-If so, it would tell against this man Simpson.”
-
-“Undoubtedly. He has neither a knife nor any sign of a wound. The
-evidence against him is certainly very strong. He had a great
-interest in the disappearance of the favourite. He lies under
-suspicion of having poisoned the stable-boy, he was undoubtedly
-out in the storm, he was armed with a heavy stick, and his cravat
-was found in the dead man’s hand. I really think we have enough
-to go before a jury.”
-
-Holmes shook his head. “A clever counsel would tear it all to
-rags,” said he. “Why should he take the horse out of the stable?
-If he wished to injure it why could he not do it there? Has a
-duplicate key been found in his possession? What chemist sold him
-the powdered opium? Above all, where could he, a stranger to the
-district, hide a horse, and such a horse as this? What is his own
-explanation as to the paper which he wished the maid to give to
-the stable-boy?”
-
-“He says that it was a ten-pound note. One was found in his
-purse. But your other difficulties are not so formidable as they
-seem. He is not a stranger to the district. He has twice lodged
-at Tavistock in the summer. The opium was probably brought from
-London. The key, having served its purpose, would be hurled away.
-The horse may be at the bottom of one of the pits or old mines
-upon the moor.”
-
-“What does he say about the cravat?”
-
-“He acknowledges that it is his, and declares that he had lost
-it. But a new element has been introduced into the case which may
-account for his leading the horse from the stable.”
-
-Holmes pricked up his ears.
-
-“We have found traces which show that a party of gypsies encamped
-on Monday night within a mile of the spot where the murder took
-place. On Tuesday they were gone. Now, presuming that there was
-some understanding between Simpson and these gypsies, might he
-not have been leading the horse to them when he was overtaken,
-and may they not have him now?”
-
-“It is certainly possible.”
-
-“The moor is being scoured for these gypsies. I have also
-examined every stable and out-house in Tavistock, and for a
-radius of ten miles.”
-
-“There is another training-stable quite close, I understand?”
-
-“Yes, and that is a factor which we must certainly not neglect.
-As Desborough, their horse, was second in the betting, they had
-an interest in the disappearance of the favourite. Silas Brown,
-the trainer, is known to have had large bets upon the event, and
-he was no friend to poor Straker. We have, however, examined the
-stables, and there is nothing to connect him with the affair.”
-
-“And nothing to connect this man Simpson with the interests of
-the Mapleton stables?”
-
-“Nothing at all.”
-
-Holmes leaned back in the carriage, and the conversation ceased.
-A few minutes later our driver pulled up at a neat little
-red-brick villa with overhanging eaves which stood by the road.
-Some distance off, across a paddock, lay a long grey-tiled
-out-building. In every other direction the low curves of the
-moor, bronze-coloured from the fading ferns, stretched away to
-the sky-line, broken only by the steeples of Tavistock, and by a
-cluster of houses away to the westward which marked the Mapleton
-stables. We all sprang out with the exception of Holmes, who
-continued to lean back with his eyes fixed upon the sky in front
-of him, entirely absorbed in his own thoughts. It was only when I
-touched his arm that he roused himself with a violent start and
-stepped out of the carriage.
-
-“Excuse me,” said he, turning to Colonel Ross, who had looked at
-him in some surprise. “I was day-dreaming.” There was a gleam in
-his eyes and a suppressed excitement in his manner which
-convinced me, used as I was to his ways, that his hand was upon a
-clue, though I could not imagine where he had found it.
-
-“Perhaps you would prefer at once to go on to the scene of the
-crime, Mr. Holmes?” said Gregory.
-
-“I think that I should prefer to stay here a little and go into
-one or two questions of detail. Straker was brought back here, I
-presume?”
-
-“Yes; he lies upstairs. The inquest is to-morrow.”
-
-“He has been in your service some years, Colonel Ross?”
-
-“I have always found him an excellent servant.”
-
-“I presume that you made an inventory of what he had in his
-pockets at the time of his death, Inspector?”
-
-“I have the things themselves in the sitting-room, if you would
-care to see them.”
-
-“I should be very glad.” We all filed into the front room and sat
-round the central table while the Inspector unlocked a square tin
-box and laid a small heap of things before us. There was a box of
-vestas, two inches of tallow candle, an A.D.P. briar-root pipe, a
-pouch of seal-skin with half an ounce of long-cut Cavendish, a
-silver watch with a gold chain, five sovereigns in gold, an
-aluminium pencil-case, a few papers, and an ivory-handled knife
-with a very delicate, inflexible blade marked Weiss & Co.,
-London.
-
-“This is a very singular knife,” said Holmes, lifting it up and
-examining it minutely. “I presume, as I see blood-stains upon it,
-that it is the one which was found in the dead man’s grasp.
-Watson, this knife is surely in your line?”
-
-“It is what we call a cataract knife,” said I.
-
-“I thought so. A very delicate blade devised for very delicate
-work. A strange thing for a man to carry with him upon a rough
-expedition, especially as it would not shut in his pocket.”
-
-“The tip was guarded by a disk of cork which we found beside his
-body,” said the Inspector. “His wife tells us that the knife had
-lain upon the dressing-table, and that he had picked it up as he
-left the room. It was a poor weapon, but perhaps the best that he
-could lay his hands on at the moment.”
-
-“Very possible. How about these papers?”
-
-“Three of them are receipted hay-dealers’ accounts. One of them
-is a letter of instructions from Colonel Ross. This other is a
-milliner’s account for thirty-seven pounds fifteen made out by
-Madame Lesurier, of Bond Street, to William Derbyshire. Mrs.
-Straker tells us that Derbyshire was a friend of her husband’s
-and that occasionally his letters were addressed here.”
-
-“Madam Derbyshire had somewhat expensive tastes,” remarked
-Holmes, glancing down the account. “Twenty-two guineas is rather
-heavy for a single costume. However there appears to be nothing
-more to learn, and we may now go down to the scene of the crime.”
-
-As we emerged from the sitting-room a woman, who had been waiting
-in the passage, took a step forward and laid her hand upon the
-Inspector’s sleeve. Her face was haggard and thin and eager,
-stamped with the print of a recent horror.
-
-“Have you got them? Have you found them?” she panted.
-
-“No, Mrs. Straker. But Mr. Holmes here has come from London to
-help us, and we shall do all that is possible.”
-
-“Surely I met you in Plymouth at a garden-party some little time
-ago, Mrs. Straker?” said Holmes.
-
-“No, sir; you are mistaken.”
-
-“Dear me! Why, I could have sworn to it. You wore a costume of
-dove-coloured silk with ostrich-feather trimming.”
-
-“I never had such a dress, sir,” answered the lady.
-
-“Ah, that quite settles it,” said Holmes. And with an apology he
-followed the Inspector outside. A short walk across the moor took
-us to the hollow in which the body had been found. At the brink
-of it was the furze-bush upon which the coat had been hung.
-
-“There was no wind that night, I understand,” said Holmes.
-
-“None; but very heavy rain.”
-
-“In that case the overcoat was not blown against the furze-bush,
-but placed there.”
-
-“Yes, it was laid across the bush.”
-
-“You fill me with interest, I perceive that the ground has been
-trampled up a good deal. No doubt many feet have been here since
-Monday night.”
-
-“A piece of matting has been laid here at the side, and we have
-all stood upon that.”
-
-“Excellent.”
-
-“In this bag I have one of the boots which Straker wore, one of
-Fitzroy Simpson’s shoes, and a cast horseshoe of Silver Blaze.”
-
-“My dear Inspector, you surpass yourself!” Holmes took the bag,
-and, descending into the hollow, he pushed the matting into a
-more central position. Then stretching himself upon his face and
-leaning his chin upon his hands, he made a careful study of the
-trampled mud in front of him. “Hullo!” said he, suddenly. “What’s
-this?” It was a wax vesta half burned, which was so coated with
-mud that it looked at first like a little chip of wood.
-
-“I cannot think how I came to overlook it,” said the Inspector,
-with an expression of annoyance.
-
-“It was invisible, buried in the mud. I only saw it because I was
-looking for it.”
-
-“What! You expected to find it?”
-
-“I thought it not unlikely.”
-
-He took the boots from the bag, and compared the impressions of
-each of them with marks upon the ground. Then he clambered up to
-the rim of the hollow, and crawled about among the ferns and
-bushes.
-
-“I am afraid that there are no more tracks,” said the Inspector.
-“I have examined the ground very carefully for a hundred yards in
-each direction.”
-
-“Indeed!” said Holmes, rising. “I should not have the
-impertinence to do it again after what you say. But I should like
-to take a little walk over the moor before it grows dark, that I
-may know my ground to-morrow, and I think that I shall put this
-horseshoe into my pocket for luck.”
-
-Colonel Ross, who had shown some signs of impatience at my
-companion’s quiet and systematic method of work, glanced at his
-watch. “I wish you would come back with me, Inspector,” said he.
-“There are several points on which I should like your advice, and
-especially as to whether we do not owe it to the public to remove
-our horse’s name from the entries for the Cup.”
-
-“Certainly not,” cried Holmes, with decision. “I should let the
-name stand.”
-
-The Colonel bowed. “I am very glad to have had your opinion,
-sir,” said he. “You will find us at poor Straker’s house when you
-have finished your walk, and we can drive together into
-Tavistock.”
-
-He turned back with the Inspector, while Holmes and I walked
-slowly across the moor. The sun was beginning to sink behind the
-stables of Mapleton, and the long, sloping plain in front of us
-was tinged with gold, deepening into rich, ruddy browns where the
-faded ferns and brambles caught the evening light. But the
-glories of the landscape were all wasted upon my companion, who
-was sunk in the deepest thought.
-
-“It’s this way, Watson,” said he at last. “We may leave the
-question of who killed John Straker for the instant, and confine
-ourselves to finding out what has become of the horse. Now,
-supposing that he broke away during or after the tragedy, where
-could he have gone to? The horse is a very gregarious creature.
-If left to himself his instincts would have been either to return
-to King’s Pyland or go over to Mapleton. Why should he run wild
-upon the moor? He would surely have been seen by now. And why
-should gypsies kidnap him? These people always clear out when
-they hear of trouble, for they do not wish to be pestered by the
-police. They could not hope to sell such a horse. They would run
-a great risk and gain nothing by taking him. Surely that is
-clear.”
-
-“Where is he, then?”
-
-“I have already said that he must have gone to King’s Pyland or
-to Mapleton. He is not at King’s Pyland. Therefore he is at
-Mapleton. Let us take that as a working hypothesis and see what
-it leads us to. This part of the moor, as the Inspector remarked,
-is very hard and dry. But it falls away towards Mapleton, and you
-can see from here that there is a long hollow over yonder, which
-must have been very wet on Monday night. If our supposition is
-correct, then the horse must have crossed that, and there is the
-point where we should look for his tracks.”
-
-We had been walking briskly during this conversation, and a few
-more minutes brought us to the hollow in question. At Holmes’
-request I walked down the bank to the right, and he to the left,
-but I had not taken fifty paces before I heard him give a shout,
-and saw him waving his hand to me. The track of a horse was
-plainly outlined in the soft earth in front of him, and the shoe
-which he took from his pocket exactly fitted the impression.
-
-“See the value of imagination,” said Holmes. “It is the one
-quality which Gregory lacks. We imagined what might have
-happened, acted upon the supposition, and find ourselves
-justified. Let us proceed.”
-
-We crossed the marshy bottom and passed over a quarter of a mile
-of dry, hard turf. Again the ground sloped, and again we came on
-the tracks. Then we lost them for half a mile, but only to pick
-them up once more quite close to Mapleton. It was Holmes who saw
-them first, and he stood pointing with a look of triumph upon his
-face. A man’s track was visible beside the horse’s.
-
-“The horse was alone before,” I cried.
-
-“Quite so. It was alone before. Hullo, what is this?”
-
-The double track turned sharp off and took the direction of
-King’s Pyland. Holmes whistled, and we both followed along after
-it. His eyes were on the trail, but I happened to look a little
-to one side, and saw to my surprise the same tracks coming back
-again in the opposite direction.
-
-“One for you, Watson,” said Holmes, when I pointed it out. “You
-have saved us a long walk, which would have brought us back on
-our own traces. Let us follow the return track.”
-
-We had not to go far. It ended at the paving of asphalt which led
-up to the gates of the Mapleton stables. As we approached, a
-groom ran out from them.
-
-“We don’t want any loiterers about here,” said he.
-
-“I only wished to ask a question,” said Holmes, with his finger
-and thumb in his waistcoat pocket. “Should I be too early to see
-your master, Mr. Silas Brown, if I were to call at five o’clock
-to-morrow morning?”
-
-“Bless you, sir, if any one is about he will be, for he is always
-the first stirring. But here he is, sir, to answer your questions
-for himself. No, sir, no; it is as much as my place is worth to
-let him see me touch your money. Afterwards, if you like.”
-
-As Sherlock Holmes replaced the half-crown which he had drawn
-from his pocket, a fierce-looking elderly man strode out from the
-gate with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand.
-
-“What’s this, Dawson!” he cried. “No gossiping! Go about your
-business! And you, what the devil do you want here?”
-
-“Ten minutes’ talk with you, my good sir,” said Holmes in the
-sweetest of voices.
-
-“I’ve no time to talk to every gadabout. We want no strangers
-here. Be off, or you may find a dog at your heels.”
-
-Holmes leaned forward and whispered something in the trainer’s
-ear. He started violently and flushed to the temples.
-
-“It’s a lie!” he shouted, “an infernal lie!”
-
-“Very good. Shall we argue about it here in public or talk it
-over in your parlour?”
-
-“Oh, come in if you wish to.”
-
-Holmes smiled. “I shall not keep you more than a few minutes,
-Watson,” said he. “Now, Mr. Brown, I am quite at your disposal.”
-
-It was twenty minutes, and the reds had all faded into greys
-before Holmes and the trainer reappeared. Never have I seen such
-a change as had been brought about in Silas Brown in that short
-time. His face was ashy pale, beads of perspiration shone upon
-his brow, and his hands shook until the hunting-crop wagged like
-a branch in the wind. His bullying, overbearing manner was all
-gone too, and he cringed along at my companion’s side like a dog
-with its master.
-
-“Your instructions will be done. It shall all be done,” said he.
-
-“There must be no mistake,” said Holmes, looking round at him.
-The other winced as he read the menace in his eyes.
-
-“Oh no, there shall be no mistake. It shall be there. Should I
-change it first or not?”
-
-Holmes thought a little and then burst out laughing. “No, don’t,”
-said he; “I shall write to you about it. No tricks, now, or—”
-
-“Oh, you can trust me, you can trust me!”
-
-“Yes, I think I can. Well, you shall hear from me to-morrow.” He
-turned upon his heel, disregarding the trembling hand which the
-other held out to him, and we set off for King’s Pyland.
-
-“A more perfect compound of the bully, coward, and sneak than
-Master Silas Brown I have seldom met with,” remarked Holmes as we
-trudged along together.
-
-“He has the horse, then?”
-
-“He tried to bluster out of it, but I described to him so exactly
-what his actions had been upon that morning that he is convinced
-that I was watching him. Of course you observed the peculiarly
-square toes in the impressions, and that his own boots exactly
-corresponded to them. Again, of course no subordinate would have
-dared to do such a thing. I described to him how, when according
-to his custom he was the first down, he perceived a strange horse
-wandering over the moor. How he went out to it, and his
-astonishment at recognising, from the white forehead which has
-given the favourite its name, that chance had put in his power
-the only horse which could beat the one upon which he had put his
-money. Then I described how his first impulse had been to lead
-him back to King’s Pyland, and how the devil had shown him how he
-could hide the horse until the race was over, and how he had led
-it back and concealed it at Mapleton. When I told him every
-detail he gave it up and thought only of saving his own skin.”
-
-“But his stables had been searched?”
-
-“Oh, an old horse-faker like him has many a dodge.”
-
-“But are you not afraid to leave the horse in his power now,
-since he has every interest in injuring it?”
-
-“My dear fellow, he will guard it as the apple of his eye. He
-knows that his only hope of mercy is to produce it safe.”
-
-“Colonel Ross did not impress me as a man who would be likely to
-show much mercy in any case.”
-
-“The matter does not rest with Colonel Ross. I follow my own
-methods, and tell as much or as little as I choose. That is the
-advantage of being unofficial. I don’t know whether you observed
-it, Watson, but the Colonel’s manner has been just a trifle
-cavalier to me. I am inclined now to have a little amusement at
-his expense. Say nothing to him about the horse.”
-
-“Certainly not without your permission.”
-
-“And of course this is all quite a minor point compared to the
-question of who killed John Straker.”
-
-“And you will devote yourself to that?”
-
-“On the contrary, we both go back to London by the night train.”
-
-I was thunderstruck by my friend’s words. We had only been a few
-hours in Devonshire, and that he should give up an investigation
-which he had begun so brilliantly was quite incomprehensible to
-me. Not a word more could I draw from him until we were back at
-the trainer’s house. The Colonel and the Inspector were awaiting
-us in the parlour.
-
-“My friend and I return to town by the night-express,” said
-Holmes. “We have had a charming little breath of your beautiful
-Dartmoor air.”
-
-The Inspector opened his eyes, and the Colonel’s lip curled in a
-sneer.
-
-“So you despair of arresting the murderer of poor Straker,” said
-he.
-
-Holmes shrugged his shoulders. “There are certainly grave
-difficulties in the way,” said he. “I have every hope, however,
-that your horse will start upon Tuesday, and I beg that you will
-have your jockey in readiness. Might I ask for a photograph of
-Mr. John Straker?”
-
-The Inspector took one from an envelope and handed it to him.
-
-“My dear Gregory, you anticipate all my wants. If I might ask you
-to wait here for an instant, I have a question which I should
-like to put to the maid.”
-
-“I must say that I am rather disappointed in our London
-consultant,” said Colonel Ross, bluntly, as my friend left the
-room. “I do not see that we are any further than when he came.”
-
-“At least you have his assurance that your horse will run,” said
-I.
-
-“Yes, I have his assurance,” said the Colonel, with a shrug of
-his shoulders. “I should prefer to have the horse.”
-
-I was about to make some reply in defence of my friend when he
-entered the room again.
-
-“Now, gentlemen,” said he, “I am quite ready for Tavistock.”
-
-As we stepped into the carriage one of the stable-lads held the
-door open for us. A sudden idea seemed to occur to Holmes, for he
-leaned forward and touched the lad upon the sleeve.
-
-“You have a few sheep in the paddock,” he said. “Who attends to
-them?”
-
-“I do, sir.”
-
-“Have you noticed anything amiss with them of late?”
-
-“Well, sir, not of much account; but three of them have gone
-lame, sir.”
-
-I could see that Holmes was extremely pleased, for he chuckled
-and rubbed his hands together.
-
-“A long shot, Watson; a very long shot,” said he, pinching my
-arm. “Gregory, let me recommend to your attention this singular
-epidemic among the sheep. Drive on, coachman!”
-
-Colonel Ross still wore an expression which showed the poor
-opinion which he had formed of my companion’s ability, but I saw
-by the Inspector’s face that his attention had been keenly
-aroused.
-
-“You consider that to be important?” he asked.
-
-“Exceedingly so.”
-
-“Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my
-attention?”
-
-“To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
-
-“The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
-
-“That was the curious incident,” remarked Sherlock Holmes.
-
-Four days later Holmes and I were again in the train, bound for
-Winchester to see the race for the Wessex Cup. Colonel Ross met
-us by appointment outside the station, and we drove in his drag
-to the course beyond the town. His face was grave, and his manner
-was cold in the extreme.
-
-“I have seen nothing of my horse,” said he.
-
-“I suppose that you would know him when you saw him?” asked
-Holmes.
-
-The Colonel was very angry. “I have been on the turf for twenty
-years, and never was asked such a question as that before,” said
-he. “A child would know Silver Blaze, with his white forehead and
-his mottled off-foreleg.”
-
-“How is the betting?”
-
-“Well, that is the curious part of it. You could have got fifteen
-to one yesterday, but the price has become shorter and shorter,
-until you can hardly get three to one now.”
-
-“Hum!” said Holmes. “Somebody knows something, that is clear.”
-
-As the drag drew up in the enclosure near the grand stand I
-glanced at the card to see the entries. It ran:—
-
-Wessex Plate. 50 sovs each h ft with 1000 sovs added for four and
-five year olds. Second, £300. Third, £200. New course (one mile
-and five furlongs).
-1. Mr. Heath Newton’s The Negro (red cap, cinnamon jacket).
-2. Colonel Wardlaw’s Pugilist (pink cap, blue and black jacket).
-3. Lord Backwater’s Desborough (yellow cap and sleeves).
-4. Colonel Ross’s Silver Blaze (black cap, red jacket).
-5. Duke of Balmoral’s Iris (yellow and black stripes).
-6. Lord Singleford’s Rasper (purple cap, black sleeves).
-
-“We scratched our other one, and put all hopes on your word,”
-said the Colonel. “Why, what is that? Silver Blaze favourite?”
-
-“Five to four against Silver Blaze!” roared the ring. “Five to
-four against Silver Blaze! Five to fifteen against Desborough!
-Five to four on the field!”
-
-“There are the numbers up,” I cried. “They are all six there.”
-
-“All six there? Then my horse is running,” cried the Colonel in
-great agitation. “But I don’t see him. My colours have not
-passed.”
-
-“Only five have passed. This must be he.”
-
-As I spoke a powerful bay horse swept out from the weighing
-enclosure and cantered past us, bearing on its back the
-well-known black and red of the Colonel.
-
-“That’s not my horse,” cried the owner. “That beast has not a
-white hair upon its body. What is this that you have done, Mr.
-Holmes?”
-
-“Well, well, let us see how he gets on,” said my friend,
-imperturbably. For a few minutes he gazed through my field-glass.
-“Capital! An excellent start!” he cried suddenly. “There they
-are, coming round the curve!”
-
-From our drag we had a superb view as they came up the straight.
-The six horses were so close together that a carpet could have
-covered them, but half way up the yellow of the Mapleton stable
-showed to the front. Before they reached us, however,
-Desborough’s bolt was shot, and the Colonel’s horse, coming away
-with a rush, passed the post a good six lengths before its rival,
-the Duke of Balmoral’s Iris making a bad third.
-
-“It’s my race, anyhow,” gasped the Colonel, passing his hand over
-his eyes. “I confess that I can make neither head nor tail of it.
-Don’t you think that you have kept up your mystery long enough,
-Mr. Holmes?”
-
-“Certainly, Colonel, you shall know everything. Let us all go
-round and have a look at the horse together. Here he is,” he
-continued, as we made our way into the weighing enclosure, where
-only owners and their friends find admittance. “You have only to
-wash his face and his leg in spirits of wine, and you will find
-that he is the same old Silver Blaze as ever.”
-
-“You take my breath away!”
-
-“I found him in the hands of a faker, and took the liberty of
-running him just as he was sent over.”
-
-“My dear sir, you have done wonders. The horse looks very fit and
-well. It never went better in its life. I owe you a thousand
-apologies for having doubted your ability. You have done me a
-great service by recovering my horse. You would do me a greater
-still if you could lay your hands on the murderer of John
-Straker.”
-
-“I have done so,” said Holmes quietly.
-
-The Colonel and I stared at him in amazement. “You have got him!
-Where is he, then?”
-
-“He is here.”
-
-“Here! Where?”
-
-“In my company at the present moment.”
-
-The Colonel flushed angrily. “I quite recognise that I am under
-obligations to you, Mr. Holmes,” said he, “but I must regard what
-you have just said as either a very bad joke or an insult.”
-
-Sherlock Holmes laughed. “I assure you that I have not associated
-you with the crime, Colonel,” said he. “The real murderer is
-standing immediately behind you.” He stepped past and laid his
-hand upon the glossy neck of the thoroughbred.
-
-“The horse!” cried both the Colonel and myself.
-
-“Yes, the horse. And it may lessen his guilt if I say that it was
-done in self-defence, and that John Straker was a man who was
-entirely unworthy of your confidence. But there goes the bell,
-and as I stand to win a little on this next race, I shall defer a
-lengthy explanation until a more fitting time.”
-
-We had the corner of a Pullman car to ourselves that evening as
-we whirled back to London, and I fancy that the journey was a
-short one to Colonel Ross as well as to myself, as we listened to
-our companion’s narrative of the events which had occurred at the
-Dartmoor training-stables upon the Monday night, and the means by
-which he had unravelled them.
-
-“I confess,” said he, “that any theories which I had formed from
-the newspaper reports were entirely erroneous. And yet there were
-indications there, had they not been overlaid by other details
-which concealed their true import. I went to Devonshire with the
-conviction that Fitzroy Simpson was the true culprit, although,
-of course, I saw that the evidence against him was by no means
-complete. It was while I was in the carriage, just as we reached
-the trainer’s house, that the immense significance of the curried
-mutton occurred to me. You may remember that I was distrait, and
-remained sitting after you had all alighted. I was marvelling in
-my own mind how I could possibly have overlooked so obvious a
-clue.”
-
-“I confess,” said the Colonel, “that even now I cannot see how it
-helps us.”
-
-“It was the first link in my chain of reasoning. Powdered opium
-is by no means tasteless. The flavour is not disagreeable, but it
-is perceptible. Were it mixed with any ordinary dish the eater
-would undoubtedly detect it, and would probably eat no more. A
-curry was exactly the medium which would disguise this taste. By
-no possible supposition could this stranger, Fitzroy Simpson,
-have caused curry to be served in the trainer’s family that
-night, and it is surely too monstrous a coincidence to suppose
-that he happened to come along with powdered opium upon the very
-night when a dish happened to be served which would disguise the
-flavour. That is unthinkable. Therefore Simpson becomes
-eliminated from the case, and our attention centres upon Straker
-and his wife, the only two people who could have chosen curried
-mutton for supper that night. The opium was added after the dish
-was set aside for the stable-boy, for the others had the same for
-supper with no ill effects. Which of them, then, had access to
-that dish without the maid seeing them?
-
-“Before deciding that question I had grasped the significance of
-the silence of the dog, for one true inference invariably
-suggests others. The Simpson incident had shown me that a dog was
-kept in the stables, and yet, though some one had been in and had
-fetched out a horse, he had not barked enough to arouse the two
-lads in the loft. Obviously the midnight visitor was some one
-whom the dog knew well.
-
-“I was already convinced, or almost convinced, that John Straker
-went down to the stables in the dead of the night and took out
-Silver Blaze. For what purpose? For a dishonest one, obviously,
-or why should he drug his own stable-boy? And yet I was at a loss
-to know why. There have been cases before now where trainers have
-made sure of great sums of money by laying against their own
-horses, through agents, and then preventing them from winning by
-fraud. Sometimes it is a pulling jockey. Sometimes it is some
-surer and subtler means. What was it here? I hoped that the
-contents of his pockets might help me to form a conclusion.
-
-“And they did so. You cannot have forgotten the singular knife
-which was found in the dead man’s hand, a knife which certainly
-no sane man would choose for a weapon. It was, as Dr. Watson told
-us, a form of knife which is used for the most delicate
-operations known in surgery. And it was to be used for a delicate
-operation that night. You must know, with your wide experience of
-turf matters, Colonel Ross, that it is possible to make a slight
-nick upon the tendons of a horse’s ham, and to do it
-subcutaneously, so as to leave absolutely no trace. A horse so
-treated would develop a slight lameness, which would be put down
-to a strain in exercise or a touch of rheumatism, but never to
-foul play.”
-
-“Villain! Scoundrel!” cried the Colonel.
-
-“We have here the explanation of why John Straker wished to take
-the horse out on to the moor. So spirited a creature would have
-certainly roused the soundest of sleepers when it felt the prick
-of the knife. It was absolutely necessary to do it in the open
-air.”
-
-“I have been blind!” cried the Colonel. “Of course that was why
-he needed the candle, and struck the match.”
-
-“Undoubtedly. But in examining his belongings I was fortunate
-enough to discover not only the method of the crime, but even its
-motives. As a man of the world, Colonel, you know that men do not
-carry other people’s bills about in their pockets. We have most
-of us quite enough to do to settle our own. I at once concluded
-that Straker was leading a double life, and keeping a second
-establishment. The nature of the bill showed that there was a
-lady in the case, and one who had expensive tastes. Liberal as
-you are with your servants, one can hardly expect that they can
-buy twenty-guinea walking dresses for their ladies. I questioned
-Mrs. Straker as to the dress without her knowing it, and having
-satisfied myself that it had never reached her, I made a note of
-the milliner’s address, and felt that by calling there with
-Straker’s photograph I could easily dispose of the mythical
-Derbyshire.
-
-“From that time on all was plain. Straker had led out the horse
-to a hollow where his light would be invisible. Simpson in his
-flight had dropped his cravat, and Straker had picked it up—with
-some idea, perhaps, that he might use it in securing the horse’s
-leg. Once in the hollow, he had got behind the horse and had
-struck a light; but the creature frightened at the sudden glare,
-and with the strange instinct of animals feeling that some
-mischief was intended, had lashed out, and the steel shoe had
-struck Straker full on the forehead. He had already, in spite of
-the rain, taken off his overcoat in order to do his delicate
-task, and so, as he fell, his knife gashed his thigh. Do I make
-it clear?”
-
-“Wonderful!” cried the Colonel. “Wonderful! You might have been
-there!”
-
-“My final shot was, I confess a very long one. It struck me that
-so astute a man as Straker would not undertake this delicate
-tendon-nicking without a little practice. What could he practice
-on? My eyes fell upon the sheep, and I asked a question which,
-rather to my surprise, showed that my surmise was correct.
-
-“When I returned to London I called upon the milliner, who had
-recognised Straker as an excellent customer of the name of
-Derbyshire, who had a very dashing wife, with a strong partiality
-for expensive dresses. I have no doubt that this woman had
-plunged him over head and ears in debt, and so led him into this
-miserable plot.”
-
-“You have explained all but one thing,” cried the Colonel. “Where
-was the horse?”
-
-“Ah, it bolted, and was cared for by one of your neighbours. We
-must have an amnesty in that direction, I think. This is Clapham
-Junction, if I am not mistaken, and we shall be in Victoria in
-less than ten minutes. If you care to smoke a cigar in our rooms,
-Colonel, I shall be happy to give you any other details which
-might interest you.”
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Sherlock-Holmes-Selected-Stories/The Adventure of the Six Napoleans.txt b/Sherlock-Holmes-Selected-Stories/The Adventure of the Six Napoleans.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 88416ba..0000000
--- a/Sherlock-Holmes-Selected-Stories/The Adventure of the Six Napoleans.txt	
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@@ -1,936 +0,0 @@
-THE ADVENTURE OF THE SIX NAPOLEONS
-
-
-It was no very unusual thing for Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard,
-to look in upon us of an evening, and his visits were welcome to
-Sherlock Holmes, for they enabled him to keep in touch with all
-that was going on at the police headquarters. In return for the
-news which Lestrade would bring, Holmes was always ready to
-listen with attention to the details of any case upon which the
-detective was engaged, and was able occasionally, without any
-active interference, to give some hint or suggestion drawn from
-his own vast knowledge and experience.
-
-On this particular evening, Lestrade had spoken of the weather
-and the newspapers. Then he had fallen silent, puffing
-thoughtfully at his cigar. Holmes looked keenly at him.
-
-“Anything remarkable on hand?” he asked.
-
-“Oh, no, Mr. Holmes—nothing very particular.”
-
-“Then tell me about it.”
-
-Lestrade laughed.
-
-“Well, Mr. Holmes, there is no use denying that there _is_
-something on my mind. And yet it is such an absurd business, that
-I hesitated to bother you about it. On the other hand, although
-it is trivial, it is undoubtedly queer, and I know that you have
-a taste for all that is out of the common. But, in my opinion, it
-comes more in Dr. Watson’s line than ours.”
-
-“Disease?” said I.
-
-“Madness, anyhow. And a queer madness, too. You wouldn’t think
-there was anyone living at this time of day who had such a hatred
-of Napoleon the First that he would break any image of him that
-he could see.”
-
-Holmes sank back in his chair.
-
-“That’s no business of mine,” said he.
-
-“Exactly. That’s what I said. But then, when the man commits
-burglary in order to break images which are not his own, that
-brings it away from the doctor and on to the policeman.”
-
-Holmes sat up again.
-
-“Burglary! This is more interesting. Let me hear the details.”
-
-Lestrade took out his official notebook and refreshed his memory
-from its pages.
-
-“The first case reported was four days ago,” said he. “It was at
-the shop of Morse Hudson, who has a place for the sale of
-pictures and statues in the Kennington Road. The assistant had
-left the front shop for an instant, when he heard a crash, and
-hurrying in he found a plaster bust of Napoleon, which stood with
-several other works of art upon the counter, lying shivered into
-fragments. He rushed out into the road, but, although several
-passers-by declared that they had noticed a man run out of the
-shop, he could neither see anyone nor could he find any means of
-identifying the rascal. It seemed to be one of those senseless
-acts of hooliganism which occur from time to time, and it was
-reported to the constable on the beat as such. The plaster cast
-was not worth more than a few shillings, and the whole affair
-appeared to be too childish for any particular investigation.
-
-“The second case, however, was more serious, and also more
-singular. It occurred only last night.
-
-“In Kennington Road, and within a few hundred yards of Morse
-Hudson’s shop, there lives a well-known medical practitioner,
-named Dr. Barnicot, who has one of the largest practices upon the
-south side of the Thames. His residence and principal
-consulting-room is at Kennington Road, but he has a branch
-surgery and dispensary at Lower Brixton Road, two miles away.
-This Dr. Barnicot is an enthusiastic admirer of Napoleon, and his
-house is full of books, pictures, and relics of the French
-Emperor. Some little time ago he purchased from Morse Hudson two
-duplicate plaster casts of the famous head of Napoleon by the
-French sculptor, Devine. One of these he placed in his hall in
-the house at Kennington Road, and the other on the mantelpiece of
-the surgery at Lower Brixton. Well, when Dr. Barnicot came down
-this morning he was astonished to find that his house had been
-burgled during the night, but that nothing had been taken save
-the plaster head from the hall. It had been carried out and had
-been dashed savagely against the garden wall, under which its
-splintered fragments were discovered.”
-
-Holmes rubbed his hands.
-
-“This is certainly very novel,” said he.
-
-“I thought it would please you. But I have not got to the end
-yet. Dr. Barnicot was due at his surgery at twelve o’clock, and
-you can imagine his amazement when, on arriving there, he found
-that the window had been opened in the night and that the broken
-pieces of his second bust were strewn all over the room. It had
-been smashed to atoms where it stood. In neither case were there
-any signs which could give us a clue as to the criminal or
-lunatic who had done the mischief. Now, Mr. Holmes, you have got
-the facts.”
-
-“They are singular, not to say grotesque,” said Holmes. “May I
-ask whether the two busts smashed in Dr. Barnicot’s rooms were
-the exact duplicates of the one which was destroyed in Morse
-Hudson’s shop?”
-
-“They were taken from the same mould.”
-
-“Such a fact must tell against the theory that the man who breaks
-them is influenced by any general hatred of Napoleon. Considering
-how many hundreds of statues of the great Emperor must exist in
-London, it is too much to suppose such a coincidence as that a
-promiscuous iconoclast should chance to begin upon three
-specimens of the same bust.”
-
-“Well, I thought as you do,” said Lestrade. “On the other hand,
-this Morse Hudson is the purveyor of busts in that part of
-London, and these three were the only ones which had been in his
-shop for years. So, although, as you say, there are many hundreds
-of statues in London, it is very probable that these three were
-the only ones in that district. Therefore, a local fanatic would
-begin with them. What do you think, Dr. Watson?”
-
-“There are no limits to the possibilities of monomania,” I
-answered. “There is the condition which the modern French
-psychologists have called the _idée fixe_, which may be trifling
-in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other
-way. A man who had read deeply about Napoleon, or who had
-possibly received some hereditary family injury through the great
-war, might conceivably form such an _idée fixe_ and under its
-influence be capable of any fantastic outrage.”
-
-“That won’t do, my dear Watson,” said Holmes, shaking his head,
-“for no amount of _idée fixe_ would enable your interesting
-monomaniac to find out where these busts were situated.”
-
-“Well, how do _you_ explain it?”
-
-“I don’t attempt to do so. I would only observe that there is a
-certain method in the gentleman’s eccentric proceedings. For
-example, in Dr. Barnicot’s hall, where a sound might arouse the
-family, the bust was taken outside before being broken, whereas
-in the surgery, where there was less danger of an alarm, it was
-smashed where it stood. The affair seems absurdly trifling, and
-yet I dare call nothing trivial when I reflect that some of my
-most classic cases have had the least promising commencement. You
-will remember, Watson, how the dreadful business of the Abernetty
-family was first brought to my notice by the depth which the
-parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot day. I can’t afford,
-therefore, to smile at your three broken busts, Lestrade, and I
-shall be very much obliged to you if you will let me hear of any
-fresh development of so singular a chain of events.”
-
-The development for which my friend had asked came in a quicker
-and an infinitely more tragic form than he could have imagined. I
-was still dressing in my bedroom next morning, when there was a
-tap at the door and Holmes entered, a telegram in his hand. He
-read it aloud:
-
-“Come instantly, 131, Pitt Street, Kensington.—LESTRADE.”
-
-“What is it, then?” I asked.
-
-“Don’t know—may be anything. But I suspect it is the sequel of
-the story of the statues. In that case our friend the
-image-breaker has begun operations in another quarter of London.
-There’s coffee on the table, Watson, and I have a cab at the
-door.”
-
-In half an hour we had reached Pitt Street, a quiet little
-backwater just beside one of the briskest currents of London
-life. No. 131 was one of a row, all flat-chested, respectable,
-and most unromantic dwellings. As we drove up, we found the
-railings in front of the house lined by a curious crowd. Holmes
-whistled.
-
-“By George! It’s attempted murder at the least. Nothing less will
-hold the London message-boy. There’s a deed of violence indicated
-in that fellow’s round shoulders and outstretched neck. What’s
-this, Watson? The top steps swilled down and the other ones dry.
-Footsteps enough, anyhow! Well, well, there’s Lestrade at the
-front window, and we shall soon know all about it.”
-
-The official received us with a very grave face and showed us
-into a sitting-room, where an exceedingly unkempt and agitated
-elderly man, clad in a flannel dressing-gown, was pacing up and
-down. He was introduced to us as the owner of the house—Mr.
-Horace Harker, of the Central Press Syndicate.
-
-“It’s the Napoleon bust business again,” said Lestrade. “You
-seemed interested last night, Mr. Holmes, so I thought perhaps
-you would be glad to be present now that the affair has taken a
-very much graver turn.”
-
-“What has it turned to, then?”
-
-“To murder. Mr. Harker, will you tell these gentlemen exactly
-what has occurred?”
-
-The man in the dressing-gown turned upon us with a most
-melancholy face.
-
-“It’s an extraordinary thing,” said he, “that all my life I have
-been collecting other people’s news, and now that a real piece of
-news has come my own way I am so confused and bothered that I
-can’t put two words together. If I had come in here as a
-journalist, I should have interviewed myself and had two columns
-in every evening paper. As it is, I am giving away valuable copy
-by telling my story over and over to a string of different
-people, and I can make no use of it myself. However, I’ve heard
-your name, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and if you’ll only explain this
-queer business, I shall be paid for my trouble in telling you the
-story.”
-
-Holmes sat down and listened.
-
-“It all seems to centre round that bust of Napoleon which I
-bought for this very room about four months ago. I picked it up
-cheap from Harding Brothers, two doors from the High Street
-Station. A great deal of my journalistic work is done at night,
-and I often write until the early morning. So it was to-day. I
-was sitting in my den, which is at the back of the top of the
-house, about three o’clock, when I was convinced that I heard
-some sounds downstairs. I listened, but they were not repeated,
-and I concluded that they came from outside. Then suddenly, about
-five minutes later, there came a most horrible yell—the most
-dreadful sound, Mr. Holmes, that ever I heard. It will ring in my
-ears as long as I live. I sat frozen with horror for a minute or
-two. Then I seized the poker and went downstairs. When I entered
-this room I found the window wide open, and I at once observed
-that the bust was gone from the mantelpiece. Why any burglar
-should take such a thing passes my understanding, for it was only
-a plaster cast and of no real value whatever.
-
-“You can see for yourself that anyone going out through that open
-window could reach the front doorstep by taking a long stride.
-This was clearly what the burglar had done, so I went round and
-opened the door. Stepping out into the dark, I nearly fell over a
-dead man, who was lying there. I ran back for a light and there
-was the poor fellow, a great gash in his throat and the whole
-place swimming in blood. He lay on his back, his knees drawn up,
-and his mouth horribly open. I shall see him in my dreams. I had
-just time to blow on my police-whistle, and then I must have
-fainted, for I knew nothing more until I found the policeman
-standing over me in the hall.”
-
-“Well, who was the murdered man?” asked Holmes.
-
-“There’s nothing to show who he was,” said Lestrade. “You shall
-see the body at the mortuary, but we have made nothing of it up
-to now. He is a tall man, sunburned, very powerful, not more than
-thirty. He is poorly dressed, and yet does not appear to be a
-labourer. A horn-handled clasp knife was lying in a pool of blood
-beside him. Whether it was the weapon which did the deed, or
-whether it belonged to the dead man, I do not know. There was no
-name on his clothing, and nothing in his pockets save an apple,
-some string, a shilling map of London, and a photograph. Here it
-is.”
-
-It was evidently taken by a snapshot from a small camera. It
-represented an alert, sharp-featured simian man, with thick
-eyebrows and a very peculiar projection of the lower part of the
-face, like the muzzle of a baboon.
-
-“And what became of the bust?” asked Holmes, after a careful
-study of this picture.
-
-“We had news of it just before you came. It has been found in the
-front garden of an empty house in Campden House Road. It was
-broken into fragments. I am going round now to see it. Will you
-come?”
-
-“Certainly. I must just take one look round.” He examined the
-carpet and the window. “The fellow had either very long legs or
-was a most active man,” said he. “With an area beneath, it was no
-mean feat to reach that window ledge and open that window.
-Getting back was comparatively simple. Are you coming with us to
-see the remains of your bust, Mr. Harker?”
-
-The disconsolate journalist had seated himself at a
-writing-table.
-
-“I must try and make something of it,” said he, “though I have no
-doubt that the first editions of the evening papers are out
-already with full details. It’s like my luck! You remember when
-the stand fell at Doncaster? Well, I was the only journalist in
-the stand, and my journal the only one that had no account of it,
-for I was too shaken to write it. And now I’ll be too late with a
-murder done on my own doorstep.”
-
-As we left the room, we heard his pen travelling shrilly over the
-foolscap.
-
-The spot where the fragments of the bust had been found was only
-a few hundred yards away. For the first time our eyes rested upon
-this presentment of the great emperor, which seemed to raise such
-frantic and destructive hatred in the mind of the unknown. It lay
-scattered, in splintered shards, upon the grass. Holmes picked up
-several of them and examined them carefully. I was convinced,
-from his intent face and his purposeful manner, that at last he
-was upon a clue.
-
-“Well?” asked Lestrade.
-
-Holmes shrugged his shoulders.
-
-“We have a long way to go yet,” said he. “And yet—and yet—well,
-we have some suggestive facts to act upon. The possession of this
-trifling bust was worth more, in the eyes of this strange
-criminal, than a human life. That is one point. Then there is the
-singular fact that he did not break it in the house, or
-immediately outside the house, if to break it was his sole
-object.”
-
-“He was rattled and bustled by meeting this other fellow. He
-hardly knew what he was doing.”
-
-“Well, that’s likely enough. But I wish to call your attention
-very particularly to the position of this house, in the garden of
-which the bust was destroyed.”
-
-Lestrade looked about him.
-
-“It was an empty house, and so he knew that he would not be
-disturbed in the garden.”
-
-“Yes, but there is another empty house farther up the street
-which he must have passed before he came to this one. Why did he
-not break it there, since it is evident that every yard that he
-carried it increased the risk of someone meeting him?”
-
-“I give it up,” said Lestrade.
-
-Holmes pointed to the street lamp above our heads.
-
-“He could see what he was doing here, and he could not there.
-That was his reason.”
-
-“By Jove! that’s true,” said the detective. “Now that I come to
-think of it, Dr. Barnicot’s bust was broken not far from his red
-lamp. Well, Mr. Holmes, what are we to do with that fact?”
-
-“To remember it—to docket it. We may come on something later
-which will bear upon it. What steps do you propose to take now,
-Lestrade?”
-
-“The most practical way of getting at it, in my opinion, is to
-identify the dead man. There should be no difficulty about that.
-When we have found who he is and who his associates are, we
-should have a good start in learning what he was doing in Pitt
-Street last night, and who it was who met him and killed him on
-the doorstep of Mr. Horace Harker. Don’t you think so?”
-
-“No doubt; and yet it is not quite the way in which I should
-approach the case.”
-
-“What would you do then?”
-
-“Oh, you must not let me influence you in any way. I suggest that
-you go on your line and I on mine. We can compare notes
-afterwards, and each will supplement the other.”
-
-“Very good,” said Lestrade.
-
-“If you are going back to Pitt Street, you might see Mr. Horace
-Harker. Tell him for me that I have quite made up my mind, and
-that it is certain that a dangerous homicidal lunatic, with
-Napoleonic delusions, was in his house last night. It will be
-useful for his article.”
-
-Lestrade stared.
-
-“You don’t seriously believe that?”
-
-Holmes smiled.
-
-“Don’t I? Well, perhaps I don’t. But I am sure that it will
-interest Mr. Horace Harker and the subscribers of the Central
-Press Syndicate. Now, Watson, I think that we shall find that we
-have a long and rather complex day’s work before us. I should be
-glad, Lestrade, if you could make it convenient to meet us at
-Baker Street at six o’clock this evening. Until then I should
-like to keep this photograph, found in the dead man’s pocket. It
-is possible that I may have to ask your company and assistance
-upon a small expedition which will have be undertaken to-night,
-if my chain of reasoning should prove to be correct. Until then
-good-bye and good luck!”
-
-Sherlock Holmes and I walked together to the High Street, where
-we stopped at the shop of Harding Brothers, whence the bust had
-been purchased. A young assistant informed us that Mr. Harding
-would be absent until afternoon, and that he was himself a
-newcomer, who could give us no information. Holmes’s face showed
-his disappointment and annoyance.
-
-“Well, well, we can’t expect to have it all our own way, Watson,”
-he said, at last. “We must come back in the afternoon, if Mr.
-Harding will not be here until then. I am, as you have no doubt
-surmised, endeavouring to trace these busts to their source, in
-order to find if there is not something peculiar which may
-account for their remarkable fate. Let us make for Mr. Morse
-Hudson, of the Kennington Road, and see if he can throw any light
-upon the problem.”
-
-A drive of an hour brought us to the picture-dealer’s
-establishment. He was a small, stout man with a red face and a
-peppery manner.
-
-“Yes, sir. On my very counter, sir,” said he. “What we pay rates
-and taxes for I don’t know, when any ruffian can come in and
-break one’s goods. Yes, sir, it was I who sold Dr. Barnicot his
-two statues. Disgraceful, sir! A Nihilist plot—that’s what I make
-it. No one but an anarchist would go about breaking statues. Red
-republicans—that’s what I call ’em. Who did I get the statues
-from? I don’t see what that has to do with it. Well, if you
-really want to know, I got them from Gelder & Co., in Church
-Street, Stepney. They are a well-known house in the trade, and
-have been this twenty years. How many had I? Three—two and one
-are three—two of Dr. Barnicot’s, and one smashed in broad
-daylight on my own counter. Do I know that photograph? No, I
-don’t. Yes, I do, though. Why, it’s Beppo. He was a kind of
-Italian piece-work man, who made himself useful in the shop. He
-could carve a bit, and gild and frame, and do odd jobs. The
-fellow left me last week, and I’ve heard nothing of him since.
-No, I don’t know where he came from nor where he went to. I had
-nothing against him while he was here. He was gone two days
-before the bust was smashed.”
-
-“Well, that’s all we could reasonably expect from Morse Hudson,”
-said Holmes, as we emerged from the shop. “We have this Beppo as
-a common factor, both in Kennington and in Kensington, so that is
-worth a ten-mile drive. Now, Watson, let us make for Gelder &
-Co., of Stepney, the source and origin of the busts. I shall be
-surprised if we don’t get some help down there.”
-
-In rapid succession we passed through the fringe of fashionable
-London, hotel London, theatrical London, literary London,
-commercial London, and, finally, maritime London, till we came to
-a riverside city of a hundred thousand souls, where the tenement
-houses swelter and reek with the outcasts of Europe. Here, in a
-broad thoroughfare, once the abode of wealthy City merchants, we
-found the sculpture works for which we searched. Outside was a
-considerable yard full of monumental masonry. Inside was a large
-room in which fifty workers were carving or moulding. The
-manager, a big blond German, received us civilly and gave a clear
-answer to all Holmes’s questions. A reference to his books showed
-that hundreds of casts had been taken from a marble copy of
-Devine’s head of Napoleon, but that the three which had been sent
-to Morse Hudson a year or so before had been half of a batch of
-six, the other three being sent to Harding Brothers, of
-Kensington. There was no reason why those six should be different
-from any of the other casts. He could suggest no possible cause
-why anyone should wish to destroy them—in fact, he laughed at the
-idea. Their wholesale price was six shillings, but the retailer
-would get twelve or more. The cast was taken in two moulds from
-each side of the face, and then these two profiles of plaster of
-Paris were joined together to make the complete bust. The work
-was usually done by Italians, in the room we were in. When
-finished, the busts were put on a table in the passage to dry,
-and afterwards stored. That was all he could tell us.
-
-But the production of the photograph had a remarkable effect upon
-the manager. His face flushed with anger, and his brows knotted
-over his blue Teutonic eyes.
-
-“Ah, the rascal!” he cried. “Yes, indeed, I know him very well.
-This has always been a respectable establishment, and the only
-time that we have ever had the police in it was over this very
-fellow. It was more than a year ago now. He knifed another
-Italian in the street, and then he came to the works with the
-police on his heels, and he was taken here. Beppo was his
-name—his second name I never knew. Serve me right for engaging a
-man with such a face. But he was a good workman—one of the best.”
-
-“What did he get?”
-
-“The man lived and he got off with a year. I have no doubt he is
-out now, but he has not dared to show his nose here. We have a
-cousin of his here, and I daresay he could tell you where he is.”
-
-“No, no,” cried Holmes, “not a word to the cousin—not a word, I
-beg of you. The matter is very important, and the farther I go
-with it, the more important it seems to grow. When you referred
-in your ledger to the sale of those casts I observed that the
-date was June 3rd of last year. Could you give me the date when
-Beppo was arrested?”
-
-“I could tell you roughly by the pay-list,” the manager answered.
-“Yes,” he continued, after some turning over of pages, “he was
-paid last on May 20th.”
-
-“Thank you,” said Holmes. “I don’t think that I need intrude upon
-your time and patience any more.” With a last word of caution
-that he should say nothing as to our researches, we turned our
-faces westward once more.
-
-The afternoon was far advanced before we were able to snatch a
-hasty luncheon at a restaurant. A news-bill at the entrance
-announced “Kensington Outrage. Murder by a Madman,” and the
-contents of the paper showed that Mr. Horace Harker had got his
-account into print after all. Two columns were occupied with a
-highly sensational and flowery rendering of the whole incident.
-Holmes propped it against the cruet-stand and read it while he
-ate. Once or twice he chuckled.
-
-“This is all right, Watson,” said he. “Listen to this:
-
-“It is satisfactory to know that there can be no difference of
-opinion upon this case, since Mr. Lestrade, one of the most
-experienced members of the official force, and Mr. Sherlock
-Holmes, the well-known consulting expert, have each come to the
-conclusion that the grotesque series of incidents, which have
-ended in so tragic a fashion, arise from lunacy rather than from
-deliberate crime. No explanation save mental aberration can cover
-the facts.
-
-“The Press, Watson, is a most valuable institution, if you only
-know how to use it. And now, if you have quite finished, we will
-hark back to Kensington and see what the manager of Harding
-Brothers has to say on the matter.”
-
-The founder of that great emporium proved to be a brisk, crisp
-little person, very dapper and quick, with a clear head and a
-ready tongue.
-
-“Yes, sir, I have already read the account in the evening papers.
-Mr. Horace Harker is a customer of ours. We supplied him with the
-bust some months ago. We ordered three busts of that sort from
-Gelder & Co., of Stepney. They are all sold now. To whom? Oh, I
-daresay by consulting our sales book we could very easily tell
-you. Yes, we have the entries here. One to Mr. Harker you see,
-and one to Mr. Josiah Brown, of Laburnum Lodge, Laburnum Vale,
-Chiswick, and one to Mr. Sandeford, of Lower Grove Road, Reading.
-No, I have never seen this face which you show me in the
-photograph. You would hardly forget it, would you, sir, for I’ve
-seldom seen an uglier. Have we any Italians on the staff? Yes,
-sir, we have several among our workpeople and cleaners. I daresay
-they might get a peep at that sales book if they wanted to. There
-is no particular reason for keeping a watch upon that book. Well,
-well, it’s a very strange business, and I hope that you will let
-me know if anything comes of your inquiries.”
-
-Holmes had taken several notes during Mr. Harding’s evidence, and
-I could see that he was thoroughly satisfied by the turn which
-affairs were taking. He made no remark, however, save that,
-unless we hurried, we should be late for our appointment with
-Lestrade. Sure enough, when we reached Baker Street the detective
-was already there, and we found him pacing up and down in a fever
-of impatience. His look of importance showed that his day’s work
-had not been in vain.
-
-“Well?” he asked. “What luck, Mr. Holmes?”
-
-“We have had a very busy day, and not entirely a wasted one,” my
-friend explained. “We have seen both the retailers and also the
-wholesale manufacturers. I can trace each of the busts now from
-the beginning.”
-
-“The busts,” cried Lestrade. “Well, well, you have your own
-methods, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and it is not for me to say a word
-against them, but I think I have done a better day’s work than
-you. I have identified the dead man.”
-
-“You don’t say so?”
-
-“And found a cause for the crime.”
-
-“Splendid!”
-
-“We have an inspector who makes a specialty of Saffron Hill and
-the Italian Quarter. Well, this dead man had some Catholic emblem
-round his neck, and that, along with his colour, made me think he
-was from the South. Inspector Hill knew him the moment he caught
-sight of him. His name is Pietro Venucci, from Naples, and he is
-one of the greatest cut-throats in London. He is connected with
-the Mafia, which, as you know, is a secret political society,
-enforcing its decrees by murder. Now, you see how the affair
-begins to clear up. The other fellow is probably an Italian also,
-and a member of the Mafia. He has broken the rules in some
-fashion. Pietro is set upon his track. Probably the photograph we
-found in his pocket is the man himself, so that he may not knife
-the wrong person. He dogs the fellow, he sees him enter a house,
-he waits outside for him, and in the scuffle he receives his own
-death-wound. How is that, Mr. Sherlock Holmes?”
-
-Holmes clapped his hands approvingly.
-
-“Excellent, Lestrade, excellent!” he cried. “But I didn’t quite
-follow your explanation of the destruction of the busts.”
-
-“The busts! You never can get those busts out of your head. After
-all, that is nothing; petty larceny, six months at the most. It
-is the murder that we are really investigating, and I tell you
-that I am gathering all the threads into my hands.”
-
-“And the next stage?”
-
-“Is a very simple one. I shall go down with Hill to the Italian
-Quarter, find the man whose photograph we have got, and arrest
-him on the charge of murder. Will you come with us?”
-
-“I think not. I fancy we can attain our end in a simpler way. I
-can’t say for certain, because it all depends—well, it all
-depends upon a factor which is completely outside our control.
-But I have great hopes—in fact, the betting is exactly two to
-one—that if you will come with us to-night I shall be able to
-help you to lay him by the heels.”
-
-“In the Italian Quarter?”
-
-“No, I fancy Chiswick is an address which is more likely to find
-him. If you will come with me to Chiswick to-night, Lestrade,
-I’ll promise to go to the Italian Quarter with you to-morrow, and
-no harm will be done by the delay. And now I think that a few
-hours’ sleep would do us all good, for I do not propose to leave
-before eleven o’clock, and it is unlikely that we shall be back
-before morning. You’ll dine with us, Lestrade, and then you are
-welcome to the sofa until it is time for us to start. In the
-meantime, Watson, I should be glad if you would ring for an
-express messenger, for I have a letter to send and it is
-important that it should go at once.”
-
-Holmes spent the evening in rummaging among the files of the old
-daily papers with which one of our lumber-rooms was packed. When
-at last he descended, it was with triumph in his eyes, but he
-said nothing to either of us as to the result of his researches.
-For my own part, I had followed step by step the methods by which
-he had traced the various windings of this complex case, and,
-though I could not yet perceive the goal which we would reach, I
-understood clearly that Holmes expected this grotesque criminal
-to make an attempt upon the two remaining busts, one of which, I
-remembered, was at Chiswick. No doubt the object of our journey
-was to catch him in the very act, and I could not but admire the
-cunning with which my friend had inserted a wrong clue in the
-evening paper, so as to give the fellow the idea that he could
-continue his scheme with impunity. I was not surprised when
-Holmes suggested that I should take my revolver with me. He had
-himself picked up the loaded hunting-crop, which was his
-favourite weapon.
-
-A four-wheeler was at the door at eleven, and in it we drove to a
-spot at the other side of Hammersmith Bridge. Here the cabman was
-directed to wait. A short walk brought us to a secluded road
-fringed with pleasant houses, each standing in its own grounds.
-In the light of a street lamp we read “Laburnum Villa” upon the
-gate-post of one of them. The occupants had evidently retired to
-rest, for all was dark save for a fanlight over the hall door,
-which shed a single blurred circle on to the garden path. The
-wooden fence which separated the grounds from the road threw a
-dense black shadow upon the inner side, and here it was that we
-crouched.
-
-“I fear that you’ll have a long wait,” Holmes whispered. “We may
-thank our stars that it is not raining. I don’t think we can even
-venture to smoke to pass the time. However, it’s a two to one
-chance that we get something to pay us for our trouble.”
-
-It proved, however, that our vigil was not to be so long as
-Holmes had led us to fear, and it ended in a very sudden and
-singular fashion. In an instant, without the least sound to warn
-us of his coming, the garden gate swung open, and a lithe, dark
-figure, as swift and active as an ape, rushed up the garden path.
-We saw it whisk past the light thrown from over the door and
-disappear against the black shadow of the house. There was a long
-pause, during which we held our breath, and then a very gentle
-creaking sound came to our ears. The window was being opened. The
-noise ceased, and again there was a long silence. The fellow was
-making his way into the house. We saw the sudden flash of a dark
-lantern inside the room. What he sought was evidently not there,
-for again we saw the flash through another blind, and then
-through another.
-
-“Let us get to the open window. We will nab him as he climbs
-out,” Lestrade whispered.
-
-But before we could move, the man had emerged again. As he came
-out into the glimmering patch of light, we saw that he carried
-something white under his arm. He looked stealthily all round
-him. The silence of the deserted street reassured him. Turning
-his back upon us he laid down his burden, and the next instant
-there was the sound of a sharp tap, followed by a clatter and
-rattle. The man was so intent upon what he was doing that he
-never heard our steps as we stole across the grass plot. With the
-bound of a tiger Holmes was on his back, and an instant later
-Lestrade and I had him by either wrist, and the handcuffs had
-been fastened. As we turned him over I saw a hideous, sallow
-face, with writhing, furious features, glaring up at us, and I
-knew that it was indeed the man of the photograph whom we had
-secured.
-
-But it was not our prisoner to whom Holmes was giving his
-attention. Squatted on the doorstep, he was engaged in most
-carefully examining that which the man had brought from the
-house. It was a bust of Napoleon, like the one which we had seen
-that morning, and it had been broken into similar fragments.
-Carefully Holmes held each separate shard to the light, but in no
-way did it differ from any other shattered piece of plaster. He
-had just completed his examination when the hall lights flew up,
-the door opened, and the owner of the house, a jovial, rotund
-figure in shirt and trousers, presented himself.
-
-“Mr. Josiah Brown, I suppose?” said Holmes.
-
-“Yes, sir; and you, no doubt, are Mr. Sherlock Holmes? I had the
-note which you sent by the express messenger, and I did exactly
-what you told me. We locked every door on the inside and awaited
-developments. Well, I’m very glad to see that you have got the
-rascal. I hope, gentlemen, that you will come in and have some
-refreshment.”
-
-However, Lestrade was anxious to get his man into safe quarters,
-so within a few minutes our cab had been summoned and we were all
-four upon our way to London. Not a word would our captive say,
-but he glared at us from the shadow of his matted hair, and once,
-when my hand seemed within his reach, he snapped at it like a
-hungry wolf. We stayed long enough at the police-station to learn
-that a search of his clothing revealed nothing save a few
-shillings and a long sheath knife, the handle of which bore
-copious traces of recent blood.
-
-“That’s all right,” said Lestrade, as we parted. “Hill knows all
-these gentry, and he will give a name to him. You’ll find that my
-theory of the Mafia will work out all right. But I’m sure I am
-exceedingly obliged to you, Mr. Holmes, for the workmanlike way
-in which you laid hands upon him. I don’t quite understand it all
-yet.”
-
-“I fear it is rather too late an hour for explanations,” said
-Holmes. “Besides, there are one or two details which are not
-finished off, and it is one of those cases which are worth
-working out to the very end. If you will come round once more to
-my rooms at six o’clock to-morrow, I think I shall be able to
-show you that even now you have not grasped the entire meaning of
-this business, which presents some features which make it
-absolutely original in the history of crime. If ever I permit you
-to chronicle any more of my little problems, Watson, I foresee
-that you will enliven your pages by an account of the singular
-adventure of the Napoleonic busts.”
-
-When we met again next evening, Lestrade was furnished with much
-information concerning our prisoner. His name, it appeared, was
-Beppo, second name unknown. He was a well-known ne’er-do-well
-among the Italian colony. He had once been a skilful sculptor and
-had earned an honest living, but he had taken to evil courses and
-had twice already been in jail—once for a petty theft, and once,
-as we had already heard, for stabbing a fellow-countryman. He
-could talk English perfectly well. His reasons for destroying the
-busts were still unknown, and he refused to answer any questions
-upon the subject, but the police had discovered that these same
-busts might very well have been made by his own hands, since he
-was engaged in this class of work at the establishment of Gelder
-& Co. To all this information, much of which we already knew,
-Holmes listened with polite attention, but I, who knew him so
-well, could clearly see that his thoughts were elsewhere, and I
-detected a mixture of mingled uneasiness and expectation beneath
-that mask which he was wont to assume. At last he started in his
-chair, and his eyes brightened. There had been a ring at the
-bell. A minute later we heard steps upon the stairs, and an
-elderly red-faced man with grizzled side-whiskers was ushered in.
-In his right hand he carried an old-fashioned carpet-bag, which
-he placed upon the table.
-
-“Is Mr. Sherlock Holmes here?”
-
-My friend bowed and smiled. “Mr. Sandeford, of Reading, I
-suppose?” said he.
-
-“Yes, sir, I fear that I am a little late, but the trains were
-awkward. You wrote to me about a bust that is in my possession.”
-
-“Exactly.”
-
-“I have your letter here. You said, ‘I desire to possess a copy
-of Devine’s Napoleon, and am prepared to pay you ten pounds for
-the one which is in your possession.’ Is that right?”
-
-“Certainly.”
-
-“I was very much surprised at your letter, for I could not
-imagine how you knew that I owned such a thing.”
-
-“Of course you must have been surprised, but the explanation is
-very simple. Mr. Harding, of Harding Brothers, said that they had
-sold you their last copy, and he gave me your address.”
-
-“Oh, that was it, was it? Did he tell you what I paid for it?”
-
-“No, he did not.”
-
-“Well, I am an honest man, though not a very rich one. I only
-gave fifteen shillings for the bust, and I think you ought to
-know that before I take ten pounds from you.
-
-“I am sure the scruple does you honour, Mr. Sandeford. But I have
-named that price, so I intend to stick to it.”
-
-“Well, it is very handsome of you, Mr. Holmes. I brought the bust
-up with me, as you asked me to do. Here it is!” He opened his
-bag, and at last we saw placed upon our table a complete specimen
-of that bust which we had already seen more than once in
-fragments.
-
-Holmes took a paper from his pocket and laid a ten-pound note
-upon the table.
-
-“You will kindly sign that paper, Mr. Sandeford, in the presence
-of these witnesses. It is simply to say that you transfer every
-possible right that you ever had in the bust to me. I am a
-methodical man, you see, and you never know what turn events
-might take afterwards. Thank you, Mr. Sandeford; here is your
-money, and I wish you a very good evening.”
-
-When our visitor had disappeared, Sherlock Holmes’s movements
-were such as to rivet our attention. He began by taking a clean
-white cloth from a drawer and laying it over the table. Then he
-placed his newly acquired bust in the centre of the cloth.
-Finally, he picked up his hunting-crop and struck Napoleon a
-sharp blow on the top of the head. The figure broke into
-fragments, and Holmes bent eagerly over the shattered remains.
-Next instant, with a loud shout of triumph he held up one
-splinter, in which a round, dark object was fixed like a plum in
-a pudding.
-
-“Gentlemen,” he cried, “let me introduce you to the famous black
-pearl of the Borgias.”
-
-Lestrade and I sat silent for a moment, and then, with a
-spontaneous impulse, we both broke at clapping, as at the
-well-wrought crisis of a play. A flush of colour sprang to
-Holmes’s pale cheeks, and he bowed to us like the master
-dramatist who receives the homage of his audience. It was at such
-moments that for an instant he ceased to be a reasoning machine,
-and betrayed his human love for admiration and applause. The same
-singularly proud and reserved nature which turned away with
-disdain from popular notoriety was capable of being moved to its
-depths by spontaneous wonder and praise from a friend.
-
-“Yes, gentlemen,” said he, “it is the most famous pearl now
-existing in the world, and it has been my good fortune, by a
-connected chain of inductive reasoning, to trace it from the
-Prince of Colonna’s bedroom at the Dacre Hotel, where it was
-lost, to the interior of this, the last of the six busts of
-Napoleon which were manufactured by Gelder & Co., of Stepney. You
-will remember, Lestrade, the sensation caused by the
-disappearance of this valuable jewel and the vain efforts of the
-London police to recover it. I was myself consulted upon the
-case, but I was unable to throw any light upon it. Suspicion fell
-upon the maid of the Princess, who was an Italian, and it was
-proved that she had a brother in London, but we failed to trace
-any connection between them. The maid’s name was Lucretia
-Venucci, and there is no doubt in my mind that this Pietro who
-was murdered two nights ago was the brother. I have been looking
-up the dates in the old files of the paper, and I find that the
-disappearance of the pearl was exactly two days before the arrest
-of Beppo, for some crime of violence—an event which took place in
-the factory of Gelder & Co., at the very moment when these busts
-were being made. Now you clearly see the sequence of events,
-though you see them, of course, in the inverse order to the way
-in which they presented themselves to me. Beppo had the pearl in
-his possession. He may have stolen it from Pietro, he may have
-been Pietro’s confederate, he may have been the go-between of
-Pietro and his sister. It is of no consequence to us which is the
-correct solution.
-
-“The main fact is that he _had_ the pearl, and at that moment,
-when it was on his person, he was pursued by the police. He made
-for the factory in which he worked, and he knew that he had only
-a few minutes in which to conceal this enormously valuable prize,
-which would otherwise be found on him when he was searched. Six
-plaster casts of Napoleon were drying in the passage. One of them
-was still soft. In an instant Beppo, a skilful workman, made a
-small hole in the wet plaster, dropped in the pearl, and with a
-few touches covered over the aperture once more. It was an
-admirable hiding-place. No one could possibly find it. But Beppo
-was condemned to a year’s imprisonment, and in the meanwhile his
-six busts were scattered over London. He could not tell which
-contained his treasure. Only by breaking them could he see. Even
-shaking would tell him nothing, for as the plaster was wet it was
-probable that the pearl would adhere to it—as, in fact, it has
-done. Beppo did not despair, and he conducted his search with
-considerable ingenuity and perseverance. Through a cousin who
-works with Gelder, he found out the retail firms who had bought
-the busts. He managed to find employment with Morse Hudson, and
-in that way tracked down three of them. The pearl was not there.
-Then, with the help of some Italian employee, he succeeded in
-finding out where the other three busts had gone. The first was
-at Harker’s. There he was dogged by his confederate, who held
-Beppo responsible for the loss of the pearl, and he stabbed him
-in the scuffle which followed.”
-
-“If he was his confederate, why should he carry his photograph?”
-I asked.
-
-“As a means of tracing him, if he wished to inquire about him
-from any third person. That was the obvious reason. Well, after
-the murder I calculated that Beppo would probably hurry rather
-than delay his movements. He would fear that the police would
-read his secret, and so he hastened on before they should get
-ahead of him. Of course, I could not say that he had not found
-the pearl in Harker’s bust. I had not even concluded for certain
-that it was the pearl, but it was evident to me that he was
-looking for something, since he carried the bust past the other
-houses in order to break it in the garden which had a lamp
-overlooking it. Since Harker’s bust was one in three, the chances
-were exactly as I told you—two to one against the pearl being
-inside it. There remained two busts, and it was obvious that he
-would go for the London one first. I warned the inmates of the
-house, so as to avoid a second tragedy, and we went down, with
-the happiest results. By that time, of course, I knew for certain
-that it was the Borgia pearl that we were after. The name of the
-murdered man linked the one event with the other. There only
-remained a single bust—the Reading one—and the pearl must be
-there. I bought it in your presence from the owner—and there it
-lies.”
-
-We sat in silence for a moment.
-
-“Well,” said Lestrade, “I’ve seen you handle a good many cases,
-Mr. Holmes, but I don’t know that I ever knew a more workmanlike
-one than that. We’re not jealous of you at Scotland Yard. No,
-sir, we are very proud of you, and if you come down to-morrow,
-there’s not a man, from the oldest inspector to the youngest
-constable, who wouldn’t be glad to shake you by the hand.”
-
-“Thank you!” said Holmes. “Thank you!” and as he turned away, it
-seemed to me that he was more nearly moved by the softer human
-emotions than I had ever seen him. A moment later he was the cold
-and practical thinker once more. “Put the pearl in the safe,
-Watson,” said he, “and get out the papers of the Conk-Singleton
-forgery case. Good-bye, Lestrade. If any little problem comes
-your way, I shall be happy, if I can, to give you a hint or two
-as to its solution.”
\ No newline at end of file
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-THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND
-
-
-On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I have
-during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend Sherlock
-Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number merely strange,
-but none commonplace; for, working as he did rather for the love of his
-art than for the acquirement of wealth, he refused to associate himself
-with any investigation which did not tend towards the unusual, and even
-the fantastic. Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any
-which presented more singular features than that which was associated
-with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. The
-events in question occurred in the early days of my association with
-Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors in Baker Street. It
-is possible that I might have placed them upon record before, but a
-promise of secrecy was made at the time, from which I have only been
-freed during the last month by the untimely death of the lady to whom
-the pledge was given. It is perhaps as well that the facts should now
-come to light, for I have reasons to know that there are wide-spread
-rumors as to the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the
-matter even more terrible than the truth.
-
-It was early in April in the year ’83 that I woke one morning to find
-Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my bed. He was
-a late riser as a rule, and as the clock on the mantel-piece showed
-me that it was only a quarter past seven, I blinked up at him in some
-surprise, and perhaps just a little resentment, for I was myself
-regular in my habits.
-
-“Very sorry to knock you up, Watson,” said he, “but it’s the common lot
-this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she retorted upon me,
-and I on you.”
-
-“What is it, then—a fire?”
-
-“No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a considerable
-state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She is waiting now in
-the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander about the metropolis
-at this hour of the morning, and knock sleepy people up out of their
-beds, I presume that it is something very pressing which they have to
-communicate. Should it prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am
-sure, wish to follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I
-should call you and give you the chance.”
-
-“My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything.”
-
-I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional
-investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as
-intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis, with which he
-unravelled the problems which were submitted to him. I rapidly threw on
-my clothes, and was ready in a few minutes to accompany my friend down
-to the sitting-room. A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who
-had been sitting in the window, rose as we entered.
-
-“Good-morning, madam,” said Holmes, cheerily. “My name is Sherlock
-Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before
-whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am glad to see
-that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up
-to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that
-you are shivering.”
-
-“It is not cold which makes me shiver,” said the woman, in a low voice,
-changing her seat as requested.
-
-“What, then?”
-
-“It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.” She raised her veil as she
-spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of
-agitation, her face all drawn and gray, with restless, frightened eyes,
-like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were those of
-a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature gray, and her
-expression was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one
-of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.
-
-“You must not fear,” said he, soothingly, bending forward and patting
-her forearm. “We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt. You
-have come in by train this morning, I see.”
-
-“You know me, then?”
-
-“No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of
-your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had a good
-drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the station.”
-
-The lady gave a violent start, and stared in bewilderment at my
-companion.
-
-“There is no mystery, my dear madam,” said he, smiling. “The left arm
-of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places. The
-marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which
-throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand
-side of the driver.”
-
-“Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,” said she. “I
-started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at twenty past, and
-came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I can stand this strain no
-longer; I shall go mad if it continues. I have no one to turn to—none,
-save only one, who cares for me, and he, poor fellow, can be of little
-aid. I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs.
-Farintosh, whom you helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from
-her that I had your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could
-help me, too, and at least throw a little light through the dense
-darkness which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward
-you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be married,
-with the control of my own income, and then at least you shall not
-find me ungrateful.”
-
-Holmes turned to his desk, and unlocking it, drew out a small
-case-book, which he consulted.
-
-“Farintosh,” said he. “Ah yes, I recall the case; it was concerned with
-an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, Watson. I can only say,
-madam, that I shall be happy to devote the same care to your case as
-I did to that of your friend. As to reward, my profession is its own
-reward; but you are at liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be put
-to, at the time which suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay
-before us everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the
-matter.”
-
-“Alas!” replied our visitor, “the very horror of my situation lies
-in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions depend so
-entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to another, that
-even he to whom of all others I have a right to look for help and
-advice looks upon all that I tell him about it as the fancies of a
-nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can read it from his soothing
-answers and averted eyes. But I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can
-see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. You may
-advise me how to walk amid the dangers which encompass me.”
-
-“I am all attention, madam.”
-
-“My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my step-father, who is
-the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the
-Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of Surrey.”
-
-Holmes nodded his head. “The name is familiar to me,” said he.
-
-“The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the
-estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and
-Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four successive
-heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, and the family
-ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the
-Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, and the
-two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under a heavy
-mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence there, living
-the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but his only son, my
-step-father, seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions,
-obtained an advance from a relative, which enabled him to take a
-medical degree, and went out to Calcutta, where, by his professional
-skill and his force of character, he established a large practice.
-In a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies which had been
-perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death, and
-narrowly escaped a capital sentence. As it was, he suffered a long
-term of imprisonment, and afterwards returned to England a morose and
-disappointed man.
-
-“When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, the
-young widow of Major-general Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. My sister
-Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old at the time of
-my mother’s re-marriage. She had a considerable sum of money—not less
-than £1000 a year—and this she bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely
-while we resided with him, with a provision that a certain annual sum
-should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly
-after our return to England my mother died—she was killed eight years
-ago in a railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his
-attempts to establish himself in practice in London, and took us to
-live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The money
-which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and there seemed
-to be no obstacle to our happiness.
-
-“But a terrible change came over our step-father about this time.
-Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbors, who
-had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back in
-the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house, and seldom came
-out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his
-path. Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary in
-the men of the family, and in my step-father’s case it had, I believe,
-been intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of
-disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the police-court,
-until at last he became the terror of the village, and the folks
-would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and
-absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.
-
-“Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream,
-and it was only by paying over all the money which I could gather
-together that I was able to avert another public exposure. He had no
-friends at all save the wandering gypsies, and he would give these
-vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few acres of bramble-covered land
-which represent the family estate, and would accept in return the
-hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them sometimes for
-weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian animals, which are sent
-over to him by a correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and
-a baboon, which wander freely over his grounds, and are feared by the
-villagers almost as much as their master.
-
-“You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I had no
-great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with us, and for a
-long time we did all the work of the house. She was but thirty at the
-time of her death, and yet her hair had already begun to whiten, even
-as mine has.”
-
-“Your sister is dead, then?”
-
-“She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish to
-speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I have
-described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own age and
-position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother’s maiden sister, Miss
-Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we were occasionally
-allowed to pay short visits at this lady’s house. Julia went there at
-Christmas two years ago, and met there a half-pay major of marines,
-to whom she became engaged. My step-father learned of the engagement
-when my sister returned, and offered no objection to the marriage; but
-within a fortnight of the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the
-terrible event occurred which has deprived me of my only companion.”
-
-Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed
-and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his lids now and
-glanced across at his visitor.
-
-“Pray be precise as to details,” said he.
-
-“It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful time is
-seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have already said, very
-old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The bedrooms in this wing are
-on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms being in the central block of
-the buildings. Of these bedrooms the first is Dr. Roylott’s, the second
-my sister’s, and the third my own. There is no communication between
-them, but they all open out into the same corridor. Do I make myself
-plain?”
-
-“Perfectly so.”
-
-“The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That fatal
-night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we knew that he
-had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled by the smell of
-the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom to smoke. She left
-her room, therefore, and came into mine, where she sat for some time,
-chatting about her approaching wedding. At eleven o’clock she rose to
-leave me but she paused at the door and looked back.
-
-“‘Tell me, Helen,’ said she, ‘have you ever heard any one whistle in
-the dead of the night?’
-
-“‘Never,’ said I.
-
-“‘I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your
-sleep?’
-
-“‘Certainly not. But why?’
-
-“‘Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in
-the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, and it
-has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from—perhaps from the
-next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would just ask you
-whether you had heard it.’
-
-“‘No, I have not. It must be those wretched gypsies in the plantation.’
-
-“‘Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you did
-not hear it also.’
-
-“‘Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.’
-
-“‘Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.’ She smiled back at
-me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her key turn in the
-lock.”
-
-“Indeed,” said Holmes. “Was it your custom always to lock yourselves in
-at night?”
-
-“Always.”
-
-“And why?”
-
-“I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah and a
-baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were locked.”
-
-“Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.”
-
-“I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending misfortune
-impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, were twins, and you
-know how subtle are the links which bind two souls which are so closely
-allied. It was a wild night. The wind was howling outside, and the rain
-was beating and splashing against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the
-hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified
-woman. I knew that it was my sister’s voice. I sprang from my bed,
-wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my
-door I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and a
-few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen.
-As I ran down the passage, my sister’s door was unlocked, and revolved
-slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken, not knowing
-what was about to issue from it. By the light of the corridor-lamp I
-saw my sister appear at the opening, her face blanched with terror, her
-hands groping for help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that
-of a drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that
-moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. She
-writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were dreadfully
-convulsed. At first I thought that she had not recognized me, but as I
-bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in a voice which I shall never
-forget, ‘Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!’ There
-was something else which she would fain have said, and she stabbed with
-her finger into the air in the direction of the doctor’s room, but a
-fresh convulsion seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling
-loudly for my step-father, and I met him hastening from his room in his
-dressing-gown. When he reached my sister’s side she was unconscious,
-and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent for medical aid
-from the village, all efforts were in vain, for she slowly sank and
-died without having recovered her consciousness. Such was the dreadful
-end of my beloved sister.”
-
-“One moment,” said Holmes; “are you sure about this whistle and
-metallic sound? Could you swear to it?”
-
-“That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is my
-strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of the gale
-and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have been deceived.”
-
-“Was your sister dressed?”
-
-“No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the
-charred stump of a match, and in her left a matchbox.”
-
-“Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when the
-alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did the
-coroner come to?”
-
-“He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott’s conduct
-had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable to find any
-satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the door had
-been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows were blocked by
-old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, which were secured every
-night. The walls were carefully sounded, and were shown to be quite
-solid all round, and the flooring was also thoroughly examined, with
-the same result. The chimney is wide, but is barred up by four large
-staples. It is certain, therefore, that my sister was quite alone when
-she met her end. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her.”
-
-“How about poison?”
-
-“The doctors examined her for it, but without success.”
-
-“What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?”
-
-“It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, though
-what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine.”
-
-“Were there gypsies in the plantation at the time?”
-
-“Yes, there are nearly always some there.”
-
-“Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band—a speckled
-band?”
-
-“Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of delirium,
-sometimes that it may have referred to some band of people, perhaps to
-these very gypsies in the plantation. I do not know whether the spotted
-handkerchiefs which so many of them wear over their heads might have
-suggested the strange adjective which she used.”
-
-Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied.
-
-“These are very deep waters,” said he; “pray go on with your narrative.”
-
-“Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until lately
-lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, whom I have
-known for many years, has done me the honor to ask my hand in marriage.
-His name is Armitage—Percy Armitage—the second son of Mr. Armitage,
-of Crane Water, near Reading. My step-father has offered no opposition
-to the match, and we are to be married in the course of the spring. Two
-days ago some repairs were started in the west wing of the building,
-and my bedroom wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into
-the chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in
-which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last night,
-as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I suddenly heard in
-the silence of the night the low whistle which had been the herald of
-her own death. I sprang up and lit the lamp, but nothing was to be
-seen in the room. I was too shaken to go to bed again, however, so I
-dressed, and as soon as it was daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart
-at the ‘Crown Inn,’ which is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from
-whence I have come on this morning with the one object of seeing you
-and asking your advice.”
-
-“You have done wisely,” said my friend. “But have you told me all?”
-
-“Yes, all.”
-
-“Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your step-father.”
-
-“Why, what do you mean?”
-
-For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which fringed the
-hand that lay upon our visitor’s knee. Five little livid spots, the
-marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist.
-
-“You have been cruelly used,” said Holmes.
-
-The lady colored deeply and covered over her injured wrist. “He is a
-hard man,” she said, “and perhaps he hardly knows his own strength.”
-
-There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin upon his
-hands and stared into the crackling fire.
-
-“This is a very deep business,” he said, at last. “There are a thousand
-details which I should desire to know before I decide upon our course
-of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If we were to come to
-Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for us to see over these rooms
-without the knowledge of your step-father?”
-
-“As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some most
-important business. It is probable that he will be away all day, and
-that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a house-keeper
-now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily get her out of the
-way.”
-
-“Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?”
-
-“By no means.”
-
-“Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?”
-
-“I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am in
-town. But I shall return by the twelve o’clock train, so as to be there
-in time for your coming.”
-
-“And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some small
-business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and breakfast?”
-
-“No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have confided
-my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you again this
-afternoon.” She dropped her thick black veil over her face and glided
-from the room.
-
-“And what do you think of it all, Watson?” asked Sherlock Holmes,
-leaning back in his chair.
-
-“It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business.”
-
-“Dark enough and sinister enough.”
-
-“Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls are
-sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, then her
-sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her mysterious
-end.”
-
-“What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the very
-peculiar words of the dying woman?”
-
-“I cannot think.”
-
-“When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of a
-band of gypsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, the
-fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has an
-interest in preventing his step-daughter’s marriage, the dying allusion
-to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner heard a
-metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those metal bars
-which secured the shutters falling back into their place, I think that
-there is good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along
-those lines.”
-
-“But what, then, did the gypsies do?”
-
-“I cannot imagine.”
-
-“I see many objections to any such theory.”
-
-“And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going to
-Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are fatal,
-or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of the devil!”
-
-The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that our
-door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had framed
-himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar mixture of the
-professional and of the agricultural, having a black top-hat, a long
-frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swinging in
-his hand. So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross bar
-of the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span it across from side to
-side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with
-the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the
-other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin,
-fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird
-of prey.
-
-“Which of you is Holmes?” asked this apparition.
-
-“My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me,” said my companion,
-quietly.
-
-“I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.”
-
-“Indeed, doctor,” said Holmes, blandly. “Pray take a seat.”
-
-“I will do nothing of the kind. My step-daughter has been here. I have
-traced her. What has she been saying to you?”
-
-“It is a little cold for the time of the year,” said Holmes.
-
-“What has she been saying to you?” screamed the old man, furiously.
-
-“But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,” continued my
-companion, imperturbably.
-
-“Ha! You put me off, do you?” said our new visitor, taking a step
-forward and shaking his hunting-crop. “I know you, you scoundrel! I
-have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler.”
-
-My friend smiled.
-
-“Holmes, the busybody!”
-
-His smile broadened.
-
-“Holmes, the Scotland-yard Jack-in-office!”
-
-Holmes chuckled heartily. “Your conversation is most entertaining,”
-said he. “When you go out close the door, for there is a decided
-draught.”
-
-“I will go when I have said my say. Don’t you dare to meddle with my
-affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! I am a
-dangerous man to fall foul of! See here.” He stepped swiftly forward,
-seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands.
-
-“See that you keep yourself out of my grip,” he snarled, and hurling
-the twisted poker into the fireplace, he strode out of the room.
-
-“He seems a very amiable person,” said Holmes, laughing. “I am not
-quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him that my
-grip was not much more feeble than his own.” As he spoke he picked up
-the steel poker, and with a sudden effort straightened it out again.
-
-“Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official
-detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation,
-however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer from
-her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, Watson,
-we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk down to Doctors’
-Commons, where I hope to get some data which may help us in this
-matter.”
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It was nearly one o’clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his
-excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled over
-with notes and figures.
-
-“I have seen the will of the deceased wife,” said he. “To determine
-its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the present prices
-of the investments with which it is concerned. The total income, which
-at the time of the wife’s death was little short of £1100, is now,
-through the fall in agricultural prices, not more than £750. Each
-daughter can claim an income of £250, in case of marriage. It is
-evident, therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would
-have had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to
-a very serious extent. My morning’s work has not been wasted, since it
-has proved that he has the very strongest motives for standing in the
-way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, this is too serious for
-dawdling, especially as the old man is aware that we are interesting
-ourselves in his affairs; so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and
-drive to Waterloo. I should be very much obliged if you would slip your
-revolver into your pocket. An Eley’s No. 2 is an excellent argument
-with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a
-tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.”
-
-At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for Leatherhead,
-where we hired a trap at the station inn, and drove for four or five
-miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a perfect day, with
-a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the heavens. The trees and
-way-side hedges were just throwing out their first green shoots, and
-the air was full of the pleasant smell of the moist earth. To me at
-least there was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the
-spring and this sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion
-sat in the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over
-his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the deepest
-thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the shoulder, and
-pointed over the meadows.
-
-“Look there!” said he.
-
-A heavily-timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, thickening into
-a grove at the highest point. From amid the branches there jutted out
-the gray gables and high roof-tree of a very old mansion.
-
-“Stoke Moran?” said he.
-
-“Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,” remarked the
-driver.
-
-“There is some building going on there,” said Holmes; “that is where we
-are going.”
-
-“There’s the village,” said the driver, pointing to a cluster of roofs
-some distance to the left; “but if you want to get to the house, you’ll
-find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by the foot-path over
-the fields. There it is, where the lady is walking.”
-
-“And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,” observed Holmes, shading his
-eyes. “Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest.”
-
-We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way to
-Leatherhead.
-
-“I thought it as well,” said Holmes, as we climbed the stile, “that
-this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or on some
-definite business. It may stop his gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner.
-You see that we have been as good as our word.”
-
-Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a face
-which spoke her joy. “I have been waiting so eagerly for you,” she
-cried, shaking hands with us warmly. “All has turned out splendidly.
-Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely that he will be back
-before evening.”
-
-“We have had the pleasure of making the doctor’s acquaintance,” said
-Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had occurred. Miss
-Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened.
-
-“Good heavens!” she cried, “he has followed me, then.”
-
-“So it appears.”
-
-“He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What will
-he say when he returns?”
-
-“He must guard himself, for he may find that there is some one more
-cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself up from him
-to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to your aunt’s at
-Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our time, so kindly take us
-at once to the rooms which we are to examine.”
-
-The building was of gray, lichen-blotched stone, with a high central
-portion, and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out
-on each side. In one of these wings the windows were broken, and
-blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly caved in, a
-picture of ruin. The central portion was in little better repair, but
-the right-hand block was comparatively modern, and the blinds in the
-windows, with the blue smoke curling up from the chimneys, showed that
-this was where the family resided. Some scaffolding had been erected
-against the end wall, and the stone-work had been broken into, but
-there were no signs of any workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes
-walked slowly up and down the ill-trimmed lawn, and examined with deep
-attention the outsides of the windows.
-
-“This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, the
-centre one to your sister’s, and the one next to the main building to
-Dr. Roylott’s chamber?”
-
-“Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.”
-
-“Pending the alterations, as I understand. By-the-way, there does not
-seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end wall.”
-
-“There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from my
-room.”
-
-“Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow wing
-runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There are windows
-in it, of course?”
-
-“Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for any one to pass through.”
-
-“As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were unapproachable
-from that side. Now, would you have the kindness to go into your room
-and bar your shutters.”
-
-Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination through
-the open window, endeavored in every way to force the shutter open,
-but without success. There was no slit through which a knife could be
-passed to raise the bar. Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but
-they were of solid iron, built firmly into the massive masonry. “Hum!”
-said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity; “my theory certainly
-presents some difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they
-were bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the
-matter.”
-
-A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which the
-three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third chamber,
-so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss Stoner was now
-sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her fate. It was a
-homely little room, with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after
-the fashion of old country-houses. A brown chest of drawers stood
-in one corner, a narrow white-counterpaned bed in another, and a
-dressing-table on the left-hand side of the window. These articles,
-with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the
-room, save for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards
-round and the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so
-old and discolored that it may have dated from the original building of
-the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent,
-while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, taking in
-every detail of the apartment.
-
-“Where does that bell communicate with?” he asked, at last, pointing to
-a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the tassel actually
-lying upon the pillow.
-
-“It goes to the house-keeper’s room.”
-
-“It looks newer than the other things?”
-
-“Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.”
-
-“Your sister asked for it, I suppose?”
-
-“No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we
-wanted for ourselves.”
-
-“Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. You
-will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to this
-floor.” He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in his hand,
-and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining minutely the cracks
-between the boards. Then he did the same with the wood-work with which
-the chamber was panelled. Finally he walked over to the bed, and spent
-some time in staring at it, and in running his eye up and down the
-wall. Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug.
-
-“Why, it’s a dummy,” said he.
-
-“Won’t it ring?”
-
-“No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. You
-can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little
-opening for the ventilator is.”
-
-“How very absurd! I never noticed that before.”
-
-“Very strange!” muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. “There are one or
-two very singular points about this room. For example, what a fool a
-builder must be to open a ventilator into another room, when, with the
-same trouble, he might have communicated with the outside air!”
-
-“That is also quite modern,” said the lady.
-
-“Done about the same time as the bell-rope?” remarked Holmes.
-
-“Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that time.”
-
-“They seem to have been of a most interesting character—dummy
-bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your
-permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the
-inner apartment.”
-
-Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s chamber was larger than that of his
-step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small wooden
-shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an arm-chair
-beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a round table,
-and a large iron safe were the principal things which met the eye.
-Holmes walked slowly round and examined each and all of them with the
-keenest interest.
-
-“What’s in here?” he asked, tapping the safe.
-
-“My step-father’s business papers.”
-
-“Oh! you have seen inside, then?”
-
-“Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers.”
-
-“There isn’t a cat in it, for example?”
-
-“No. What a strange idea!”
-
-“Well, look at this!” He took up a small saucer of milk which stood on
-the top of it.
-
-“No; we don’t keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon.”
-
-“Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a
-saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I dare
-say. There is one point which I should wish to determine.” He squatted
-down in front of the wooden chair, and examined the seat of it with the
-greatest attention.
-
-“Thank you. That is quite settled,” said he, rising and putting his
-lens in his pocket. “Hello! Here is something interesting!”
-
-The object which had caught his eye was a small dog-lash hung on one
-corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself, and tied
-so as to make a loop of whip-cord.
-
-“What do you make of that, Watson?”
-
-“It’s a common enough lash. But I don’t know why it should be tied.”
-
-“That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it’s a wicked world,
-and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of
-all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your
-permission we shall walk out upon the lawn.”
-
-I had never seen my friend’s face so grim or his brow so dark as it
-was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We had walked
-several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss Stoner nor myself
-liking to break in upon his thoughts before he roused himself from his
-reverie.
-
-“It is very essential, Miss Stoner,” said he, “that you should
-absolutely follow my advice in every respect.”
-
-“I shall most certainly do so.”
-
-“The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may depend
-upon your compliance.”
-
-“I assure you that I am in your hands.”
-
-“In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in your
-room.”
-
-Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment.
-
-“Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the village
-inn over there?”
-
-“Yes, that is the ‘Crown.’”
-
-“Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?”
-
-“Certainly.”
-
-“You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a headache,
-when your step-father comes back. Then when you hear him retire for
-the night, you must open the shutters of your window, undo the hasp,
-put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then withdraw quietly with
-everything which you are likely to want into the room which you used to
-occupy. I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could manage
-there for one night.”
-
-“Oh yes, easily.”
-
-“The rest you will leave in our hands.”
-
-“But what will you do?”
-
-“We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate the
-cause of this noise which has disturbed you.”
-
-“I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind,” said
-Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion’s sleeve.
-
-“Perhaps I have.”
-
-“Then for pity’s sake tell me what was the cause of my sister’s death.”
-
-“I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.”
-
-“You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and if she
-died from some sudden fright.”
-
-[Illustration: “‘GOOD-BYE, AND BE BRAVE’”]
-
-“No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more
-tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you, for if Dr.
-Roylott returned and saw us, our journey would be in vain. Good-bye,
-and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, you may rest
-assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers that threaten you.”
-
-Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and
-sitting-room at the “Crown Inn.” They were on the upper floor, and
-from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and of the
-inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby
-Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little figure
-of the lad who drove him. The boy had some slight difficulty in undoing
-the heavy iron gates, and we heard the hoarse roar of the doctor’s
-voice, and saw the fury with which he shook his clinched fists at him.
-The trap drove on, and a few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring
-up among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.
-
-“Do you know, Watson,” said Holmes, as we sat together in the gathering
-darkness, “I have really some scruples as to taking you to-night. There
-is a distinct element of danger.”
-
-“Can I be of assistance?”
-
-“Your presence might be invaluable.”
-
-“Then I shall certainly come.”
-
-“It is very kind of you.”
-
-“You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than
-was visible to me.”
-
-“No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine that
-you saw all that I did.”
-
-“I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose that
-could answer I confess is more than I can imagine.”
-
-“You saw the ventilator, too?”
-
-“Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to have
-a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a rat could
-hardly pass through.”
-
-“I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to Stoke
-Moran.”
-
-“My dear Holmes!”
-
-“Oh yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her sister
-could smell Dr. Roylott’s cigar. Now, of course that suggested at once
-that there must be a communication between the two rooms. It could only
-be a small one, or it would have been remarked upon at the coroner’s
-inquiry. I deduced a ventilator.”
-
-“But what harm can there be in that?”
-
-“Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A ventilator
-is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does
-not that strike you?”
-
-“I cannot as yet see any connection.”
-
-“Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?”
-
-“No.”
-
-“It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened like that
-before?”
-
-“I cannot say that I have.”
-
-“The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same
-relative position to the ventilator and to the rope—for so we may call
-it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.”
-
-“Holmes,” I cried, “I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. We are
-only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible crime.”
-
-“Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong, he is
-the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and
-Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. This man strikes
-even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall be able to strike
-deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough before the night is
-over; for goodness’ sake let us have a quiet pipe, and turn our minds
-for a few hours to something more cheerful.”
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-About nine o’clock the light among the trees was extinguished, and all
-was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours passed slowly
-away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of eleven, a single
-bright light shone out right in front of us.
-
-“That is our signal,” said Holmes, springing to his feet; “it comes
-from the middle window.”
-
-As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, explaining
-that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, and that it was
-possible that we might spend the night there. A moment later we were
-out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow
-light twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide us on our
-sombre errand.
-
-There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unrepaired
-breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way among the trees,
-we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to enter through the
-window, when out from a clump of laurel bushes there darted what seemed
-to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass
-with writhing limbs, and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the
-darkness.
-
-“My God!” I whispered; “did you see it?”
-
-Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like a vice
-upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low laugh, and put
-his lips to my ear.
-
-“It is a nice household,” he murmured. “That is the baboon.”
-
-I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There was
-a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders at any
-moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, after following
-Holmes’s example and slipping off my shoes, I found myself inside the
-bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed the shutters, moved the lamp
-onto the table, and cast his eyes round the room. All was as we had
-seen it in the daytime. Then creeping up to me and making a trumpet of
-his hand, he whispered into my ear again so gently that it was all that
-I could do to distinguish the words:
-
-“The least sound would be fatal to our plans.”
-
-I nodded to show that I had heard.
-
-“We must sit without light. He would see it through the ventilator.”
-
-I nodded again.
-
-“Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your pistol
-ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of the bed, and
-you in that chair.”
-
-I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table.
-
-Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon the bed
-beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the stump of a candle.
-Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left in darkness.
-
-How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a sound,
-not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my companion
-sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same state of nervous
-tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut off the least ray
-of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. From outside came the
-occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at our very window a long
-drawn cat-like whine, which told us that the cheetah was indeed at
-liberty. Far away we could hear the deep tones of the parish clock,
-which boomed out every quarter of an hour. How long they seemed, those
-quarters! Twelve struck, and one and two and three, and still we sat
-waiting silently for whatever might befall.
-
-Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the direction
-of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was succeeded by
-a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. Some one in the next
-room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle sound of movement, and
-then all was silent once more, though the smell grew stronger. For half
-an hour I sat with straining ears. Then suddenly another sound became
-audible—a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of
-steam escaping continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it,
-Holmes sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with
-his cane at the bell-pull.
-
-“You see it, Watson?” he yelled. “You see it?”
-
-But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I heard
-a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my weary eyes
-made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which my friend lashed
-so savagely. I could, however, see that his face was deadly pale, and
-filled with horror and loathing.
-
-He had ceased to strike, and was gazing up at the ventilator, when
-suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most horrible
-cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder and louder, a
-hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled in the one dreadful
-shriek. They say that away down in the village, and even in the distant
-parsonage, that cry raised the sleepers from their beds. It struck cold
-to our hearts, and I stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the
-last echoes of it had died away into the silence from which it rose.
-
-“What can it mean?” I gasped.
-
-“It means that it is all over,” Holmes answered. “And perhaps, after
-all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will enter Dr.
-Roylott’s room.”
-
-With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the corridor.
-Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply from within.
-Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his heels, with the cocked
-pistol in my hand.
-
-It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a
-dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant beam
-of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. Beside this
-table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott, clad in a long
-gray dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding beneath, and his feet
-thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the short
-stock with the long lash which we had noticed during the day. His chin
-was cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare
-at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow
-band, with brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round
-his head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion.
-
-“The band! the speckled band!” whispered Holmes.
-
-I took a step forward. In an instant his strange head-gear began
-to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat
-diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent.
-
-“It is a swamp adder!” cried Holmes; “the deadliest snake in India. He
-has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence does, in truth,
-recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he
-digs for another. Let us thrust this creature back into its den, and
-we can then remove Miss Stoner to some place of shelter, and let the
-county police know what has happened.”
-
-As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man’s lap, and
-throwing the noose round the reptile’s neck, he drew it from its horrid
-perch, and carrying it at arm’s length, threw it into the iron safe,
-which he closed upon it.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke
-Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a narrative which has
-already run to too great a length, by telling how we broke the sad news
-to the terrified girl, how we conveyed her by the morning train to the
-care of her good aunt at Harrow, of how the slow process of official
-inquiry came to the conclusion that the doctor met his fate while
-indiscreetly playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet
-to learn of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled
-back next day.
-
-“I had,” said he, “come to an entirely erroneous conclusion, which
-shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from
-insufficient data. The presence of the gypsies, and the use of the
-word ‘band,’ which was used by the poor girl, no doubt to explain the
-appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of by the light of
-her match, were sufficient to put me upon an entirely wrong scent. I
-can only claim the merit that I instantly reconsidered my position
-when, however, it became clear to me that whatever danger threatened
-an occupant of the room could not come either from the window or the
-door. My attention was speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to
-you, to this ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the
-bed. The discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped
-to the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was
-there as bridge for something passing through the hole, and coming
-to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, and when
-I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was furnished with a
-supply of creatures from India, I felt that I was probably on the right
-track. The idea of using a form of poison which could not possibly be
-discovered by any chemical test was just such a one as would occur to a
-clever and ruthless man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity
-with which such a poison would take effect would also, from his point
-of view, be an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who
-could distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where
-the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the whistle. Of
-course he must recall the snake before the morning light revealed it to
-the victim. He had trained it, probably by the use of the milk which
-we saw, to return to him when summoned. He would put it through this
-ventilator at the hour that he thought best, with the certainty that it
-would crawl down the rope and land on the bed. It might or might not
-bite the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but
-sooner or later she must fall a victim.
-
-“I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his room.
-An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in the habit of
-standing on it, which of course would be necessary in order that he
-should reach the ventilator. The sight of the safe, the saucer of milk,
-and the loop of whip-cord were enough to finally dispel any doubts
-which may have remained. The metallic clang heard by Miss Stoner was
-obviously caused by her step-father hastily closing the door of his
-safe upon its terrible occupant. Having once made up my mind, you know
-the steps which I took in order to put the matter to the proof. I
-heard the creature hiss, as I have no doubt that you did also, and I
-instantly lit the light and attacked it.”
-
-“With the result of driving it through the ventilator.”
-
-“And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master at the
-other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home, and roused its
-snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person it saw. In this
-way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s
-death, and I cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavily upon my
-conscience.”
\ No newline at end of file
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-The Naval Treaty
-
-
-The July which immediately succeeded my marriage was made
-memorable by three cases of interest, in which I had the
-privilege of being associated with Sherlock Holmes and of
-studying his methods. I find them recorded in my notes under the
-headings of “The Adventure of the Second Stain,” “The Adventure
-of the Naval Treaty,” and “The Adventure of the Tired Captain.”
-The first of these, however, deals with interest of such
-importance and implicates so many of the first families in the
-kingdom that for many years it will be impossible to make it
-public. No case, however, in which Holmes was engaged has ever
-illustrated the value of his analytical methods so clearly or has
-impressed those who were associated with him so deeply. I still
-retain an almost verbatim report of the interview in which he
-demonstrated the true facts of the case to Monsieur Dubuque of
-the Paris police, and Fritz von Waldbaum, the well-known
-specialist of Dantzig, both of whom had wasted their energies
-upon what proved to be side-issues. The new century will have
-come, however, before the story can be safely told. Meanwhile I
-pass on to the second on my list, which promised also at one time
-to be of national importance, and was marked by several incidents
-which give it a quite unique character.
-
-During my school-days I had been intimately associated with a lad
-named Percy Phelps, who was of much the same age as myself,
-though he was two classes ahead of me. He was a very brilliant
-boy, and carried away every prize which the school had to offer,
-finished his exploits by winning a scholarship which sent him on
-to continue his triumphant career at Cambridge. He was, I
-remember, extremely well connected, and even when we were all
-little boys together we knew that his mother’s brother was Lord
-Holdhurst, the great conservative politician. This gaudy
-relationship did him little good at school. On the contrary, it
-seemed rather a piquant thing to us to chevy him about the
-playground and hit him over the shins with a wicket. But it was
-another thing when he came out into the world. I heard vaguely
-that his abilities and the influences which he commanded had won
-him a good position at the Foreign Office, and then he passed
-completely out of my mind until the following letter recalled his
-existence:
-
-Briarbrae, Woking.
-    My dear Watson,—I have no doubt that you can remember
-    “Tadpole” Phelps, who was in the fifth form when you were in
-    the third. It is possible even that you may have heard that
-    through my uncle’s influence I obtained a good appointment at
-    the Foreign Office, and that I was in a situation of trust
-    and honour until a horrible misfortune came suddenly to blast
-    my career.
-    There is no use writing of the details of that dreadful
-    event. In the event of your acceding to my request it is
-    probable that I shall have to narrate them to you. I have
-    only just recovered from nine weeks of brain-fever, and am
-    still exceedingly weak. Do you think that you could bring
-    your friend Mr. Holmes down to see me? I should like to have
-    his opinion of the case, though the authorities assure me
-    that nothing more can be done. Do try to bring him down, and
-    as soon as possible. Every minute seems an hour while I live
-    in this state of horrible suspense. Assure him that if I have
-    not asked his advice sooner it was not because I did not
-    appreciate his talents, but because I have been off my head
-    ever since the blow fell. Now I am clear again, though I dare
-    not think of it too much for fear of a relapse. I am still so
-    weak that I have to write, as you see, by dictating. Do try
-    to bring him.
-
-Your old schoolfellow,
-Percy Phelps.
-
-There was something that touched me as I read this letter,
-something pitiable in the reiterated appeals to bring Holmes. So
-moved was I that even had it been a difficult matter I should
-have tried it, but of course I knew well that Holmes loved his
-art, so that he was ever as ready to bring his aid as his client
-could be to receive it. My wife agreed with me that not a moment
-should be lost in laying the matter before him, and so within an
-hour of breakfast-time I found myself back once more in the old
-rooms in Baker Street.
-
-Holmes was seated at his side-table clad in his dressing-gown,
-and working hard over a chemical investigation. A large curved
-retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen
-burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two-litre
-measure. My friend hardly glanced up as I entered, and I, seeing
-that his investigation must be of importance, seated myself in an
-armchair and waited. He dipped into this bottle or that, drawing
-out a few drops of each with his glass pipette, and finally
-brought a test-tube containing a solution over to the table. In
-his right hand he held a slip of litmus-paper.
-
-“You come at a crisis, Watson,” said he. “If this paper remains
-blue, all is well. If it turns red, it means a man’s life.” He
-dipped it into the test-tube and it flushed at once into a dull,
-dirty crimson. “Hum! I thought as much!” he cried. “I will be at
-your service in an instant, Watson. You will find tobacco in the
-Persian slipper.” He turned to his desk and scribbled off several
-telegrams, which were handed over to the page-boy. Then he threw
-himself down into the chair opposite, and drew up his knees until
-his fingers clasped round his long, thin shins.
-
-“A very commonplace little murder,” said he. “You’ve got
-something better, I fancy. You are the stormy petrel of crime,
-Watson. What is it?”
-
-I handed him the letter, which he read with the most concentrated
-attention.
-
-“It does not tell us very much, does it?” he remarked, as he
-handed it back to me.
-
-“Hardly anything.”
-
-“And yet the writing is of interest.”
-
-“But the writing is not his own.”
-
-“Precisely. It is a woman’s.”
-
-“A man’s surely,” I cried.
-
-“No, a woman’s, and a woman of rare character. You see, at the
-commencement of an investigation it is something to know that
-your client is in close contact with some one who, for good or
-evil, has an exceptional nature. My interest is already awakened
-in the case. If you are ready we will start at once for Woking,
-and see this diplomatist who is in such evil case, and the lady
-to whom he dictates his letters.”
-
-We were fortunate enough to catch an early train at Waterloo, and
-in a little under an hour we found ourselves among the fir-woods
-and the heather of Woking. Briarbrae proved to be a large
-detached house standing in extensive grounds within a few
-minutes’ walk of the station. On sending in our cards we were
-shown into an elegantly appointed drawing-room, where we were
-joined in a few minutes by a rather stout man who received us
-with much hospitality. His age may have been nearer forty than
-thirty, but his cheeks were so ruddy and his eyes so merry that
-he still conveyed the impression of a plump and mischievous boy.
-
-“I am so glad that you have come,” said he, shaking our hands
-with effusion. “Percy has been inquiring for you all morning. Ah,
-poor old chap, he clings to any straw! His father and his mother
-asked me to see you, for the mere mention of the subject is very
-painful to them.”
-
-“We have had no details yet,” observed Holmes. “I perceive that
-you are not yourself a member of the family.”
-
-Our acquaintance looked surprised, and then, glancing down, he
-began to laugh.
-
-“Of course you saw the ‘J.H.’ monogram on my locket,” said he.
-“For a moment I thought you had done something clever. Joseph
-Harrison is my name, and as Percy is to marry my sister Annie I
-shall at least be a relation by marriage. You will find my sister
-in his room, for she has nursed him hand-and-foot this two months
-back. Perhaps we’d better go in at once, for I know how impatient
-he is.”
-
-The chamber in which we were shown was on the same floor as the
-drawing-room. It was furnished partly as a sitting and partly as
-a bedroom, with flowers arranged daintily in every nook and
-corner. A young man, very pale and worn, was lying upon a sofa
-near the open window, through which came the rich scent of the
-garden and the balmy summer air. A woman was sitting beside him,
-who rose as we entered.
-
-“Shall I leave, Percy?” she asked.
-
-He clutched her hand to detain her. “How are you, Watson?” said
-he, cordially. “I should never have known you under that
-moustache, and I daresay you would not be prepared to swear to
-me. This I presume is your celebrated friend, Mr. Sherlock
-Holmes?”
-
-I introduced him in a few words, and we both sat down. The stout
-young man had left us, but his sister still remained with her
-hand in that of the invalid. She was a striking-looking woman, a
-little short and thick for symmetry, but with a beautiful olive
-complexion, large, dark, Italian eyes, and a wealth of deep black
-hair. Her rich tints made the white face of her companion the
-more worn and haggard by the contrast.
-
-“I won’t waste your time,” said he, raising himself upon the
-sofa. “I’ll plunge into the matter without further preamble. I
-was a happy and successful man, Mr. Holmes, and on the eve of
-being married, when a sudden and dreadful misfortune wrecked all
-my prospects in life.
-
-“I was, as Watson may have told you, in the Foreign Office, and
-through the influences of my uncle, Lord Holdhurst, I rose
-rapidly to a responsible position. When my uncle became foreign
-minister in this administration he gave me several missions of
-trust, and as I always brought them to a successful conclusion,
-he came at last to have the utmost confidence in my ability and
-tact.
-
-“Nearly ten weeks ago—to be more accurate, on the 23rd of May—he
-called me into his private room, and, after complimenting me on
-the good work which I had done, he informed me that he had a new
-commission of trust for me to execute.
-
-“‘This,’ said he, taking a grey roll of paper from his bureau,
-‘is the original of that secret treaty between England and Italy
-of which, I regret to say, some rumours have already got into the
-public press. It is of enormous importance that nothing further
-should leak out. The French or the Russian embassy would pay an
-immense sum to learn the contents of these papers. They should
-not leave my bureau were it not that it is absolutely necessary
-to have them copied. You have a desk in your office?’
-
-“‘Yes, sir.’
-
-“‘Then take the treaty and lock it up there. I shall give
-directions that you may remain behind when the others go, so that
-you may copy it at your leisure without fear of being overlooked.
-When you have finished, relock both the original and the draft in
-the desk, and hand them over to me personally to-morrow morning.’
-
-“I took the papers and—”
-
-“Excuse me an instant,” said Holmes. “Were you alone during this
-conversation?”
-
-“Absolutely.”
-
-“In a large room?”
-
-“Thirty feet each way.”
-
-“In the centre?”
-
-“Yes, about it.”
-
-“And speaking low?”
-
-“My uncle’s voice is always remarkably low. I hardly spoke at
-all.”
-
-“Thank you,” said Holmes, shutting his eyes; “pray go on.”
-
-“I did exactly what he indicated, and waited until the other
-clerks had departed. One of them in my room, Charles Gorot, had
-some arrears of work to make up, so I left him there and went out
-to dine. When I returned he was gone. I was anxious to hurry my
-work, for I knew that Joseph—the Mr. Harrison whom you saw just
-now—was in town, and that he would travel down to Woking by the
-eleven o’clock train, and I wanted if possible to catch it.
-
-“When I came to examine the treaty I saw at once that it was of
-such importance that my uncle had been guilty of no exaggeration
-in what he had said. Without going into details, I may say that
-it defined the position of Great Britain towards the Triple
-Alliance, and fore-shadowed the policy which this country would
-pursue in the event of the French fleet gaining a complete
-ascendancy over that of Italy in the Mediterranean. The questions
-treated in it were purely naval. At the end were the signatures
-of the high dignitaries who had signed it. I glanced my eyes over
-it, and then settled down to my task of copying.
-
-“It was a long document, written in the French language, and
-containing twenty-six separate articles. I copied as quickly as I
-could, but at nine o’clock I had only done nine articles, and it
-seemed hopeless for me to attempt to catch my train. I was
-feeling drowsy and stupid, partly from my dinner and also from
-the effects of a long day’s work. A cup of coffee would clear my
-brain. A commissionnaire remains all night in a little lodge at
-the foot of the stairs, and is in the habit of making coffee at
-his spirit-lamp for any of the officials who may be working over
-time. I rang the bell, therefore, to summon him.
-
-“To my surprise, it was a woman who answered the summons, a
-large, coarse-faced, elderly woman, in an apron. She explained
-that she was the commissionnaire’s wife, who did the charing, and
-I gave her the order for the coffee.
-
-“I wrote two more articles and then, feeling more drowsy than
-ever, I rose and walked up and down the room to stretch my legs.
-My coffee had not yet come, and I wondered what the cause of the
-delay could be. Opening the door, I started down the corridor to
-find out. There was a straight passage, dimly lighted, which led
-from the room in which I had been working, and was the only exit
-from it. It ended in a curving staircase, with the
-commissionnaire’s lodge in the passage at the bottom. Half-way
-down this staircase is a small landing, with another passage
-running into it at right angles. This second one leads by means
-of a second small stair to a side door, used by servants, and
-also as a short cut by clerks when coming from Charles Street.
-Here is a rough chart of the place.”
-
-rough chart
-
-“Thank you. I think that I quite follow you,” said Sherlock
-Holmes.
-
-“It is of the utmost importance that you should notice this
-point. I went down the stairs and into the hall, where I found
-the commissionnaire fast asleep in his box, with the kettle
-boiling furiously upon the spirit-lamp. I took off the kettle and
-blew out the lamp, for the water was spurting over the floor.
-Then I put out my hand and was about to shake the man, who was
-still sleeping soundly, when a bell over his head rang loudly,
-and he woke with a start.
-
-“‘Mr. Phelps, sir!’ said he, looking at me in bewilderment.
-
-“‘I came down to see if my coffee was ready.’
-
-“‘I was boiling the kettle when I fell asleep, sir.’ He looked at
-me and then up at the still quivering bell with an ever-growing
-astonishment upon his face.
-
-“‘If you was here, sir, then who rang the bell?’ he asked.
-
-“‘The bell!’ I cried. ‘What bell is it?’
-
-“‘It’s the bell of the room you were working in.’
-
-“A cold hand seemed to close round my heart. Some one, then, was
-in that room where my precious treaty lay upon the table. I ran
-frantically up the stairs and along the passage. There was no one
-in the corridors, Mr. Holmes. There was no one in the room. All
-was exactly as I left it, save only that the papers which had
-been committed to my care had been taken from the desk on which
-they lay. The copy was there, and the original was gone.”
-
-Holmes sat up in his chair and rubbed his hands. I could see that
-the problem was entirely to his heart. “Pray, what did you do
-then?” he murmured.
-
-“I recognised in an instant that the thief must have come up the
-stairs from the side door. Of course I must have met him if he
-had come the other way.”
-
-“You were satisfied that he could not have been concealed in the
-room all the time, or in the corridor which you have just
-described as dimly lighted?”
-
-“It is absolutely impossible. A rat could not conceal himself
-either in the room or the corridor. There is no cover at all.”
-
-“Thank you. Pray proceed.”
-
-“The commissionnaire, seeing by my pale face that something was
-to be feared, had followed me upstairs. Now we both rushed along
-the corridor and down the steep steps which led to Charles
-Street. The door at the bottom was closed, but unlocked. We flung
-it open and rushed out. I can distinctly remember that as we did
-so there came three chimes from a neighbouring clock. It was
-quarter to ten.”
-
-“That is of enormous importance,” said Holmes, making a note upon
-his shirt-cuff.
-
-“The night was very dark, and a thin, warm rain was falling.
-There was no one in Charles Street, but a great traffic was going
-on, as usual, in Whitehall, at the extremity. We rushed along the
-pavement, bare-headed as we were, and at the far corner we found
-a policeman standing.
-
-“‘A robbery has been committed,’ I gasped. ‘A document of immense
-value has been stolen from the Foreign Office. Has any one passed
-this way?’
-
-“‘I have been standing here for a quarter of an hour, sir,’ said
-he; ‘only one person has passed during that time—a woman, tall
-and elderly, with a Paisley shawl.’
-
-“‘Ah, that is only my wife,’ cried the commissionnaire; ‘has no
-one else passed?’
-
-“‘No one.’
-
-“‘Then it must be the other way that the thief took,’ cried the
-fellow, tugging at my sleeve.
-
-“‘But I was not satisfied, and the attempts which he made to draw
-me away increased my suspicions.
-
-“‘Which way did the woman go?’ I cried.
-
-“‘I don’t know, sir. I noticed her pass, but I had no special
-reason for watching her. She seemed to be in a hurry.’
-
-“‘How long ago was it?’
-
-“‘Oh, not very many minutes.’
-
-“‘Within the last five?’
-
-“‘Well, it could not be more than five.’
-
-“‘You’re only wasting your time, sir, and every minute now is of
-importance,’ cried the commissionnaire; ‘take my word for it that
-my old woman has nothing to do with it, and come down to the
-other end of the street. Well, if you won’t, I will.’ And with
-that he rushed off in the other direction.
-
-“But I was after him in an instant and caught him by the sleeve.
-
-“‘Where do you live?’ said I.
-
-“‘16 Ivy Lane, Brixton,’ he answered. ‘But don’t let yourself be
-drawn away upon a false scent, Mr. Phelps. Come to the other end
-of the street and let us see if we can hear of anything.’
-
-“Nothing was to be lost by following his advice. With the
-policeman we both hurried down, but only to find the street full
-of traffic, many people coming and going, but all only too eager
-to get to a place of safety upon so wet a night. There was no
-lounger who could tell us who had passed.
-
-“Then we returned to the office, and searched the stairs and the
-passage without result. The corridor which led to the room was
-laid down with a kind of creamy linoleum which shows an
-impression very easily. We examined it very carefully, but found
-no outline of any footmark.”
-
-“Had it been raining all evening?”
-
-“Since about seven.”
-
-“How is it, then, that the woman who came into the room about
-nine left no traces with her muddy boots?”
-
-“I am glad you raised the point. It occurred to me at the time.
-The charwomen are in the habit of taking off their boots at the
-commissionnaire’s office, and putting on list slippers.”
-
-“That is very clear. There were no marks, then, though the night
-was a wet one? The chain of events is certainly one of
-extraordinary interest. What did you do next?
-
-“We examined the room also. There is no possibility of a secret
-door, and the windows are quite thirty feet from the ground. Both
-of them were fastened on the inside. The carpet prevents any
-possibility of a trap-door, and the ceiling is of the ordinary
-whitewashed kind. I will pledge my life that whoever stole my
-papers could only have come through the door.”
-
-“How about the fireplace?”
-
-“They use none. There is a stove. The bell-rope hangs from the
-wire just to the right of my desk. Whoever rang it must have come
-right up to the desk to do it. But why should any criminal wish
-to ring the bell? It is a most insoluble mystery.”
-
-“Certainly the incident was unusual. What were your next steps?
-You examined the room, I presume, to see if the intruder had left
-any traces—any cigar-end or dropped glove or hairpin or other
-trifle?”
-
-“There was nothing of the sort.”
-
-“No smell?”
-
-“Well, we never thought of that.”
-
-“Ah, a scent of tobacco would have been worth a great deal to us
-in such an investigation.”
-
-“I never smoke myself, so I think I should have observed it if
-there had been any smell of tobacco. There was absolutely no clue
-of any kind. The only tangible fact was that the
-commissionnaire’s wife—Mrs. Tangey was the name—had hurried out
-of the place. He could give no explanation save that it was about
-the time when the woman always went home. The policeman and I
-agreed that our best plan would be to seize the woman before she
-could get rid of the papers, presuming that she had them.
-
-“The alarm had reached Scotland Yard by this time, and Mr.
-Forbes, the detective, came round at once and took up the case
-with a great deal of energy. We hired a hansom, and in half an
-hour we were at the address which had been given to us. A young
-woman opened the door, who proved to be Mrs. Tangey’s eldest
-daughter. Her mother had not come back yet, and we were shown
-into the front room to wait.
-
-“About ten minutes later a knock came at the door, and here we
-made the one serious mistake for which I blame myself. Instead of
-opening the door ourselves, we allowed the girl to do so. We
-heard her say, ‘Mother, there are two men in the house waiting to
-see you,’ and an instant afterwards we heard the patter of feet
-rushing down the passage. Forbes flung open the door, and we both
-ran into the back room or kitchen, but the woman had got there
-before us. She stared at us with defiant eyes, and then, suddenly
-recognising me, an expression of absolute astonishment came over
-her face.
-
-“‘Why, if it isn’t Mr. Phelps, of the office!’ she cried.
-
-“‘Come, come, who did you think we were when you ran away from
-us?’ asked my companion.
-
-“‘I thought you were the brokers,’ said she, ‘we have had some
-trouble with a tradesman.’
-
-“‘That’s not quite good enough,’ answered Forbes. ‘We have reason
-to believe that you have taken a paper of importance from the
-Foreign Office, and that you ran in here to dispose of it. You
-must come back with us to Scotland Yard to be searched.’
-
-“It was in vain that she protested and resisted. A four-wheeler
-was brought, and we all three drove back in it. We had first made
-an examination of the kitchen, and especially of the kitchen
-fire, to see whether she might have made away with the papers
-during the instant that she was alone. There were no signs,
-however, of any ashes or scraps. When we reached Scotland Yard
-she was handed over at once to the female searcher. I waited in
-an agony of suspense until she came back with her report. There
-were no signs of the papers.
-
-“Then for the first time the horror of my situation came in its
-full force. Hitherto I had been acting, and action had numbed
-thought. I had been so confident of regaining the treaty at once
-that I had not dared to think of what would be the consequence if
-I failed to do so. But now there was nothing more to be done, and
-I had leisure to realize my position. It was horrible. Watson
-there would tell you that I was a nervous, sensitive boy at
-school. It is my nature. I thought of my uncle and of his
-colleagues in the Cabinet, of the shame which I had brought upon
-him, upon myself, upon every one connected with me. What though I
-was the victim of an extraordinary accident? No allowance is made
-for accidents where diplomatic interests are at stake. I was
-ruined, shamefully, hopelessly ruined. I don’t know what I did. I
-fancy I must have made a scene. I have a dim recollection of a
-group of officials who crowded round me, endeavouring to soothe
-me. One of them drove down with me to Waterloo, and saw me into
-the Woking train. I believe that he would have come all the way
-had it not been that Dr. Ferrier, who lives near me, was going
-down by that very train. The doctor most kindly took charge of
-me, and it was well he did so, for I had a fit in the station,
-and before we reached home I was practically a raving maniac.
-
-“You can imagine the state of things here when they were roused
-from their beds by the doctor’s ringing and found me in this
-condition. Poor Annie here and my mother were broken-hearted. Dr.
-Ferrier had just heard enough from the detective at the station
-to be able to give an idea of what had happened, and his story
-did not mend matters. It was evident to all that I was in for a
-long illness, so Joseph was bundled out of this cheery bedroom,
-and it was turned into a sick-room for me. Here I have lain, Mr.
-Holmes, for over nine weeks, unconscious, and raving with
-brain-fever. If it had not been for Miss Harrison here and for
-the doctor’s care I should not be speaking to you now. She has
-nursed me by day and a hired nurse has looked after me by night,
-for in my mad fits I was capable of anything. Slowly my reason
-has cleared, but it is only during the last three days that my
-memory has quite returned. Sometimes I wish that it never had.
-The first thing that I did was to wire to Mr. Forbes, who had the
-case in hand. He came out, and assures me that, though everything
-has been done, no trace of a clue has been discovered. The
-commissionnaire and his wife have been examined in every way
-without any light being thrown upon the matter. The suspicions of
-the police then rested upon young Gorot, who, as you may
-remember, stayed over time in the office that night. His
-remaining behind and his French name were really the only two
-points which could suggest suspicion; but, as a matter of fact, I
-did not begin work until he had gone, and his people are of
-Huguenot extraction, but as English in sympathy and tradition as
-you and I are. Nothing was found to implicate him in any way, and
-there the matter dropped. I turn to you, Mr. Holmes, as
-absolutely my last hope. If you fail me, then my honour as well
-as my position are forever forfeited.”
-
-The invalid sank back upon his cushions, tired out by this long
-recital, while his nurse poured him out a glass of some
-stimulating medicine. Holmes sat silently, with his head thrown
-back and his eyes closed, in an attitude which might seem
-listless to a stranger, but which I knew betokened the most
-intense self-absorption.
-
-“You statement has been so explicit,” said he at last, “that you
-have really left me very few questions to ask. There is one of
-the very utmost importance, however. Did you tell any one that
-you had this special task to perform?”
-
-“No one.”
-
-“Not Miss Harrison here, for example?”
-
-“No. I had not been back to Woking between getting the order and
-executing the commission.”
-
-“And none of your people had by chance been to see you?”
-
-“None.”
-
-“Did any of them know their way about in the office?”
-
-“Oh, yes, all of them had been shown over it.”
-
-“Still, of course, if you said nothing to any one about the
-treaty these inquiries are irrelevant.”
-
-“I said nothing.”
-
-“Do you know anything of the commissionnaire?”
-
-“Nothing except that he is an old soldier.”
-
-“What regiment?”
-
-“Oh, I have heard—Coldstream Guards.”
-
-“Thank you. I have no doubt I can get details from Forbes. The
-authorities are excellent at amassing facts, though they do not
-always use them to advantage. What a lovely thing a rose is!”
-
-He walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the
-drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend
-of crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me,
-for I had never before seen him show any keen interest in natural
-objects.
-
-“There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in
-religion,” said he, leaning with his back against the shutters.
-“It can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our
-highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to
-rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers our desires,
-our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first
-instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are
-an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only
-goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much
-to hope from the flowers.”
-
-Percy Phelps and his nurse looked at Holmes during this
-demonstration with surprise and a good deal of disappointment
-written upon their faces. He had fallen into a reverie, with the
-moss-rose between his fingers. It had lasted some minutes before
-the young lady broke in upon it.
-
-“Do you see any prospect of solving this mystery, Mr. Holmes?”
-she asked, with a touch of asperity in her voice.
-
-“Oh, the mystery!” he answered, coming back with a start to the
-realities of life. “Well, it would be absurd to deny that the
-case is a very abstruse and complicated one, but I can promise
-you that I will look into the matter and let you know any points
-which may strike me.”
-
-“Do you see any clue?”
-
-“You have furnished me with seven, but, of course, I must test
-them before I can pronounce upon their value.”
-
-“You suspect some one?”
-
-“I suspect myself.”
-
-“What!”
-
-“Of coming to conclusions too rapidly.”
-
-“Then go to London and test your conclusions.”
-
-“Your advice is very excellent, Miss Harrison,” said Holmes,
-rising. “I think, Watson, we cannot do better. Do not allow
-yourself to indulge in false hopes, Mr. Phelps. The affair is a
-very tangled one.”
-
-“I shall be in a fever until I see you again,” cried the
-diplomatist.
-
-“Well, I’ll come out by the same train to-morrow, though it’s
-more than likely that my report will be a negative one.”
-
-“God bless you for promising to come,” cried our client. “It
-gives me fresh life to know that something is being done. By the
-way, I have had a letter from Lord Holdhurst.”
-
-“Ha! What did he say?”
-
-“He was cold, but not harsh. I daresay my severe illness
-prevented him from being that. He repeated that the matter was of
-the utmost importance, and added that no steps would be taken
-about my future—by which he means, of course, my dismissal—until
-my health was restored and I had an opportunity of repairing my
-misfortune.”
-
-“Well, that was reasonable and considerate,” said Holmes. “Come,
-Watson, for we have a good day’s work before us in town.”
-
-Mr. Joseph Harrison drove us down to the station, and we were
-soon whirling up in a Portsmouth train. Holmes was sunk in
-profound thought, and hardly opened his mouth until we had passed
-Clapham Junction.
-
-“It’s a very cheery thing to come into London by any of these
-lines which run high, and allow you to look down upon the houses
-like this.”
-
-I thought he was joking, for the view was sordid enough, but he
-soon explained himself.
-
-“Look at those big, isolated clumps of building rising up above
-the slates, like brick islands in a lead-coloured sea.”
-
-“The board-schools.”
-
-“Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future! Capsules with
-hundreds of bright little seeds in each, out of which will spring
-the wise, better England of the future. I suppose that man Phelps
-does not drink?”
-
-“I should not think so.”
-
-“Nor should I, but we are bound to take every possibility into
-account. The poor devil has certainly got himself into very deep
-water, and it’s a question whether we shall ever be able to get
-him ashore. What did you think of Miss Harrison?”
-
-“A girl of strong character.”
-
-“Yes, but she is a good sort, or I am mistaken. She and her
-brother are the only children of an iron-master somewhere up
-Northumberland way. He got engaged to her when traveling last
-winter, and she came down to be introduced to his people, with
-her brother as escort. Then came the smash, and she stayed on to
-nurse her lover, while brother Joseph, finding himself pretty
-snug, stayed on too. I’ve been making a few independent
-inquiries, you see. But to-day must be a day of inquiries.”
-
-“My practice—” I began.
-
-“Oh, if you find your own cases more interesting than mine—” said
-Holmes, with some asperity.
-
-“I was going to say that my practice could get along very well
-for a day or two, since it is the slackest time in the year.”
-
-“Excellent,” said he, recovering his good-humour. “Then we’ll
-look into this matter together. I think that we should begin by
-seeing Forbes. He can probably tell us all the details we want
-until we know from what side the case is to be approached.”
-
-“You said you had a clue?”
-
-“Well, we have several, but we can only test their value by
-further inquiry. The most difficult crime to track is the one
-which is purposeless. Now this is not purposeless. Who is it who
-profits by it? There is the French ambassador, there is the
-Russian, there is whoever might sell it to either of these, and
-there is Lord Holdhurst.”
-
-“Lord Holdhurst!”
-
-“Well, it is just conceivable that a statesman might find himself
-in a position where he was not sorry to have such a document
-accidentally destroyed.”
-
-“Not a statesman with the honourable record of Lord Holdhurst?”
-
-“It is a possibility and we cannot afford to disregard it. We
-shall see the noble lord to-day and find out if he can tell us
-anything. Meanwhile I have already set inquiries on foot.”
-
-“Already?”
-
-“Yes, I sent wires from Woking station to every evening paper in
-London. This advertisement will appear in each of them.”
-
-He handed over a sheet torn from a note-book. On it was scribbled
-in pencil:
-
-“£10 Reward.—The number of the cab which dropped a fare at or
-about the door of the Foreign Office in Charles Street at quarter
-to ten in the evening of May 23rd. Apply 221B, Baker Street.”
-
-“You are confident that the thief came in a cab?”
-
-“If not, there is no harm done. But if Mr. Phelps is correct in
-stating that there is no hiding-place either in the room or the
-corridors, then the person must have come from outside. If he
-came from outside on so wet a night, and yet left no trace of
-damp upon the linoleum, which was examined within a few minutes
-of his passing, then it is exceeding probable that he came in a
-cab. Yes, I think that we may safely deduce a cab.”
-
-“It sounds plausible.”
-
-“That is one of the clues of which I spoke. It may lead us to
-something. And then, of course, there is the bell—which is the
-most distinctive feature of the case. Why should the bell ring?
-Was it the thief who did it out of bravado? Or was it some one
-who was with the thief who did it in order to prevent the crime?
-Or was it an accident? Or was it—?” He sank back into the state
-of intense and silent thought from which he had emerged; but it
-seemed to me, accustomed as I was to his every mood, that some
-new possibility had dawned suddenly upon him.
-
-It was twenty past three when we reached our terminus, and after
-a hasty luncheon at the buffet we pushed on at once to Scotland
-Yard. Holmes had already wired to Forbes, and we found him
-waiting to receive us—a small, foxy man with a sharp but by no
-means amiable expression. He was decidedly frigid in his manner
-to us, especially when he heard the errand upon which we had
-come.
-
-“I’ve heard of your methods before now, Mr. Holmes,” said he,
-tartly. “You are ready enough to use all the information that the
-police can lay at your disposal, and then you try to finish the
-case yourself and bring discredit on them.”
-
-“On the contrary,” said Holmes, “out of my last fifty-three cases
-my name has only appeared in four, and the police have had all
-the credit in forty-nine. I don’t blame you for not knowing this,
-for you are young and inexperienced, but if you wish to get on in
-your new duties you will work with me and not against me.”
-
-“I’d be very glad of a hint or two,” said the detective, changing
-his manner. “I’ve certainly had no credit from the case so far.”
-
-“What steps have you taken?”
-
-“Tangey, the commissionnaire, has been shadowed. He left the
-Guards with a good character and we can find nothing against him.
-His wife is a bad lot, though. I fancy she knows more about this
-than appears.”
-
-“Have you shadowed her?”
-
-“We have set one of our women on to her. Mrs. Tangey drinks, and
-our woman has been with her twice when she was well on, but she
-could get nothing out of her.”
-
-“I understand that they have had brokers in the house?”
-
-“Yes, but they were paid off.”
-
-“Where did the money come from?”
-
-“That was all right. His pension was due. They have not shown any
-sign of being in funds.”
-
-“What explanation did she give of having answered the bell when
-Mr. Phelps rang for the coffee?”
-
-“She said that her husband was very tired and she wished to
-relieve him.”
-
-“Well, certainly that would agree with his being found a little
-later asleep in his chair. There is nothing against them then but
-the woman’s character. Did you ask her why she hurried away that
-night? Her haste attracted the attention of the police
-constable.”
-
-“She was later than usual and wanted to get home.”
-
-“Did you point out to her that you and Mr. Phelps, who started at
-least twenty minutes after her, got home before her?”
-
-“She explains that by the difference between a ‘bus and a
-hansom.”
-
-“Did she make it clear why, on reaching her house, she ran into
-the back kitchen?”
-
-“Because she had the money there with which to pay off the
-brokers.”
-
-“She has at least an answer for everything. Did you ask her
-whether in leaving she met any one or saw any one loitering about
-Charles Street?”
-
-“She saw no one but the constable.”
-
-“Well, you seem to have cross-examined her pretty thoroughly.
-What else have you done?”
-
-“The clerk Gorot has been shadowed all these nine weeks, but
-without result. We can show nothing against him.”
-
-“Anything else?”
-
-“Well, we have nothing else to go upon—no evidence of any kind.”
-
-“Have you formed a theory about how that bell rang?”
-
-“Well, I must confess that it beats me. It was a cool hand,
-whoever it was, to go and give the alarm like that.”
-
-“Yes, it was a queer thing to do. Many thanks to you for what you
-have told me. If I can put the man into your hands you shall hear
-from me. Come along, Watson.”
-
-“Where are we going to now?” I asked, as we left the office.
-
-“We are now going to interview Lord Holdhurst, the cabinet
-minister and future premier of England.”
-
-We were fortunate in finding that Lord Holdhurst was still in his
-chambers in Downing Street, and on Holmes sending in his card we
-were instantly shown up. The statesman received us with that
-old-fashioned courtesy for which he is remarkable, and seated us
-on the two luxuriant lounges on either side of the fireplace.
-Standing on the rug between us, with his slight, tall figure, his
-sharp features, thoughtful face, and curling hair prematurely
-tinged with grey, he seemed to represent that not too common
-type, a nobleman who is in truth noble.
-
-“Your name is very familiar to me, Mr. Holmes,” said he, smiling.
-“And, of course, I cannot pretend to be ignorant of the object of
-your visit. There has only been one occurrence in these offices
-which could call for your attention. In whose interest are you
-acting, may I ask?”
-
-“In that of Mr. Percy Phelps,” answered Holmes.
-
-“Ah, my unfortunate nephew! You can understand that our kinship
-makes it the more impossible for me to screen him in any way. I
-fear that the incident must have a very prejudicial effect upon
-his career.”
-
-“But if the document is found?”
-
-“Ah, that, of course, would be different.”
-
-“I had one or two questions which I wished to ask you, Lord
-Holdhurst.”
-
-“I shall be happy to give you any information in my power.”
-
-“Was it in this room that you gave your instructions as to the
-copying of the document?”
-
-“It was.”
-
-“Then you could hardly have been overheard?”
-
-“It is out of the question.”
-
-“Did you ever mention to any one that it was your intention to
-give any one the treaty to be copied?”
-
-“Never.”
-
-“You are certain of that?”
-
-“Absolutely.”
-
-“Well, since you never said so, and Mr. Phelps never said so, and
-nobody else knew anything of the matter, then the thief’s
-presence in the room was purely accidental. He saw his chance and
-he took it.”
-
-The statesman smiled. “You take me out of my province there,”
-said he.
-
-Holmes considered for a moment. “There is another very important
-point which I wish to discuss with you,” said he. “You feared, as
-I understand, that very grave results might follow from the
-details of this treaty becoming known.”
-
-A shadow passed over the expressive face of the statesman. “Very
-grave results indeed.”
-
-“And have they occurred?”
-
-“Not yet.”
-
-“If the treaty had reached, let us say, the French or Russian
-Foreign Office, you would expect to hear of it?”
-
-“I should,” said Lord Holdhurst, with a wry face.
-
-“Since nearly ten weeks have elapsed, then, and nothing has been
-heard, it is not unfair to suppose that for some reason the
-treaty has not reached them.”
-
-Lord Holdhurst shrugged his shoulders.
-
-“We can hardly suppose, Mr. Holmes, that the thief took the
-treaty in order to frame it and hang it up.”
-
-“Perhaps he is waiting for a better price.”
-
-“If he waits a little longer he will get no price at all. The
-treaty will cease to be secret in a few months.”
-
-“That is most important,” said Holmes. “Of course, it is a
-possible supposition that the thief has had a sudden illness—”
-
-“An attack of brain-fever, for example?” asked the statesman,
-flashing a swift glance at him.
-
-“I did not say so,” said Holmes, imperturbably. “And now, Lord
-Holdhurst, we have already taken up too much of your valuable
-time, and we shall wish you good-day.”
-
-“Every success to your investigation, be the criminal who it
-may,” answered the nobleman, as he bowed us out the door.
-
-“He’s a fine fellow,” said Holmes, as we came out into Whitehall.
-“But he has a struggle to keep up his position. He is far from
-rich and has many calls. You noticed, of course, that his boots
-had been resoled. Now, Watson, I won’t detain you from your
-legitimate work any longer. I shall do nothing more to-day,
-unless I have an answer to my cab advertisement. But I should be
-extremely obliged to you if you would come down with me to Woking
-to-morrow, by the same train which we took yesterday.”
-
-I met him accordingly next morning and we travelled down to
-Woking together. He had had no answer to his advertisement, he
-said, and no fresh light had been thrown upon the case. He had,
-when he so willed it, the utter immobility of countenance of a
-red Indian, and I could not gather from his appearance whether he
-was satisfied or not with the position of the case. His
-conversation, I remember, was about the Bertillon system of
-measurements, and he expressed his enthusiastic admiration of the
-French savant.
-
-We found our client still under the charge of his devoted nurse,
-but looking considerably better than before. He rose from the
-sofa and greeted us without difficulty when we entered.
-
-“Any news?” he asked, eagerly.
-
-“My report, as I expected, is a negative one,” said Holmes. “I
-have seen Forbes, and I have seen your uncle, and I have set one
-or two trains of inquiry upon foot which may lead to something.”
-
-“You have not lost heart, then?”
-
-“By no means.”
-
-“God bless you for saying that!” cried Miss Harrison. “If we keep
-our courage and our patience the truth must come out.”
-
-“We have more to tell you than you have for us,” said Phelps,
-reseating himself upon the couch.
-
-“I hoped you might have something.”
-
-“Yes, we have had an adventure during the night, and one which
-might have proved to be a serious one.” His expression grew very
-grave as he spoke, and a look of something akin to fear sprang up
-in his eyes. “Do you know,” said he, “that I begin to believe
-that I am the unconscious centre of some monstrous conspiracy,
-and that my life is aimed at as well as my honour?”
-
-“Ah!” cried Holmes.
-
-“It sounds incredible, for I have not, as far as I know, an enemy
-in the world. Yet from last night’s experience I can come to no
-other conclusion.”
-
-“Pray let me hear it.”
-
-“You must know that last night was the very first night that I
-have ever slept without a nurse in the room. I was so much better
-that I thought I could dispense with one. I had a night-light
-burning, however. Well, about two in the morning I had sunk into
-a light sleep when I was suddenly aroused by a slight noise. It
-was like the sound which a mouse makes when it is gnawing a
-plank, and I lay listening to it for some time under the
-impression that it must come from that cause. Then it grew
-louder, and suddenly there came from the window a sharp metallic
-snick. I sat up in amazement. There could be no doubt what the
-sounds were now. The first ones had been caused by some one
-forcing an instrument through the slit between the sashes, and
-the second by the catch being pressed back.
-
-“There was a pause then for about ten minutes, as if the person
-were waiting to see whether the noise had awakened me. Then I
-heard a gentle creaking as the window was very slowly opened. I
-could stand it no longer, for my nerves are not what they used to
-be. I sprang out of bed and flung open the shutters. A man was
-crouching at the window. I could see little of him, for he was
-gone like a flash. He was wrapped in some sort of cloak which
-came across the lower part of his face. One thing only I am sure
-of, and that is that he had some weapon in his hand. It looked to
-me like a long knife. I distinctly saw the gleam of it as he
-turned to run.”
-
-“This is most interesting,” said Holmes. “Pray what did you do
-then?”
-
-“I should have followed him through the open window if I had been
-stronger. As it was, I rang the bell and roused the house. It
-took me some little time, for the bell rings in the kitchen and
-the servants all sleep upstairs. I shouted, however, and that
-brought Joseph down, and he roused the others. Joseph and the
-groom found marks on the bed outside the window, but the weather
-has been so dry lately that they found it hopeless to follow the
-trail across the grass. There’s a place, however, on the wooden
-fence which skirts the road which shows signs, they tell me, as
-if some one had got over, and had snapped the top of the rail in
-doing so. I have said nothing to the local police yet, for I
-thought I had best have your opinion first.”
-
-This tale of our client’s appeared to have an extraordinary
-effect upon Sherlock Holmes. He rose from his chair and paced
-about the room in uncontrollable excitement.
-
-“Misfortunes never come single,” said Phelps, smiling, though it
-was evident that his adventure had somewhat shaken him.
-
-“You have certainly had your share,” said Holmes. “Do you think
-you could walk round the house with me?”
-
-“Oh, yes, I should like a little sunshine. Joseph will come,
-too.”
-
-“And I also,” said Miss Harrison.
-
-“I am afraid not,” said Holmes, shaking his head. “I think I must
-ask you to remain sitting exactly where you are.”
-
-The young lady resumed her seat with an air of displeasure. Her
-brother, however, had joined us and we set off all four together.
-We passed round the lawn to the outside of the young
-diplomatist’s window. There were, as he had said, marks upon the
-bed, but they were hopelessly blurred and vague. Holmes stopped
-over them for an instant, and then rose shrugging his shoulders.
-
-“I don’t think any one could make much of this,” said he. “Let us
-go round the house and see why this particular room was chosen by
-the burglar. I should have thought those larger windows of the
-drawing-room and dining-room would have had more attractions for
-him.”
-
-“They are more visible from the road,” suggested Mr. Joseph
-Harrison.
-
-“Ah, yes, of course. There is a door here which he might have
-attempted. What is it for?”
-
-“It is the side entrance for trades-people. Of course it is
-locked at night.”
-
-“Have you ever had an alarm like this before?”
-
-“Never,” said our client.
-
-“Do you keep plate in the house, or anything to attract
-burglars?”
-
-“Nothing of value.”
-
-Holmes strolled round the house with his hands in his pockets and
-a negligent air which was unusual with him.
-
-“By the way,” said he to Joseph Harrison, “you found some place,
-I understand, where the fellow scaled the fence. Let us have a
-look at that!”
-
-The plump young man led us to a spot where the top of one of the
-wooden rails had been cracked. A small fragment of the wood was
-hanging down. Holmes pulled it off and examined it critically.
-
-“Do you think that was done last night? It looks rather old, does
-it not?”
-
-“Well, possibly so.”
-
-“There are no marks of any one jumping down upon the other side.
-No, I fancy we shall get no help here. Let us go back to the
-bedroom and talk the matter over.”
-
-Percy Phelps was walking very slowly, leaning upon the arm of his
-future brother-in-law. Holmes walked swiftly across the lawn, and
-we were at the open window of the bedroom long before the others
-came up.
-
-“Miss Harrison,” said Holmes, speaking with the utmost intensity
-of manner, “you must stay where you are all day. Let nothing
-prevent you from staying where you are all day. It is of the
-utmost importance.”
-
-“Certainly, if you wish it, Mr. Holmes,” said the girl in
-astonishment.
-
-“When you go to bed lock the door of this room on the outside and
-keep the key. Promise to do this.”
-
-“But Percy?”
-
-“He will come to London with us.”
-
-“And am I to remain here?”
-
-“It is for his sake. You can serve him. Quick! Promise!”
-
-She gave a quick nod of assent just as the other two came up.
-
-“Why do you sit moping there, Annie?” cried her brother. “Come
-out into the sunshine!”
-
-“No, thank you, Joseph. I have a slight headache and this room is
-deliciously cool and soothing.”
-
-“What do you propose now, Mr. Holmes?” asked our client.
-
-“Well, in investigating this minor affair we must not lose sight
-of our main inquiry. It would be a very great help to me if you
-would come up to London with us.”
-
-“At once?”
-
-“Well, as soon as you conveniently can. Say in an hour.”
-
-“I feel quite strong enough, if I can really be of any help.”
-
-“The greatest possible.”
-
-“Perhaps you would like me to stay there to-night?”
-
-“I was just going to propose it.”
-
-“Then, if my friend of the night comes to revisit me, he will
-find the bird flown. We are all in your hands, Mr. Holmes, and
-you must tell us exactly what you would like done. Perhaps you
-would prefer that Joseph came with us so as to look after me?”
-
-“Oh, no; my friend Watson is a medical man, you know, and he’ll
-look after you. We’ll have our lunch here, if you will permit us,
-and then we shall all three set off for town together.”
-
-It was arranged as he suggested, though Miss Harrison excused
-herself from leaving the bedroom, in accordance with Holmes’s
-suggestion. What the object of my friend’s manœuvres was I could
-not conceive, unless it were to keep the lady away from Phelps,
-who, rejoiced by his returning health and by the prospect of
-action, lunched with us in the dining-room. Holmes had a still
-more startling surprise for us, however, for, after accompanying
-us down to the station and seeing us into our carriage, he calmly
-announced that he had no intention of leaving Woking.
-
-“There are one or two small points which I should desire to clear
-up before I go,” said he. “Your absence, Mr. Phelps, will in some
-ways rather assist me. Watson, when you reach London you would
-oblige me by driving at once to Baker Street with our friend
-here, and remaining with him until I see you again. It is
-fortunate that you are old schoolfellows, as you must have much
-to talk over. Mr. Phelps can have the spare bedroom to-night, and
-I will be with you in time for breakfast, for there is a train
-which will take me into Waterloo at eight.”
-
-“But how about our investigation in London?” asked Phelps,
-ruefully.
-
-“We can do that to-morrow. I think that just at present I can be
-of more immediate use here.”
-
-“You might tell them at Briarbrae that I hope to be back
-to-morrow night,” cried Phelps, as we began to move from the
-platform.
-
-“I hardly expect to go back to Briarbrae,” answered Holmes, and
-waved his hand to us cheerily as we shot out from the station.
-
-Phelps and I talked it over on our journey, but neither of us
-could devise a satisfactory reason for this new development.
-
-“I suppose he wants to find out some clue as to the burglary last
-night, if a burglar it was. For myself, I don’t believe it was an
-ordinary thief.”
-
-“What is your own idea, then?”
-
-“Upon my word, you may put it down to my weak nerves or not, but
-I believe there is some deep political intrigue going on around
-me, and that for some reason that passes my understanding my life
-is aimed at by the conspirators. It sounds high-flown and absurd,
-but consider the facts! Why should a thief try to break in at a
-bedroom window, where there could be no hope of any plunder, and
-why should he come with a long knife in his hand?”
-
-“You are sure it was not a house-breaker’s jimmy?”
-
-“Oh, no, it was a knife. I saw the flash of the blade quite
-distinctly.”
-
-“But why on earth should you be pursued with such animosity?”
-
-“Ah, that is the question.”
-
-“Well, if Holmes takes the same view, that would account for his
-action, would it not? Presuming that your theory is correct, if
-he can lay his hands upon the man who threatened you last night
-he will have gone a long way towards finding who took the naval
-treaty. It is absurd to suppose that you have two enemies, one of
-whom robs you, while the other threatens your life.”
-
-“But Holmes said that he was not going to Briarbrae.”
-
-“I have known him for some time,” said I, “but I never knew him
-do anything yet without a very good reason,” and with that our
-conversation drifted off on to other topics.
-
-But it was a weary day for me. Phelps was still weak after his
-long illness, and his misfortune made him querulous and nervous.
-In vain I endeavoured to interest him in Afghanistan, in India,
-in social questions, in anything which might take his mind out of
-the groove. He would always come back to his lost treaty,
-wondering, guessing, speculating, as to what Holmes was doing,
-what steps Lord Holdhurst was taking, what news we should have in
-the morning. As the evening wore on his excitement became quite
-painful.
-
-“You have implicit faith in Holmes?” he asked.
-
-“I have seen him do some remarkable things.”
-
-“But he never brought light into anything quite so dark as this?”
-
-“Oh, yes; I have known him solve questions which presented fewer
-clues than yours.”
-
-“But not where such large interests are at stake?”
-
-“I don’t know that. To my certain knowledge he has acted on
-behalf of three of the reigning houses of Europe in very vital
-matters.”
-
-“But you know him well, Watson. He is such an inscrutable fellow
-that I never quite know what to make of him. Do you think he is
-hopeful? Do you think he expects to make a success of it?”
-
-“He has said nothing.”
-
-“That is a bad sign.”
-
-“On the contrary, I have noticed that when he is off the trail he
-generally says so. It is when he is on a scent and is not quite
-absolutely sure yet that it is the right one that he is most
-taciturn. Now, my dear fellow, we can’t help matters by making
-ourselves nervous about them, so let me implore you to go to bed
-and so be fresh for whatever may await us to-morrow.”
-
-I was able at last to persuade my companion to take my advice,
-though I knew from his excited manner that there was not much
-hope of sleep for him. Indeed, his mood was infectious, for I lay
-tossing half the night myself, brooding over this strange
-problem, and inventing a hundred theories, each of which was more
-impossible than the last. Why had Holmes remained at Woking? Why
-had he asked Miss Harrison to remain in the sick-room all day?
-Why had he been so careful not to inform the people at Briarbrae
-that he intended to remain near them? I cudgelled my brains until
-I fell asleep in the endeavour to find some explanation which
-would cover all these facts.
-
-It was seven o’clock when I awoke, and I set off at once for
-Phelps’s room, to find him haggard and spent after a sleepless
-night. His first question was whether Holmes had arrived yet.
-
-“He’ll be here when he promised,” said I, “and not an instant
-sooner or later.”
-
-And my words were true, for shortly after eight a hansom dashed
-up to the door and our friend got out of it. Standing in the
-window we saw that his left hand was swathed in a bandage and
-that his face was very grim and pale. He entered the house, but
-it was some little time before he came upstairs.
-
-“He looks like a beaten man,” cried Phelps.
-
-I was forced to confess that he was right. “After all,” said I,
-“the clue of the matter lies probably here in town.”
-
-Phelps gave a groan.
-
-“I don’t know how it is,” said he, “but I had hoped for so much
-from his return. But surely his hand was not tied up like that
-yesterday. What can be the matter?”
-
-“You are not wounded, Holmes?” I asked, as my friend entered the
-room.
-
-“Tut, it is only a scratch through my own clumsiness,” he
-answered, nodding his good-mornings to us. “This case of yours,
-Mr. Phelps, is certainly one of the darkest which I have ever
-investigated.”
-
-“I feared that you would find it beyond you.”
-
-“It has been a most remarkable experience.”
-
-“That bandage tells of adventures,” said I. “Won’t you tell us
-what has happened?”
-
-“After breakfast, my dear Watson. Remember that I have breathed
-thirty miles of Surrey air this morning. I suppose that there has
-been no answer from my cabman advertisement? Well, well, we
-cannot expect to score every time.”
-
-The table was all laid, and just as I was about to ring Mrs.
-Hudson entered with the tea and coffee. A few minutes later she
-brought in three covers, and we all drew up to the table, Holmes
-ravenous, I curious, and Phelps in the gloomiest state of
-depression.
-
-“Mrs. Hudson has risen to the occasion,” said Holmes, uncovering
-a dish of curried chicken. “Her cuisine is a little limited, but
-she has as good an idea of breakfast as a Scotch-woman. What have
-you here, Watson?”
-
-“Ham and eggs,” I answered.
-
-“Good! What are you going to take, Mr. Phelps—curried fowl or
-eggs, or will you help yourself?”
-
-“Thank you. I can eat nothing,” said Phelps.
-
-“Oh, come! Try the dish before you.”
-
-“Thank you, I would really rather not.”
-
-“Well, then,” said Holmes, with a mischievous twinkle, “I suppose
-that you have no objection to helping me?”
-
-Phelps raised the cover, and as he did so he uttered a scream,
-and sat there staring with a face as white as the plate upon
-which he looked. Across the centre of it was lying a little
-cylinder of blue-grey paper. He caught it up, devoured it with
-his eyes, and then danced madly about the room, pressing it to
-his bosom and shrieking out in his delight. Then he fell back
-into an armchair so limp and exhausted with his own emotions that
-we had to pour brandy down his throat to keep him from fainting.
-
-“There! there!” said Holmes, soothing, patting him upon the
-shoulder. “It was too bad to spring it on you like this, but
-Watson here will tell you that I never can resist a touch of the
-dramatic.”
-
-Phelps seized his hand and kissed it. “God bless you!” he cried.
-“You have saved my honour.”
-
-“Well, my own was at stake, you know,” said Holmes. “I assure you
-it is just as hateful to me to fail in a case as it can be to you
-to blunder over a commission.”
-
-Phelps thrust away the precious document into the innermost
-pocket of his coat.
-
-“I have not the heart to interrupt your breakfast any further,
-and yet I am dying to know how you got it and where it was.”
-
-Sherlock Holmes swallowed a cup of coffee, and turned his
-attention to the ham and eggs. Then he rose, lit his pipe, and
-settled himself down into his chair.
-
-“I’ll tell you what I did first, and how I came to do it
-afterwards,” said he. “After leaving you at the station I went
-for a charming walk through some admirable Surrey scenery to a
-pretty little village called Ripley, where I had my tea at an
-inn, and took the precaution of filling my flask and of putting a
-paper of sandwiches in my pocket. There I remained until evening,
-when I set off for Woking again, and found myself in the
-high-road outside Briarbrae just after sunset.
-
-“Well, I waited until the road was clear—it is never a very
-frequented one at any time, I fancy—and then I clambered over the
-fence into the grounds.”
-
-“Surely the gate was open!” ejaculated Phelps.
-
-“Yes, but I have a peculiar taste in these matters. I chose the
-place where the three fir-trees stand, and behind their screen I
-got over without the least chance of any one in the house being
-able to see me. I crouched down among the bushes on the other
-side, and crawled from one to the other—witness the disreputable
-state of my trouser knees—until I had reached the clump of
-rhododendrons just opposite to your bedroom window. There I
-squatted down and awaited developments.
-
-“The blind was not down in your room, and I could see Miss
-Harrison sitting there reading by the table. It was quarter-past
-ten when she closed her book, fastened the shutters, and retired.
-
-“I heard her shut the door, and felt quite sure that she had
-turned the key in the lock.”
-
-“The key!” ejaculated Phelps.
-
-“Yes; I had given Miss Harrison instructions to lock the door on
-the outside and take the key with her when she went to bed. She
-carried out every one of my injunctions to the letter, and
-certainly without her co-operation you would not have that paper
-in your coat-pocket. She departed then and the lights went out,
-and I was left squatting in the rhododendron-bush.
-
-“The night was fine, but still it was a very weary vigil. Of
-course it has the sort of excitement about it that the sportsman
-feels when he lies beside the water-course and waits for the big
-game. It was very long, though—almost as long, Watson, as when
-you and I waited in that deadly room when we looked into the
-little problem of the Speckled Band. There was a church-clock
-down at Woking which struck the quarters, and I thought more than
-once that it had stopped. At last however about two in the
-morning, I suddenly heard the gentle sound of a bolt being pushed
-back and the creaking of a key. A moment later the servants’ door
-was opened, and Mr. Joseph Harrison stepped out into the
-moonlight.”
-
-“Joseph!” ejaculated Phelps.
-
-“He was bare-headed, but he had a black coat thrown over his
-shoulder so that he could conceal his face in an instant if there
-were any alarm. He walked on tiptoe under the shadow of the wall,
-and when he reached the window he worked a long-bladed knife
-through the sash and pushed back the catch. Then he flung open
-the window, and putting his knife through the crack in the
-shutters, he thrust the bar up and swung them open.
-
-“From where I lay I had a perfect view of the inside of the room
-and of every one of his movements. He lit the two candles which
-stood upon the mantelpiece, and then he proceeded to turn back
-the corner of the carpet in the neighbourhood of the door.
-Presently he stopped and picked out a square piece of board, such
-as is usually left to enable plumbers to get at the joints of the
-gas-pipes. This one covered, as a matter of fact, the T joint
-which gives off the pipe which supplies the kitchen underneath.
-Out of this hiding-place he drew that little cylinder of paper,
-pushed down the board, rearranged the carpet, blew out the
-candles, and walked straight into my arms as I stood waiting for
-him outside the window.
-
-“Well, he has rather more viciousness than I gave him credit for,
-has Master Joseph. He flew at me with his knife, and I had to
-grasp him twice, and got a cut over the knuckles, before I had
-the upper hand of him. He looked murder out of the only eye he
-could see with when we had finished, but he listened to reason
-and gave up the papers. Having got them I let my man go, but I
-wired full particulars to Forbes this morning. If he is quick
-enough to catch his bird, well and good. But if, as I shrewdly
-suspect, he finds the nest empty before he gets there, why, all
-the better for the government. I fancy that Lord Holdhurst for
-one, and Mr. Percy Phelps for another, would very much rather
-that the affair never got as far as a police-court.
-
-“My God!” gasped our client. “Do you tell me that during these
-long ten weeks of agony the stolen papers were within the very
-room with me all the time?”
-
-“So it was.”
-
-“And Joseph! Joseph a villain and a thief!”
-
-“Hum! I am afraid Joseph’s character is a rather deeper and more
-dangerous one than one might judge from his appearance. From what
-I have heard from him this morning, I gather that he has lost
-heavily in dabbling with stocks, and that he is ready to do
-anything on earth to better his fortunes. Being an absolutely
-selfish man, when a chance presented itself he did not allow
-either his sister’s happiness or your reputation to hold his
-hand.”
-
-Percy Phelps sank back in his chair. “My head whirls,” said he.
-“Your words have dazed me.”
-
-“The principal difficulty in your case,” remarked Holmes, in his
-didactic fashion, “lay in the fact of there being too much
-evidence. What was vital was overlaid and hidden by what was
-irrelevant. Of all the facts which were presented to us we had to
-pick just those which we deemed to be essential, and then piece
-them together in their order, so as to reconstruct this very
-remarkable chain of events. I had already begun to suspect
-Joseph, from the fact that you had intended to travel home with
-him that night, and that therefore it was a likely enough thing
-that he should call for you, knowing the Foreign Office well,
-upon his way. When I heard that some one had been so anxious to
-get into the bedroom, in which no one but Joseph could have
-concealed anything—you told us in your narrative how you had
-turned Joseph out when you arrived with the doctor—my suspicions
-all changed to certainties, especially as the attempt was made on
-the first night upon which the nurse was absent, showing that the
-intruder was well acquainted with the ways of the house.”
-
-“How blind I have been!”
-
-“The facts of the case, as far as I have worked them out, are
-these: this Joseph Harrison entered the office through the
-Charles Street door, and knowing his way he walked straight into
-your room the instant after you left it. Finding no one there he
-promptly rang the bell, and at the instant that he did so his
-eyes caught the paper upon the table. A glance showed him that
-chance had put in his way a State document of immense value, and
-in an instant he had thrust it into his pocket and was gone. A
-few minutes elapsed, as you remember, before the sleepy
-commissionnaire drew your attention to the bell, and those were
-just enough to give the thief time to make his escape.
-
-“He made his way to Woking by the first train, and having
-examined his booty and assured himself that it really was of
-immense value, he had concealed it in what he thought was a very
-safe place, with the intention of taking it out again in a day or
-two, and carrying it to the French embassy, or wherever he
-thought that a long price was to be had. Then came your sudden
-return. He, without a moment’s warning, was bundled out of his
-room, and from that time onward there were always at least two of
-you there to prevent him from regaining his treasure. The
-situation to him must have been a maddening one. But at last he
-thought he saw his chance. He tried to steal in, but was baffled
-by your wakefulness. You remember that you did not take your
-usual draught that night.”
-
-“I remember.”
-
-“I fancy that he had taken steps to make that draught
-efficacious, and that he quite relied upon your being
-unconscious. Of course, I understood that he would repeat the
-attempt whenever it could be done with safety. Your leaving the
-room gave him the chance he wanted. I kept Miss Harrison in it
-all day so that he might not anticipate us. Then, having given
-him the idea that the coast was clear, I kept guard as I have
-described. I already knew that the papers were probably in the
-room, but I had no desire to rip up all the planking and skirting
-in search of them. I let him take them, therefore, from the
-hiding-place, and so saved myself an infinity of trouble. Is
-there any other point which I can make clear?”
-
-“Why did he try the window on the first occasion,” I asked, “when
-he might have entered by the door?”
-
-“In reaching the door he would have to pass seven bedrooms. On
-the other hand, he could get out on to the lawn with ease.
-Anything else?”
-
-“You do not think,” asked Phelps, “that he had any murderous
-intention? The knife was only meant as a tool.”
-
-“It may be so,” answered Holmes, shrugging his shoulders. “I can
-only say for certain that Mr. Joseph Harrison is a gentleman to
-whose mercy I should be extremely unwilling to trust.”
\ No newline at end of file
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-The Red Headed League
-
-
-I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the autumn
-of last year, and found him in deep conversation with a very stout,
-florid-faced, elderly gentleman, with fiery red hair. With an apology
-for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw, when Holmes pulled me
-abruptly into the room and closed the door behind me.
-
-“You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson,” he
-said, cordially.
-
-“I was afraid that you were engaged.”
-
-“So I am. Very much so.”
-
-“Then I can wait in the next room.”
-
-“Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and helper
-in many of my most successful cases, and I have no doubt that he will
-be of the utmost use to me in yours also.”
-
-The stout gentleman half-rose from his chair and gave a bob of
-greeting, with a quick, little, questioning glance from his small,
-fat-encircled eyes.
-
-“Try the settee,” said Holmes, relapsing into his arm-chair and putting
-his finger-tips together, as was his custom when in judicial moods. “I
-know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and
-outside the conventions and humdrum routine of every-day life. You have
-shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to
-chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish
-so many of my own little adventures.”
-
-“Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me,” I
-observed.
-
-“You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we went
-into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary Sutherland, that
-for strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to
-life itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the
-imagination.”
-
-“A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.”
-
-“You did, doctor, but none the less you must come round to my view,
-for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you, until your
-reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to be right. Now, Mr.
-Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call upon me this morning,
-and to begin a narrative which promises to be one of the most singular
-which I have listened to for some time. You have heard me remark that
-the strangest and most unique things are very often connected not with
-the larger but with the smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where
-there is room for doubt whether any positive crime has been committed.
-As far as I have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the
-present case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events
-is certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to.
-Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to recommence
-your narrative. I ask you, not merely because my friend Dr. Watson has
-not heard the opening part, but also because the peculiar nature of the
-story makes me anxious to have every possible detail from your lips.
-As a rule, when I have heard some slight indication of the course of
-events, I am able to guide myself by the thousands of other similar
-cases which occur to my memory. In the present instance I am forced to
-admit that the facts are, to the best of my belief, unique.”
-
-The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some
-little pride, and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the inside
-pocket of his great-coat. 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 endeavored, after the fashion
-of my companion, to read the indications which might be presented by
-his dress or appearance.
-
-I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor bore
-every mark of being an average commonplace British tradesman, obese,
-pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy gray shepherd’s check trousers,
-a not over-clean black frock-coat, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab
-waistcoat with a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of
-metal dangling down as an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown
-overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him.
-Altogether, look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man
-save his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and
-discontent upon his features.
-
-Sherlock Holmes’s quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook his
-head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. “Beyond the
-obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labor, that he takes
-snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he
-has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing
-else.”
-
-Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger upon the
-paper, but his eyes upon my companion.
-
-“How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. Holmes?”
-he asked. “How did you know, for example, that I did manual labor. It’s
-as true as gospel, for I began as a ship’s carpenter.”
-
-“Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger than
-your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more developed.”
-
-“Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?”
-
-“I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that,
-especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you use
-an arc-and-compass breastpin.”
-
-“Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?”
-
-“What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for five
-inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the elbow where you
-rest it upon the desk.”
-
-“Well, but China?”
-
-“The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right wrist
-could only have been done in China. I have made a small study of tattoo
-marks, and have even contributed to the literature of the subject.
-That trick of staining the fishes’ scales of a delicate pink is quite
-peculiar to China. When, in addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from
-your watch-chain, the matter becomes even more simple.”
-
-Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. “Well, I never!” said he. “I thought
-at first that you had done something clever, but I see that there was
-nothing in it, after all.”
-
-“I begin to think, Watson,” said Holmes, “that I make a mistake in
-explaining. ‘Omne ignotum pro magnifico,’ you know, and my poor little
-reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I am so candid. Can
-you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?”
-
-“Yes, I have got it now,” he answered, with his thick, red finger
-planted half-way down the column. “Here it is. This is what began it
-all. You just read it for yourself, sir.”
-
-I took the paper from him, and read as follows:
-
-  “TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the
-  late Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pa., U.S.A., there is now
-  another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League
-  to a salary of £4 a week for purely nominal services. All
-  red-headed men who are sound in body and mind, and above
-  the age of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on
-  Monday, at eleven o’clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of
-  the League, 7 Pope’s Court, Fleet Street.”
-
-“What on earth does this mean?” I ejaculated, after I had twice read
-over the extraordinary announcement.
-
-Holmes chuckled, and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when in
-high spirits. “It is a little off the beaten track, isn’t it?” said
-he. “And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch, and tell us all about
-yourself, your household, and the effect which this advertisement had
-upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, doctor, of the paper
-and the date.”
-
-“It is _The Morning Chronicle_, of April 27, 1890. Just two months ago.”
-
-“Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?”
-
-“Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,”
-said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; “I have a small pawnbroker’s
-business at Coburg Square, near the city. It’s not a very large affair,
-and of late years it has not done more than just give me a living. I
-used to be able to keep two assistants, but now I only keep one; and I
-would have a job to pay him, but that he is willing to come for half
-wages, so as to learn the business.”
-
-“What is the name of this obliging youth?” asked Sherlock Holmes.
-
-“His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he’s not such a youth, either. It’s
-hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter assistant, Mr. Holmes;
-and I know very well that he could better himself, and earn twice what
-I am able to give him. But, after all, if he is satisfied, why should I
-put ideas in his head?”
-
-“Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an _employé_ who
-comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience among
-employers in this age. I don’t know that your assistant is not as
-remarkable as your advertisement.”
-
-“Oh, he has his faults, too,” said Mr. Wilson. “Never was such a fellow
-for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought to be
-improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar like a rabbit
-into its hole to develope his pictures. That is his main fault; but, on
-the whole, he’s a good worker. There’s no vice in him.”
-
-“He is still with you, I presume?”
-
-“Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple cooking,
-and keeps the place clean—that’s all I have in the house, for I am a
-widower, and never had any family. We live very quietly, sir, the three
-of us; and we keep a roof over our heads, and pay our debts, if we do
-nothing more.
-
-“The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. Spaulding, he
-came down into the office just this day eight weeks, with this very
-paper in his hand, and he says:
-
-“‘I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.’
-
-“‘Why that?’ I asks.
-
-“‘Why,’ says he, ‘here’s another vacancy on the League of the
-Red-headed Men. It’s worth quite a little fortune to any man who gets
-it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than there are men,
-so that the trustees are at their wits’ end what to do with the money.
-If my hair would only change color, here’s a nice little crib all ready
-for me to step into.’
-
-“‘Why, what is it, then?’ I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a very
-stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of my having
-to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting my foot over the
-door-mat. In that way I didn’t know much of what was going on outside,
-and I was always glad of a bit of news.
-
-“‘Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?’ he asked,
-with his eyes open.
-
-“‘Never.’
-
-“‘Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one of the
-vacancies.’
-
-“‘And what are they worth?’ I asked.
-
-“‘Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and it
-need not interfere very much with one’s other occupations.’
-
-“Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, for the
-business has not been over-good for some years, and an extra couple of
-hundred would have been very handy.
-
-“‘Tell me all about it,’ said I.
-
-“‘Well,’ said he, showing me the advertisement, ‘you can see for
-yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address
-where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, the
-League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins, who
-was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself red-headed, and he had a
-great sympathy for all red-headed men; so, when he died, it was found
-that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees, with
-instructions to apply the interest to the providing of easy berths to
-men whose hair is of that color. From all I hear it is splendid pay,
-and very little to do.’
-
-“‘But,’ said I, ‘there would be millions of red-headed men who would
-apply.’
-
-“‘Not so many as you might think,’ he answered. ‘You see it is really
-confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had started from
-London when he was young, and he wanted to do the old town a good turn.
-Then, again, I have heard it is no use your applying if your hair is
-light red, or dark red, or anything but real bright, blazing, fiery
-red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Wilson, you would just walk in;
-but perhaps it would hardly be worth your while to put yourself out of
-the way for the sake of a few hundred pounds.’
-
-“Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, that my
-hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed to me that, if
-there was to be any competition in the matter, I stood as good a chance
-as any man that I had ever met. Vincent Spaulding seemed to know so
-much about it that I thought he might prove useful, so I just ordered
-him to put up the shutters for the day, and to come right away with me.
-He was very willing to have a holiday, so we shut the business up, and
-started off for the address that was given us in the advertisement.
-
-“I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From
-north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in his
-hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. Fleet
-Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope’s Court looked
-like a coster’s orange barrow. I should not have thought there were
-so many in the whole country as were brought together by that single
-advertisement. Every shade of color they were—straw, lemon, orange,
-brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; but, as Spaulding said, there were
-not many who had the real vivid flame-colored tint. When I saw how many
-were waiting, I would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would
-not hear of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and
-pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up to
-the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream upon the
-stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back dejected; but we
-wedged in as well as we could, and soon found ourselves in the office.”
-
-“Your experience has been a most entertaining one,” remarked Holmes, as
-his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge pinch of snuff.
-“Pray continue your very interesting statement.”
-
-“There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs and a
-deal table, behind which sat a small man, with a head that was even
-redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate as he came
-up, and then he always managed to find some fault in them which would
-disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem to be such a very easy
-matter, after all. However, when our turn came, the little man was much
-more favorable to me than to any of the others, and he closed the door
-as we entered, so that he might have a private word with us.
-
-“‘This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,’ said my assistant, ‘and he is willing to
-fill a vacancy in the League.’
-
-“‘And he is admirably suited for it,’ the other answered. ‘He has every
-requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so fine.’ He
-took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and gazed at my hair
-until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he plunged forward, wrung my
-hand, and congratulated me warmly on my success.
-
-“‘It would be injustice to hesitate,’ said he. ‘You will, however, I am
-sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.’ With that he seized
-my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I yelled with the pain.
-‘There is water in your eyes,’ said he, as he released me. ‘I perceive
-that all is as it should be. But we have to be careful, for we have
-twice been deceived by wigs and once by paint. I could tell you tales
-of cobbler’s wax which would disgust you with human nature.’ He stepped
-over to the window, and shouted through it at the top of his voice that
-the vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below,
-and the folk all trooped away in different directions, until there was
-not a red head to be seen except my own and that of the manager.
-
-“‘My name,’ said he, ‘is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of the
-pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are you a
-married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?’
-
-“I answered that I had not.
-
-“His face fell immediately.
-
-“‘Dear me!’ he said, gravely, ‘that is very serious indeed! I am sorry
-to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the propagation
-and spread of the red-heads as well as for their maintenance. It is
-exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a bachelor.’
-
-“My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was not
-to have the vacancy after all; but, after thinking it over for a few
-minutes, he said that it would be all right.
-
-“‘In the case of another,’ said he, ‘the objection might be fatal, but
-we must stretch a point in favor of a man with such a head of hair as
-yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your new duties?’
-
-“‘Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,’ said I.
-
-“‘Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!’ said Vincent Spaulding. ‘I
-shall be able to look after that for you.’
-
-“‘What would be the hours?’ I asked.
-
-“‘Ten to two.’
-
-“Now a pawnbroker’s business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. Holmes,
-especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just before pay-day;
-so it would suit me very well to earn a little in the mornings.
-Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, and that he would see
-to anything that turned up.
-
-“‘That would suit me very well,’ said I. ‘And the pay?’
-
-“‘Is £4 a week.’
-
-“‘And the work?’
-
-“‘Is purely nominal.’
-
-“‘What do you call purely nominal?’
-
-“‘Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the building, the
-whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole position forever.
-The will is very clear upon that point. You don’t comply with the
-conditions if you budge from the office during that time.’
-
-“‘It’s only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,’ said
-I.
-
-“‘No excuse will avail,’ said Mr. Duncan Ross, ‘neither sickness nor
-business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose your
-billet.’
-
-“‘And the work?’
-
-“‘Is to copy out the “Encyclopædia Britannica.” There is the first
-volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and
-blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be ready
-to-morrow?’
-
-“‘Certainly,’ I answered.
-
-“‘Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you once
-more on the important position which you have been fortunate enough to
-gain.’ He bowed me out of the room, and I went home with my assistant,
-hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased at my own good
-fortune.
-
-“Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in
-low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the whole
-affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its object might
-be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past belief that any one
-could make such a will, or that they would pay such a sum for doing
-anything so simple as copying out the ‘Encyclopædia 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 of a morning, and then, after
-a time, he did not come in at all. Still, of course, I never dared to
-leave the room for an instant, for I was not sure when he might come,
-and the billet was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would
-not risk the loss of it.
-
-“Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about Abbots and
-Archery and Armor and Architecture and Attica, and hoped with diligence
-that I might get on to the B’s before very long. It cost me something
-in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly filled a shelf with my writings.
-And then suddenly the whole business came to an end.”
-
-“To an end?”
-
-“Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as usual
-at ten o’clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a little square
-of card-board hammered on to the middle of the panel with a tack. Here
-it is, and you can read for yourself.”
-
-He held up a piece of white card-board about the size of a sheet of
-note-paper. It read in this fashion:
-
-  “THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE
-   IS
-   DISSOLVED.
-   _October 9, 1890._”
-
-Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the rueful
-face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so completely
-overtopped every other consideration that we both burst out into a roar
-of laughter.
-
-“I cannot see that there is anything very funny,” cried our client,
-flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. “If you can do nothing
-better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere.”
-
-“No, no,” cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from which he
-had half risen. “I really wouldn’t miss your case for the world. It is
-most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you will excuse my saying
-so, something just a little funny about it. Pray what steps did you
-take when you found the card upon the door?”
-
-“I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called at
-the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything about it.
-Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant living on the
-ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me what had become of
-the Red-headed League. He said that he had never heard of any such
-body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan Ross was. He answered that the
-name was new to him.
-
-[Illustration: “THE DOOR WAS SHUT AND LOCKED”]
-
-“‘Well,’ said I, ‘the gentleman at No. 4.’
-
-“‘What, the red-headed man?’
-
-“‘Yes.’
-
-“‘Oh,’ said he, ‘his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor, and
-was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new premises
-were ready. He moved out yesterday.’
-
-“‘Where could I find him?’
-
-“‘Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 King
-Edward Street, near St. Paul’s.’
-
-“I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was a
-manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever heard of
-either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross.”
-
-“And what did you do then?” asked Holmes.
-
-“I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my
-assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say that
-if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite good enough,
-Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place without a struggle, so,
-as I had heard that you were good enough to give advice to poor folk
-who were in need of it, I came right away to you.”
-
-“And you did very wisely,” said Holmes. “Your case is an exceedingly
-remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. From what you
-have told me I think that it is possible that graver issues hang from
-it than might at first sight appear.”
-
-“Grave enough!” said Mr. Jabez Wilson. “Why, I have lost four pound a
-week.”
-
-“As far as you are personally concerned,” remarked Holmes, “I do not
-see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary league. On
-the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some £30, to say
-nothing of the minute knowledge which you have gained on every subject
-which comes under the letter A. You have lost nothing by them.”
-
-“No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, and what
-their object was in playing this prank—if it was a prank—upon me. It
-was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it cost them two and thirty
-pounds.”
-
-“We shall endeavor to clear up these points for you. And, first, one
-or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who first called
-your attention to the advertisement—how long had he been with you?”
-
-“About a month then.”
-
-“How did he come?”
-
-“In answer to an advertisement.”
-
-“Was he the only applicant?”
-
-“No, I had a dozen.”
-
-“Why did you pick him?”
-
-“Because he was handy, and would come cheap.”
-
-“At half-wages, in fact.”
-
-“Yes.”
-
-“What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?”
-
-“Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face,
-though he’s not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon his
-forehead.”
-
-Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. “I thought as
-much,” said he. “Have you ever observed that his ears are pierced for
-earrings?”
-
-“Yes, sir. He told me that a gypsy had done it for him when he was a
-lad.”
-
-“Hum!” said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. “He is still with
-you?”
-
-“Oh yes, sir; I have only just left him.”
-
-“And has your business been attended to in your absence?”
-
-“Nothing to complain of, sir. There’s never very much to do of a
-morning.”
-
-“That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an opinion upon
-the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is Saturday, and I
-hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion.”
-
-“Well, Watson,” said Holmes, when our visitor had left us, “what do you
-make of it all?”
-
-“I make nothing of it,” I answered, frankly. “It is a most mysterious
-business.”
-
-“As a rule,” said Holmes, “the more bizarre a thing is the less
-mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes
-which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most
-difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this matter.”
-
-“What are you going to do, then?” I asked.
-
-“To smoke,” he answered. “It is quite a three-pipe problem, and I beg
-that you won’t speak to me for fifty minutes.” He curled himself up
-in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his hawk-like nose, and
-there he sat with his eyes closed and his black clay pipe thrusting out
-like the bill of some strange bird. I had come to the conclusion that
-he had dropped asleep, and indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly
-sprang out of his chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his
-mind, and put his pipe down upon the mantel-piece.
-
-“Sarasate plays at the St. James’s Hall this afternoon,” he remarked.
-“What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare you for a few
-hours?”
-
-“I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very absorbing.”
-
-“Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the city first, and
-we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that there is a good deal
-of German music on the programme, which is rather more to my taste than
-Italian or French. It is introspective, and I want to introspect. Come
-along!”
-
-We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short walk
-took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular story which we
-had listened to in the morning. It was a pokey, little, shabby-genteel
-place, where four lines of dingy two-storied brick houses looked out
-into a small railed-in enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and
-a few clumps of faded laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a
-smoke-laden and uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown
-board with “JABEZ WILSON” in white letters, upon a corner
-house, announced the place where our red-headed client carried on his
-business. Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one
-side, and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between
-puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down again
-to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally he returned
-to the pawnbroker’s, and, having thumped vigorously upon the pavement
-with his stick two or three times, he went up to the door and knocked.
-It was instantly opened by a bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow,
-who asked him to step in.
-
-“Thank you,” said Holmes, “I only wished to ask you how you would go
-from here to the Strand.”
-
-“Third right, fourth left,” answered the assistant, promptly, closing
-the door.
-
-“Smart fellow, that,” observed Holmes, as we walked away. “He is, in my
-judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring I am not
-sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known something of him
-before.”
-
-“Evidently,” said I, “Mr. Wilson’s assistant counts for a good deal in
-this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you inquired your
-way merely in order that you might see him.”
-
-“Not him.”
-
-“What then?”
-
-“The knees of his trousers.”
-
-“And what did you see?”
-
-“What I expected to see.”
-
-“Why did you beat the pavement?”
-
-“My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We are
-spies in an enemy’s country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg Square.
-Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it.”
-
-The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the corner
-from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a contrast to
-it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was one of the main
-arteries which convey the traffic of the city to the north and west.
-The roadway was blocked with the immense stream of commerce flowing
-in a double tide inward and outward, while the foot-paths were black
-with the hurrying swarm of pedestrians. It was difficult to realize
-as we looked at the line of fine shops and stately business premises
-that they really abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant
-square which we had just quitted.
-
-“Let me see,” said Holmes, standing at the corner, and glancing along
-the line, “I should like just to remember the order of the houses here.
-It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of London. There is
-Mortimer’s, the tobacconist, the little newspaper shop, the Coburg
-branch of the City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restaurant, and
-McFarlane’s carriage-building depot. That carries us right on to the
-other block. And now, doctor, we’ve done our work, so it’s time we had
-some play. A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land,
-where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no
-red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums.”
-
-My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a
-very capable performer, but a composer of no ordinary merit. All the
-afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness,
-gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the music, while his
-gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those
-of Holmes, the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted,
-ready-handed criminal agent, as it was possible to conceive. In his
-singular character the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and
-his extreme exactness and astuteness represented, as I have often
-thought, the reaction against the poetic and contemplative mood which
-occasionally predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from
-extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was never
-so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been lounging in
-his arm-chair amid his improvisations and his black-letter editions.
-Then it was that the lust of the chase would suddenly come upon him,
-and that his brilliant reasoning power would rise to the level of
-intuition, until those who were unacquainted with his methods would
-look askance at him as on a man whose knowledge was not that of other
-mortals. When I saw him that afternoon so enrapt in the music at St.
-James’s Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom
-he had set himself to hunt down.
-
-“You want to go home, no doubt, doctor,” he remarked, as we emerged.
-
-“Yes, it would be as well.”
-
-“And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This
-business at Coburg Square is serious.”
-
-“Why serious?”
-
-“A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to
-believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being Saturday
-rather complicates matters. I shall want your help to-night.”
-
-“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.
-
-[Illustration: “ALL AFTERNOON HE SAT IN THE STALLS”]
-
-I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbors, but I was always
-oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings with Sherlock
-Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had seen what he had
-seen, and yet from his words it was evident that he saw clearly not
-only what had happened, but what was about to happen, while to me the
-whole business was still confused and grotesque. As I drove home to
-my house in Kensington I thought over it all, from the extraordinary
-story of the red-headed copier of the “Encyclopædia” down to the visit
-to Saxe-Coburg Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted
-from me. What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed?
-Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from Holmes
-that this smooth-faced pawnbroker’s assistant was a formidable man—a
-man who might play a deep game. I tried to puzzle it out, but gave it
-up in despair, and set the matter aside until night should bring an
-explanation.
-
-It was a quarter past nine when I started from home and made my way
-across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker Street. Two
-hansoms were standing at the door, and, as I entered the passage, I
-heard the sound of voices from above. On entering his room I found
-Holmes in animated conversation with two men, one of whom I recognized
-as Peter Jones, the official police agent, while the other was a long,
-thin, sad-faced man, with a very shiny hat and oppressively respectable
-frock-coat.
-
-“Ha! our party is complete,” said Holmes, buttoning up his pea-jacket,
-and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. “Watson, I think
-you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me introduce you to Mr.
-Merryweather, who is to be our companion in to-night’s adventure.”
-
-“We’re hunting in couples again, doctor, you see,” said Jones, in his
-consequential way. “Our friend here is a wonderful man for starting a
-chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do the running down.”
-
-“I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase,”
-observed Mr. Merryweather, gloomily.
-
-“You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir,” said the
-police agent, loftily. “He has his own little methods, which are, if he
-won’t mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical and fantastic,
-but he has the makings of a detective in him. It is not too much to
-say that once or twice, as in that business of the Sholto murder and
-the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly correct than the official
-force.”
-
-“Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right,” said the stranger,
-with deference. “Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. It is the
-first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I have not had my
-rubber.”
-
-“I think you will find,” said Sherlock Holmes, “that you will play for
-a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and that the play
-will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, the stake will be
-some £30,000; and for you, Jones, it will be the man upon whom you wish
-to lay your hands.”
-
-“John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He’s a young man,
-Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his profession, and I would
-rather have my bracelets on him than on any criminal in London. He’s a
-remarkable man, is young John Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke,
-and he himself has been to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as
-his fingers, and though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never
-know where to find the man himself. He’ll crack a crib in Scotland one
-week, and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next.
-I’ve been on his track for years, and have never set eyes on him yet.”
-
-“I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. I’ve
-had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I agree with
-you that he is at the head of his profession. It is past ten, however,
-and quite time that we started. If you two will take the first hansom,
-Watson and I will follow in the second.”
-
-Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive,
-and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in the
-afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit streets
-until we emerged into Farringdon Street.
-
-“We are close there now,” my friend remarked. “This fellow Merryweather
-is a bank director, and personally interested in the matter. I thought
-it as well to have Jones with us also. He is not a bad fellow, though
-an absolute imbecile in his profession. He has one positive virtue. He
-is as brave as a bull-dog, and as tenacious as a lobster if he gets his
-claws upon any one. Here we are, and they are waiting for us.”
-
-We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had found
-ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, following
-the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a narrow passage
-and through a side door, which he opened for us. Within there was a
-small corridor, which ended in a very massive iron gate. This also was
-opened, and led down a flight of winding stone steps, which terminated
-at another formidable gate. Mr. Merryweather stopped to light a
-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. We are at present,
-doctor—as no doubt you have divined—in the cellar of the city branch
-of one of the principal London banks. Mr. Merryweather is the chairman
-of directors, and he will explain to you that there are reasons why the
-more daring criminals of London should take a considerable interest in
-this cellar at present.”
-
-“It is our French gold,” whispered the director. “We have had several
-warnings that an attempt might be made upon it.”
-
-“Your French gold?”
-
-“Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources, and
-borrowed, for that purpose, 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of France.
-It has become known that we have never had occasion to unpack the
-money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The crate upon which
-I sit contains 2000 napoleons packed between layers of lead foil. Our
-reserve of bullion is much larger at present than is usually kept in a
-single branch office, and the directors have had 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 within an hour matters
-will come to a head. In the mean time, Mr. Merryweather, we must put
-the screen over that dark lantern.”
-
-“And sit in the dark?”
-
-“I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and I
-thought that, as we were a _partie carrée_, you might have your rubber
-after all. But I see that the enemy’s preparations have gone so far
-that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, first of all, we must
-choose our positions. These are daring men, and though we shall take
-them at a disadvantage, they may do us some harm unless we are careful.
-I shall stand behind this crate, and do you conceal yourselves behind
-those. Then, when I flash a light upon them, close in swiftly. If they
-fire, Watson, have no compunction about shooting them down.”
-
-I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case behind
-which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front of his
-lantern, and left us in pitch darkness—such an absolute darkness
-as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot metal remained
-to assure us that the light was still there, ready to flash out at
-a moment’s notice. To me, with my nerves worked up to a pitch of
-expectancy, there was something depressing and subduing in the sudden
-gloom, and in the cold, dank air of the vault.
-
-“They have but one retreat,” whispered Holmes. “That is back through
-the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have done what I
-asked you, Jones?”
-
-“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 of tension, and my hearing was so acute that I
-could not only hear the gentle breathing of my companions, but I could
-distinguish the deeper, heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the
-thin, sighing note of the bank director. From my position I could look
-over the case in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught
-the glint of a light.
-
-At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then it
-lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, without any
-warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand appeared; a white,
-almost womanly hand, which felt about in the centre of the little area
-of light. For a minute or more the hand, with its writhing fingers,
-protruded out of the floor. Then it was withdrawn as suddenly as it
-appeared, and all was dark again save the single lurid spark which
-marked a chink between the stones.
-
-Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, tearing
-sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon its side, and
-left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed the light of a
-lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, boyish face, which
-looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand on either side of the
-aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and waist-high, until one knee
-rested upon the edge. In another instant he stood at the side of the
-hole, and was hauling after him a companion, lithe and small like
-himself, with a pale face and a shock of very red hair.
-
-“It’s all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags.
-Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I’ll swing for it!”
-
-Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar.
-The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth
-as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed upon the barrel of a
-revolver, but Holmes’s hunting crop came down on the man’s wrist, and
-the pistol clinked upon the stone floor.
-
-“It’s no use, John Clay,” said Holmes, blandly. “You have no chance at
-all.”
-
-“So I see,” the other answered, with the utmost coolness. “I fancy that
-my pal is all right, though I see you have got his coat-tails.”
-
-“There are three men waiting for him at the door,” said Holmes.
-
-“Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I must
-compliment you.”
-
-“And I you,” Holmes answered. “Your red-headed idea was very new and
-effective.”
-
-“You’ll see your pal again presently,” said Jones. “He’s quicker at
-climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the derbies.”
-
-“I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands,” remarked
-our prisoner, as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. “You may not
-be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have the goodness, also,
-when you address me always to say ‘sir’ and ‘please.’”
-
-“All right,” said Jones, with a stare and a snigger. “Well, would you
-please, sir, march up-stairs, where we can get a cab to carry your
-highness to the police-station?”
-
-“That is better,” said John Clay, serenely. He made a sweeping bow to
-the three of us, and walked quietly off in the custody of the detective.
-
-“Really Mr. Holmes,” said Mr. Merryweather, as we followed them from
-the cellar, “I do not know how the bank can thank you or repay you.
-There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated in the most
-complete manner one of the most determined attempts at bank robbery
-that have ever come within my experience.”
-
-“I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr.
-John Clay,” said Holmes. “I have been at some small expense over this
-matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond that I am
-amply repaid by having had an experience which is in many ways unique,
-and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of the Red-headed League.”
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-“You see, Watson,” he explained, in the early hours of the morning,
-as we sat over a glass of whiskey-and-soda in Baker Street, “it was
-perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible object of this
-rather fantastic business of the advertisement of the League, and the
-copying of the ‘Encyclopædia,’ must be to get this not over-bright
-pawnbroker out of the way for a number of hours every day. It was a
-curious way of managing it, but, really, it would be difficult to
-suggest a better. The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious
-mind by the color of his accomplice’s hair. The £4 a week was a lure
-which must draw him, and what was it to them, who were playing for
-thousands? They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary
-office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and together
-they manage to secure his absence every morning in the week. From
-the time that I heard of the assistant having come for half wages,
-it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive for securing the
-situation.”
-
-“But how could you guess what the motive was?”
-
-“Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere
-vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The man’s
-business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which
-could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure
-as they were at. It must, then, be something out of the house. What
-could it be? I thought of the assistant’s fondness for photography,
-and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar! There was the
-end of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious
-assistant, and found that I had to deal with one of the coolest
-and most daring criminals in London. He was doing something in the
-cellar—something which took many hours a day for months on end. What
-could it be, once more? I could think of nothing save that he was
-running a tunnel to some other building.
-
-“So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I
-surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was
-ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind.
-It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the
-assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had never
-set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his face. His
-knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have remarked how
-worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of those hours of
-burrowing. The only remaining point was what they were burrowing for. I
-walked round the corner, saw that the City and Suburban Bank abutted on
-our friend’s premises, and felt that I had solved my problem. When you
-drove home after the concert I called upon Scotland Yard, and upon the
-chairman of the bank directors, with the result that you have seen.”
-
-“And how could you tell that they would make their attempt to-night?” I
-asked.
-
-“Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that they
-cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson’s presence—in other words,
-that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential that they
-should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the bullion might
-be removed. Saturday would suit them better than any other day, as it
-would give them two days for their escape. For all these reasons I
-expected them to come to-night.”
-
-“You reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed, in unfeigned
-admiration. “It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings true.”
-
-“It saved me from ennui,” he answered, yawning. “Alas! I already feel
-it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort to escape
-from the commonplaces of existence. These little problems help me to do
-so.”
-
-“And you are a benefactor of the race,” said I.
-
-He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, perhaps, after all, it is of some
-little use,” he remarked. “‘L’homme c’est rien—l’oeuvre c’est
-tout,’ as Gustave Flaubert wrote to Georges Sand.”
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-<!doctype html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"><title> Silver Blaze</title><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"></head><body><h1>Silver Blaze</h1><p></p> <p>I am afraid, Watson, that I shall have to go,” said Holmes, as we sat down together to our breakfast one morning.</p> <p>“Go! Where to?”</p> <p>“To Dartmoor; to King’s Pyland.”</p> <p>I was not surprised. Indeed, my only wonder was that he had not already been mixed up in this extraordinary case, which was the
-one topic of conversation through the length and breadth of
-England. For a whole day my companion had rambled about the room
-with his chin upon his chest and his brows knitted, charging and
-recharging his pipe with the strongest black tobacco, and
-absolutely deaf to any of my questions or remarks. Fresh editions
-of every paper had been sent up by our news agent, only to be
-glanced over and tossed down into a corner. Yet, silent as he
-was, I knew perfectly well what it was over which he was
-brooding. There was but one problem before the public which could
-challenge his powers of analysis, and that was the singular
-disappearance of the favourite for the Wessex Cup, and the tragic
-murder of its trainer. When, therefore, he suddenly announced his
-intention of setting out for the scene of the drama it was only
-what I had both expected and hoped for.</p> <p>“I should be most happy to go down with you if I should not be in the way,” said I.</p> <p>“My dear Watson, you would confer a great favour upon me by coming. And I think that your time will not be misspent, for
-there are points about the case which promise to make it an
-absolutely unique one. We have, I think, just time to catch our
-train at Paddington, and I will go further into the matter upon
-our journey. You would oblige me by bringing with you your very
-excellent field-glass.”</p> <p>And so it happened that an hour or so later I found myself in the corner of a first-class carriage flying along en route for
-Exeter, while Sherlock Holmes, with his sharp, eager face framed
-in his ear-flapped travelling-cap, dipped rapidly into the bundle
-of fresh papers which he had procured at Paddington. We had left
-Reading far behind us before he thrust the last one of them under
-the seat, and offered me his cigar-case.</p> <p>“We are going well,” said he, looking out the window and glancing at his watch. “Our rate at present is fifty-three and a half
-miles an hour.”</p> <p>“I have not observed the quarter-mile posts,” said I.</p> <p>“Nor have I. But the telegraph posts upon this line are sixty yards apart, and the calculation is a simple one. I presume that
-you have looked into this matter of the murder of John Straker
-and the disappearance of Silver Blaze?”</p> <p>“I have seen what the _Telegraph_ and the _Chronicle_ have to say.”</p> <p>“It is one of those cases where the art of the reasoner should be used rather for the sifting of details than for the acquiring of
-fresh evidence. The tragedy has been so uncommon, so complete and
-of such personal importance to so many people, that we are
-suffering from a plethora of surmise, conjecture, and hypothesis.
-The difficulty is to detach the framework of fact—of absolute
-undeniable fact—from the embellishments of theorists and
-reporters. Then, having established ourselves upon this sound
-basis, it is our duty to see what inferences may be drawn and
-what are the special points upon which the whole mystery turns.
-On Tuesday evening I received telegrams from both Colonel Ross,
-the owner of the horse, and from Inspector Gregory, who is
-looking after the case, inviting my co-operation.”</p> <p>“Tuesday evening!” I exclaimed. “And this is Thursday morning. Why didn’t you go down yesterday?”</p> <p>“Because I made a blunder, my dear Watson—which is, I am afraid, a more common occurrence than any one would think who only knew
-me through your memoirs. The fact is that I could not believe it
-possible that the most remarkable horse in England could long
-remain concealed, especially in so sparsely inhabited a place as
-the north of Dartmoor. From hour to hour yesterday I expected to
-hear that he had been found, and that his abductor was the
-murderer of John Straker. When, however, another morning had
-come, and I found that beyond the arrest of young Fitzroy Simpson
-nothing had been done, I felt that it was time for me to take
-action. Yet in some ways I feel that yesterday has not been
-wasted.”</p> <p>“You have formed a theory, then?”</p> <p>“At least I have got a grip of the essential facts of the case. I shall enumerate them to you, for nothing clears up a case so much
-as stating it to another person, and I can hardly expect your
-co-operation if I do not show you the position from which we
-start.”</p> <p>I lay back against the cushions, puffing at my cigar, while Holmes, leaning forward, with his long, thin forefinger checking
-off the points upon the palm of his left hand, gave me a sketch
-of the events which had led to our journey.</p> <p>“Silver Blaze,” said he, “is from the Isonomy stock, and holds as brilliant a record as his famous ancestor. He is now in his fifth
-year, and has brought in turn each of the prizes of the turf to
-Colonel Ross, his fortunate owner. Up to the time of the
-catastrophe he was the first favourite for the Wessex Cup, the
-betting being three to one on him. He has always, however, been a
-prime favourite with the racing public, and has never yet
-disappointed them, so that even at those odds enormous sums of
-money have been laid upon him. It is obvious, therefore, that
-there were many people who had the strongest interest in
-preventing Silver Blaze from being there at the fall of the flag
-next Tuesday.</p> <p>“The fact was, of course, appreciated at King’s Pyland, where the Colonel’s training-stable is situated. Every precaution was taken
-to guard the favourite. The trainer, John Straker, is a retired
-jockey who rode in Colonel Ross’s colours before he became too
-heavy for the weighing-chair. He has served the Colonel for five
-years as jockey and for seven as trainer, and has always shown
-himself to be a zealous and honest servant. Under him were three
-lads; for the establishment was a small one, containing only four
-horses in all. One of these lads sat up each night in the stable,
-while the others slept in the loft. All three bore excellent
-characters. John Straker, who is a married man, lived in a small
-villa about two hundred yards from the stables. He has no
-children, keeps one maid-servant, and is comfortably off. The
-country round is very lonely, but about half a mile to the north
-there is a small cluster of villas which have been built by a
-Tavistock contractor for the use of invalids and others who may
-wish to enjoy the pure Dartmoor air. Tavistock itself lies two
-miles to the west, while across the moor, also about two miles
-distant, is the larger training establishment of Mapleton, which
-belongs to Lord Backwater, and is managed by Silas Brown. In
-every other direction the moor is a complete wilderness,
-inhabited only by a few roaming gypsies. Such was the general
-situation last Monday night when the catastrophe occurred.</p> <p>“On that evening the horses had been exercised and watered as usual, and the stables were locked up at nine o’clock. Two of the
-lads walked up to the trainer’s house, where they had supper in
-the kitchen, while the third, Ned Hunter, remained on guard. At a
-few minutes after nine the maid, Edith Baxter, carried down to
-the stables his supper, which consisted of a dish of curried
-mutton. She took no liquid, as there was a water-tap in the
-stables, and it was the rule that the lad on duty should drink
-nothing else. The maid carried a lantern with her, as it was very
-dark and the path ran across the open moor.</p> <p>“Edith Baxter was within thirty yards of the stables, when a man appeared out of the darkness and called to her to stop. As he
-stepped into the circle of yellow light thrown by the lantern she
-saw that he was a person of gentlemanly bearing, dressed in a
-grey suit of tweeds, with a cloth cap. He wore gaiters, and
-carried a heavy stick with a knob to it. She was most impressed,
-however, by the extreme pallor of his face and by the nervousness
-of his manner. His age, she thought, would be rather over thirty
-than under it.</p> <p>“‘Can you tell me where I am?’ he asked. ‘I had almost made up my mind to sleep on the moor, when I saw the light of your lantern.’</p> <p>“‘You are close to the King’s Pyland training-stables,’ said she.</p> <p>“‘Oh, indeed! What a stroke of luck!’ he cried. ‘I understand that a stable-boy sleeps there alone every night. Perhaps that is
-his supper which you are carrying to him. Now I am sure that you
-would not be too proud to earn the price of a new dress, would
-you?’ He took a piece of white paper folded up out of his
-waistcoat pocket. ‘See that the boy has this to-night, and you
-shall have the prettiest frock that money can buy.’</p> <p>“She was frightened by the earnestness of his manner, and ran past him to the window through which she was accustomed to hand
-the meals. It was already opened, and Hunter was seated at the
-small table inside. She had begun to tell him of what had
-happened, when the stranger came up again.</p> <p>“‘Good-evening,’ said he, looking through the window. ‘I wanted to have a word with you.’ The girl has sworn that as he spoke she
-noticed the corner of the little paper packet protruding from his
-closed hand.</p> <p>“‘What business have you here?’ asked the lad.</p> <p>“‘It’s business that may put something into your pocket,’ said the other. ‘You’ve two horses in for the Wessex Cup—Silver Blaze
-and Bayard. Let me have the straight tip and you won’t be a
-loser. Is it a fact that at the weights Bayard could give the
-other a hundred yards in five furlongs, and that the stable have
-put their money on him?’</p> <p>“‘So, you’re one of those damned touts!’ cried the lad. ‘I’ll show you how we serve them in King’s Pyland.’ He sprang up and
-rushed across the stable to unloose the dog. The girl fled away
-to the house, but as she ran she looked back and saw that the
-stranger was leaning through the window. A minute later, however,
-when Hunter rushed out with the hound he was gone, and though he
-ran all round the buildings he failed to find any trace of him.”</p> <p>“One moment,” I asked. “Did the stable-boy, when he ran out with the dog, leave the door unlocked behind him?”</p> <p>“Excellent, Watson, excellent!” murmured my companion. “The importance of the point struck me so forcibly that I sent a
-special wire to Dartmoor yesterday to clear the matter up. The
-boy locked the door before he left it. The window, I may add, was
-not large enough for a man to get through.</p> <p>“Hunter waited until his fellow-grooms had returned, when he sent a message to the trainer and told him what had occurred. Straker
-was excited at hearing the account, although he does not seem to
-have quite realized its true significance. It left him, however,
-vaguely uneasy, and Mrs. Straker, waking at one in the morning,
-found that he was dressing. In reply to her inquiries, he said
-that he could not sleep on account of his anxiety about the
-horses, and that he intended to walk down to the stables to see
-that all was well. She begged him to remain at home, as she could
-hear the rain pattering against the window, but in spite of her
-entreaties he pulled on his large mackintosh and left the house.</p> <p>“Mrs. Straker awoke at seven in the morning, to find that her husband had not yet returned. She dressed herself hastily, called
-the maid, and set off for the stables. The door was open; inside,
-huddled together upon a chair, Hunter was sunk in a state of
-absolute stupor, the favourite’s stall was empty, and there were
-no signs of his trainer.</p> <p>“The two lads who slept in the chaff-cutting loft above the harness-room were quickly aroused. They had heard nothing during
-the night, for they are both sound sleepers. Hunter was obviously
-under the influence of some powerful drug, and as no sense could
-be got out of him, he was left to sleep it off while the two lads
-and the two women ran out in search of the absentees. They still
-had hopes that the trainer had for some reason taken out the
-horse for early exercise, but on ascending the knoll near the
-house, from which all the neighbouring moors were visible, they
-not only could see no signs of the missing favourite, but they
-perceived something which warned them that they were in the
-presence of a tragedy.</p> <p>“About a quarter of a mile from the stables John Straker’s overcoat was flapping from a furze-bush. Immediately beyond there
-was a bowl-shaped depression in the moor, and at the bottom of
-this was found the dead body of the unfortunate trainer. His head
-had been shattered by a savage blow from some heavy weapon, and
-he was wounded on the thigh, where there was a long, clean cut,
-inflicted evidently by some very sharp instrument. It was clear,
-however, that Straker had defended himself vigorously against his
-assailants, for in his right hand he held a small knife, which
-was clotted with blood up to the handle, while in his left he
-clasped a red and black silk cravat, which was recognised by the
-maid as having been worn on the preceding evening by the stranger
-who had visited the stables.</p> <p>“Hunter, on recovering from his stupor, was also quite positive as to the ownership of the cravat. He was equally certain that
-the same stranger had, while standing at the window, drugged his
-curried mutton, and so deprived the stables of their watchman.</p> <p>“As to the missing horse, there were abundant proofs in the mud which lay at the bottom of the fatal hollow that he had been
-there at the time of the struggle. But from that morning he has
-disappeared, and although a large reward has been offered, and
-all the gypsies of Dartmoor are on the alert, no news has come of
-him. Finally, an analysis has shown that the remains of his
-supper left by the stable-lad contain an appreciable quantity of
-powdered opium, while the people at the house partook of the same
-dish on the same night without any ill effect.</p> <p>“Those are the main facts of the case, stripped of all surmise, and stated as baldly as possible. I shall now recapitulate what
-the police have done in the matter.</p> <p>“Inspector Gregory, to whom the case has been committed, is an extremely competent officer. Were he but gifted with imagination
-he might rise to great heights in his profession. On his arrival
-he promptly found and arrested the man upon whom suspicion
-naturally rested. There was little difficulty in finding him, for
-he inhabited one of those villas which I have mentioned. His
-name, it appears, was Fitzroy Simpson. He was a man of excellent
-birth and education, who had squandered a fortune upon the turf,
-and who lived now by doing a little quiet and genteel book-making
-in the sporting clubs of London. An examination of his
-betting-book shows that bets to the amount of five thousand
-pounds had been registered by him against the favourite.</p> <p>“On being arrested he volunteered the statement that he had come down to Dartmoor in the hope of getting some information about
-the King’s Pyland horses, and also about Desborough, the second
-favourite, which was in charge of Silas Brown at the Mapleton
-stables. He did not attempt to deny that he had acted as
-described upon the evening before, but declared that he had no
-sinister designs, and had simply wished to obtain first-hand
-information. When confronted with his cravat, he turned very
-pale, and was utterly unable to account for its presence in the
-hand of the murdered man. His wet clothing showed that he had
-been out in the storm of the night before, and his stick, which
-was a Penang-lawyer weighted with lead, was just such a weapon as
-might, by repeated blows, have inflicted the terrible injuries to
-which the trainer had succumbed.</p> <p>“On the other hand, there was no wound upon his person, while the state of Straker’s knife would show that one at least of his
-assailants must bear his mark upon him. There you have it all in
-a nutshell, Watson, and if you can give me any light I shall be
-infinitely obliged to you.”</p> <p>I had listened with the greatest interest to the statement which Holmes, with characteristic clearness, had laid before me. Though
-most of the facts were familiar to me, I had not sufficiently
-appreciated their relative importance, nor their connection to
-each other.</p> <p>“Is it not possible,” I suggested, “that the incised wound upon Straker may have been caused by his own knife in the convulsive
-struggles which follow any brain injury?”</p> <p>“It is more than possible; it is probable,” said Holmes. “In that case one of the main points in favour of the accused disappears.”</p> <p>“And yet,” said I, “even now I fail to understand what the theory of the police can be.”</p> <p>“I am afraid that whatever theory we state has very grave objections to it,” returned my companion. “The police imagine, I
-take it, that this Fitzroy Simpson, having drugged the lad, and
-having in some way obtained a duplicate key, opened the stable
-door and took out the horse, with the intention, apparently, of
-kidnapping him altogether. His bridle is missing, so that Simpson
-must have put this on. Then, having left the door open behind
-him, he was leading the horse away over the moor, when he was
-either met or overtaken by the trainer. A row naturally ensued.
-Simpson beat out the trainer’s brains with his heavy stick
-without receiving any injury from the small knife which Straker
-used in self-defence, and then the thief either led the horse on
-to some secret hiding-place, or else it may have bolted during
-the struggle, and be now wandering out on the moors. That is the
-case as it appears to the police, and improbable as it is, all
-other explanations are more improbable still. However, I shall
-very quickly test the matter when I am once upon the spot, and
-until then I cannot really see how we can get much further than
-our present position.”</p> <p>It was evening before we reached the little town of Tavistock, which lies, like the boss of a shield, in the middle of the huge
-circle of Dartmoor. Two gentlemen were awaiting us in the
-station—the one a tall, fair man with lion-like hair and beard
-and curiously penetrating light blue eyes; the other a small,
-alert person, very neat and dapper, in a frock-coat and gaiters,
-with trim little side-whiskers and an eye-glass. The latter was
-Colonel Ross, the well-known sportsman; the other, Inspector
-Gregory, a man who was rapidly making his name in the English
-detective service.</p> <p>“I am delighted that you have come down, Mr. Holmes,” said the Colonel. “The Inspector here has done all that could possibly be
-suggested, but I wish to leave no stone unturned in trying to
-avenge poor Straker and in recovering my horse.”</p> <p>“Have there been any fresh developments?” asked Holmes.</p> <p>“I am sorry to say that we have made very little progress,” said the Inspector. “We have an open carriage outside, and as you
-would no doubt like to see the place before the light fails, we
-might talk it over as we drive.”</p> <p>A minute later we were all seated in a comfortable landau, and were rattling through the quaint old Devonshire city. Inspector
-Gregory was full of his case, and poured out a stream of remarks,
-while Holmes threw in an occasional question or interjection.
-Colonel Ross leaned back with his arms folded and his hat tilted
-over his eyes, while I listened with interest to the dialogue of
-the two detectives. Gregory was formulating his theory, which was
-almost exactly what Holmes had foretold in the train.</p> <p>“The net is drawn pretty close round Fitzroy Simpson,” he remarked, “and I believe myself that he is our man. At the same
-time I recognise that the evidence is purely circumstantial, and
-that some new development may upset it.”</p> <p>“How about Straker’s knife?”</p> <p>“We have quite come to the conclusion that he wounded himself in his fall.”</p> <p>“My friend Dr. Watson made that suggestion to me as we came down. If so, it would tell against this man Simpson.”</p> <p>“Undoubtedly. He has neither a knife nor any sign of a wound. The evidence against him is certainly very strong. He had a great
-interest in the disappearance of the favourite. He lies under
-suspicion of having poisoned the stable-boy, he was undoubtedly
-out in the storm, he was armed with a heavy stick, and his cravat
-was found in the dead man’s hand. I really think we have enough
-to go before a jury.”</p> <p>Holmes shook his head. “A clever counsel would tear it all to rags,” said he. “Why should he take the horse out of the stable?
-If he wished to injure it why could he not do it there? Has a
-duplicate key been found in his possession? What chemist sold him
-the powdered opium? Above all, where could he, a stranger to the
-district, hide a horse, and such a horse as this? What is his own
-explanation as to the paper which he wished the maid to give to
-the stable-boy?”</p> <p>“He says that it was a ten-pound note. One was found in his purse. But your other difficulties are not so formidable as they
-seem. He is not a stranger to the district. He has twice lodged
-at Tavistock in the summer. The opium was probably brought from
-London. The key, having served its purpose, would be hurled away.
-The horse may be at the bottom of one of the pits or old mines
-upon the moor.”</p> <p>“What does he say about the cravat?”</p> <p>“He acknowledges that it is his, and declares that he had lost it. But a new element has been introduced into the case which may
-account for his leading the horse from the stable.”</p> <p>Holmes pricked up his ears.</p> <p>“We have found traces which show that a party of gypsies encamped on Monday night within a mile of the spot where the murder took
-place. On Tuesday they were gone. Now, presuming that there was
-some understanding between Simpson and these gypsies, might he
-not have been leading the horse to them when he was overtaken,
-and may they not have him now?”</p> <p>“It is certainly possible.”</p> <p>“The moor is being scoured for these gypsies. I have also examined every stable and out-house in Tavistock, and for a
-radius of ten miles.”</p> <p>“There is another training-stable quite close, I understand?”</p> <p>“Yes, and that is a factor which we must certainly not neglect. As Desborough, their horse, was second in the betting, they had
-an interest in the disappearance of the favourite. Silas Brown,
-the trainer, is known to have had large bets upon the event, and
-he was no friend to poor Straker. We have, however, examined the
-stables, and there is nothing to connect him with the affair.”</p> <p>“And nothing to connect this man Simpson with the interests of the Mapleton stables?”</p> <p>“Nothing at all.”</p> <p>Holmes leaned back in the carriage, and the conversation ceased. A few minutes later our driver pulled up at a neat little
-red-brick villa with overhanging eaves which stood by the road.
-Some distance off, across a paddock, lay a long grey-tiled
-out-building. In every other direction the low curves of the
-moor, bronze-coloured from the fading ferns, stretched away to
-the sky-line, broken only by the steeples of Tavistock, and by a
-cluster of houses away to the westward which marked the Mapleton
-stables. We all sprang out with the exception of Holmes, who
-continued to lean back with his eyes fixed upon the sky in front
-of him, entirely absorbed in his own thoughts. It was only when I
-touched his arm that he roused himself with a violent start and
-stepped out of the carriage.</p> <p>“Excuse me,” said he, turning to Colonel Ross, who had looked at him in some surprise. “I was day-dreaming.” There was a gleam in
-his eyes and a suppressed excitement in his manner which
-convinced me, used as I was to his ways, that his hand was upon a
-clue, though I could not imagine where he had found it.</p> <p>“Perhaps you would prefer at once to go on to the scene of the crime, Mr. Holmes?” said Gregory.</p> <p>“I think that I should prefer to stay here a little and go into one or two questions of detail. Straker was brought back here, I
-presume?”</p> <p>“Yes; he lies upstairs. The inquest is to-morrow.”</p> <p>“He has been in your service some years, Colonel Ross?”</p> <p>“I have always found him an excellent servant.”</p> <p>“I presume that you made an inventory of what he had in his pockets at the time of his death, Inspector?”</p> <p>“I have the things themselves in the sitting-room, if you would care to see them.”</p> <p>“I should be very glad.” We all filed into the front room and sat round the central table while the Inspector unlocked a square tin
-box and laid a small heap of things before us. There was a box of
-vestas, two inches of tallow candle, an A.D.P. briar-root pipe, a
-pouch of seal-skin with half an ounce of long-cut Cavendish, a
-silver watch with a gold chain, five sovereigns in gold, an
-aluminium pencil-case, a few papers, and an ivory-handled knife
-with a very delicate, inflexible blade marked Weiss & Co.,
-London.</p> <p>“This is a very singular knife,” said Holmes, lifting it up and examining it minutely. “I presume, as I see blood-stains upon it,
-that it is the one which was found in the dead man’s grasp.
-Watson, this knife is surely in your line?”</p> <p>“It is what we call a cataract knife,” said I.</p> <p>“I thought so. A very delicate blade devised for very delicate work. A strange thing for a man to carry with him upon a rough
-expedition, especially as it would not shut in his pocket.”</p> <p>“The tip was guarded by a disk of cork which we found beside his body,” said the Inspector. “His wife tells us that the knife had
-lain upon the dressing-table, and that he had picked it up as he
-left the room. It was a poor weapon, but perhaps the best that he
-could lay his hands on at the moment.”</p> <p>“Very possible. How about these papers?”</p> <p>“Three of them are receipted hay-dealers’ accounts. One of them is a letter of instructions from Colonel Ross. This other is a
-milliner’s account for thirty-seven pounds fifteen made out by
-Madame Lesurier, of Bond Street, to William Derbyshire. Mrs.
-Straker tells us that Derbyshire was a friend of her husband’s
-and that occasionally his letters were addressed here.”</p> <p>“Madam Derbyshire had somewhat expensive tastes,” remarked Holmes, glancing down the account. “Twenty-two guineas is rather
-heavy for a single costume. However there appears to be nothing
-more to learn, and we may now go down to the scene of the crime.”</p> <p>As we emerged from the sitting-room a woman, who had been waiting in the passage, took a step forward and laid her hand upon the
-Inspector’s sleeve. Her face was haggard and thin and eager,
-stamped with the print of a recent horror.</p> <p>“Have you got them? Have you found them?” she panted.</p> <p>“No, Mrs. Straker. But Mr. Holmes here has come from London to help us, and we shall do all that is possible.”</p> <p>“Surely I met you in Plymouth at a garden-party some little time ago, Mrs. Straker?” said Holmes.</p> <p>“No, sir; you are mistaken.”</p> <p>“Dear me! Why, I could have sworn to it. You wore a costume of dove-coloured silk with ostrich-feather trimming.”</p> <p>“I never had such a dress, sir,” answered the lady.</p> <p>“Ah, that quite settles it,” said Holmes. And with an apology he followed the Inspector outside. A short walk across the moor took
-us to the hollow in which the body had been found. At the brink
-of it was the furze-bush upon which the coat had been hung.</p> <p>“There was no wind that night, I understand,” said Holmes.</p> <p>“None; but very heavy rain.”</p> <p>“In that case the overcoat was not blown against the furze-bush, but placed there.”</p> <p>“Yes, it was laid across the bush.”</p> <p>“You fill me with interest, I perceive that the ground has been trampled up a good deal. No doubt many feet have been here since
-Monday night.”</p> <p>“A piece of matting has been laid here at the side, and we have all stood upon that.”</p> <p>“Excellent.”</p> <p>“In this bag I have one of the boots which Straker wore, one of Fitzroy Simpson’s shoes, and a cast horseshoe of Silver Blaze.”</p> <p>“My dear Inspector, you surpass yourself!” Holmes took the bag, and, descending into the hollow, he pushed the matting into a
-more central position. Then stretching himself upon his face and
-leaning his chin upon his hands, he made a careful study of the
-trampled mud in front of him. “Hullo!” said he, suddenly. “What’s
-this?” It was a wax vesta half burned, which was so coated with
-mud that it looked at first like a little chip of wood.</p> <p>“I cannot think how I came to overlook it,” said the Inspector, with an expression of annoyance.</p> <p>“It was invisible, buried in the mud. I only saw it because I was looking for it.”</p> <p>“What! You expected to find it?”</p> <p>“I thought it not unlikely.”</p> <p>He took the boots from the bag, and compared the impressions of each of them with marks upon the ground. Then he clambered up to
-the rim of the hollow, and crawled about among the ferns and
-bushes.</p> <p>“I am afraid that there are no more tracks,” said the Inspector. “I have examined the ground very carefully for a hundred yards in
-each direction.”</p> <p>“Indeed!” said Holmes, rising. “I should not have the impertinence to do it again after what you say. But I should like
-to take a little walk over the moor before it grows dark, that I
-may know my ground to-morrow, and I think that I shall put this
-horseshoe into my pocket for luck.”</p> <p>Colonel Ross, who had shown some signs of impatience at my companion’s quiet and systematic method of work, glanced at his
-watch. “I wish you would come back with me, Inspector,” said he.
-“There are several points on which I should like your advice, and
-especially as to whether we do not owe it to the public to remove
-our horse’s name from the entries for the Cup.”</p> <p>“Certainly not,” cried Holmes, with decision. “I should let the name stand.”</p> <p>The Colonel bowed. “I am very glad to have had your opinion, sir,” said he. “You will find us at poor Straker’s house when you
-have finished your walk, and we can drive together into
-Tavistock.”</p> <p>He turned back with the Inspector, while Holmes and I walked slowly across the moor. The sun was beginning to sink behind the
-stables of Mapleton, and the long, sloping plain in front of us
-was tinged with gold, deepening into rich, ruddy browns where the
-faded ferns and brambles caught the evening light. But the
-glories of the landscape were all wasted upon my companion, who
-was sunk in the deepest thought.</p> <p>“It’s this way, Watson,” said he at last. “We may leave the question of who killed John Straker for the instant, and confine
-ourselves to finding out what has become of the horse. Now,
-supposing that he broke away during or after the tragedy, where
-could he have gone to? The horse is a very gregarious creature.
-If left to himself his instincts would have been either to return
-to King’s Pyland or go over to Mapleton. Why should he run wild
-upon the moor? He would surely have been seen by now. And why
-should gypsies kidnap him? These people always clear out when
-they hear of trouble, for they do not wish to be pestered by the
-police. They could not hope to sell such a horse. They would run
-a great risk and gain nothing by taking him. Surely that is
-clear.”</p> <p>“Where is he, then?”</p> <p>“I have already said that he must have gone to King’s Pyland or to Mapleton. He is not at King’s Pyland. Therefore he is at
-Mapleton. Let us take that as a working hypothesis and see what
-it leads us to. This part of the moor, as the Inspector remarked,
-is very hard and dry. But it falls away towards Mapleton, and you
-can see from here that there is a long hollow over yonder, which
-must have been very wet on Monday night. If our supposition is
-correct, then the horse must have crossed that, and there is the
-point where we should look for his tracks.”</p> <p>We had been walking briskly during this conversation, and a few more minutes brought us to the hollow in question. At Holmes’
-request I walked down the bank to the right, and he to the left,
-but I had not taken fifty paces before I heard him give a shout,
-and saw him waving his hand to me. The track of a horse was
-plainly outlined in the soft earth in front of him, and the shoe
-which he took from his pocket exactly fitted the impression.</p> <p>“See the value of imagination,” said Holmes. “It is the one quality which Gregory lacks. We imagined what might have
-happened, acted upon the supposition, and find ourselves
-justified. Let us proceed.”</p> <p>We crossed the marshy bottom and passed over a quarter of a mile of dry, hard turf. Again the ground sloped, and again we came on
-the tracks. Then we lost them for half a mile, but only to pick
-them up once more quite close to Mapleton. It was Holmes who saw
-them first, and he stood pointing with a look of triumph upon his
-face. A man’s track was visible beside the horse’s.</p> <p>“The horse was alone before,” I cried.</p> <p>“Quite so. It was alone before. Hullo, what is this?”</p> <p>The double track turned sharp off and took the direction of King’s Pyland. Holmes whistled, and we both followed along after
-it. His eyes were on the trail, but I happened to look a little
-to one side, and saw to my surprise the same tracks coming back
-again in the opposite direction.</p> <p>“One for you, Watson,” said Holmes, when I pointed it out. “You have saved us a long walk, which would have brought us back on
-our own traces. Let us follow the return track.”</p> <p>We had not to go far. It ended at the paving of asphalt which led up to the gates of the Mapleton stables. As we approached, a
-groom ran out from them.</p> <p>“We don’t want any loiterers about here,” said he.</p> <p>“I only wished to ask a question,” said Holmes, with his finger and thumb in his waistcoat pocket. “Should I be too early to see
-your master, Mr. Silas Brown, if I were to call at five o’clock
-to-morrow morning?”</p> <p>“Bless you, sir, if any one is about he will be, for he is always the first stirring. But here he is, sir, to answer your questions
-for himself. No, sir, no; it is as much as my place is worth to
-let him see me touch your money. Afterwards, if you like.”</p> <p>As Sherlock Holmes replaced the half-crown which he had drawn from his pocket, a fierce-looking elderly man strode out from the
-gate with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand.</p> <p>“What’s this, Dawson!” he cried. “No gossiping! Go about your business! And you, what the devil do you want here?”</p> <p>“Ten minutes’ talk with you, my good sir,” said Holmes in the sweetest of voices.</p> <p>“I’ve no time to talk to every gadabout. We want no strangers here. Be off, or you may find a dog at your heels.”</p> <p>Holmes leaned forward and whispered something in the trainer’s ear. He started violently and flushed to the temples.</p> <p>“It’s a lie!” he shouted, “an infernal lie!”</p> <p>“Very good. Shall we argue about it here in public or talk it over in your parlour?”</p> <p>“Oh, come in if you wish to.”</p> <p>Holmes smiled. “I shall not keep you more than a few minutes, Watson,” said he. “Now, Mr. Brown, I am quite at your disposal.”</p> <p>It was twenty minutes, and the reds had all faded into greys before Holmes and the trainer reappeared. Never have I seen such
-a change as had been brought about in Silas Brown in that short
-time. His face was ashy pale, beads of perspiration shone upon
-his brow, and his hands shook until the hunting-crop wagged like
-a branch in the wind. His bullying, overbearing manner was all
-gone too, and he cringed along at my companion’s side like a dog
-with its master.</p> <p>“Your instructions will be done. It shall all be done,” said he.</p> <p>“There must be no mistake,” said Holmes, looking round at him. The other winced as he read the menace in his eyes.</p> <p>“Oh no, there shall be no mistake. It shall be there. Should I change it first or not?”</p> <p>Holmes thought a little and then burst out laughing. “No, don’t,” said he; “I shall write to you about it. No tricks, now, or—”</p> <p>“Oh, you can trust me, you can trust me!”</p> <p>“Yes, I think I can. Well, you shall hear from me to-morrow.” He turned upon his heel, disregarding the trembling hand which the
-other held out to him, and we set off for King’s Pyland.</p> <p>“A more perfect compound of the bully, coward, and sneak than Master Silas Brown I have seldom met with,” remarked Holmes as we
-trudged along together.</p> <p>“He has the horse, then?”</p> <p>“He tried to bluster out of it, but I described to him so exactly what his actions had been upon that morning that he is convinced
-that I was watching him. Of course you observed the peculiarly
-square toes in the impressions, and that his own boots exactly
-corresponded to them. Again, of course no subordinate would have
-dared to do such a thing. I described to him how, when according
-to his custom he was the first down, he perceived a strange horse
-wandering over the moor. How he went out to it, and his
-astonishment at recognising, from the white forehead which has
-given the favourite its name, that chance had put in his power
-the only horse which could beat the one upon which he had put his
-money. Then I described how his first impulse had been to lead
-him back to King’s Pyland, and how the devil had shown him how he
-could hide the horse until the race was over, and how he had led
-it back and concealed it at Mapleton. When I told him every
-detail he gave it up and thought only of saving his own skin.”</p> <p>“But his stables had been searched?”</p> <p>“Oh, an old horse-faker like him has many a dodge.”</p> <p>“But are you not afraid to leave the horse in his power now, since he has every interest in injuring it?”</p> <p>“My dear fellow, he will guard it as the apple of his eye. He knows that his only hope of mercy is to produce it safe.”</p> <p>“Colonel Ross did not impress me as a man who would be likely to show much mercy in any case.”</p> <p>“The matter does not rest with Colonel Ross. I follow my own methods, and tell as much or as little as I choose. That is the
-advantage of being unofficial. I don’t know whether you observed
-it, Watson, but the Colonel’s manner has been just a trifle
-cavalier to me. I am inclined now to have a little amusement at
-his expense. Say nothing to him about the horse.”</p> <p>“Certainly not without your permission.”</p> <p>“And of course this is all quite a minor point compared to the question of who killed John Straker.”</p> <p>“And you will devote yourself to that?”</p> <p>“On the contrary, we both go back to London by the night train.”</p> <p>I was thunderstruck by my friend’s words. We had only been a few hours in Devonshire, and that he should give up an investigation
-which he had begun so brilliantly was quite incomprehensible to
-me. Not a word more could I draw from him until we were back at
-the trainer’s house. The Colonel and the Inspector were awaiting
-us in the parlour.</p> <p>“My friend and I return to town by the night-express,” said Holmes. “We have had a charming little breath of your beautiful
-Dartmoor air.”</p> <p>The Inspector opened his eyes, and the Colonel’s lip curled in a sneer.</p> <p>“So you despair of arresting the murderer of poor Straker,” said he.</p> <p>Holmes shrugged his shoulders. “There are certainly grave difficulties in the way,” said he. “I have every hope, however,
-that your horse will start upon Tuesday, and I beg that you will
-have your jockey in readiness. Might I ask for a photograph of
-Mr. John Straker?”</p> <p>The Inspector took one from an envelope and handed it to him.</p> <p>“My dear Gregory, you anticipate all my wants. If I might ask you to wait here for an instant, I have a question which I should
-like to put to the maid.”</p> <p>“I must say that I am rather disappointed in our London consultant,” said Colonel Ross, bluntly, as my friend left the
-room. “I do not see that we are any further than when he came.”</p> <p>“At least you have his assurance that your horse will run,” said I.</p> <p>“Yes, I have his assurance,” said the Colonel, with a shrug of his shoulders. “I should prefer to have the horse.”</p> <p>I was about to make some reply in defence of my friend when he entered the room again.</p> <p>“Now, gentlemen,” said he, “I am quite ready for Tavistock.”</p> <p>As we stepped into the carriage one of the stable-lads held the door open for us. A sudden idea seemed to occur to Holmes, for he
-leaned forward and touched the lad upon the sleeve.</p> <p>“You have a few sheep in the paddock,” he said. “Who attends to them?”</p> <p>“I do, sir.”</p> <p>“Have you noticed anything amiss with them of late?”</p> <p>“Well, sir, not of much account; but three of them have gone lame, sir.”</p> <p>I could see that Holmes was extremely pleased, for he chuckled and rubbed his hands together.</p> <p>“A long shot, Watson; a very long shot,” said he, pinching my arm. “Gregory, let me recommend to your attention this singular
-epidemic among the sheep. Drive on, coachman!”</p> <p>Colonel Ross still wore an expression which showed the poor opinion which he had formed of my companion’s ability, but I saw
-by the Inspector’s face that his attention had been keenly
-aroused.</p> <p>“You consider that to be important?” he asked.</p> <p>“Exceedingly so.”</p> <p>“Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”</p> <p>“To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”</p> <p>“The dog did nothing in the night-time.”</p> <p>“That was the curious incident,” remarked Sherlock Holmes.</p> <p>Four days later Holmes and I were again in the train, bound for Winchester to see the race for the Wessex Cup. Colonel Ross met
-us by appointment outside the station, and we drove in his drag
-to the course beyond the town. His face was grave, and his manner
-was cold in the extreme.</p> <p>“I have seen nothing of my horse,” said he.</p> <p>“I suppose that you would know him when you saw him?” asked Holmes.</p> <p>The Colonel was very angry. “I have been on the turf for twenty years, and never was asked such a question as that before,” said
-he. “A child would know Silver Blaze, with his white forehead and
-his mottled off-foreleg.”</p> <p>“How is the betting?”</p> <p>“Well, that is the curious part of it. You could have got fifteen to one yesterday, but the price has become shorter and shorter,
-until you can hardly get three to one now.”</p> <p>“Hum!” said Holmes. “Somebody knows something, that is clear.”</p> <p>As the drag drew up in the enclosure near the grand stand I glanced at the card to see the entries. It ran:—</p> <p>Wessex Plate. 50 sovs each h ft with 1000 sovs added for four and five year olds. Second, £300. Third, £200. New course (one mile
-and five furlongs).
-1. Mr. Heath Newton’s The Negro (red cap, cinnamon jacket).
-2. Colonel Wardlaw’s Pugilist (pink cap, blue and black jacket).
-3. Lord Backwater’s Desborough (yellow cap and sleeves).
-4. Colonel Ross’s Silver Blaze (black cap, red jacket).
-5. Duke of Balmoral’s Iris (yellow and black stripes).
-6. Lord Singleford’s Rasper (purple cap, black sleeves).</p> <p>“We scratched our other one, and put all hopes on your word,” said the Colonel. “Why, what is that? Silver Blaze favourite?”</p> <p>“Five to four against Silver Blaze!” roared the ring. “Five to four against Silver Blaze! Five to fifteen against Desborough!
-Five to four on the field!”</p> <p>“There are the numbers up,” I cried. “They are all six there.”</p> <p>“All six there? Then my horse is running,” cried the Colonel in great agitation. “But I don’t see him. My colours have not
-passed.”</p> <p>“Only five have passed. This must be he.”</p> <p>As I spoke a powerful bay horse swept out from the weighing enclosure and cantered past us, bearing on its back the
-well-known black and red of the Colonel.</p> <p>“That’s not my horse,” cried the owner. “That beast has not a white hair upon its body. What is this that you have done, Mr.
-Holmes?”</p> <p>“Well, well, let us see how he gets on,” said my friend, imperturbably. For a few minutes he gazed through my field-glass.
-“Capital! An excellent start!” he cried suddenly. “There they
-are, coming round the curve!”</p> <p>From our drag we had a superb view as they came up the straight. The six horses were so close together that a carpet could have
-covered them, but half way up the yellow of the Mapleton stable
-showed to the front. Before they reached us, however,
-Desborough’s bolt was shot, and the Colonel’s horse, coming away
-with a rush, passed the post a good six lengths before its rival,
-the Duke of Balmoral’s Iris making a bad third.</p> <p>“It’s my race, anyhow,” gasped the Colonel, passing his hand over his eyes. “I confess that I can make neither head nor tail of it.
-Don’t you think that you have kept up your mystery long enough,
-Mr. Holmes?”</p> <p>“Certainly, Colonel, you shall know everything. Let us all go round and have a look at the horse together. Here he is,” he
-continued, as we made our way into the weighing enclosure, where
-only owners and their friends find admittance. “You have only to
-wash his face and his leg in spirits of wine, and you will find
-that he is the same old Silver Blaze as ever.”</p> <p>“You take my breath away!”</p> <p>“I found him in the hands of a faker, and took the liberty of running him just as he was sent over.”</p> <p>“My dear sir, you have done wonders. The horse looks very fit and well. It never went better in its life. I owe you a thousand
-apologies for having doubted your ability. You have done me a
-great service by recovering my horse. You would do me a greater
-still if you could lay your hands on the murderer of John
-Straker.”</p> <p>“I have done so,” said Holmes quietly.</p> <p>The Colonel and I stared at him in amazement. “You have got him! Where is he, then?”</p> <p>“He is here.”</p> <p>“Here! Where?”</p> <p>“In my company at the present moment.”</p> <p>The Colonel flushed angrily. “I quite recognise that I am under obligations to you, Mr. Holmes,” said he, “but I must regard what
-you have just said as either a very bad joke or an insult.”</p> <p>Sherlock Holmes laughed. “I assure you that I have not associated you with the crime, Colonel,” said he. “The real murderer is
-standing immediately behind you.” He stepped past and laid his
-hand upon the glossy neck of the thoroughbred.</p> <p>“The horse!” cried both the Colonel and myself.</p> <p>“Yes, the horse. And it may lessen his guilt if I say that it was done in self-defence, and that John Straker was a man who was
-entirely unworthy of your confidence. But there goes the bell,
-and as I stand to win a little on this next race, I shall defer a
-lengthy explanation until a more fitting time.”</p> <p>We had the corner of a Pullman car to ourselves that evening as we whirled back to London, and I fancy that the journey was a
-short one to Colonel Ross as well as to myself, as we listened to
-our companion’s narrative of the events which had occurred at the
-Dartmoor training-stables upon the Monday night, and the means by
-which he had unravelled them.</p> <p>“I confess,” said he, “that any theories which I had formed from the newspaper reports were entirely erroneous. And yet there were
-indications there, had they not been overlaid by other details
-which concealed their true import. I went to Devonshire with the
-conviction that Fitzroy Simpson was the true culprit, although,
-of course, I saw that the evidence against him was by no means
-complete. It was while I was in the carriage, just as we reached
-the trainer’s house, that the immense significance of the curried
-mutton occurred to me. You may remember that I was distrait, and
-remained sitting after you had all alighted. I was marvelling in
-my own mind how I could possibly have overlooked so obvious a
-clue.”</p> <p>“I confess,” said the Colonel, “that even now I cannot see how it helps us.”</p> <p>“It was the first link in my chain of reasoning. Powdered opium is by no means tasteless. The flavour is not disagreeable, but it
-is perceptible. Were it mixed with any ordinary dish the eater
-would undoubtedly detect it, and would probably eat no more. A
-curry was exactly the medium which would disguise this taste. By
-no possible supposition could this stranger, Fitzroy Simpson,
-have caused curry to be served in the trainer’s family that
-night, and it is surely too monstrous a coincidence to suppose
-that he happened to come along with powdered opium upon the very
-night when a dish happened to be served which would disguise the
-flavour. That is unthinkable. Therefore Simpson becomes
-eliminated from the case, and our attention centres upon Straker
-and his wife, the only two people who could have chosen curried
-mutton for supper that night. The opium was added after the dish
-was set aside for the stable-boy, for the others had the same for
-supper with no ill effects. Which of them, then, had access to
-that dish without the maid seeing them?</p> <p>“Before deciding that question I had grasped the significance of the silence of the dog, for one true inference invariably
-suggests others. The Simpson incident had shown me that a dog was
-kept in the stables, and yet, though some one had been in and had
-fetched out a horse, he had not barked enough to arouse the two
-lads in the loft. Obviously the midnight visitor was some one
-whom the dog knew well.</p> <p>“I was already convinced, or almost convinced, that John Straker went down to the stables in the dead of the night and took out
-Silver Blaze. For what purpose? For a dishonest one, obviously,
-or why should he drug his own stable-boy? And yet I was at a loss
-to know why. There have been cases before now where trainers have
-made sure of great sums of money by laying against their own
-horses, through agents, and then preventing them from winning by
-fraud. Sometimes it is a pulling jockey. Sometimes it is some
-surer and subtler means. What was it here? I hoped that the
-contents of his pockets might help me to form a conclusion.</p> <p>“And they did so. You cannot have forgotten the singular knife which was found in the dead man’s hand, a knife which certainly
-no sane man would choose for a weapon. It was, as Dr. Watson told
-us, a form of knife which is used for the most delicate
-operations known in surgery. And it was to be used for a delicate
-operation that night. You must know, with your wide experience of
-turf matters, Colonel Ross, that it is possible to make a slight
-nick upon the tendons of a horse’s ham, and to do it
-subcutaneously, so as to leave absolutely no trace. A horse so
-treated would develop a slight lameness, which would be put down
-to a strain in exercise or a touch of rheumatism, but never to
-foul play.”</p> <p>“Villain! Scoundrel!” cried the Colonel.</p> <p>“We have here the explanation of why John Straker wished to take the horse out on to the moor. So spirited a creature would have
-certainly roused the soundest of sleepers when it felt the prick
-of the knife. It was absolutely necessary to do it in the open
-air.”</p> <p>“I have been blind!” cried the Colonel. “Of course that was why he needed the candle, and struck the match.”</p> <p>“Undoubtedly. But in examining his belongings I was fortunate enough to discover not only the method of the crime, but even its
-motives. As a man of the world, Colonel, you know that men do not
-carry other people’s bills about in their pockets. We have most
-of us quite enough to do to settle our own. I at once concluded
-that Straker was leading a double life, and keeping a second
-establishment. The nature of the bill showed that there was a
-lady in the case, and one who had expensive tastes. Liberal as
-you are with your servants, one can hardly expect that they can
-buy twenty-guinea walking dresses for their ladies. I questioned
-Mrs. Straker as to the dress without her knowing it, and having
-satisfied myself that it had never reached her, I made a note of
-the milliner’s address, and felt that by calling there with
-Straker’s photograph I could easily dispose of the mythical
-Derbyshire.</p> <p>“From that time on all was plain. Straker had led out the horse to a hollow where his light would be invisible. Simpson in his
-flight had dropped his cravat, and Straker had picked it up—with
-some idea, perhaps, that he might use it in securing the horse’s
-leg. Once in the hollow, he had got behind the horse and had
-struck a light; but the creature frightened at the sudden glare,
-and with the strange instinct of animals feeling that some
-mischief was intended, had lashed out, and the steel shoe had
-struck Straker full on the forehead. He had already, in spite of
-the rain, taken off his overcoat in order to do his delicate
-task, and so, as he fell, his knife gashed his thigh. Do I make
-it clear?”</p> <p>“Wonderful!” cried the Colonel. “Wonderful! You might have been there!”</p> <p>“My final shot was, I confess a very long one. It struck me that so astute a man as Straker would not undertake this delicate
-tendon-nicking without a little practice. What could he practice
-on? My eyes fell upon the sheep, and I asked a question which,
-rather to my surprise, showed that my surmise was correct.</p> <p>“When I returned to London I called upon the milliner, who had recognised Straker as an excellent customer of the name of
-Derbyshire, who had a very dashing wife, with a strong partiality
-for expensive dresses. I have no doubt that this woman had
-plunged him over head and ears in debt, and so led him into this
-miserable plot.”</p> <p>“You have explained all but one thing,” cried the Colonel. “Where was the horse?”</p> <p>“Ah, it bolted, and was cared for by one of your neighbours. We must have an amnesty in that direction, I think. This is Clapham
-Junction, if I am not mistaken, and we shall be in Victoria in
-less than ten minutes. If you care to smoke a cigar in our rooms,
-Colonel, I shall be happy to give you any other details which
-might interest you.”</p></body></html>
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-<!doctype html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"><title> THE ADVENTURE OF THE SIX NAPOLEONS</title><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"></head><body><h1>THE ADVENTURE OF THE SIX NAPOLEONS</h1><p></p> <p>It was no very unusual thing for Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, to look in upon us of an evening, and his visits were welcome to
-Sherlock Holmes, for they enabled him to keep in touch with all
-that was going on at the police headquarters. In return for the
-news which Lestrade would bring, Holmes was always ready to
-listen with attention to the details of any case upon which the
-detective was engaged, and was able occasionally, without any
-active interference, to give some hint or suggestion drawn from
-his own vast knowledge and experience.</p> <p>On this particular evening, Lestrade had spoken of the weather and the newspapers. Then he had fallen silent, puffing
-thoughtfully at his cigar. Holmes looked keenly at him.</p> <p>“Anything remarkable on hand?” he asked.</p> <p>“Oh, no, Mr. Holmes—nothing very particular.”</p> <p>“Then tell me about it.”</p> <p>Lestrade laughed.</p> <p>“Well, Mr. Holmes, there is no use denying that there _is_ something on my mind. And yet it is such an absurd business, that
-I hesitated to bother you about it. On the other hand, although
-it is trivial, it is undoubtedly queer, and I know that you have
-a taste for all that is out of the common. But, in my opinion, it
-comes more in Dr. Watson’s line than ours.”</p> <p>“Disease?” said I.</p> <p>“Madness, anyhow. And a queer madness, too. You wouldn’t think there was anyone living at this time of day who had such a hatred
-of Napoleon the First that he would break any image of him that
-he could see.”</p> <p>Holmes sank back in his chair.</p> <p>“That’s no business of mine,” said he.</p> <p>“Exactly. That’s what I said. But then, when the man commits burglary in order to break images which are not his own, that
-brings it away from the doctor and on to the policeman.”</p> <p>Holmes sat up again.</p> <p>“Burglary! This is more interesting. Let me hear the details.”</p> <p>Lestrade took out his official notebook and refreshed his memory from its pages.</p> <p>“The first case reported was four days ago,” said he. “It was at the shop of Morse Hudson, who has a place for the sale of
-pictures and statues in the Kennington Road. The assistant had
-left the front shop for an instant, when he heard a crash, and
-hurrying in he found a plaster bust of Napoleon, which stood with
-several other works of art upon the counter, lying shivered into
-fragments. He rushed out into the road, but, although several
-passers-by declared that they had noticed a man run out of the
-shop, he could neither see anyone nor could he find any means of
-identifying the rascal. It seemed to be one of those senseless
-acts of hooliganism which occur from time to time, and it was
-reported to the constable on the beat as such. The plaster cast
-was not worth more than a few shillings, and the whole affair
-appeared to be too childish for any particular investigation.</p> <p>“The second case, however, was more serious, and also more singular. It occurred only last night.</p> <p>“In Kennington Road, and within a few hundred yards of Morse Hudson’s shop, there lives a well-known medical practitioner,
-named Dr. Barnicot, who has one of the largest practices upon the
-south side of the Thames. His residence and principal
-consulting-room is at Kennington Road, but he has a branch
-surgery and dispensary at Lower Brixton Road, two miles away.
-This Dr. Barnicot is an enthusiastic admirer of Napoleon, and his
-house is full of books, pictures, and relics of the French
-Emperor. Some little time ago he purchased from Morse Hudson two
-duplicate plaster casts of the famous head of Napoleon by the
-French sculptor, Devine. One of these he placed in his hall in
-the house at Kennington Road, and the other on the mantelpiece of
-the surgery at Lower Brixton. Well, when Dr. Barnicot came down
-this morning he was astonished to find that his house had been
-burgled during the night, but that nothing had been taken save
-the plaster head from the hall. It had been carried out and had
-been dashed savagely against the garden wall, under which its
-splintered fragments were discovered.”</p> <p>Holmes rubbed his hands.</p> <p>“This is certainly very novel,” said he.</p> <p>“I thought it would please you. But I have not got to the end yet. Dr. Barnicot was due at his surgery at twelve o’clock, and
-you can imagine his amazement when, on arriving there, he found
-that the window had been opened in the night and that the broken
-pieces of his second bust were strewn all over the room. It had
-been smashed to atoms where it stood. In neither case were there
-any signs which could give us a clue as to the criminal or
-lunatic who had done the mischief. Now, Mr. Holmes, you have got
-the facts.”</p> <p>“They are singular, not to say grotesque,” said Holmes. “May I ask whether the two busts smashed in Dr. Barnicot’s rooms were
-the exact duplicates of the one which was destroyed in Morse
-Hudson’s shop?”</p> <p>“They were taken from the same mould.”</p> <p>“Such a fact must tell against the theory that the man who breaks them is influenced by any general hatred of Napoleon. Considering
-how many hundreds of statues of the great Emperor must exist in
-London, it is too much to suppose such a coincidence as that a
-promiscuous iconoclast should chance to begin upon three
-specimens of the same bust.”</p> <p>“Well, I thought as you do,” said Lestrade. “On the other hand, this Morse Hudson is the purveyor of busts in that part of
-London, and these three were the only ones which had been in his
-shop for years. So, although, as you say, there are many hundreds
-of statues in London, it is very probable that these three were
-the only ones in that district. Therefore, a local fanatic would
-begin with them. What do you think, Dr. Watson?”</p> <p>“There are no limits to the possibilities of monomania,” I answered. “There is the condition which the modern French
-psychologists have called the _idée fixe_, which may be trifling
-in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other
-way. A man who had read deeply about Napoleon, or who had
-possibly received some hereditary family injury through the great
-war, might conceivably form such an _idée fixe_ and under its
-influence be capable of any fantastic outrage.”</p> <p>“That won’t do, my dear Watson,” said Holmes, shaking his head, “for no amount of _idée fixe_ would enable your interesting
-monomaniac to find out where these busts were situated.”</p> <p>“Well, how do _you_ explain it?”</p> <p>“I don’t attempt to do so. I would only observe that there is a certain method in the gentleman’s eccentric proceedings. For
-example, in Dr. Barnicot’s hall, where a sound might arouse the
-family, the bust was taken outside before being broken, whereas
-in the surgery, where there was less danger of an alarm, it was
-smashed where it stood. The affair seems absurdly trifling, and
-yet I dare call nothing trivial when I reflect that some of my
-most classic cases have had the least promising commencement. You
-will remember, Watson, how the dreadful business of the Abernetty
-family was first brought to my notice by the depth which the
-parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot day. I can’t afford,
-therefore, to smile at your three broken busts, Lestrade, and I
-shall be very much obliged to you if you will let me hear of any
-fresh development of so singular a chain of events.”</p> <p>The development for which my friend had asked came in a quicker and an infinitely more tragic form than he could have imagined. I
-was still dressing in my bedroom next morning, when there was a
-tap at the door and Holmes entered, a telegram in his hand. He
-read it aloud:</p> <p>“Come instantly, 131, Pitt Street, Kensington.—LESTRADE.”</p> <p>“What is it, then?” I asked.</p> <p>“Don’t know—may be anything. But I suspect it is the sequel of the story of the statues. In that case our friend the
-image-breaker has begun operations in another quarter of London.
-There’s coffee on the table, Watson, and I have a cab at the
-door.”</p> <p>In half an hour we had reached Pitt Street, a quiet little backwater just beside one of the briskest currents of London
-life. No. 131 was one of a row, all flat-chested, respectable,
-and most unromantic dwellings. As we drove up, we found the
-railings in front of the house lined by a curious crowd. Holmes
-whistled.</p> <p>“By George! It’s attempted murder at the least. Nothing less will hold the London message-boy. There’s a deed of violence indicated
-in that fellow’s round shoulders and outstretched neck. What’s
-this, Watson? The top steps swilled down and the other ones dry.
-Footsteps enough, anyhow! Well, well, there’s Lestrade at the
-front window, and we shall soon know all about it.”</p> <p>The official received us with a very grave face and showed us into a sitting-room, where an exceedingly unkempt and agitated
-elderly man, clad in a flannel dressing-gown, was pacing up and
-down. He was introduced to us as the owner of the house—Mr.
-Horace Harker, of the Central Press Syndicate.</p> <p>“It’s the Napoleon bust business again,” said Lestrade. “You seemed interested last night, Mr. Holmes, so I thought perhaps
-you would be glad to be present now that the affair has taken a
-very much graver turn.”</p> <p>“What has it turned to, then?”</p> <p>“To murder. Mr. Harker, will you tell these gentlemen exactly what has occurred?”</p> <p>The man in the dressing-gown turned upon us with a most melancholy face.</p> <p>“It’s an extraordinary thing,” said he, “that all my life I have been collecting other people’s news, and now that a real piece of
-news has come my own way I am so confused and bothered that I
-can’t put two words together. If I had come in here as a
-journalist, I should have interviewed myself and had two columns
-in every evening paper. As it is, I am giving away valuable copy
-by telling my story over and over to a string of different
-people, and I can make no use of it myself. However, I’ve heard
-your name, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and if you’ll only explain this
-queer business, I shall be paid for my trouble in telling you the
-story.”</p> <p>Holmes sat down and listened.</p> <p>“It all seems to centre round that bust of Napoleon which I bought for this very room about four months ago. I picked it up
-cheap from Harding Brothers, two doors from the High Street
-Station. A great deal of my journalistic work is done at night,
-and I often write until the early morning. So it was to-day. I
-was sitting in my den, which is at the back of the top of the
-house, about three o’clock, when I was convinced that I heard
-some sounds downstairs. I listened, but they were not repeated,
-and I concluded that they came from outside. Then suddenly, about
-five minutes later, there came a most horrible yell—the most
-dreadful sound, Mr. Holmes, that ever I heard. It will ring in my
-ears as long as I live. I sat frozen with horror for a minute or
-two. Then I seized the poker and went downstairs. When I entered
-this room I found the window wide open, and I at once observed
-that the bust was gone from the mantelpiece. Why any burglar
-should take such a thing passes my understanding, for it was only
-a plaster cast and of no real value whatever.</p> <p>“You can see for yourself that anyone going out through that open window could reach the front doorstep by taking a long stride.
-This was clearly what the burglar had done, so I went round and
-opened the door. Stepping out into the dark, I nearly fell over a
-dead man, who was lying there. I ran back for a light and there
-was the poor fellow, a great gash in his throat and the whole
-place swimming in blood. He lay on his back, his knees drawn up,
-and his mouth horribly open. I shall see him in my dreams. I had
-just time to blow on my police-whistle, and then I must have
-fainted, for I knew nothing more until I found the policeman
-standing over me in the hall.”</p> <p>“Well, who was the murdered man?” asked Holmes.</p> <p>“There’s nothing to show who he was,” said Lestrade. “You shall see the body at the mortuary, but we have made nothing of it up
-to now. He is a tall man, sunburned, very powerful, not more than
-thirty. He is poorly dressed, and yet does not appear to be a
-labourer. A horn-handled clasp knife was lying in a pool of blood
-beside him. Whether it was the weapon which did the deed, or
-whether it belonged to the dead man, I do not know. There was no
-name on his clothing, and nothing in his pockets save an apple,
-some string, a shilling map of London, and a photograph. Here it
-is.”</p> <p>It was evidently taken by a snapshot from a small camera. It represented an alert, sharp-featured simian man, with thick
-eyebrows and a very peculiar projection of the lower part of the
-face, like the muzzle of a baboon.</p> <p>“And what became of the bust?” asked Holmes, after a careful study of this picture.</p> <p>“We had news of it just before you came. It has been found in the front garden of an empty house in Campden House Road. It was
-broken into fragments. I am going round now to see it. Will you
-come?”</p> <p>“Certainly. I must just take one look round.” He examined the carpet and the window. “The fellow had either very long legs or
-was a most active man,” said he. “With an area beneath, it was no
-mean feat to reach that window ledge and open that window.
-Getting back was comparatively simple. Are you coming with us to
-see the remains of your bust, Mr. Harker?”</p> <p>The disconsolate journalist had seated himself at a writing-table.</p> <p>“I must try and make something of it,” said he, “though I have no doubt that the first editions of the evening papers are out
-already with full details. It’s like my luck! You remember when
-the stand fell at Doncaster? Well, I was the only journalist in
-the stand, and my journal the only one that had no account of it,
-for I was too shaken to write it. And now I’ll be too late with a
-murder done on my own doorstep.”</p> <p>As we left the room, we heard his pen travelling shrilly over the foolscap.</p> <p>The spot where the fragments of the bust had been found was only a few hundred yards away. For the first time our eyes rested upon
-this presentment of the great emperor, which seemed to raise such
-frantic and destructive hatred in the mind of the unknown. It lay
-scattered, in splintered shards, upon the grass. Holmes picked up
-several of them and examined them carefully. I was convinced,
-from his intent face and his purposeful manner, that at last he
-was upon a clue.</p> <p>“Well?” asked Lestrade.</p> <p>Holmes shrugged his shoulders.</p> <p>“We have a long way to go yet,” said he. “And yet—and yet—well, we have some suggestive facts to act upon. The possession of this
-trifling bust was worth more, in the eyes of this strange
-criminal, than a human life. That is one point. Then there is the
-singular fact that he did not break it in the house, or
-immediately outside the house, if to break it was his sole
-object.”</p> <p>“He was rattled and bustled by meeting this other fellow. He hardly knew what he was doing.”</p> <p>“Well, that’s likely enough. But I wish to call your attention very particularly to the position of this house, in the garden of
-which the bust was destroyed.”</p> <p>Lestrade looked about him.</p> <p>“It was an empty house, and so he knew that he would not be disturbed in the garden.”</p> <p>“Yes, but there is another empty house farther up the street which he must have passed before he came to this one. Why did he
-not break it there, since it is evident that every yard that he
-carried it increased the risk of someone meeting him?”</p> <p>“I give it up,” said Lestrade.</p> <p>Holmes pointed to the street lamp above our heads.</p> <p>“He could see what he was doing here, and he could not there. That was his reason.”</p> <p>“By Jove! that’s true,” said the detective. “Now that I come to think of it, Dr. Barnicot’s bust was broken not far from his red
-lamp. Well, Mr. Holmes, what are we to do with that fact?”</p> <p>“To remember it—to docket it. We may come on something later which will bear upon it. What steps do you propose to take now,
-Lestrade?”</p> <p>“The most practical way of getting at it, in my opinion, is to identify the dead man. There should be no difficulty about that.
-When we have found who he is and who his associates are, we
-should have a good start in learning what he was doing in Pitt
-Street last night, and who it was who met him and killed him on
-the doorstep of Mr. Horace Harker. Don’t you think so?”</p> <p>“No doubt; and yet it is not quite the way in which I should approach the case.”</p> <p>“What would you do then?”</p> <p>“Oh, you must not let me influence you in any way. I suggest that you go on your line and I on mine. We can compare notes
-afterwards, and each will supplement the other.”</p> <p>“Very good,” said Lestrade.</p> <p>“If you are going back to Pitt Street, you might see Mr. Horace Harker. Tell him for me that I have quite made up my mind, and
-that it is certain that a dangerous homicidal lunatic, with
-Napoleonic delusions, was in his house last night. It will be
-useful for his article.”</p> <p>Lestrade stared.</p> <p>“You don’t seriously believe that?”</p> <p>Holmes smiled.</p> <p>“Don’t I? Well, perhaps I don’t. But I am sure that it will interest Mr. Horace Harker and the subscribers of the Central
-Press Syndicate. Now, Watson, I think that we shall find that we
-have a long and rather complex day’s work before us. I should be
-glad, Lestrade, if you could make it convenient to meet us at
-Baker Street at six o’clock this evening. Until then I should
-like to keep this photograph, found in the dead man’s pocket. It
-is possible that I may have to ask your company and assistance
-upon a small expedition which will have be undertaken to-night,
-if my chain of reasoning should prove to be correct. Until then
-good-bye and good luck!”</p> <p>Sherlock Holmes and I walked together to the High Street, where we stopped at the shop of Harding Brothers, whence the bust had
-been purchased. A young assistant informed us that Mr. Harding
-would be absent until afternoon, and that he was himself a
-newcomer, who could give us no information. Holmes’s face showed
-his disappointment and annoyance.</p> <p>“Well, well, we can’t expect to have it all our own way, Watson,” he said, at last. “We must come back in the afternoon, if Mr.
-Harding will not be here until then. I am, as you have no doubt
-surmised, endeavouring to trace these busts to their source, in
-order to find if there is not something peculiar which may
-account for their remarkable fate. Let us make for Mr. Morse
-Hudson, of the Kennington Road, and see if he can throw any light
-upon the problem.”</p> <p>A drive of an hour brought us to the picture-dealer’s establishment. He was a small, stout man with a red face and a
-peppery manner.</p> <p>“Yes, sir. On my very counter, sir,” said he. “What we pay rates and taxes for I don’t know, when any ruffian can come in and
-break one’s goods. Yes, sir, it was I who sold Dr. Barnicot his
-two statues. Disgraceful, sir! A Nihilist plot—that’s what I make
-it. No one but an anarchist would go about breaking statues. Red
-republicans—that’s what I call ’em. Who did I get the statues
-from? I don’t see what that has to do with it. Well, if you
-really want to know, I got them from Gelder & Co., in Church
-Street, Stepney. They are a well-known house in the trade, and
-have been this twenty years. How many had I? Three—two and one
-are three—two of Dr. Barnicot’s, and one smashed in broad
-daylight on my own counter. Do I know that photograph? No, I
-don’t. Yes, I do, though. Why, it’s Beppo. He was a kind of
-Italian piece-work man, who made himself useful in the shop. He
-could carve a bit, and gild and frame, and do odd jobs. The
-fellow left me last week, and I’ve heard nothing of him since.
-No, I don’t know where he came from nor where he went to. I had
-nothing against him while he was here. He was gone two days
-before the bust was smashed.”</p> <p>“Well, that’s all we could reasonably expect from Morse Hudson,” said Holmes, as we emerged from the shop. “We have this Beppo as
-a common factor, both in Kennington and in Kensington, so that is
-worth a ten-mile drive. Now, Watson, let us make for Gelder &
-Co., of Stepney, the source and origin of the busts. I shall be
-surprised if we don’t get some help down there.”</p> <p>In rapid succession we passed through the fringe of fashionable London, hotel London, theatrical London, literary London,
-commercial London, and, finally, maritime London, till we came to
-a riverside city of a hundred thousand souls, where the tenement
-houses swelter and reek with the outcasts of Europe. Here, in a
-broad thoroughfare, once the abode of wealthy City merchants, we
-found the sculpture works for which we searched. Outside was a
-considerable yard full of monumental masonry. Inside was a large
-room in which fifty workers were carving or moulding. The
-manager, a big blond German, received us civilly and gave a clear
-answer to all Holmes’s questions. A reference to his books showed
-that hundreds of casts had been taken from a marble copy of
-Devine’s head of Napoleon, but that the three which had been sent
-to Morse Hudson a year or so before had been half of a batch of
-six, the other three being sent to Harding Brothers, of
-Kensington. There was no reason why those six should be different
-from any of the other casts. He could suggest no possible cause
-why anyone should wish to destroy them—in fact, he laughed at the
-idea. Their wholesale price was six shillings, but the retailer
-would get twelve or more. The cast was taken in two moulds from
-each side of the face, and then these two profiles of plaster of
-Paris were joined together to make the complete bust. The work
-was usually done by Italians, in the room we were in. When
-finished, the busts were put on a table in the passage to dry,
-and afterwards stored. That was all he could tell us.</p> <p>But the production of the photograph had a remarkable effect upon the manager. His face flushed with anger, and his brows knotted
-over his blue Teutonic eyes.</p> <p>“Ah, the rascal!” he cried. “Yes, indeed, I know him very well. This has always been a respectable establishment, and the only
-time that we have ever had the police in it was over this very
-fellow. It was more than a year ago now. He knifed another
-Italian in the street, and then he came to the works with the
-police on his heels, and he was taken here. Beppo was his
-name—his second name I never knew. Serve me right for engaging a
-man with such a face. But he was a good workman—one of the best.”</p> <p>“What did he get?”</p> <p>“The man lived and he got off with a year. I have no doubt he is out now, but he has not dared to show his nose here. We have a
-cousin of his here, and I daresay he could tell you where he is.”</p> <p>“No, no,” cried Holmes, “not a word to the cousin—not a word, I beg of you. The matter is very important, and the farther I go
-with it, the more important it seems to grow. When you referred
-in your ledger to the sale of those casts I observed that the
-date was June 3rd of last year. Could you give me the date when
-Beppo was arrested?”</p> <p>“I could tell you roughly by the pay-list,” the manager answered. “Yes,” he continued, after some turning over of pages, “he was
-paid last on May 20th.”</p> <p>“Thank you,” said Holmes. “I don’t think that I need intrude upon your time and patience any more.” With a last word of caution
-that he should say nothing as to our researches, we turned our
-faces westward once more.</p> <p>The afternoon was far advanced before we were able to snatch a hasty luncheon at a restaurant. A news-bill at the entrance
-announced “Kensington Outrage. Murder by a Madman,” and the
-contents of the paper showed that Mr. Horace Harker had got his
-account into print after all. Two columns were occupied with a
-highly sensational and flowery rendering of the whole incident.
-Holmes propped it against the cruet-stand and read it while he
-ate. Once or twice he chuckled.</p> <p>“This is all right, Watson,” said he. “Listen to this:</p> <p>“It is satisfactory to know that there can be no difference of opinion upon this case, since Mr. Lestrade, one of the most
-experienced members of the official force, and Mr. Sherlock
-Holmes, the well-known consulting expert, have each come to the
-conclusion that the grotesque series of incidents, which have
-ended in so tragic a fashion, arise from lunacy rather than from
-deliberate crime. No explanation save mental aberration can cover
-the facts.</p> <p>“The Press, Watson, is a most valuable institution, if you only know how to use it. And now, if you have quite finished, we will
-hark back to Kensington and see what the manager of Harding
-Brothers has to say on the matter.”</p> <p>The founder of that great emporium proved to be a brisk, crisp little person, very dapper and quick, with a clear head and a
-ready tongue.</p> <p>“Yes, sir, I have already read the account in the evening papers. Mr. Horace Harker is a customer of ours. We supplied him with the
-bust some months ago. We ordered three busts of that sort from
-Gelder & Co., of Stepney. They are all sold now. To whom? Oh, I
-daresay by consulting our sales book we could very easily tell
-you. Yes, we have the entries here. One to Mr. Harker you see,
-and one to Mr. Josiah Brown, of Laburnum Lodge, Laburnum Vale,
-Chiswick, and one to Mr. Sandeford, of Lower Grove Road, Reading.
-No, I have never seen this face which you show me in the
-photograph. You would hardly forget it, would you, sir, for I’ve
-seldom seen an uglier. Have we any Italians on the staff? Yes,
-sir, we have several among our workpeople and cleaners. I daresay
-they might get a peep at that sales book if they wanted to. There
-is no particular reason for keeping a watch upon that book. Well,
-well, it’s a very strange business, and I hope that you will let
-me know if anything comes of your inquiries.”</p> <p>Holmes had taken several notes during Mr. Harding’s evidence, and I could see that he was thoroughly satisfied by the turn which
-affairs were taking. He made no remark, however, save that,
-unless we hurried, we should be late for our appointment with
-Lestrade. Sure enough, when we reached Baker Street the detective
-was already there, and we found him pacing up and down in a fever
-of impatience. His look of importance showed that his day’s work
-had not been in vain.</p> <p>“Well?” he asked. “What luck, Mr. Holmes?”</p> <p>“We have had a very busy day, and not entirely a wasted one,” my friend explained. “We have seen both the retailers and also the
-wholesale manufacturers. I can trace each of the busts now from
-the beginning.”</p> <p>“The busts,” cried Lestrade. “Well, well, you have your own methods, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and it is not for me to say a word
-against them, but I think I have done a better day’s work than
-you. I have identified the dead man.”</p> <p>“You don’t say so?”</p> <p>“And found a cause for the crime.”</p> <p>“Splendid!”</p> <p>“We have an inspector who makes a specialty of Saffron Hill and the Italian Quarter. Well, this dead man had some Catholic emblem
-round his neck, and that, along with his colour, made me think he
-was from the South. Inspector Hill knew him the moment he caught
-sight of him. His name is Pietro Venucci, from Naples, and he is
-one of the greatest cut-throats in London. He is connected with
-the Mafia, which, as you know, is a secret political society,
-enforcing its decrees by murder. Now, you see how the affair
-begins to clear up. The other fellow is probably an Italian also,
-and a member of the Mafia. He has broken the rules in some
-fashion. Pietro is set upon his track. Probably the photograph we
-found in his pocket is the man himself, so that he may not knife
-the wrong person. He dogs the fellow, he sees him enter a house,
-he waits outside for him, and in the scuffle he receives his own
-death-wound. How is that, Mr. Sherlock Holmes?”</p> <p>Holmes clapped his hands approvingly.</p> <p>“Excellent, Lestrade, excellent!” he cried. “But I didn’t quite follow your explanation of the destruction of the busts.”</p> <p>“The busts! You never can get those busts out of your head. After all, that is nothing; petty larceny, six months at the most. It
-is the murder that we are really investigating, and I tell you
-that I am gathering all the threads into my hands.”</p> <p>“And the next stage?”</p> <p>“Is a very simple one. I shall go down with Hill to the Italian Quarter, find the man whose photograph we have got, and arrest
-him on the charge of murder. Will you come with us?”</p> <p>“I think not. I fancy we can attain our end in a simpler way. I can’t say for certain, because it all depends—well, it all
-depends upon a factor which is completely outside our control.
-But I have great hopes—in fact, the betting is exactly two to
-one—that if you will come with us to-night I shall be able to
-help you to lay him by the heels.”</p> <p>“In the Italian Quarter?”</p> <p>“No, I fancy Chiswick is an address which is more likely to find him. If you will come with me to Chiswick to-night, Lestrade,
-I’ll promise to go to the Italian Quarter with you to-morrow, and
-no harm will be done by the delay. And now I think that a few
-hours’ sleep would do us all good, for I do not propose to leave
-before eleven o’clock, and it is unlikely that we shall be back
-before morning. You’ll dine with us, Lestrade, and then you are
-welcome to the sofa until it is time for us to start. In the
-meantime, Watson, I should be glad if you would ring for an
-express messenger, for I have a letter to send and it is
-important that it should go at once.”</p> <p>Holmes spent the evening in rummaging among the files of the old daily papers with which one of our lumber-rooms was packed. When
-at last he descended, it was with triumph in his eyes, but he
-said nothing to either of us as to the result of his researches.
-For my own part, I had followed step by step the methods by which
-he had traced the various windings of this complex case, and,
-though I could not yet perceive the goal which we would reach, I
-understood clearly that Holmes expected this grotesque criminal
-to make an attempt upon the two remaining busts, one of which, I
-remembered, was at Chiswick. No doubt the object of our journey
-was to catch him in the very act, and I could not but admire the
-cunning with which my friend had inserted a wrong clue in the
-evening paper, so as to give the fellow the idea that he could
-continue his scheme with impunity. I was not surprised when
-Holmes suggested that I should take my revolver with me. He had
-himself picked up the loaded hunting-crop, which was his
-favourite weapon.</p> <p>A four-wheeler was at the door at eleven, and in it we drove to a spot at the other side of Hammersmith Bridge. Here the cabman was
-directed to wait. A short walk brought us to a secluded road
-fringed with pleasant houses, each standing in its own grounds.
-In the light of a street lamp we read “Laburnum Villa” upon the
-gate-post of one of them. The occupants had evidently retired to
-rest, for all was dark save for a fanlight over the hall door,
-which shed a single blurred circle on to the garden path. The
-wooden fence which separated the grounds from the road threw a
-dense black shadow upon the inner side, and here it was that we
-crouched.</p> <p>“I fear that you’ll have a long wait,” Holmes whispered. “We may thank our stars that it is not raining. I don’t think we can even
-venture to smoke to pass the time. However, it’s a two to one
-chance that we get something to pay us for our trouble.”</p> <p>It proved, however, that our vigil was not to be so long as Holmes had led us to fear, and it ended in a very sudden and
-singular fashion. In an instant, without the least sound to warn
-us of his coming, the garden gate swung open, and a lithe, dark
-figure, as swift and active as an ape, rushed up the garden path.
-We saw it whisk past the light thrown from over the door and
-disappear against the black shadow of the house. There was a long
-pause, during which we held our breath, and then a very gentle
-creaking sound came to our ears. The window was being opened. The
-noise ceased, and again there was a long silence. The fellow was
-making his way into the house. We saw the sudden flash of a dark
-lantern inside the room. What he sought was evidently not there,
-for again we saw the flash through another blind, and then
-through another.</p> <p>“Let us get to the open window. We will nab him as he climbs out,” Lestrade whispered.</p> <p>But before we could move, the man had emerged again. As he came out into the glimmering patch of light, we saw that he carried
-something white under his arm. He looked stealthily all round
-him. The silence of the deserted street reassured him. Turning
-his back upon us he laid down his burden, and the next instant
-there was the sound of a sharp tap, followed by a clatter and
-rattle. The man was so intent upon what he was doing that he
-never heard our steps as we stole across the grass plot. With the
-bound of a tiger Holmes was on his back, and an instant later
-Lestrade and I had him by either wrist, and the handcuffs had
-been fastened. As we turned him over I saw a hideous, sallow
-face, with writhing, furious features, glaring up at us, and I
-knew that it was indeed the man of the photograph whom we had
-secured.</p> <p>But it was not our prisoner to whom Holmes was giving his attention. Squatted on the doorstep, he was engaged in most
-carefully examining that which the man had brought from the
-house. It was a bust of Napoleon, like the one which we had seen
-that morning, and it had been broken into similar fragments.
-Carefully Holmes held each separate shard to the light, but in no
-way did it differ from any other shattered piece of plaster. He
-had just completed his examination when the hall lights flew up,
-the door opened, and the owner of the house, a jovial, rotund
-figure in shirt and trousers, presented himself.</p> <p>“Mr. Josiah Brown, I suppose?” said Holmes.</p> <p>“Yes, sir; and you, no doubt, are Mr. Sherlock Holmes? I had the note which you sent by the express messenger, and I did exactly
-what you told me. We locked every door on the inside and awaited
-developments. Well, I’m very glad to see that you have got the
-rascal. I hope, gentlemen, that you will come in and have some
-refreshment.”</p> <p>However, Lestrade was anxious to get his man into safe quarters, so within a few minutes our cab had been summoned and we were all
-four upon our way to London. Not a word would our captive say,
-but he glared at us from the shadow of his matted hair, and once,
-when my hand seemed within his reach, he snapped at it like a
-hungry wolf. We stayed long enough at the police-station to learn
-that a search of his clothing revealed nothing save a few
-shillings and a long sheath knife, the handle of which bore
-copious traces of recent blood.</p> <p>“That’s all right,” said Lestrade, as we parted. “Hill knows all these gentry, and he will give a name to him. You’ll find that my
-theory of the Mafia will work out all right. But I’m sure I am
-exceedingly obliged to you, Mr. Holmes, for the workmanlike way
-in which you laid hands upon him. I don’t quite understand it all
-yet.”</p> <p>“I fear it is rather too late an hour for explanations,” said Holmes. “Besides, there are one or two details which are not
-finished off, and it is one of those cases which are worth
-working out to the very end. If you will come round once more to
-my rooms at six o’clock to-morrow, I think I shall be able to
-show you that even now you have not grasped the entire meaning of
-this business, which presents some features which make it
-absolutely original in the history of crime. If ever I permit you
-to chronicle any more of my little problems, Watson, I foresee
-that you will enliven your pages by an account of the singular
-adventure of the Napoleonic busts.”</p> <p>When we met again next evening, Lestrade was furnished with much information concerning our prisoner. His name, it appeared, was
-Beppo, second name unknown. He was a well-known ne’er-do-well
-among the Italian colony. He had once been a skilful sculptor and
-had earned an honest living, but he had taken to evil courses and
-had twice already been in jail—once for a petty theft, and once,
-as we had already heard, for stabbing a fellow-countryman. He
-could talk English perfectly well. His reasons for destroying the
-busts were still unknown, and he refused to answer any questions
-upon the subject, but the police had discovered that these same
-busts might very well have been made by his own hands, since he
-was engaged in this class of work at the establishment of Gelder
-& Co. To all this information, much of which we already knew,
-Holmes listened with polite attention, but I, who knew him so
-well, could clearly see that his thoughts were elsewhere, and I
-detected a mixture of mingled uneasiness and expectation beneath
-that mask which he was wont to assume. At last he started in his
-chair, and his eyes brightened. There had been a ring at the
-bell. A minute later we heard steps upon the stairs, and an
-elderly red-faced man with grizzled side-whiskers was ushered in.
-In his right hand he carried an old-fashioned carpet-bag, which
-he placed upon the table.</p> <p>“Is Mr. Sherlock Holmes here?”</p> <p>My friend bowed and smiled. “Mr. Sandeford, of Reading, I suppose?” said he.</p> <p>“Yes, sir, I fear that I am a little late, but the trains were awkward. You wrote to me about a bust that is in my possession.”</p> <p>“Exactly.”</p> <p>“I have your letter here. You said, ‘I desire to possess a copy of Devine’s Napoleon, and am prepared to pay you ten pounds for
-the one which is in your possession.’ Is that right?”</p> <p>“Certainly.”</p> <p>“I was very much surprised at your letter, for I could not imagine how you knew that I owned such a thing.”</p> <p>“Of course you must have been surprised, but the explanation is very simple. Mr. Harding, of Harding Brothers, said that they had
-sold you their last copy, and he gave me your address.”</p> <p>“Oh, that was it, was it? Did he tell you what I paid for it?”</p> <p>“No, he did not.”</p> <p>“Well, I am an honest man, though not a very rich one. I only gave fifteen shillings for the bust, and I think you ought to
-know that before I take ten pounds from you.</p> <p>“I am sure the scruple does you honour, Mr. Sandeford. But I have named that price, so I intend to stick to it.”</p> <p>“Well, it is very handsome of you, Mr. Holmes. I brought the bust up with me, as you asked me to do. Here it is!” He opened his
-bag, and at last we saw placed upon our table a complete specimen
-of that bust which we had already seen more than once in
-fragments.</p> <p>Holmes took a paper from his pocket and laid a ten-pound note upon the table.</p> <p>“You will kindly sign that paper, Mr. Sandeford, in the presence of these witnesses. It is simply to say that you transfer every
-possible right that you ever had in the bust to me. I am a
-methodical man, you see, and you never know what turn events
-might take afterwards. Thank you, Mr. Sandeford; here is your
-money, and I wish you a very good evening.”</p> <p>When our visitor had disappeared, Sherlock Holmes’s movements were such as to rivet our attention. He began by taking a clean
-white cloth from a drawer and laying it over the table. Then he
-placed his newly acquired bust in the centre of the cloth.
-Finally, he picked up his hunting-crop and struck Napoleon a
-sharp blow on the top of the head. The figure broke into
-fragments, and Holmes bent eagerly over the shattered remains.
-Next instant, with a loud shout of triumph he held up one
-splinter, in which a round, dark object was fixed like a plum in
-a pudding.</p> <p>“Gentlemen,” he cried, “let me introduce you to the famous black pearl of the Borgias.”</p> <p>Lestrade and I sat silent for a moment, and then, with a spontaneous impulse, we both broke at clapping, as at the
-well-wrought crisis of a play. A flush of colour sprang to
-Holmes’s pale cheeks, and he bowed to us like the master
-dramatist who receives the homage of his audience. It was at such
-moments that for an instant he ceased to be a reasoning machine,
-and betrayed his human love for admiration and applause. The same
-singularly proud and reserved nature which turned away with
-disdain from popular notoriety was capable of being moved to its
-depths by spontaneous wonder and praise from a friend.</p> <p>“Yes, gentlemen,” said he, “it is the most famous pearl now existing in the world, and it has been my good fortune, by a
-connected chain of inductive reasoning, to trace it from the
-Prince of Colonna’s bedroom at the Dacre Hotel, where it was
-lost, to the interior of this, the last of the six busts of
-Napoleon which were manufactured by Gelder & Co., of Stepney. You
-will remember, Lestrade, the sensation caused by the
-disappearance of this valuable jewel and the vain efforts of the
-London police to recover it. I was myself consulted upon the
-case, but I was unable to throw any light upon it. Suspicion fell
-upon the maid of the Princess, who was an Italian, and it was
-proved that she had a brother in London, but we failed to trace
-any connection between them. The maid’s name was Lucretia
-Venucci, and there is no doubt in my mind that this Pietro who
-was murdered two nights ago was the brother. I have been looking
-up the dates in the old files of the paper, and I find that the
-disappearance of the pearl was exactly two days before the arrest
-of Beppo, for some crime of violence—an event which took place in
-the factory of Gelder & Co., at the very moment when these busts
-were being made. Now you clearly see the sequence of events,
-though you see them, of course, in the inverse order to the way
-in which they presented themselves to me. Beppo had the pearl in
-his possession. He may have stolen it from Pietro, he may have
-been Pietro’s confederate, he may have been the go-between of
-Pietro and his sister. It is of no consequence to us which is the
-correct solution.</p> <p>“The main fact is that he _had_ the pearl, and at that moment, when it was on his person, he was pursued by the police. He made
-for the factory in which he worked, and he knew that he had only
-a few minutes in which to conceal this enormously valuable prize,
-which would otherwise be found on him when he was searched. Six
-plaster casts of Napoleon were drying in the passage. One of them
-was still soft. In an instant Beppo, a skilful workman, made a
-small hole in the wet plaster, dropped in the pearl, and with a
-few touches covered over the aperture once more. It was an
-admirable hiding-place. No one could possibly find it. But Beppo
-was condemned to a year’s imprisonment, and in the meanwhile his
-six busts were scattered over London. He could not tell which
-contained his treasure. Only by breaking them could he see. Even
-shaking would tell him nothing, for as the plaster was wet it was
-probable that the pearl would adhere to it—as, in fact, it has
-done. Beppo did not despair, and he conducted his search with
-considerable ingenuity and perseverance. Through a cousin who
-works with Gelder, he found out the retail firms who had bought
-the busts. He managed to find employment with Morse Hudson, and
-in that way tracked down three of them. The pearl was not there.
-Then, with the help of some Italian employee, he succeeded in
-finding out where the other three busts had gone. The first was
-at Harker’s. There he was dogged by his confederate, who held
-Beppo responsible for the loss of the pearl, and he stabbed him
-in the scuffle which followed.”</p> <p>“If he was his confederate, why should he carry his photograph?” I asked.</p> <p>“As a means of tracing him, if he wished to inquire about him from any third person. That was the obvious reason. Well, after
-the murder I calculated that Beppo would probably hurry rather
-than delay his movements. He would fear that the police would
-read his secret, and so he hastened on before they should get
-ahead of him. Of course, I could not say that he had not found
-the pearl in Harker’s bust. I had not even concluded for certain
-that it was the pearl, but it was evident to me that he was
-looking for something, since he carried the bust past the other
-houses in order to break it in the garden which had a lamp
-overlooking it. Since Harker’s bust was one in three, the chances
-were exactly as I told you—two to one against the pearl being
-inside it. There remained two busts, and it was obvious that he
-would go for the London one first. I warned the inmates of the
-house, so as to avoid a second tragedy, and we went down, with
-the happiest results. By that time, of course, I knew for certain
-that it was the Borgia pearl that we were after. The name of the
-murdered man linked the one event with the other. There only
-remained a single bust—the Reading one—and the pearl must be
-there. I bought it in your presence from the owner—and there it
-lies.”</p> <p>We sat in silence for a moment.</p> <p>“Well,” said Lestrade, “I’ve seen you handle a good many cases, Mr. Holmes, but I don’t know that I ever knew a more workmanlike
-one than that. We’re not jealous of you at Scotland Yard. No,
-sir, we are very proud of you, and if you come down to-morrow,
-there’s not a man, from the oldest inspector to the youngest
-constable, who wouldn’t be glad to shake you by the hand.”</p> <p>“Thank you!” said Holmes. “Thank you!” and as he turned away, it seemed to me that he was more nearly moved by the softer human
-emotions than I had ever seen him. A moment later he was the cold
-and practical thinker once more. “Put the pearl in the safe,
-Watson,” said he, “and get out the papers of the Conk-Singleton
-forgery case. Good-bye, Lestrade. If any little problem comes
-your way, I shall be happy, if I can, to give you a hint or two
-as to its solution.”</p></body></html>
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-<!doctype html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"><title> THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND</title><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"></head><body><h1>THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND</h1><p></p> <p>On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend Sherlock
-Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number merely strange,
-but none commonplace; for, working as he did rather for the love of his
-art than for the acquirement of wealth, he refused to associate himself
-with any investigation which did not tend towards the unusual, and even
-the fantastic. Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any
-which presented more singular features than that which was associated
-with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. The
-events in question occurred in the early days of my association with
-Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors in Baker Street. It
-is possible that I might have placed them upon record before, but a
-promise of secrecy was made at the time, from which I have only been
-freed during the last month by the untimely death of the lady to whom
-the pledge was given. It is perhaps as well that the facts should now
-come to light, for I have reasons to know that there are wide-spread
-rumors as to the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the
-matter even more terrible than the truth.</p> <p>It was early in April in the year ’83 that I woke one morning to find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my bed. He was
-a late riser as a rule, and as the clock on the mantel-piece showed
-me that it was only a quarter past seven, I blinked up at him in some
-surprise, and perhaps just a little resentment, for I was myself
-regular in my habits.</p> <p>“Very sorry to knock you up, Watson,” said he, “but it’s the common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she retorted upon me,
-and I on you.”</p> <p>“What is it, then—a fire?”</p> <p>“No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She is waiting now in
-the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander about the metropolis
-at this hour of the morning, and knock sleepy people up out of their
-beds, I presume that it is something very pressing which they have to
-communicate. Should it prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am
-sure, wish to follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I
-should call you and give you the chance.”</p> <p>“My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything.”</p> <p>I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as
-intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis, with which he
-unravelled the problems which were submitted to him. I rapidly threw on
-my clothes, and was ready in a few minutes to accompany my friend down
-to the sitting-room. A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who
-had been sitting in the window, rose as we entered.</p> <p>“Good-morning, madam,” said Holmes, cheerily. “My name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before
-whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am glad to see
-that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up
-to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that
-you are shivering.”</p> <p>“It is not cold which makes me shiver,” said the woman, in a low voice, changing her seat as requested.</p> <p>“What, then?”</p> <p>“It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.” She raised her veil as she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of
-agitation, her face all drawn and gray, with restless, frightened eyes,
-like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were those of
-a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature gray, and her
-expression was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one
-of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.</p> <p>“You must not fear,” said he, soothingly, bending forward and patting her forearm. “We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt. You
-have come in by train this morning, I see.”</p> <p>“You know me, then?”</p> <p>“No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had a good
-drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the station.”</p> <p>The lady gave a violent start, and stared in bewilderment at my companion.</p> <p>“There is no mystery, my dear madam,” said he, smiling. “The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places. The
-marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which
-throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand
-side of the driver.”</p> <p>“Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,” said she. “I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at twenty past, and
-came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I can stand this strain no
-longer; I shall go mad if it continues. I have no one to turn to—none,
-save only one, who cares for me, and he, poor fellow, can be of little
-aid. I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs.
-Farintosh, whom you helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from
-her that I had your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could
-help me, too, and at least throw a little light through the dense
-darkness which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward
-you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be married,
-with the control of my own income, and then at least you shall not
-find me ungrateful.”</p> <p>Holmes turned to his desk, and unlocking it, drew out a small case-book, which he consulted.</p> <p>“Farintosh,” said he. “Ah yes, I recall the case; it was concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, Watson. I can only say,
-madam, that I shall be happy to devote the same care to your case as
-I did to that of your friend. As to reward, my profession is its own
-reward; but you are at liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be put
-to, at the time which suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay
-before us everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the
-matter.”</p> <p>“Alas!” replied our visitor, “the very horror of my situation lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions depend so
-entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to another, that
-even he to whom of all others I have a right to look for help and
-advice looks upon all that I tell him about it as the fancies of a
-nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can read it from his soothing
-answers and averted eyes. But I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can
-see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. You may
-advise me how to walk amid the dangers which encompass me.”</p> <p>“I am all attention, madam.”</p> <p>“My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my step-father, who is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the
-Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of Surrey.”</p> <p>Holmes nodded his head. “The name is familiar to me,” said he.</p> <p>“The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and
-Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four successive
-heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, and the family
-ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the
-Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, and the
-two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under a heavy
-mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence there, living
-the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but his only son, my
-step-father, seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions,
-obtained an advance from a relative, which enabled him to take a
-medical degree, and went out to Calcutta, where, by his professional
-skill and his force of character, he established a large practice.
-In a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies which had been
-perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death, and
-narrowly escaped a capital sentence. As it was, he suffered a long
-term of imprisonment, and afterwards returned to England a morose and
-disappointed man.</p> <p>“When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, the young widow of Major-general Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. My sister
-Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old at the time of
-my mother’s re-marriage. She had a considerable sum of money—not less
-than £1000 a year—and this she bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely
-while we resided with him, with a provision that a certain annual sum
-should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly
-after our return to England my mother died—she was killed eight years
-ago in a railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his
-attempts to establish himself in practice in London, and took us to
-live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The money
-which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and there seemed
-to be no obstacle to our happiness.</p> <p>“But a terrible change came over our step-father about this time. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbors, who
-had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back in
-the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house, and seldom came
-out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his
-path. Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary in
-the men of the family, and in my step-father’s case it had, I believe,
-been intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of
-disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the police-court,
-until at last he became the terror of the village, and the folks
-would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and
-absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.</p> <p>“Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I could gather
-together that I was able to avert another public exposure. He had no
-friends at all save the wandering gypsies, and he would give these
-vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few acres of bramble-covered land
-which represent the family estate, and would accept in return the
-hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them sometimes for
-weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian animals, which are sent
-over to him by a correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and
-a baboon, which wander freely over his grounds, and are feared by the
-villagers almost as much as their master.</p> <p>“You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with us, and for a
-long time we did all the work of the house. She was but thirty at the
-time of her death, and yet her hair had already begun to whiten, even
-as mine has.”</p> <p>“Your sister is dead, then?”</p> <p>“She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I have
-described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own age and
-position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother’s maiden sister, Miss
-Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we were occasionally
-allowed to pay short visits at this lady’s house. Julia went there at
-Christmas two years ago, and met there a half-pay major of marines,
-to whom she became engaged. My step-father learned of the engagement
-when my sister returned, and offered no objection to the marriage; but
-within a fortnight of the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the
-terrible event occurred which has deprived me of my only companion.”</p> <p>Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his lids now and
-glanced across at his visitor.</p> <p>“Pray be precise as to details,” said he.</p> <p>“It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have already said, very
-old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The bedrooms in this wing are
-on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms being in the central block of
-the buildings. Of these bedrooms the first is Dr. Roylott’s, the second
-my sister’s, and the third my own. There is no communication between
-them, but they all open out into the same corridor. Do I make myself
-plain?”</p> <p>“Perfectly so.”</p> <p>“The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we knew that he
-had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled by the smell of
-the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom to smoke. She left
-her room, therefore, and came into mine, where she sat for some time,
-chatting about her approaching wedding. At eleven o’clock she rose to
-leave me but she paused at the door and looked back.</p> <p>“‘Tell me, Helen,’ said she, ‘have you ever heard any one whistle in the dead of the night?’</p> <p>“‘Never,’ said I.</p> <p>“‘I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your sleep?’</p> <p>“‘Certainly not. But why?’</p> <p>“‘Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, and it
-has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from—perhaps from the
-next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would just ask you
-whether you had heard it.’</p> <p>“‘No, I have not. It must be those wretched gypsies in the plantation.’</p> <p>“‘Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you did not hear it also.’</p> <p>“‘Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.’</p> <p>“‘Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.’ She smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her key turn in the
-lock.”</p> <p>“Indeed,” said Holmes. “Was it your custom always to lock yourselves in at night?”</p> <p>“Always.”</p> <p>“And why?”</p> <p>“I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were locked.”</p> <p>“Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.”</p> <p>“I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, were twins, and you
-know how subtle are the links which bind two souls which are so closely
-allied. It was a wild night. The wind was howling outside, and the rain
-was beating and splashing against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the
-hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified
-woman. I knew that it was my sister’s voice. I sprang from my bed,
-wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my
-door I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and a
-few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen.
-As I ran down the passage, my sister’s door was unlocked, and revolved
-slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken, not knowing
-what was about to issue from it. By the light of the corridor-lamp I
-saw my sister appear at the opening, her face blanched with terror, her
-hands groping for help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that
-of a drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that
-moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. She
-writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were dreadfully
-convulsed. At first I thought that she had not recognized me, but as I
-bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in a voice which I shall never
-forget, ‘Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!’ There
-was something else which she would fain have said, and she stabbed with
-her finger into the air in the direction of the doctor’s room, but a
-fresh convulsion seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling
-loudly for my step-father, and I met him hastening from his room in his
-dressing-gown. When he reached my sister’s side she was unconscious,
-and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent for medical aid
-from the village, all efforts were in vain, for she slowly sank and
-died without having recovered her consciousness. Such was the dreadful
-end of my beloved sister.”</p> <p>“One moment,” said Holmes; “are you sure about this whistle and metallic sound? Could you swear to it?”</p> <p>“That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of the gale
-and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have been deceived.”</p> <p>“Was your sister dressed?”</p> <p>“No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the charred stump of a match, and in her left a matchbox.”</p> <p>“Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did the
-coroner come to?”</p> <p>“He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott’s conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable to find any
-satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the door had
-been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows were blocked by
-old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, which were secured every
-night. The walls were carefully sounded, and were shown to be quite
-solid all round, and the flooring was also thoroughly examined, with
-the same result. The chimney is wide, but is barred up by four large
-staples. It is certain, therefore, that my sister was quite alone when
-she met her end. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her.”</p> <p>“How about poison?”</p> <p>“The doctors examined her for it, but without success.”</p> <p>“What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?”</p> <p>“It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine.”</p> <p>“Were there gypsies in the plantation at the time?”</p> <p>“Yes, there are nearly always some there.”</p> <p>“Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band—a speckled band?”</p> <p>“Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of people, perhaps to
-these very gypsies in the plantation. I do not know whether the spotted
-handkerchiefs which so many of them wear over their heads might have
-suggested the strange adjective which she used.”</p> <p>Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied.</p> <p>“These are very deep waters,” said he; “pray go on with your narrative.”</p> <p>“Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, whom I have
-known for many years, has done me the honor to ask my hand in marriage.
-His name is Armitage—Percy Armitage—the second son of Mr. Armitage,
-of Crane Water, near Reading. My step-father has offered no opposition
-to the match, and we are to be married in the course of the spring. Two
-days ago some repairs were started in the west wing of the building,
-and my bedroom wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into
-the chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in
-which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last night,
-as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I suddenly heard in
-the silence of the night the low whistle which had been the herald of
-her own death. I sprang up and lit the lamp, but nothing was to be
-seen in the room. I was too shaken to go to bed again, however, so I
-dressed, and as soon as it was daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart
-at the ‘Crown Inn,’ which is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from
-whence I have come on this morning with the one object of seeing you
-and asking your advice.”</p> <p>“You have done wisely,” said my friend. “But have you told me all?”</p> <p>“Yes, all.”</p> <p>“Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your step-father.”</p> <p>“Why, what do you mean?”</p> <p>For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor’s knee. Five little livid spots, the
-marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist.</p> <p>“You have been cruelly used,” said Holmes.</p> <p>The lady colored deeply and covered over her injured wrist. “He is a hard man,” she said, “and perhaps he hardly knows his own strength.”</p> <p>There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire.</p> <p>“This is a very deep business,” he said, at last. “There are a thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide upon our course
-of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If we were to come to
-Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for us to see over these rooms
-without the knowledge of your step-father?”</p> <p>“As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some most important business. It is probable that he will be away all day, and
-that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a house-keeper
-now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily get her out of the
-way.”</p> <p>“Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?”</p> <p>“By no means.”</p> <p>“Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?”</p> <p>“I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am in town. But I shall return by the twelve o’clock train, so as to be there
-in time for your coming.”</p> <p>“And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and breakfast?”</p> <p>“No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you again this
-afternoon.” She dropped her thick black veil over her face and glided
-from the room.</p> <p>“And what do you think of it all, Watson?” asked Sherlock Holmes, leaning back in his chair.</p> <p>“It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business.”</p> <p>“Dark enough and sinister enough.”</p> <p>“Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, then her
-sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her mysterious
-end.”</p> <p>“What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the very peculiar words of the dying woman?”</p> <p>“I cannot think.”</p> <p>“When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of a band of gypsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, the
-fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has an
-interest in preventing his step-daughter’s marriage, the dying allusion
-to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner heard a
-metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those metal bars
-which secured the shutters falling back into their place, I think that
-there is good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along
-those lines.”</p> <p>“But what, then, did the gypsies do?”</p> <p>“I cannot imagine.”</p> <p>“I see many objections to any such theory.”</p> <p>“And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are fatal,
-or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of the devil!”</p> <p>The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had framed
-himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar mixture of the
-professional and of the agricultural, having a black top-hat, a long
-frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swinging in
-his hand. So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross bar
-of the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span it across from side to
-side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with
-the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the
-other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin,
-fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird
-of prey.</p> <p>“Which of you is Holmes?” asked this apparition.</p> <p>“My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me,” said my companion, quietly.</p> <p>“I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.”</p> <p>“Indeed, doctor,” said Holmes, blandly. “Pray take a seat.”</p> <p>“I will do nothing of the kind. My step-daughter has been here. I have traced her. What has she been saying to you?”</p> <p>“It is a little cold for the time of the year,” said Holmes.</p> <p>“What has she been saying to you?” screamed the old man, furiously.</p> <p>“But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,” continued my companion, imperturbably.</p> <p>“Ha! You put me off, do you?” said our new visitor, taking a step forward and shaking his hunting-crop. “I know you, you scoundrel! I
-have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler.”</p> <p>My friend smiled.</p> <p>“Holmes, the busybody!”</p> <p>His smile broadened.</p> <p>“Holmes, the Scotland-yard Jack-in-office!”</p> <p>Holmes chuckled heartily. “Your conversation is most entertaining,” said he. “When you go out close the door, for there is a decided
-draught.”</p> <p>“I will go when I have said my say. Don’t you dare to meddle with my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! I am a
-dangerous man to fall foul of! See here.” He stepped swiftly forward,
-seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands.</p> <p>“See that you keep yourself out of my grip,” he snarled, and hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace, he strode out of the room.</p> <p>“He seems a very amiable person,” said Holmes, laughing. “I am not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him that my
-grip was not much more feeble than his own.” As he spoke he picked up
-the steel poker, and with a sudden effort straightened it out again.</p> <p>“Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation,
-however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer from
-her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, Watson,
-we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk down to Doctors’
-Commons, where I hope to get some data which may help us in this
-matter.”</p> <p>       *       *       *       *       *</p> <p>It was nearly one o’clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled over
-with notes and figures.</p> <p>“I have seen the will of the deceased wife,” said he. “To determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the present prices
-of the investments with which it is concerned. The total income, which
-at the time of the wife’s death was little short of £1100, is now,
-through the fall in agricultural prices, not more than £750. Each
-daughter can claim an income of £250, in case of marriage. It is
-evident, therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would
-have had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to
-a very serious extent. My morning’s work has not been wasted, since it
-has proved that he has the very strongest motives for standing in the
-way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, this is too serious for
-dawdling, especially as the old man is aware that we are interesting
-ourselves in his affairs; so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and
-drive to Waterloo. I should be very much obliged if you would slip your
-revolver into your pocket. An Eley’s No. 2 is an excellent argument
-with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a
-tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.”</p> <p>At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn, and drove for four or five
-miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a perfect day, with
-a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the heavens. The trees and
-way-side hedges were just throwing out their first green shoots, and
-the air was full of the pleasant smell of the moist earth. To me at
-least there was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the
-spring and this sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion
-sat in the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over
-his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the deepest
-thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the shoulder, and
-pointed over the meadows.</p> <p>“Look there!” said he.</p> <p>A heavily-timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the branches there jutted out
-the gray gables and high roof-tree of a very old mansion.</p> <p>“Stoke Moran?” said he.</p> <p>“Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,” remarked the driver.</p> <p>“There is some building going on there,” said Holmes; “that is where we are going.”</p> <p>“There’s the village,” said the driver, pointing to a cluster of roofs some distance to the left; “but if you want to get to the house, you’ll
-find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by the foot-path over
-the fields. There it is, where the lady is walking.”</p> <p>“And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,” observed Holmes, shading his eyes. “Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest.”</p> <p>We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way to Leatherhead.</p> <p>“I thought it as well,” said Holmes, as we climbed the stile, “that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or on some
-definite business. It may stop his gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner.
-You see that we have been as good as our word.”</p> <p>Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a face which spoke her joy. “I have been waiting so eagerly for you,” she
-cried, shaking hands with us warmly. “All has turned out splendidly.
-Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely that he will be back
-before evening.”</p> <p>“We have had the pleasure of making the doctor’s acquaintance,” said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had occurred. Miss
-Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened.</p> <p>“Good heavens!” she cried, “he has followed me, then.”</p> <p>“So it appears.”</p> <p>“He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What will he say when he returns?”</p> <p>“He must guard himself, for he may find that there is some one more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself up from him
-to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to your aunt’s at
-Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our time, so kindly take us
-at once to the rooms which we are to examine.”</p> <p>The building was of gray, lichen-blotched stone, with a high central portion, and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out
-on each side. In one of these wings the windows were broken, and
-blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly caved in, a
-picture of ruin. The central portion was in little better repair, but
-the right-hand block was comparatively modern, and the blinds in the
-windows, with the blue smoke curling up from the chimneys, showed that
-this was where the family resided. Some scaffolding had been erected
-against the end wall, and the stone-work had been broken into, but
-there were no signs of any workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes
-walked slowly up and down the ill-trimmed lawn, and examined with deep
-attention the outsides of the windows.</p> <p>“This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, the centre one to your sister’s, and the one next to the main building to
-Dr. Roylott’s chamber?”</p> <p>“Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.”</p> <p>“Pending the alterations, as I understand. By-the-way, there does not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end wall.”</p> <p>“There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from my room.”</p> <p>“Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There are windows
-in it, of course?”</p> <p>“Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for any one to pass through.”</p> <p>“As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness to go into your room
-and bar your shutters.”</p> <p>Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination through the open window, endeavored in every way to force the shutter open,
-but without success. There was no slit through which a knife could be
-passed to raise the bar. Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but
-they were of solid iron, built firmly into the massive masonry. “Hum!”
-said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity; “my theory certainly
-presents some difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they
-were bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the
-matter.”</p> <p>A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third chamber,
-so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss Stoner was now
-sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her fate. It was a
-homely little room, with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after
-the fashion of old country-houses. A brown chest of drawers stood
-in one corner, a narrow white-counterpaned bed in another, and a
-dressing-table on the left-hand side of the window. These articles,
-with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the
-room, save for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards
-round and the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so
-old and discolored that it may have dated from the original building of
-the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent,
-while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, taking in
-every detail of the apartment.</p> <p>“Where does that bell communicate with?” he asked, at last, pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the tassel actually
-lying upon the pillow.</p> <p>“It goes to the house-keeper’s room.”</p> <p>“It looks newer than the other things?”</p> <p>“Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.”</p> <p>“Your sister asked for it, I suppose?”</p> <p>“No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we wanted for ourselves.”</p> <p>“Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to this
-floor.” He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in his hand,
-and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining minutely the cracks
-between the boards. Then he did the same with the wood-work with which
-the chamber was panelled. Finally he walked over to the bed, and spent
-some time in staring at it, and in running his eye up and down the
-wall. Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug.</p> <p>“Why, it’s a dummy,” said he.</p> <p>“Won’t it ring?”</p> <p>“No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little
-opening for the ventilator is.”</p> <p>“How very absurd! I never noticed that before.”</p> <p>“Very strange!” muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. “There are one or two very singular points about this room. For example, what a fool a
-builder must be to open a ventilator into another room, when, with the
-same trouble, he might have communicated with the outside air!”</p> <p>“That is also quite modern,” said the lady.</p> <p>“Done about the same time as the bell-rope?” remarked Holmes.</p> <p>“Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that time.”</p> <p>“They seem to have been of a most interesting character—dummy bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your
-permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the
-inner apartment.”</p> <p>Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s chamber was larger than that of his step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small wooden
-shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an arm-chair
-beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a round table,
-and a large iron safe were the principal things which met the eye.
-Holmes walked slowly round and examined each and all of them with the
-keenest interest.</p> <p>“What’s in here?” he asked, tapping the safe.</p> <p>“My step-father’s business papers.”</p> <p>“Oh! you have seen inside, then?”</p> <p>“Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers.”</p> <p>“There isn’t a cat in it, for example?”</p> <p>“No. What a strange idea!”</p> <p>“Well, look at this!” He took up a small saucer of milk which stood on the top of it.</p> <p>“No; we don’t keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon.”</p> <p>“Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I dare
-say. There is one point which I should wish to determine.” He squatted
-down in front of the wooden chair, and examined the seat of it with the
-greatest attention.</p> <p>“Thank you. That is quite settled,” said he, rising and putting his lens in his pocket. “Hello! Here is something interesting!”</p> <p>The object which had caught his eye was a small dog-lash hung on one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself, and tied
-so as to make a loop of whip-cord.</p> <p>“What do you make of that, Watson?”</p> <p>“It’s a common enough lash. But I don’t know why it should be tied.”</p> <p>“That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it’s a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of
-all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your
-permission we shall walk out upon the lawn.”</p> <p>I had never seen my friend’s face so grim or his brow so dark as it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We had walked
-several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss Stoner nor myself
-liking to break in upon his thoughts before he roused himself from his
-reverie.</p> <p>“It is very essential, Miss Stoner,” said he, “that you should absolutely follow my advice in every respect.”</p> <p>“I shall most certainly do so.”</p> <p>“The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may depend upon your compliance.”</p> <p>“I assure you that I am in your hands.”</p> <p>“In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in your room.”</p> <p>Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment.</p> <p>“Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the village inn over there?”</p> <p>“Yes, that is the ‘Crown.’”</p> <p>“Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?”</p> <p>“Certainly.”</p> <p>“You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a headache, when your step-father comes back. Then when you hear him retire for
-the night, you must open the shutters of your window, undo the hasp,
-put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then withdraw quietly with
-everything which you are likely to want into the room which you used to
-occupy. I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could manage
-there for one night.”</p> <p>“Oh yes, easily.”</p> <p>“The rest you will leave in our hands.”</p> <p>“But what will you do?”</p> <p>“We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate the cause of this noise which has disturbed you.”</p> <p>“I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind,” said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion’s sleeve.</p> <p>“Perhaps I have.”</p> <p>“Then for pity’s sake tell me what was the cause of my sister’s death.”</p> <p>“I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.”</p> <p>“You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and if she died from some sudden fright.”</p> <p>[Illustration: “‘GOOD-BYE, AND BE BRAVE’”]</p> <p>“No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you, for if Dr.
-Roylott returned and saw us, our journey would be in vain. Good-bye,
-and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, you may rest
-assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers that threaten you.”</p> <p>Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and sitting-room at the “Crown Inn.” They were on the upper floor, and
-from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and of the
-inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby
-Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little figure
-of the lad who drove him. The boy had some slight difficulty in undoing
-the heavy iron gates, and we heard the hoarse roar of the doctor’s
-voice, and saw the fury with which he shook his clinched fists at him.
-The trap drove on, and a few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring
-up among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.</p> <p>“Do you know, Watson,” said Holmes, as we sat together in the gathering darkness, “I have really some scruples as to taking you to-night. There
-is a distinct element of danger.”</p> <p>“Can I be of assistance?”</p> <p>“Your presence might be invaluable.”</p> <p>“Then I shall certainly come.”</p> <p>“It is very kind of you.”</p> <p>“You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than was visible to me.”</p> <p>“No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine that you saw all that I did.”</p> <p>“I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine.”</p> <p>“You saw the ventilator, too?”</p> <p>“Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a rat could
-hardly pass through.”</p> <p>“I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to Stoke Moran.”</p> <p>“My dear Holmes!”</p> <p>“Oh yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her sister could smell Dr. Roylott’s cigar. Now, of course that suggested at once
-that there must be a communication between the two rooms. It could only
-be a small one, or it would have been remarked upon at the coroner’s
-inquiry. I deduced a ventilator.”</p> <p>“But what harm can there be in that?”</p> <p>“Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does
-not that strike you?”</p> <p>“I cannot as yet see any connection.”</p> <p>“Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?”</p> <p>“No.”</p> <p>“It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened like that before?”</p> <p>“I cannot say that I have.”</p> <p>“The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same relative position to the ventilator and to the rope—for so we may call
-it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.”</p> <p>“Holmes,” I cried, “I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible crime.”</p> <p>“Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and
-Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. This man strikes
-even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall be able to strike
-deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough before the night is
-over; for goodness’ sake let us have a quiet pipe, and turn our minds
-for a few hours to something more cheerful.”</p> <p>       *       *       *       *       *</p> <p>About nine o’clock the light among the trees was extinguished, and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours passed slowly
-away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of eleven, a single
-bright light shone out right in front of us.</p> <p>“That is our signal,” said Holmes, springing to his feet; “it comes from the middle window.”</p> <p>As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, and that it was
-possible that we might spend the night there. A moment later we were
-out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow
-light twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide us on our
-sombre errand.</p> <p>There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way among the trees,
-we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to enter through the
-window, when out from a clump of laurel bushes there darted what seemed
-to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass
-with writhing limbs, and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the
-darkness.</p> <p>“My God!” I whispered; “did you see it?”</p> <p>Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low laugh, and put
-his lips to my ear.</p> <p>“It is a nice household,” he murmured. “That is the baboon.”</p> <p>I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders at any
-moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, after following
-Holmes’s example and slipping off my shoes, I found myself inside the
-bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed the shutters, moved the lamp
-onto the table, and cast his eyes round the room. All was as we had
-seen it in the daytime. Then creeping up to me and making a trumpet of
-his hand, he whispered into my ear again so gently that it was all that
-I could do to distinguish the words:</p> <p>“The least sound would be fatal to our plans.”</p> <p>I nodded to show that I had heard.</p> <p>“We must sit without light. He would see it through the ventilator.”</p> <p>I nodded again.</p> <p>“Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of the bed, and
-you in that chair.”</p> <p>I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table.</p> <p>Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the stump of a candle.
-Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left in darkness.</p> <p>How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my companion
-sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same state of nervous
-tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut off the least ray
-of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. From outside came the
-occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at our very window a long
-drawn cat-like whine, which told us that the cheetah was indeed at
-liberty. Far away we could hear the deep tones of the parish clock,
-which boomed out every quarter of an hour. How long they seemed, those
-quarters! Twelve struck, and one and two and three, and still we sat
-waiting silently for whatever might befall.</p> <p>Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was succeeded by
-a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. Some one in the next
-room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle sound of movement, and
-then all was silent once more, though the smell grew stronger. For half
-an hour I sat with straining ears. Then suddenly another sound became
-audible—a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of
-steam escaping continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it,
-Holmes sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with
-his cane at the bell-pull.</p> <p>“You see it, Watson?” he yelled. “You see it?”</p> <p>But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my weary eyes
-made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which my friend lashed
-so savagely. I could, however, see that his face was deadly pale, and
-filled with horror and loathing.</p> <p>He had ceased to strike, and was gazing up at the ventilator, when suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most horrible
-cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder and louder, a
-hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled in the one dreadful
-shriek. They say that away down in the village, and even in the distant
-parsonage, that cry raised the sleepers from their beds. It struck cold
-to our hearts, and I stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the
-last echoes of it had died away into the silence from which it rose.</p> <p>“What can it mean?” I gasped.</p> <p>“It means that it is all over,” Holmes answered. “And perhaps, after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will enter Dr.
-Roylott’s room.”</p> <p>With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply from within.
-Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his heels, with the cocked
-pistol in my hand.</p> <p>It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant beam
-of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. Beside this
-table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott, clad in a long
-gray dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding beneath, and his feet
-thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the short
-stock with the long lash which we had noticed during the day. His chin
-was cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare
-at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow
-band, with brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round
-his head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion.</p> <p>“The band! the speckled band!” whispered Holmes.</p> <p>I took a step forward. In an instant his strange head-gear began to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat
-diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent.</p> <p>“It is a swamp adder!” cried Holmes; “the deadliest snake in India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence does, in truth,
-recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he
-digs for another. Let us thrust this creature back into its den, and
-we can then remove Miss Stoner to some place of shelter, and let the
-county police know what has happened.”</p> <p>As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man’s lap, and throwing the noose round the reptile’s neck, he drew it from its horrid
-perch, and carrying it at arm’s length, threw it into the iron safe,
-which he closed upon it.</p> <p>       *       *       *       *       *</p> <p>Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a narrative which has
-already run to too great a length, by telling how we broke the sad news
-to the terrified girl, how we conveyed her by the morning train to the
-care of her good aunt at Harrow, of how the slow process of official
-inquiry came to the conclusion that the doctor met his fate while
-indiscreetly playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet
-to learn of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled
-back next day.</p> <p>“I had,” said he, “come to an entirely erroneous conclusion, which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from
-insufficient data. The presence of the gypsies, and the use of the
-word ‘band,’ which was used by the poor girl, no doubt to explain the
-appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of by the light of
-her match, were sufficient to put me upon an entirely wrong scent. I
-can only claim the merit that I instantly reconsidered my position
-when, however, it became clear to me that whatever danger threatened
-an occupant of the room could not come either from the window or the
-door. My attention was speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to
-you, to this ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the
-bed. The discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped
-to the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was
-there as bridge for something passing through the hole, and coming
-to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, and when
-I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was furnished with a
-supply of creatures from India, I felt that I was probably on the right
-track. The idea of using a form of poison which could not possibly be
-discovered by any chemical test was just such a one as would occur to a
-clever and ruthless man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity
-with which such a poison would take effect would also, from his point
-of view, be an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who
-could distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where
-the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the whistle. Of
-course he must recall the snake before the morning light revealed it to
-the victim. He had trained it, probably by the use of the milk which
-we saw, to return to him when summoned. He would put it through this
-ventilator at the hour that he thought best, with the certainty that it
-would crawl down the rope and land on the bed. It might or might not
-bite the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but
-sooner or later she must fall a victim.</p> <p>“I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in the habit of
-standing on it, which of course would be necessary in order that he
-should reach the ventilator. The sight of the safe, the saucer of milk,
-and the loop of whip-cord were enough to finally dispel any doubts
-which may have remained. The metallic clang heard by Miss Stoner was
-obviously caused by her step-father hastily closing the door of his
-safe upon its terrible occupant. Having once made up my mind, you know
-the steps which I took in order to put the matter to the proof. I
-heard the creature hiss, as I have no doubt that you did also, and I
-instantly lit the light and attacked it.”</p> <p>“With the result of driving it through the ventilator.”</p> <p>“And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home, and roused its
-snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person it saw. In this
-way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s
-death, and I cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavily upon my
-conscience.”</p></body></html>
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-<!doctype html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"><title> The Naval Treaty</title><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"></head><body><h1>The Naval Treaty</h1><p></p> <p>The July which immediately succeeded my marriage was made memorable by three cases of interest, in which I had the
-privilege of being associated with Sherlock Holmes and of
-studying his methods. I find them recorded in my notes under the
-headings of “The Adventure of the Second Stain,” “The Adventure
-of the Naval Treaty,” and “The Adventure of the Tired Captain.”
-The first of these, however, deals with interest of such
-importance and implicates so many of the first families in the
-kingdom that for many years it will be impossible to make it
-public. No case, however, in which Holmes was engaged has ever
-illustrated the value of his analytical methods so clearly or has
-impressed those who were associated with him so deeply. I still
-retain an almost verbatim report of the interview in which he
-demonstrated the true facts of the case to Monsieur Dubuque of
-the Paris police, and Fritz von Waldbaum, the well-known
-specialist of Dantzig, both of whom had wasted their energies
-upon what proved to be side-issues. The new century will have
-come, however, before the story can be safely told. Meanwhile I
-pass on to the second on my list, which promised also at one time
-to be of national importance, and was marked by several incidents
-which give it a quite unique character.</p> <p>During my school-days I had been intimately associated with a lad named Percy Phelps, who was of much the same age as myself,
-though he was two classes ahead of me. He was a very brilliant
-boy, and carried away every prize which the school had to offer,
-finished his exploits by winning a scholarship which sent him on
-to continue his triumphant career at Cambridge. He was, I
-remember, extremely well connected, and even when we were all
-little boys together we knew that his mother’s brother was Lord
-Holdhurst, the great conservative politician. This gaudy
-relationship did him little good at school. On the contrary, it
-seemed rather a piquant thing to us to chevy him about the
-playground and hit him over the shins with a wicket. But it was
-another thing when he came out into the world. I heard vaguely
-that his abilities and the influences which he commanded had won
-him a good position at the Foreign Office, and then he passed
-completely out of my mind until the following letter recalled his
-existence:</p> <p>Briarbrae, Woking.     My dear Watson,—I have no doubt that you can remember
-    “Tadpole” Phelps, who was in the fifth form when you were in
-    the third. It is possible even that you may have heard that
-    through my uncle’s influence I obtained a good appointment at
-    the Foreign Office, and that I was in a situation of trust
-    and honour until a horrible misfortune came suddenly to blast
-    my career.
-    There is no use writing of the details of that dreadful
-    event. In the event of your acceding to my request it is
-    probable that I shall have to narrate them to you. I have
-    only just recovered from nine weeks of brain-fever, and am
-    still exceedingly weak. Do you think that you could bring
-    your friend Mr. Holmes down to see me? I should like to have
-    his opinion of the case, though the authorities assure me
-    that nothing more can be done. Do try to bring him down, and
-    as soon as possible. Every minute seems an hour while I live
-    in this state of horrible suspense. Assure him that if I have
-    not asked his advice sooner it was not because I did not
-    appreciate his talents, but because I have been off my head
-    ever since the blow fell. Now I am clear again, though I dare
-    not think of it too much for fear of a relapse. I am still so
-    weak that I have to write, as you see, by dictating. Do try
-    to bring him.</p> <p>Your old schoolfellow, Percy Phelps.</p> <p>There was something that touched me as I read this letter, something pitiable in the reiterated appeals to bring Holmes. So
-moved was I that even had it been a difficult matter I should
-have tried it, but of course I knew well that Holmes loved his
-art, so that he was ever as ready to bring his aid as his client
-could be to receive it. My wife agreed with me that not a moment
-should be lost in laying the matter before him, and so within an
-hour of breakfast-time I found myself back once more in the old
-rooms in Baker Street.</p> <p>Holmes was seated at his side-table clad in his dressing-gown, and working hard over a chemical investigation. A large curved
-retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen
-burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two-litre
-measure. My friend hardly glanced up as I entered, and I, seeing
-that his investigation must be of importance, seated myself in an
-armchair and waited. He dipped into this bottle or that, drawing
-out a few drops of each with his glass pipette, and finally
-brought a test-tube containing a solution over to the table. In
-his right hand he held a slip of litmus-paper.</p> <p>“You come at a crisis, Watson,” said he. “If this paper remains blue, all is well. If it turns red, it means a man’s life.” He
-dipped it into the test-tube and it flushed at once into a dull,
-dirty crimson. “Hum! I thought as much!” he cried. “I will be at
-your service in an instant, Watson. You will find tobacco in the
-Persian slipper.” He turned to his desk and scribbled off several
-telegrams, which were handed over to the page-boy. Then he threw
-himself down into the chair opposite, and drew up his knees until
-his fingers clasped round his long, thin shins.</p> <p>“A very commonplace little murder,” said he. “You’ve got something better, I fancy. You are the stormy petrel of crime,
-Watson. What is it?”</p> <p>I handed him the letter, which he read with the most concentrated attention.</p> <p>“It does not tell us very much, does it?” he remarked, as he handed it back to me.</p> <p>“Hardly anything.”</p> <p>“And yet the writing is of interest.”</p> <p>“But the writing is not his own.”</p> <p>“Precisely. It is a woman’s.”</p> <p>“A man’s surely,” I cried.</p> <p>“No, a woman’s, and a woman of rare character. You see, at the commencement of an investigation it is something to know that
-your client is in close contact with some one who, for good or
-evil, has an exceptional nature. My interest is already awakened
-in the case. If you are ready we will start at once for Woking,
-and see this diplomatist who is in such evil case, and the lady
-to whom he dictates his letters.”</p> <p>We were fortunate enough to catch an early train at Waterloo, and in a little under an hour we found ourselves among the fir-woods
-and the heather of Woking. Briarbrae proved to be a large
-detached house standing in extensive grounds within a few
-minutes’ walk of the station. On sending in our cards we were
-shown into an elegantly appointed drawing-room, where we were
-joined in a few minutes by a rather stout man who received us
-with much hospitality. His age may have been nearer forty than
-thirty, but his cheeks were so ruddy and his eyes so merry that
-he still conveyed the impression of a plump and mischievous boy.</p> <p>“I am so glad that you have come,” said he, shaking our hands with effusion. “Percy has been inquiring for you all morning. Ah,
-poor old chap, he clings to any straw! His father and his mother
-asked me to see you, for the mere mention of the subject is very
-painful to them.”</p> <p>“We have had no details yet,” observed Holmes. “I perceive that you are not yourself a member of the family.”</p> <p>Our acquaintance looked surprised, and then, glancing down, he began to laugh.</p> <p>“Of course you saw the ‘J.H.’ monogram on my locket,” said he. “For a moment I thought you had done something clever. Joseph
-Harrison is my name, and as Percy is to marry my sister Annie I
-shall at least be a relation by marriage. You will find my sister
-in his room, for she has nursed him hand-and-foot this two months
-back. Perhaps we’d better go in at once, for I know how impatient
-he is.”</p> <p>The chamber in which we were shown was on the same floor as the drawing-room. It was furnished partly as a sitting and partly as
-a bedroom, with flowers arranged daintily in every nook and
-corner. A young man, very pale and worn, was lying upon a sofa
-near the open window, through which came the rich scent of the
-garden and the balmy summer air. A woman was sitting beside him,
-who rose as we entered.</p> <p>“Shall I leave, Percy?” she asked.</p> <p>He clutched her hand to detain her. “How are you, Watson?” said he, cordially. “I should never have known you under that
-moustache, and I daresay you would not be prepared to swear to
-me. This I presume is your celebrated friend, Mr. Sherlock
-Holmes?”</p> <p>I introduced him in a few words, and we both sat down. The stout young man had left us, but his sister still remained with her
-hand in that of the invalid. She was a striking-looking woman, a
-little short and thick for symmetry, but with a beautiful olive
-complexion, large, dark, Italian eyes, and a wealth of deep black
-hair. Her rich tints made the white face of her companion the
-more worn and haggard by the contrast.</p> <p>“I won’t waste your time,” said he, raising himself upon the sofa. “I’ll plunge into the matter without further preamble. I
-was a happy and successful man, Mr. Holmes, and on the eve of
-being married, when a sudden and dreadful misfortune wrecked all
-my prospects in life.</p> <p>“I was, as Watson may have told you, in the Foreign Office, and through the influences of my uncle, Lord Holdhurst, I rose
-rapidly to a responsible position. When my uncle became foreign
-minister in this administration he gave me several missions of
-trust, and as I always brought them to a successful conclusion,
-he came at last to have the utmost confidence in my ability and
-tact.</p> <p>“Nearly ten weeks ago—to be more accurate, on the 23rd of May—he called me into his private room, and, after complimenting me on
-the good work which I had done, he informed me that he had a new
-commission of trust for me to execute.</p> <p>“‘This,’ said he, taking a grey roll of paper from his bureau, ‘is the original of that secret treaty between England and Italy
-of which, I regret to say, some rumours have already got into the
-public press. It is of enormous importance that nothing further
-should leak out. The French or the Russian embassy would pay an
-immense sum to learn the contents of these papers. They should
-not leave my bureau were it not that it is absolutely necessary
-to have them copied. You have a desk in your office?’</p> <p>“‘Yes, sir.’</p> <p>“‘Then take the treaty and lock it up there. I shall give directions that you may remain behind when the others go, so that
-you may copy it at your leisure without fear of being overlooked.
-When you have finished, relock both the original and the draft in
-the desk, and hand them over to me personally to-morrow morning.’</p> <p>“I took the papers and—”</p> <p>“Excuse me an instant,” said Holmes. “Were you alone during this conversation?”</p> <p>“Absolutely.”</p> <p>“In a large room?”</p> <p>“Thirty feet each way.”</p> <p>“In the centre?”</p> <p>“Yes, about it.”</p> <p>“And speaking low?”</p> <p>“My uncle’s voice is always remarkably low. I hardly spoke at all.”</p> <p>“Thank you,” said Holmes, shutting his eyes; “pray go on.”</p> <p>“I did exactly what he indicated, and waited until the other clerks had departed. One of them in my room, Charles Gorot, had
-some arrears of work to make up, so I left him there and went out
-to dine. When I returned he was gone. I was anxious to hurry my
-work, for I knew that Joseph—the Mr. Harrison whom you saw just
-now—was in town, and that he would travel down to Woking by the
-eleven o’clock train, and I wanted if possible to catch it.</p> <p>“When I came to examine the treaty I saw at once that it was of such importance that my uncle had been guilty of no exaggeration
-in what he had said. Without going into details, I may say that
-it defined the position of Great Britain towards the Triple
-Alliance, and fore-shadowed the policy which this country would
-pursue in the event of the French fleet gaining a complete
-ascendancy over that of Italy in the Mediterranean. The questions
-treated in it were purely naval. At the end were the signatures
-of the high dignitaries who had signed it. I glanced my eyes over
-it, and then settled down to my task of copying.</p> <p>“It was a long document, written in the French language, and containing twenty-six separate articles. I copied as quickly as I
-could, but at nine o’clock I had only done nine articles, and it
-seemed hopeless for me to attempt to catch my train. I was
-feeling drowsy and stupid, partly from my dinner and also from
-the effects of a long day’s work. A cup of coffee would clear my
-brain. A commissionnaire remains all night in a little lodge at
-the foot of the stairs, and is in the habit of making coffee at
-his spirit-lamp for any of the officials who may be working over
-time. I rang the bell, therefore, to summon him.</p> <p>“To my surprise, it was a woman who answered the summons, a large, coarse-faced, elderly woman, in an apron. She explained
-that she was the commissionnaire’s wife, who did the charing, and
-I gave her the order for the coffee.</p> <p>“I wrote two more articles and then, feeling more drowsy than ever, I rose and walked up and down the room to stretch my legs.
-My coffee had not yet come, and I wondered what the cause of the
-delay could be. Opening the door, I started down the corridor to
-find out. There was a straight passage, dimly lighted, which led
-from the room in which I had been working, and was the only exit
-from it. It ended in a curving staircase, with the
-commissionnaire’s lodge in the passage at the bottom. Half-way
-down this staircase is a small landing, with another passage
-running into it at right angles. This second one leads by means
-of a second small stair to a side door, used by servants, and
-also as a short cut by clerks when coming from Charles Street.
-Here is a rough chart of the place.”</p> <p>rough chart</p> <p>“Thank you. I think that I quite follow you,” said Sherlock Holmes.</p> <p>“It is of the utmost importance that you should notice this point. I went down the stairs and into the hall, where I found
-the commissionnaire fast asleep in his box, with the kettle
-boiling furiously upon the spirit-lamp. I took off the kettle and
-blew out the lamp, for the water was spurting over the floor.
-Then I put out my hand and was about to shake the man, who was
-still sleeping soundly, when a bell over his head rang loudly,
-and he woke with a start.</p> <p>“‘Mr. Phelps, sir!’ said he, looking at me in bewilderment.</p> <p>“‘I came down to see if my coffee was ready.’</p> <p>“‘I was boiling the kettle when I fell asleep, sir.’ He looked at me and then up at the still quivering bell with an ever-growing
-astonishment upon his face.</p> <p>“‘If you was here, sir, then who rang the bell?’ he asked.</p> <p>“‘The bell!’ I cried. ‘What bell is it?’</p> <p>“‘It’s the bell of the room you were working in.’</p> <p>“A cold hand seemed to close round my heart. Some one, then, was in that room where my precious treaty lay upon the table. I ran
-frantically up the stairs and along the passage. There was no one
-in the corridors, Mr. Holmes. There was no one in the room. All
-was exactly as I left it, save only that the papers which had
-been committed to my care had been taken from the desk on which
-they lay. The copy was there, and the original was gone.”</p> <p>Holmes sat up in his chair and rubbed his hands. I could see that the problem was entirely to his heart. “Pray, what did you do
-then?” he murmured.</p> <p>“I recognised in an instant that the thief must have come up the stairs from the side door. Of course I must have met him if he
-had come the other way.”</p> <p>“You were satisfied that he could not have been concealed in the room all the time, or in the corridor which you have just
-described as dimly lighted?”</p> <p>“It is absolutely impossible. A rat could not conceal himself either in the room or the corridor. There is no cover at all.”</p> <p>“Thank you. Pray proceed.”</p> <p>“The commissionnaire, seeing by my pale face that something was to be feared, had followed me upstairs. Now we both rushed along
-the corridor and down the steep steps which led to Charles
-Street. The door at the bottom was closed, but unlocked. We flung
-it open and rushed out. I can distinctly remember that as we did
-so there came three chimes from a neighbouring clock. It was
-quarter to ten.”</p> <p>“That is of enormous importance,” said Holmes, making a note upon his shirt-cuff.</p> <p>“The night was very dark, and a thin, warm rain was falling. There was no one in Charles Street, but a great traffic was going
-on, as usual, in Whitehall, at the extremity. We rushed along the
-pavement, bare-headed as we were, and at the far corner we found
-a policeman standing.</p> <p>“‘A robbery has been committed,’ I gasped. ‘A document of immense value has been stolen from the Foreign Office. Has any one passed
-this way?’</p> <p>“‘I have been standing here for a quarter of an hour, sir,’ said he; ‘only one person has passed during that time—a woman, tall
-and elderly, with a Paisley shawl.’</p> <p>“‘Ah, that is only my wife,’ cried the commissionnaire; ‘has no one else passed?’</p> <p>“‘No one.’</p> <p>“‘Then it must be the other way that the thief took,’ cried the fellow, tugging at my sleeve.</p> <p>“‘But I was not satisfied, and the attempts which he made to draw me away increased my suspicions.</p> <p>“‘Which way did the woman go?’ I cried.</p> <p>“‘I don’t know, sir. I noticed her pass, but I had no special reason for watching her. She seemed to be in a hurry.’</p> <p>“‘How long ago was it?’</p> <p>“‘Oh, not very many minutes.’</p> <p>“‘Within the last five?’</p> <p>“‘Well, it could not be more than five.’</p> <p>“‘You’re only wasting your time, sir, and every minute now is of importance,’ cried the commissionnaire; ‘take my word for it that
-my old woman has nothing to do with it, and come down to the
-other end of the street. Well, if you won’t, I will.’ And with
-that he rushed off in the other direction.</p> <p>“But I was after him in an instant and caught him by the sleeve.</p> <p>“‘Where do you live?’ said I.</p> <p>“‘16 Ivy Lane, Brixton,’ he answered. ‘But don’t let yourself be drawn away upon a false scent, Mr. Phelps. Come to the other end
-of the street and let us see if we can hear of anything.’</p> <p>“Nothing was to be lost by following his advice. With the policeman we both hurried down, but only to find the street full
-of traffic, many people coming and going, but all only too eager
-to get to a place of safety upon so wet a night. There was no
-lounger who could tell us who had passed.</p> <p>“Then we returned to the office, and searched the stairs and the passage without result. The corridor which led to the room was
-laid down with a kind of creamy linoleum which shows an
-impression very easily. We examined it very carefully, but found
-no outline of any footmark.”</p> <p>“Had it been raining all evening?”</p> <p>“Since about seven.”</p> <p>“How is it, then, that the woman who came into the room about nine left no traces with her muddy boots?”</p> <p>“I am glad you raised the point. It occurred to me at the time. The charwomen are in the habit of taking off their boots at the
-commissionnaire’s office, and putting on list slippers.”</p> <p>“That is very clear. There were no marks, then, though the night was a wet one? The chain of events is certainly one of
-extraordinary interest. What did you do next?</p> <p>“We examined the room also. There is no possibility of a secret door, and the windows are quite thirty feet from the ground. Both
-of them were fastened on the inside. The carpet prevents any
-possibility of a trap-door, and the ceiling is of the ordinary
-whitewashed kind. I will pledge my life that whoever stole my
-papers could only have come through the door.”</p> <p>“How about the fireplace?”</p> <p>“They use none. There is a stove. The bell-rope hangs from the wire just to the right of my desk. Whoever rang it must have come
-right up to the desk to do it. But why should any criminal wish
-to ring the bell? It is a most insoluble mystery.”</p> <p>“Certainly the incident was unusual. What were your next steps? You examined the room, I presume, to see if the intruder had left
-any traces—any cigar-end or dropped glove or hairpin or other
-trifle?”</p> <p>“There was nothing of the sort.”</p> <p>“No smell?”</p> <p>“Well, we never thought of that.”</p> <p>“Ah, a scent of tobacco would have been worth a great deal to us in such an investigation.”</p> <p>“I never smoke myself, so I think I should have observed it if there had been any smell of tobacco. There was absolutely no clue
-of any kind. The only tangible fact was that the
-commissionnaire’s wife—Mrs. Tangey was the name—had hurried out
-of the place. He could give no explanation save that it was about
-the time when the woman always went home. The policeman and I
-agreed that our best plan would be to seize the woman before she
-could get rid of the papers, presuming that she had them.</p> <p>“The alarm had reached Scotland Yard by this time, and Mr. Forbes, the detective, came round at once and took up the case
-with a great deal of energy. We hired a hansom, and in half an
-hour we were at the address which had been given to us. A young
-woman opened the door, who proved to be Mrs. Tangey’s eldest
-daughter. Her mother had not come back yet, and we were shown
-into the front room to wait.</p> <p>“About ten minutes later a knock came at the door, and here we made the one serious mistake for which I blame myself. Instead of
-opening the door ourselves, we allowed the girl to do so. We
-heard her say, ‘Mother, there are two men in the house waiting to
-see you,’ and an instant afterwards we heard the patter of feet
-rushing down the passage. Forbes flung open the door, and we both
-ran into the back room or kitchen, but the woman had got there
-before us. She stared at us with defiant eyes, and then, suddenly
-recognising me, an expression of absolute astonishment came over
-her face.</p> <p>“‘Why, if it isn’t Mr. Phelps, of the office!’ she cried.</p> <p>“‘Come, come, who did you think we were when you ran away from us?’ asked my companion.</p> <p>“‘I thought you were the brokers,’ said she, ‘we have had some trouble with a tradesman.’</p> <p>“‘That’s not quite good enough,’ answered Forbes. ‘We have reason to believe that you have taken a paper of importance from the
-Foreign Office, and that you ran in here to dispose of it. You
-must come back with us to Scotland Yard to be searched.’</p> <p>“It was in vain that she protested and resisted. A four-wheeler was brought, and we all three drove back in it. We had first made
-an examination of the kitchen, and especially of the kitchen
-fire, to see whether she might have made away with the papers
-during the instant that she was alone. There were no signs,
-however, of any ashes or scraps. When we reached Scotland Yard
-she was handed over at once to the female searcher. I waited in
-an agony of suspense until she came back with her report. There
-were no signs of the papers.</p> <p>“Then for the first time the horror of my situation came in its full force. Hitherto I had been acting, and action had numbed
-thought. I had been so confident of regaining the treaty at once
-that I had not dared to think of what would be the consequence if
-I failed to do so. But now there was nothing more to be done, and
-I had leisure to realize my position. It was horrible. Watson
-there would tell you that I was a nervous, sensitive boy at
-school. It is my nature. I thought of my uncle and of his
-colleagues in the Cabinet, of the shame which I had brought upon
-him, upon myself, upon every one connected with me. What though I
-was the victim of an extraordinary accident? No allowance is made
-for accidents where diplomatic interests are at stake. I was
-ruined, shamefully, hopelessly ruined. I don’t know what I did. I
-fancy I must have made a scene. I have a dim recollection of a
-group of officials who crowded round me, endeavouring to soothe
-me. One of them drove down with me to Waterloo, and saw me into
-the Woking train. I believe that he would have come all the way
-had it not been that Dr. Ferrier, who lives near me, was going
-down by that very train. The doctor most kindly took charge of
-me, and it was well he did so, for I had a fit in the station,
-and before we reached home I was practically a raving maniac.</p> <p>“You can imagine the state of things here when they were roused from their beds by the doctor’s ringing and found me in this
-condition. Poor Annie here and my mother were broken-hearted. Dr.
-Ferrier had just heard enough from the detective at the station
-to be able to give an idea of what had happened, and his story
-did not mend matters. It was evident to all that I was in for a
-long illness, so Joseph was bundled out of this cheery bedroom,
-and it was turned into a sick-room for me. Here I have lain, Mr.
-Holmes, for over nine weeks, unconscious, and raving with
-brain-fever. If it had not been for Miss Harrison here and for
-the doctor’s care I should not be speaking to you now. She has
-nursed me by day and a hired nurse has looked after me by night,
-for in my mad fits I was capable of anything. Slowly my reason
-has cleared, but it is only during the last three days that my
-memory has quite returned. Sometimes I wish that it never had.
-The first thing that I did was to wire to Mr. Forbes, who had the
-case in hand. He came out, and assures me that, though everything
-has been done, no trace of a clue has been discovered. The
-commissionnaire and his wife have been examined in every way
-without any light being thrown upon the matter. The suspicions of
-the police then rested upon young Gorot, who, as you may
-remember, stayed over time in the office that night. His
-remaining behind and his French name were really the only two
-points which could suggest suspicion; but, as a matter of fact, I
-did not begin work until he had gone, and his people are of
-Huguenot extraction, but as English in sympathy and tradition as
-you and I are. Nothing was found to implicate him in any way, and
-there the matter dropped. I turn to you, Mr. Holmes, as
-absolutely my last hope. If you fail me, then my honour as well
-as my position are forever forfeited.”</p> <p>The invalid sank back upon his cushions, tired out by this long recital, while his nurse poured him out a glass of some
-stimulating medicine. Holmes sat silently, with his head thrown
-back and his eyes closed, in an attitude which might seem
-listless to a stranger, but which I knew betokened the most
-intense self-absorption.</p> <p>“You statement has been so explicit,” said he at last, “that you have really left me very few questions to ask. There is one of
-the very utmost importance, however. Did you tell any one that
-you had this special task to perform?”</p> <p>“No one.”</p> <p>“Not Miss Harrison here, for example?”</p> <p>“No. I had not been back to Woking between getting the order and executing the commission.”</p> <p>“And none of your people had by chance been to see you?”</p> <p>“None.”</p> <p>“Did any of them know their way about in the office?”</p> <p>“Oh, yes, all of them had been shown over it.”</p> <p>“Still, of course, if you said nothing to any one about the treaty these inquiries are irrelevant.”</p> <p>“I said nothing.”</p> <p>“Do you know anything of the commissionnaire?”</p> <p>“Nothing except that he is an old soldier.”</p> <p>“What regiment?”</p> <p>“Oh, I have heard—Coldstream Guards.”</p> <p>“Thank you. I have no doubt I can get details from Forbes. The authorities are excellent at amassing facts, though they do not
-always use them to advantage. What a lovely thing a rose is!”</p> <p>He walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend
-of crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me,
-for I had never before seen him show any keen interest in natural
-objects.</p> <p>“There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion,” said he, leaning with his back against the shutters.
-“It can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our
-highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to
-rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers our desires,
-our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first
-instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are
-an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only
-goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much
-to hope from the flowers.”</p> <p>Percy Phelps and his nurse looked at Holmes during this demonstration with surprise and a good deal of disappointment
-written upon their faces. He had fallen into a reverie, with the
-moss-rose between his fingers. It had lasted some minutes before
-the young lady broke in upon it.</p> <p>“Do you see any prospect of solving this mystery, Mr. Holmes?” she asked, with a touch of asperity in her voice.</p> <p>“Oh, the mystery!” he answered, coming back with a start to the realities of life. “Well, it would be absurd to deny that the
-case is a very abstruse and complicated one, but I can promise
-you that I will look into the matter and let you know any points
-which may strike me.”</p> <p>“Do you see any clue?”</p> <p>“You have furnished me with seven, but, of course, I must test them before I can pronounce upon their value.”</p> <p>“You suspect some one?”</p> <p>“I suspect myself.”</p> <p>“What!”</p> <p>“Of coming to conclusions too rapidly.”</p> <p>“Then go to London and test your conclusions.”</p> <p>“Your advice is very excellent, Miss Harrison,” said Holmes, rising. “I think, Watson, we cannot do better. Do not allow
-yourself to indulge in false hopes, Mr. Phelps. The affair is a
-very tangled one.”</p> <p>“I shall be in a fever until I see you again,” cried the diplomatist.</p> <p>“Well, I’ll come out by the same train to-morrow, though it’s more than likely that my report will be a negative one.”</p> <p>“God bless you for promising to come,” cried our client. “It gives me fresh life to know that something is being done. By the
-way, I have had a letter from Lord Holdhurst.”</p> <p>“Ha! What did he say?”</p> <p>“He was cold, but not harsh. I daresay my severe illness prevented him from being that. He repeated that the matter was of
-the utmost importance, and added that no steps would be taken
-about my future—by which he means, of course, my dismissal—until
-my health was restored and I had an opportunity of repairing my
-misfortune.”</p> <p>“Well, that was reasonable and considerate,” said Holmes. “Come, Watson, for we have a good day’s work before us in town.”</p> <p>Mr. Joseph Harrison drove us down to the station, and we were soon whirling up in a Portsmouth train. Holmes was sunk in
-profound thought, and hardly opened his mouth until we had passed
-Clapham Junction.</p> <p>“It’s a very cheery thing to come into London by any of these lines which run high, and allow you to look down upon the houses
-like this.”</p> <p>I thought he was joking, for the view was sordid enough, but he soon explained himself.</p> <p>“Look at those big, isolated clumps of building rising up above the slates, like brick islands in a lead-coloured sea.”</p> <p>“The board-schools.”</p> <p>“Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future! Capsules with hundreds of bright little seeds in each, out of which will spring
-the wise, better England of the future. I suppose that man Phelps
-does not drink?”</p> <p>“I should not think so.”</p> <p>“Nor should I, but we are bound to take every possibility into account. The poor devil has certainly got himself into very deep
-water, and it’s a question whether we shall ever be able to get
-him ashore. What did you think of Miss Harrison?”</p> <p>“A girl of strong character.”</p> <p>“Yes, but she is a good sort, or I am mistaken. She and her brother are the only children of an iron-master somewhere up
-Northumberland way. He got engaged to her when traveling last
-winter, and she came down to be introduced to his people, with
-her brother as escort. Then came the smash, and she stayed on to
-nurse her lover, while brother Joseph, finding himself pretty
-snug, stayed on too. I’ve been making a few independent
-inquiries, you see. But to-day must be a day of inquiries.”</p> <p>“My practice—” I began.</p> <p>“Oh, if you find your own cases more interesting than mine—” said Holmes, with some asperity.</p> <p>“I was going to say that my practice could get along very well for a day or two, since it is the slackest time in the year.”</p> <p>“Excellent,” said he, recovering his good-humour. “Then we’ll look into this matter together. I think that we should begin by
-seeing Forbes. He can probably tell us all the details we want
-until we know from what side the case is to be approached.”</p> <p>“You said you had a clue?”</p> <p>“Well, we have several, but we can only test their value by further inquiry. The most difficult crime to track is the one
-which is purposeless. Now this is not purposeless. Who is it who
-profits by it? There is the French ambassador, there is the
-Russian, there is whoever might sell it to either of these, and
-there is Lord Holdhurst.”</p> <p>“Lord Holdhurst!”</p> <p>“Well, it is just conceivable that a statesman might find himself in a position where he was not sorry to have such a document
-accidentally destroyed.”</p> <p>“Not a statesman with the honourable record of Lord Holdhurst?”</p> <p>“It is a possibility and we cannot afford to disregard it. We shall see the noble lord to-day and find out if he can tell us
-anything. Meanwhile I have already set inquiries on foot.”</p> <p>“Already?”</p> <p>“Yes, I sent wires from Woking station to every evening paper in London. This advertisement will appear in each of them.”</p> <p>He handed over a sheet torn from a note-book. On it was scribbled in pencil:</p> <p>“£10 Reward.—The number of the cab which dropped a fare at or about the door of the Foreign Office in Charles Street at quarter
-to ten in the evening of May 23rd. Apply 221B, Baker Street.”</p> <p>“You are confident that the thief came in a cab?”</p> <p>“If not, there is no harm done. But if Mr. Phelps is correct in stating that there is no hiding-place either in the room or the
-corridors, then the person must have come from outside. If he
-came from outside on so wet a night, and yet left no trace of
-damp upon the linoleum, which was examined within a few minutes
-of his passing, then it is exceeding probable that he came in a
-cab. Yes, I think that we may safely deduce a cab.”</p> <p>“It sounds plausible.”</p> <p>“That is one of the clues of which I spoke. It may lead us to something. And then, of course, there is the bell—which is the
-most distinctive feature of the case. Why should the bell ring?
-Was it the thief who did it out of bravado? Or was it some one
-who was with the thief who did it in order to prevent the crime?
-Or was it an accident? Or was it—?” He sank back into the state
-of intense and silent thought from which he had emerged; but it
-seemed to me, accustomed as I was to his every mood, that some
-new possibility had dawned suddenly upon him.</p> <p>It was twenty past three when we reached our terminus, and after a hasty luncheon at the buffet we pushed on at once to Scotland
-Yard. Holmes had already wired to Forbes, and we found him
-waiting to receive us—a small, foxy man with a sharp but by no
-means amiable expression. He was decidedly frigid in his manner
-to us, especially when he heard the errand upon which we had
-come.</p> <p>“I’ve heard of your methods before now, Mr. Holmes,” said he, tartly. “You are ready enough to use all the information that the
-police can lay at your disposal, and then you try to finish the
-case yourself and bring discredit on them.”</p> <p>“On the contrary,” said Holmes, “out of my last fifty-three cases my name has only appeared in four, and the police have had all
-the credit in forty-nine. I don’t blame you for not knowing this,
-for you are young and inexperienced, but if you wish to get on in
-your new duties you will work with me and not against me.”</p> <p>“I’d be very glad of a hint or two,” said the detective, changing his manner. “I’ve certainly had no credit from the case so far.”</p> <p>“What steps have you taken?”</p> <p>“Tangey, the commissionnaire, has been shadowed. He left the Guards with a good character and we can find nothing against him.
-His wife is a bad lot, though. I fancy she knows more about this
-than appears.”</p> <p>“Have you shadowed her?”</p> <p>“We have set one of our women on to her. Mrs. Tangey drinks, and our woman has been with her twice when she was well on, but she
-could get nothing out of her.”</p> <p>“I understand that they have had brokers in the house?”</p> <p>“Yes, but they were paid off.”</p> <p>“Where did the money come from?”</p> <p>“That was all right. His pension was due. They have not shown any sign of being in funds.”</p> <p>“What explanation did she give of having answered the bell when Mr. Phelps rang for the coffee?”</p> <p>“She said that her husband was very tired and she wished to relieve him.”</p> <p>“Well, certainly that would agree with his being found a little later asleep in his chair. There is nothing against them then but
-the woman’s character. Did you ask her why she hurried away that
-night? Her haste attracted the attention of the police
-constable.”</p> <p>“She was later than usual and wanted to get home.”</p> <p>“Did you point out to her that you and Mr. Phelps, who started at least twenty minutes after her, got home before her?”</p> <p>“She explains that by the difference between a ‘bus and a hansom.”</p> <p>“Did she make it clear why, on reaching her house, she ran into the back kitchen?”</p> <p>“Because she had the money there with which to pay off the brokers.”</p> <p>“She has at least an answer for everything. Did you ask her whether in leaving she met any one or saw any one loitering about
-Charles Street?”</p> <p>“She saw no one but the constable.”</p> <p>“Well, you seem to have cross-examined her pretty thoroughly. What else have you done?”</p> <p>“The clerk Gorot has been shadowed all these nine weeks, but without result. We can show nothing against him.”</p> <p>“Anything else?”</p> <p>“Well, we have nothing else to go upon—no evidence of any kind.”</p> <p>“Have you formed a theory about how that bell rang?”</p> <p>“Well, I must confess that it beats me. It was a cool hand, whoever it was, to go and give the alarm like that.”</p> <p>“Yes, it was a queer thing to do. Many thanks to you for what you have told me. If I can put the man into your hands you shall hear
-from me. Come along, Watson.”</p> <p>“Where are we going to now?” I asked, as we left the office.</p> <p>“We are now going to interview Lord Holdhurst, the cabinet minister and future premier of England.”</p> <p>We were fortunate in finding that Lord Holdhurst was still in his chambers in Downing Street, and on Holmes sending in his card we
-were instantly shown up. The statesman received us with that
-old-fashioned courtesy for which he is remarkable, and seated us
-on the two luxuriant lounges on either side of the fireplace.
-Standing on the rug between us, with his slight, tall figure, his
-sharp features, thoughtful face, and curling hair prematurely
-tinged with grey, he seemed to represent that not too common
-type, a nobleman who is in truth noble.</p> <p>“Your name is very familiar to me, Mr. Holmes,” said he, smiling. “And, of course, I cannot pretend to be ignorant of the object of
-your visit. There has only been one occurrence in these offices
-which could call for your attention. In whose interest are you
-acting, may I ask?”</p> <p>“In that of Mr. Percy Phelps,” answered Holmes.</p> <p>“Ah, my unfortunate nephew! You can understand that our kinship makes it the more impossible for me to screen him in any way. I
-fear that the incident must have a very prejudicial effect upon
-his career.”</p> <p>“But if the document is found?”</p> <p>“Ah, that, of course, would be different.”</p> <p>“I had one or two questions which I wished to ask you, Lord Holdhurst.”</p> <p>“I shall be happy to give you any information in my power.”</p> <p>“Was it in this room that you gave your instructions as to the copying of the document?”</p> <p>“It was.”</p> <p>“Then you could hardly have been overheard?”</p> <p>“It is out of the question.”</p> <p>“Did you ever mention to any one that it was your intention to give any one the treaty to be copied?”</p> <p>“Never.”</p> <p>“You are certain of that?”</p> <p>“Absolutely.”</p> <p>“Well, since you never said so, and Mr. Phelps never said so, and nobody else knew anything of the matter, then the thief’s
-presence in the room was purely accidental. He saw his chance and
-he took it.”</p> <p>The statesman smiled. “You take me out of my province there,” said he.</p> <p>Holmes considered for a moment. “There is another very important point which I wish to discuss with you,” said he. “You feared, as
-I understand, that very grave results might follow from the
-details of this treaty becoming known.”</p> <p>A shadow passed over the expressive face of the statesman. “Very grave results indeed.”</p> <p>“And have they occurred?”</p> <p>“Not yet.”</p> <p>“If the treaty had reached, let us say, the French or Russian Foreign Office, you would expect to hear of it?”</p> <p>“I should,” said Lord Holdhurst, with a wry face.</p> <p>“Since nearly ten weeks have elapsed, then, and nothing has been heard, it is not unfair to suppose that for some reason the
-treaty has not reached them.”</p> <p>Lord Holdhurst shrugged his shoulders.</p> <p>“We can hardly suppose, Mr. Holmes, that the thief took the treaty in order to frame it and hang it up.”</p> <p>“Perhaps he is waiting for a better price.”</p> <p>“If he waits a little longer he will get no price at all. The treaty will cease to be secret in a few months.”</p> <p>“That is most important,” said Holmes. “Of course, it is a possible supposition that the thief has had a sudden illness—”</p> <p>“An attack of brain-fever, for example?” asked the statesman, flashing a swift glance at him.</p> <p>“I did not say so,” said Holmes, imperturbably. “And now, Lord Holdhurst, we have already taken up too much of your valuable
-time, and we shall wish you good-day.”</p> <p>“Every success to your investigation, be the criminal who it may,” answered the nobleman, as he bowed us out the door.</p> <p>“He’s a fine fellow,” said Holmes, as we came out into Whitehall. “But he has a struggle to keep up his position. He is far from
-rich and has many calls. You noticed, of course, that his boots
-had been resoled. Now, Watson, I won’t detain you from your
-legitimate work any longer. I shall do nothing more to-day,
-unless I have an answer to my cab advertisement. But I should be
-extremely obliged to you if you would come down with me to Woking
-to-morrow, by the same train which we took yesterday.”</p> <p>I met him accordingly next morning and we travelled down to Woking together. He had had no answer to his advertisement, he
-said, and no fresh light had been thrown upon the case. He had,
-when he so willed it, the utter immobility of countenance of a
-red Indian, and I could not gather from his appearance whether he
-was satisfied or not with the position of the case. His
-conversation, I remember, was about the Bertillon system of
-measurements, and he expressed his enthusiastic admiration of the
-French savant.</p> <p>We found our client still under the charge of his devoted nurse, but looking considerably better than before. He rose from the
-sofa and greeted us without difficulty when we entered.</p> <p>“Any news?” he asked, eagerly.</p> <p>“My report, as I expected, is a negative one,” said Holmes. “I have seen Forbes, and I have seen your uncle, and I have set one
-or two trains of inquiry upon foot which may lead to something.”</p> <p>“You have not lost heart, then?”</p> <p>“By no means.”</p> <p>“God bless you for saying that!” cried Miss Harrison. “If we keep our courage and our patience the truth must come out.”</p> <p>“We have more to tell you than you have for us,” said Phelps, reseating himself upon the couch.</p> <p>“I hoped you might have something.”</p> <p>“Yes, we have had an adventure during the night, and one which might have proved to be a serious one.” His expression grew very
-grave as he spoke, and a look of something akin to fear sprang up
-in his eyes. “Do you know,” said he, “that I begin to believe
-that I am the unconscious centre of some monstrous conspiracy,
-and that my life is aimed at as well as my honour?”</p> <p>“Ah!” cried Holmes.</p> <p>“It sounds incredible, for I have not, as far as I know, an enemy in the world. Yet from last night’s experience I can come to no
-other conclusion.”</p> <p>“Pray let me hear it.”</p> <p>“You must know that last night was the very first night that I have ever slept without a nurse in the room. I was so much better
-that I thought I could dispense with one. I had a night-light
-burning, however. Well, about two in the morning I had sunk into
-a light sleep when I was suddenly aroused by a slight noise. It
-was like the sound which a mouse makes when it is gnawing a
-plank, and I lay listening to it for some time under the
-impression that it must come from that cause. Then it grew
-louder, and suddenly there came from the window a sharp metallic
-snick. I sat up in amazement. There could be no doubt what the
-sounds were now. The first ones had been caused by some one
-forcing an instrument through the slit between the sashes, and
-the second by the catch being pressed back.</p> <p>“There was a pause then for about ten minutes, as if the person were waiting to see whether the noise had awakened me. Then I
-heard a gentle creaking as the window was very slowly opened. I
-could stand it no longer, for my nerves are not what they used to
-be. I sprang out of bed and flung open the shutters. A man was
-crouching at the window. I could see little of him, for he was
-gone like a flash. He was wrapped in some sort of cloak which
-came across the lower part of his face. One thing only I am sure
-of, and that is that he had some weapon in his hand. It looked to
-me like a long knife. I distinctly saw the gleam of it as he
-turned to run.”</p> <p>“This is most interesting,” said Holmes. “Pray what did you do then?”</p> <p>“I should have followed him through the open window if I had been stronger. As it was, I rang the bell and roused the house. It
-took me some little time, for the bell rings in the kitchen and
-the servants all sleep upstairs. I shouted, however, and that
-brought Joseph down, and he roused the others. Joseph and the
-groom found marks on the bed outside the window, but the weather
-has been so dry lately that they found it hopeless to follow the
-trail across the grass. There’s a place, however, on the wooden
-fence which skirts the road which shows signs, they tell me, as
-if some one had got over, and had snapped the top of the rail in
-doing so. I have said nothing to the local police yet, for I
-thought I had best have your opinion first.”</p> <p>This tale of our client’s appeared to have an extraordinary effect upon Sherlock Holmes. He rose from his chair and paced
-about the room in uncontrollable excitement.</p> <p>“Misfortunes never come single,” said Phelps, smiling, though it was evident that his adventure had somewhat shaken him.</p> <p>“You have certainly had your share,” said Holmes. “Do you think you could walk round the house with me?”</p> <p>“Oh, yes, I should like a little sunshine. Joseph will come, too.”</p> <p>“And I also,” said Miss Harrison.</p> <p>“I am afraid not,” said Holmes, shaking his head. “I think I must ask you to remain sitting exactly where you are.”</p> <p>The young lady resumed her seat with an air of displeasure. Her brother, however, had joined us and we set off all four together.
-We passed round the lawn to the outside of the young
-diplomatist’s window. There were, as he had said, marks upon the
-bed, but they were hopelessly blurred and vague. Holmes stopped
-over them for an instant, and then rose shrugging his shoulders.</p> <p>“I don’t think any one could make much of this,” said he. “Let us go round the house and see why this particular room was chosen by
-the burglar. I should have thought those larger windows of the
-drawing-room and dining-room would have had more attractions for
-him.”</p> <p>“They are more visible from the road,” suggested Mr. Joseph Harrison.</p> <p>“Ah, yes, of course. There is a door here which he might have attempted. What is it for?”</p> <p>“It is the side entrance for trades-people. Of course it is locked at night.”</p> <p>“Have you ever had an alarm like this before?”</p> <p>“Never,” said our client.</p> <p>“Do you keep plate in the house, or anything to attract burglars?”</p> <p>“Nothing of value.”</p> <p>Holmes strolled round the house with his hands in his pockets and a negligent air which was unusual with him.</p> <p>“By the way,” said he to Joseph Harrison, “you found some place, I understand, where the fellow scaled the fence. Let us have a
-look at that!”</p> <p>The plump young man led us to a spot where the top of one of the wooden rails had been cracked. A small fragment of the wood was
-hanging down. Holmes pulled it off and examined it critically.</p> <p>“Do you think that was done last night? It looks rather old, does it not?”</p> <p>“Well, possibly so.”</p> <p>“There are no marks of any one jumping down upon the other side. No, I fancy we shall get no help here. Let us go back to the
-bedroom and talk the matter over.”</p> <p>Percy Phelps was walking very slowly, leaning upon the arm of his future brother-in-law. Holmes walked swiftly across the lawn, and
-we were at the open window of the bedroom long before the others
-came up.</p> <p>“Miss Harrison,” said Holmes, speaking with the utmost intensity of manner, “you must stay where you are all day. Let nothing
-prevent you from staying where you are all day. It is of the
-utmost importance.”</p> <p>“Certainly, if you wish it, Mr. Holmes,” said the girl in astonishment.</p> <p>“When you go to bed lock the door of this room on the outside and keep the key. Promise to do this.”</p> <p>“But Percy?”</p> <p>“He will come to London with us.”</p> <p>“And am I to remain here?”</p> <p>“It is for his sake. You can serve him. Quick! Promise!”</p> <p>She gave a quick nod of assent just as the other two came up.</p> <p>“Why do you sit moping there, Annie?” cried her brother. “Come out into the sunshine!”</p> <p>“No, thank you, Joseph. I have a slight headache and this room is deliciously cool and soothing.”</p> <p>“What do you propose now, Mr. Holmes?” asked our client.</p> <p>“Well, in investigating this minor affair we must not lose sight of our main inquiry. It would be a very great help to me if you
-would come up to London with us.”</p> <p>“At once?”</p> <p>“Well, as soon as you conveniently can. Say in an hour.”</p> <p>“I feel quite strong enough, if I can really be of any help.”</p> <p>“The greatest possible.”</p> <p>“Perhaps you would like me to stay there to-night?”</p> <p>“I was just going to propose it.”</p> <p>“Then, if my friend of the night comes to revisit me, he will find the bird flown. We are all in your hands, Mr. Holmes, and
-you must tell us exactly what you would like done. Perhaps you
-would prefer that Joseph came with us so as to look after me?”</p> <p>“Oh, no; my friend Watson is a medical man, you know, and he’ll look after you. We’ll have our lunch here, if you will permit us,
-and then we shall all three set off for town together.”</p> <p>It was arranged as he suggested, though Miss Harrison excused herself from leaving the bedroom, in accordance with Holmes’s
-suggestion. What the object of my friend’s manœuvres was I could
-not conceive, unless it were to keep the lady away from Phelps,
-who, rejoiced by his returning health and by the prospect of
-action, lunched with us in the dining-room. Holmes had a still
-more startling surprise for us, however, for, after accompanying
-us down to the station and seeing us into our carriage, he calmly
-announced that he had no intention of leaving Woking.</p> <p>“There are one or two small points which I should desire to clear up before I go,” said he. “Your absence, Mr. Phelps, will in some
-ways rather assist me. Watson, when you reach London you would
-oblige me by driving at once to Baker Street with our friend
-here, and remaining with him until I see you again. It is
-fortunate that you are old schoolfellows, as you must have much
-to talk over. Mr. Phelps can have the spare bedroom to-night, and
-I will be with you in time for breakfast, for there is a train
-which will take me into Waterloo at eight.”</p> <p>“But how about our investigation in London?” asked Phelps, ruefully.</p> <p>“We can do that to-morrow. I think that just at present I can be of more immediate use here.”</p> <p>“You might tell them at Briarbrae that I hope to be back to-morrow night,” cried Phelps, as we began to move from the
-platform.</p> <p>“I hardly expect to go back to Briarbrae,” answered Holmes, and waved his hand to us cheerily as we shot out from the station.</p> <p>Phelps and I talked it over on our journey, but neither of us could devise a satisfactory reason for this new development.</p> <p>“I suppose he wants to find out some clue as to the burglary last night, if a burglar it was. For myself, I don’t believe it was an
-ordinary thief.”</p> <p>“What is your own idea, then?”</p> <p>“Upon my word, you may put it down to my weak nerves or not, but I believe there is some deep political intrigue going on around
-me, and that for some reason that passes my understanding my life
-is aimed at by the conspirators. It sounds high-flown and absurd,
-but consider the facts! Why should a thief try to break in at a
-bedroom window, where there could be no hope of any plunder, and
-why should he come with a long knife in his hand?”</p> <p>“You are sure it was not a house-breaker’s jimmy?”</p> <p>“Oh, no, it was a knife. I saw the flash of the blade quite distinctly.”</p> <p>“But why on earth should you be pursued with such animosity?”</p> <p>“Ah, that is the question.”</p> <p>“Well, if Holmes takes the same view, that would account for his action, would it not? Presuming that your theory is correct, if
-he can lay his hands upon the man who threatened you last night
-he will have gone a long way towards finding who took the naval
-treaty. It is absurd to suppose that you have two enemies, one of
-whom robs you, while the other threatens your life.”</p> <p>“But Holmes said that he was not going to Briarbrae.”</p> <p>“I have known him for some time,” said I, “but I never knew him do anything yet without a very good reason,” and with that our
-conversation drifted off on to other topics.</p> <p>But it was a weary day for me. Phelps was still weak after his long illness, and his misfortune made him querulous and nervous.
-In vain I endeavoured to interest him in Afghanistan, in India,
-in social questions, in anything which might take his mind out of
-the groove. He would always come back to his lost treaty,
-wondering, guessing, speculating, as to what Holmes was doing,
-what steps Lord Holdhurst was taking, what news we should have in
-the morning. As the evening wore on his excitement became quite
-painful.</p> <p>“You have implicit faith in Holmes?” he asked.</p> <p>“I have seen him do some remarkable things.”</p> <p>“But he never brought light into anything quite so dark as this?”</p> <p>“Oh, yes; I have known him solve questions which presented fewer clues than yours.”</p> <p>“But not where such large interests are at stake?”</p> <p>“I don’t know that. To my certain knowledge he has acted on behalf of three of the reigning houses of Europe in very vital
-matters.”</p> <p>“But you know him well, Watson. He is such an inscrutable fellow that I never quite know what to make of him. Do you think he is
-hopeful? Do you think he expects to make a success of it?”</p> <p>“He has said nothing.”</p> <p>“That is a bad sign.”</p> <p>“On the contrary, I have noticed that when he is off the trail he generally says so. It is when he is on a scent and is not quite
-absolutely sure yet that it is the right one that he is most
-taciturn. Now, my dear fellow, we can’t help matters by making
-ourselves nervous about them, so let me implore you to go to bed
-and so be fresh for whatever may await us to-morrow.”</p> <p>I was able at last to persuade my companion to take my advice, though I knew from his excited manner that there was not much
-hope of sleep for him. Indeed, his mood was infectious, for I lay
-tossing half the night myself, brooding over this strange
-problem, and inventing a hundred theories, each of which was more
-impossible than the last. Why had Holmes remained at Woking? Why
-had he asked Miss Harrison to remain in the sick-room all day?
-Why had he been so careful not to inform the people at Briarbrae
-that he intended to remain near them? I cudgelled my brains until
-I fell asleep in the endeavour to find some explanation which
-would cover all these facts.</p> <p>It was seven o’clock when I awoke, and I set off at once for Phelps’s room, to find him haggard and spent after a sleepless
-night. His first question was whether Holmes had arrived yet.</p> <p>“He’ll be here when he promised,” said I, “and not an instant sooner or later.”</p> <p>And my words were true, for shortly after eight a hansom dashed up to the door and our friend got out of it. Standing in the
-window we saw that his left hand was swathed in a bandage and
-that his face was very grim and pale. He entered the house, but
-it was some little time before he came upstairs.</p> <p>“He looks like a beaten man,” cried Phelps.</p> <p>I was forced to confess that he was right. “After all,” said I, “the clue of the matter lies probably here in town.”</p> <p>Phelps gave a groan.</p> <p>“I don’t know how it is,” said he, “but I had hoped for so much from his return. But surely his hand was not tied up like that
-yesterday. What can be the matter?”</p> <p>“You are not wounded, Holmes?” I asked, as my friend entered the room.</p> <p>“Tut, it is only a scratch through my own clumsiness,” he answered, nodding his good-mornings to us. “This case of yours,
-Mr. Phelps, is certainly one of the darkest which I have ever
-investigated.”</p> <p>“I feared that you would find it beyond you.”</p> <p>“It has been a most remarkable experience.”</p> <p>“That bandage tells of adventures,” said I. “Won’t you tell us what has happened?”</p> <p>“After breakfast, my dear Watson. Remember that I have breathed thirty miles of Surrey air this morning. I suppose that there has
-been no answer from my cabman advertisement? Well, well, we
-cannot expect to score every time.”</p> <p>The table was all laid, and just as I was about to ring Mrs. Hudson entered with the tea and coffee. A few minutes later she
-brought in three covers, and we all drew up to the table, Holmes
-ravenous, I curious, and Phelps in the gloomiest state of
-depression.</p> <p>“Mrs. Hudson has risen to the occasion,” said Holmes, uncovering a dish of curried chicken. “Her cuisine is a little limited, but
-she has as good an idea of breakfast as a Scotch-woman. What have
-you here, Watson?”</p> <p>“Ham and eggs,” I answered.</p> <p>“Good! What are you going to take, Mr. Phelps—curried fowl or eggs, or will you help yourself?”</p> <p>“Thank you. I can eat nothing,” said Phelps.</p> <p>“Oh, come! Try the dish before you.”</p> <p>“Thank you, I would really rather not.”</p> <p>“Well, then,” said Holmes, with a mischievous twinkle, “I suppose that you have no objection to helping me?”</p> <p>Phelps raised the cover, and as he did so he uttered a scream, and sat there staring with a face as white as the plate upon
-which he looked. Across the centre of it was lying a little
-cylinder of blue-grey paper. He caught it up, devoured it with
-his eyes, and then danced madly about the room, pressing it to
-his bosom and shrieking out in his delight. Then he fell back
-into an armchair so limp and exhausted with his own emotions that
-we had to pour brandy down his throat to keep him from fainting.</p> <p>“There! there!” said Holmes, soothing, patting him upon the shoulder. “It was too bad to spring it on you like this, but
-Watson here will tell you that I never can resist a touch of the
-dramatic.”</p> <p>Phelps seized his hand and kissed it. “God bless you!” he cried. “You have saved my honour.”</p> <p>“Well, my own was at stake, you know,” said Holmes. “I assure you it is just as hateful to me to fail in a case as it can be to you
-to blunder over a commission.”</p> <p>Phelps thrust away the precious document into the innermost pocket of his coat.</p> <p>“I have not the heart to interrupt your breakfast any further, and yet I am dying to know how you got it and where it was.”</p> <p>Sherlock Holmes swallowed a cup of coffee, and turned his attention to the ham and eggs. Then he rose, lit his pipe, and
-settled himself down into his chair.</p> <p>“I’ll tell you what I did first, and how I came to do it afterwards,” said he. “After leaving you at the station I went
-for a charming walk through some admirable Surrey scenery to a
-pretty little village called Ripley, where I had my tea at an
-inn, and took the precaution of filling my flask and of putting a
-paper of sandwiches in my pocket. There I remained until evening,
-when I set off for Woking again, and found myself in the
-high-road outside Briarbrae just after sunset.</p> <p>“Well, I waited until the road was clear—it is never a very frequented one at any time, I fancy—and then I clambered over the
-fence into the grounds.”</p> <p>“Surely the gate was open!” ejaculated Phelps.</p> <p>“Yes, but I have a peculiar taste in these matters. I chose the place where the three fir-trees stand, and behind their screen I
-got over without the least chance of any one in the house being
-able to see me. I crouched down among the bushes on the other
-side, and crawled from one to the other—witness the disreputable
-state of my trouser knees—until I had reached the clump of
-rhododendrons just opposite to your bedroom window. There I
-squatted down and awaited developments.</p> <p>“The blind was not down in your room, and I could see Miss Harrison sitting there reading by the table. It was quarter-past
-ten when she closed her book, fastened the shutters, and retired.</p> <p>“I heard her shut the door, and felt quite sure that she had turned the key in the lock.”</p> <p>“The key!” ejaculated Phelps.</p> <p>“Yes; I had given Miss Harrison instructions to lock the door on the outside and take the key with her when she went to bed. She
-carried out every one of my injunctions to the letter, and
-certainly without her co-operation you would not have that paper
-in your coat-pocket. She departed then and the lights went out,
-and I was left squatting in the rhododendron-bush.</p> <p>“The night was fine, but still it was a very weary vigil. Of course it has the sort of excitement about it that the sportsman
-feels when he lies beside the water-course and waits for the big
-game. It was very long, though—almost as long, Watson, as when
-you and I waited in that deadly room when we looked into the
-little problem of the Speckled Band. There was a church-clock
-down at Woking which struck the quarters, and I thought more than
-once that it had stopped. At last however about two in the
-morning, I suddenly heard the gentle sound of a bolt being pushed
-back and the creaking of a key. A moment later the servants’ door
-was opened, and Mr. Joseph Harrison stepped out into the
-moonlight.”</p> <p>“Joseph!” ejaculated Phelps.</p> <p>“He was bare-headed, but he had a black coat thrown over his shoulder so that he could conceal his face in an instant if there
-were any alarm. He walked on tiptoe under the shadow of the wall,
-and when he reached the window he worked a long-bladed knife
-through the sash and pushed back the catch. Then he flung open
-the window, and putting his knife through the crack in the
-shutters, he thrust the bar up and swung them open.</p> <p>“From where I lay I had a perfect view of the inside of the room and of every one of his movements. He lit the two candles which
-stood upon the mantelpiece, and then he proceeded to turn back
-the corner of the carpet in the neighbourhood of the door.
-Presently he stopped and picked out a square piece of board, such
-as is usually left to enable plumbers to get at the joints of the
-gas-pipes. This one covered, as a matter of fact, the T joint
-which gives off the pipe which supplies the kitchen underneath.
-Out of this hiding-place he drew that little cylinder of paper,
-pushed down the board, rearranged the carpet, blew out the
-candles, and walked straight into my arms as I stood waiting for
-him outside the window.</p> <p>“Well, he has rather more viciousness than I gave him credit for, has Master Joseph. He flew at me with his knife, and I had to
-grasp him twice, and got a cut over the knuckles, before I had
-the upper hand of him. He looked murder out of the only eye he
-could see with when we had finished, but he listened to reason
-and gave up the papers. Having got them I let my man go, but I
-wired full particulars to Forbes this morning. If he is quick
-enough to catch his bird, well and good. But if, as I shrewdly
-suspect, he finds the nest empty before he gets there, why, all
-the better for the government. I fancy that Lord Holdhurst for
-one, and Mr. Percy Phelps for another, would very much rather
-that the affair never got as far as a police-court.</p> <p>“My God!” gasped our client. “Do you tell me that during these long ten weeks of agony the stolen papers were within the very
-room with me all the time?”</p> <p>“So it was.”</p> <p>“And Joseph! Joseph a villain and a thief!”</p> <p>“Hum! I am afraid Joseph’s character is a rather deeper and more dangerous one than one might judge from his appearance. From what
-I have heard from him this morning, I gather that he has lost
-heavily in dabbling with stocks, and that he is ready to do
-anything on earth to better his fortunes. Being an absolutely
-selfish man, when a chance presented itself he did not allow
-either his sister’s happiness or your reputation to hold his
-hand.”</p> <p>Percy Phelps sank back in his chair. “My head whirls,” said he. “Your words have dazed me.”</p> <p>“The principal difficulty in your case,” remarked Holmes, in his didactic fashion, “lay in the fact of there being too much
-evidence. What was vital was overlaid and hidden by what was
-irrelevant. Of all the facts which were presented to us we had to
-pick just those which we deemed to be essential, and then piece
-them together in their order, so as to reconstruct this very
-remarkable chain of events. I had already begun to suspect
-Joseph, from the fact that you had intended to travel home with
-him that night, and that therefore it was a likely enough thing
-that he should call for you, knowing the Foreign Office well,
-upon his way. When I heard that some one had been so anxious to
-get into the bedroom, in which no one but Joseph could have
-concealed anything—you told us in your narrative how you had
-turned Joseph out when you arrived with the doctor—my suspicions
-all changed to certainties, especially as the attempt was made on
-the first night upon which the nurse was absent, showing that the
-intruder was well acquainted with the ways of the house.”</p> <p>“How blind I have been!”</p> <p>“The facts of the case, as far as I have worked them out, are these: this Joseph Harrison entered the office through the
-Charles Street door, and knowing his way he walked straight into
-your room the instant after you left it. Finding no one there he
-promptly rang the bell, and at the instant that he did so his
-eyes caught the paper upon the table. A glance showed him that
-chance had put in his way a State document of immense value, and
-in an instant he had thrust it into his pocket and was gone. A
-few minutes elapsed, as you remember, before the sleepy
-commissionnaire drew your attention to the bell, and those were
-just enough to give the thief time to make his escape.</p> <p>“He made his way to Woking by the first train, and having examined his booty and assured himself that it really was of
-immense value, he had concealed it in what he thought was a very
-safe place, with the intention of taking it out again in a day or
-two, and carrying it to the French embassy, or wherever he
-thought that a long price was to be had. Then came your sudden
-return. He, without a moment’s warning, was bundled out of his
-room, and from that time onward there were always at least two of
-you there to prevent him from regaining his treasure. The
-situation to him must have been a maddening one. But at last he
-thought he saw his chance. He tried to steal in, but was baffled
-by your wakefulness. You remember that you did not take your
-usual draught that night.”</p> <p>“I remember.”</p> <p>“I fancy that he had taken steps to make that draught efficacious, and that he quite relied upon your being
-unconscious. Of course, I understood that he would repeat the
-attempt whenever it could be done with safety. Your leaving the
-room gave him the chance he wanted. I kept Miss Harrison in it
-all day so that he might not anticipate us. Then, having given
-him the idea that the coast was clear, I kept guard as I have
-described. I already knew that the papers were probably in the
-room, but I had no desire to rip up all the planking and skirting
-in search of them. I let him take them, therefore, from the
-hiding-place, and so saved myself an infinity of trouble. Is
-there any other point which I can make clear?”</p> <p>“Why did he try the window on the first occasion,” I asked, “when he might have entered by the door?”</p> <p>“In reaching the door he would have to pass seven bedrooms. On the other hand, he could get out on to the lawn with ease.
-Anything else?”</p> <p>“You do not think,” asked Phelps, “that he had any murderous intention? The knife was only meant as a tool.”</p> <p>“It may be so,” answered Holmes, shrugging his shoulders. “I can only say for certain that Mr. Joseph Harrison is a gentleman to
-whose mercy I should be extremely unwilling to trust.”</p></body></html>
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-<!doctype html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"><title> The Red Headed League</title><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"></head><body><h1>The Red Headed League</h1><p></p> <p>I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the autumn of last year, and found him in deep conversation with a very stout,
-florid-faced, elderly gentleman, with fiery red hair. With an apology
-for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw, when Holmes pulled me
-abruptly into the room and closed the door behind me.</p> <p>“You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson,” he said, cordially.</p> <p>“I was afraid that you were engaged.”</p> <p>“So I am. Very much so.”</p> <p>“Then I can wait in the next room.”</p> <p>“Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no doubt that he will
-be of the utmost use to me in yours also.”</p> <p>The stout gentleman half-rose from his chair and gave a bob of greeting, with a quick, little, questioning glance from his small,
-fat-encircled eyes.</p> <p>“Try the settee,” said Holmes, relapsing into his arm-chair and putting his finger-tips together, as was his custom when in judicial moods. “I
-know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and
-outside the conventions and humdrum routine of every-day life. You have
-shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to
-chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish
-so many of my own little adventures.”</p> <p>“Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me,” I observed.</p> <p>“You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary Sutherland, that
-for strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to
-life itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the
-imagination.”</p> <p>“A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.”</p> <p>“You did, doctor, but none the less you must come round to my view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you, until your
-reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to be right. Now, Mr.
-Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call upon me this morning,
-and to begin a narrative which promises to be one of the most singular
-which I have listened to for some time. You have heard me remark that
-the strangest and most unique things are very often connected not with
-the larger but with the smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where
-there is room for doubt whether any positive crime has been committed.
-As far as I have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the
-present case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events
-is certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to.
-Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to recommence
-your narrative. I ask you, not merely because my friend Dr. Watson has
-not heard the opening part, but also because the peculiar nature of the
-story makes me anxious to have every possible detail from your lips.
-As a rule, when I have heard some slight indication of the course of
-events, I am able to guide myself by the thousands of other similar
-cases which occur to my memory. In the present instance I am forced to
-admit that the facts are, to the best of my belief, unique.”</p> <p>The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some little pride, and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the inside
-pocket of his great-coat. 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 endeavored, after the fashion
-of my companion, to read the indications which might be presented by
-his dress or appearance.</p> <p>I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace British tradesman, obese,
-pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy gray shepherd’s check trousers,
-a not over-clean black frock-coat, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab
-waistcoat with a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of
-metal dangling down as an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown
-overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him.
-Altogether, look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man
-save his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and
-discontent upon his features.</p> <p>Sherlock Holmes’s quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. “Beyond the
-obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labor, that he takes
-snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he
-has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing
-else.”</p> <p>Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion.</p> <p>“How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. Holmes?” he asked. “How did you know, for example, that I did manual labor. It’s
-as true as gospel, for I began as a ship’s carpenter.”</p> <p>“Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more developed.”</p> <p>“Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?”</p> <p>“I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you use
-an arc-and-compass breastpin.”</p> <p>“Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?”</p> <p>“What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the elbow where you
-rest it upon the desk.”</p> <p>“Well, but China?”</p> <p>“The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small study of tattoo
-marks, and have even contributed to the literature of the subject.
-That trick of staining the fishes’ scales of a delicate pink is quite
-peculiar to China. When, in addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from
-your watch-chain, the matter becomes even more simple.”</p> <p>Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. “Well, I never!” said he. “I thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see that there was
-nothing in it, after all.”</p> <p>“I begin to think, Watson,” said Holmes, “that I make a mistake in explaining. ‘Omne ignotum pro magnifico,’ you know, and my poor little
-reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I am so candid. Can
-you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?”</p> <p>“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 just read it for yourself, sir.”</p> <p>I took the paper from him, and read as follows:</p> <p>  “TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the   late Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pa., U.S.A., there is now
-  another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League
-  to a salary of £4 a week for purely nominal services. All
-  red-headed men who are sound in body and mind, and above
-  the age of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on
-  Monday, at eleven o’clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of
-  the League, 7 Pope’s Court, Fleet Street.”</p> <p>“What on earth does this mean?” I ejaculated, after I had twice read over the extraordinary announcement.</p> <p>Holmes chuckled, and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when in high spirits. “It is a little off the beaten track, isn’t it?” said
-he. “And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch, and tell us all about
-yourself, your household, and the effect which this advertisement had
-upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, doctor, of the paper
-and the date.”</p> <p>“It is _The Morning Chronicle_, of April 27, 1890. Just two months ago.”</p> <p>“Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?”</p> <p>“Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; “I have a small pawnbroker’s
-business at Coburg Square, near the city. It’s not a very large affair,
-and of late years it has not done more than just give me a living. I
-used to be able to keep two assistants, but now I only keep one; and I
-would have a job to pay him, but that he is willing to come for half
-wages, so as to learn the business.”</p> <p>“What is the name of this obliging youth?” asked Sherlock Holmes.</p> <p>“His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he’s not such a youth, either. It’s hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter assistant, Mr. Holmes;
-and I know very well that he could better himself, and earn twice what
-I am able to give him. But, after all, if he is satisfied, why should I
-put ideas in his head?”</p> <p>“Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an _employé_ who comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience among
-employers in this age. I don’t know that your assistant is not as
-remarkable as your advertisement.”</p> <p>“Oh, he has his faults, too,” said Mr. Wilson. “Never was such a fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought to be
-improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar like a rabbit
-into its hole to develope his pictures. That is his main fault; but, on
-the whole, he’s a good worker. There’s no vice in him.”</p> <p>“He is still with you, I presume?”</p> <p>“Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple cooking, and keeps the place clean—that’s all I have in the house, for I am a
-widower, and never had any family. We live very quietly, sir, the three
-of us; and we keep a roof over our heads, and pay our debts, if we do
-nothing more.</p> <p>“The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight weeks, with this very
-paper in his hand, and he says:</p> <p>“‘I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.’</p> <p>“‘Why that?’ I asks.</p> <p>“‘Why,’ says he, ‘here’s another vacancy on the League of the Red-headed Men. It’s worth quite a little fortune to any man who gets
-it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than there are men,
-so that the trustees are at their wits’ end what to do with the money.
-If my hair would only change color, here’s a nice little crib all ready
-for me to step into.’</p> <p>“‘Why, what is it, then?’ I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of my having
-to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting my foot over the
-door-mat. In that way I didn’t know much of what was going on outside,
-and I was always glad of a bit of news.</p> <p>“‘Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?’ he asked, with his eyes open.</p> <p>“‘Never.’</p> <p>“‘Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one of the vacancies.’</p> <p>“‘And what are they worth?’ I asked.</p> <p>“‘Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and it need not interfere very much with one’s other occupations.’</p> <p>“Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an extra couple of
-hundred would have been very handy.</p> <p>“‘Tell me all about it,’ said I.</p> <p>“‘Well,’ said he, showing me the advertisement, ‘you can see for yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address
-where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, the
-League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins, who
-was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself red-headed, and he had a
-great sympathy for all red-headed men; so, when he died, it was found
-that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees, with
-instructions to apply the interest to the providing of easy berths to
-men whose hair is of that color. From all I hear it is splendid pay,
-and very little to do.’</p> <p>“‘But,’ said I, ‘there would be millions of red-headed men who would apply.’</p> <p>“‘Not so many as you might think,’ he answered. ‘You see it is really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had started from
-London when he was young, and he wanted to do the old town a good turn.
-Then, again, I have heard it is no use your applying if your hair is
-light red, or dark red, or anything but real bright, blazing, fiery
-red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Wilson, you would just walk in;
-but perhaps it would hardly be worth your while to put yourself out of
-the way for the sake of a few hundred pounds.’</p> <p>“Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed to me that, if
-there was to be any competition in the matter, I stood as good a chance
-as any man that I had ever met. Vincent Spaulding seemed to know so
-much about it that I thought he might prove useful, so I just ordered
-him to put up the shutters for the day, and to come right away with me.
-He was very willing to have a holiday, so we shut the business up, and
-started off for the address that was given us in the advertisement.</p> <p>“I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in his
-hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. Fleet
-Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope’s Court looked
-like a coster’s orange barrow. I should not have thought there were
-so many in the whole country as were brought together by that single
-advertisement. Every shade of color they were—straw, lemon, orange,
-brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; but, as Spaulding said, there were
-not many who had the real vivid flame-colored tint. When I saw how many
-were waiting, I would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would
-not hear of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and
-pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up to
-the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream upon the
-stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back dejected; but we
-wedged in as well as we could, and soon found ourselves in the office.”</p> <p>“Your experience has been a most entertaining one,” remarked Holmes, as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge pinch of snuff.
-“Pray continue your very interesting statement.”</p> <p>“There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs and a deal table, behind which sat a small man, with a head that was even
-redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate as he came
-up, and then he always managed to find some fault in them which would
-disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem to be such a very easy
-matter, after all. However, when our turn came, the little man was much
-more favorable to me than to any of the others, and he closed the door
-as we entered, so that he might have a private word with us.</p> <p>“‘This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,’ said my assistant, ‘and he is willing to fill a vacancy in the League.’</p> <p>“‘And he is admirably suited for it,’ the other answered. ‘He has every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so fine.’ He
-took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and gazed at my hair
-until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he plunged forward, wrung my
-hand, and congratulated me warmly on my success.</p> <p>“‘It would be injustice to hesitate,’ said he. ‘You will, however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.’ With that he seized
-my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I yelled with the pain.
-‘There is water in your eyes,’ said he, as he released me. ‘I perceive
-that all is as it should be. But we have to be careful, for we have
-twice been deceived by wigs and once by paint. I could tell you tales
-of cobbler’s wax which would disgust you with human nature.’ He stepped
-over to the window, and shouted through it at the top of his voice that
-the vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below,
-and the folk all trooped away in different directions, until there was
-not a red head to be seen except my own and that of the manager.</p> <p>“‘My name,’ said he, ‘is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are you a
-married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?’</p> <p>“I answered that I had not.</p> <p>“His face fell immediately.</p> <p>“‘Dear me!’ he said, gravely, ‘that is very serious indeed! I am sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the propagation
-and spread of the red-heads as well as for their maintenance. It is
-exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a bachelor.’</p> <p>“My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was not to have the vacancy after all; but, after thinking it over for a few
-minutes, he said that it would be all right.</p> <p>“‘In the case of another,’ said he, ‘the objection might be fatal, but we must stretch a point in favor of a man with such a head of hair as
-yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your new duties?’</p> <p>“‘Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,’ said I.</p> <p>“‘Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!’ said Vincent Spaulding. ‘I shall be able to look after that for you.’</p> <p>“‘What would be the hours?’ I asked.</p> <p>“‘Ten to two.’</p> <p>“Now a pawnbroker’s business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just before pay-day;
-so it would suit me very well to earn a little in the mornings.
-Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, and that he would see
-to anything that turned up.</p> <p>“‘That would suit me very well,’ said I. ‘And the pay?’</p> <p>“‘Is £4 a week.’</p> <p>“‘And the work?’</p> <p>“‘Is purely nominal.’</p> <p>“‘What do you call purely nominal?’</p> <p>“‘Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole position forever.
-The will is very clear upon that point. You don’t comply with the
-conditions if you budge from the office during that time.’</p> <p>“‘It’s only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,’ said I.</p> <p>“‘No excuse will avail,’ said Mr. Duncan Ross, ‘neither sickness nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose your
-billet.’</p> <p>“‘And the work?’</p> <p>“‘Is to copy out the “Encyclopædia Britannica.” There is the first volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and
-blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be ready
-to-morrow?’</p> <p>“‘Certainly,’ I answered.</p> <p>“‘Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you once more on the important position which you have been fortunate enough to
-gain.’ He bowed me out of the room, and I went home with my assistant,
-hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased at my own good
-fortune.</p> <p>“Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the whole
-affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its object might
-be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past belief that any one
-could make such a will, or that they would pay such a sum for doing
-anything so simple as copying out the ‘Encyclopædia 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.</p> <p>“Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross was there to
-see that I got fairly to work. He started me off upon the letter A, and
-then he left me; but he would drop in from time to time to see that all
-was right with me. At two o’clock he bade me good-day, complimented me
-upon the amount that I had written, and locked the door of the office
-after me.</p> <p>“This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my week’s work.
-It was the same next week, and the same the week after. Every morning
-I was there at ten, and every afternoon I left at two. By degrees Mr.
-Duncan Ross took to coming in only once of a morning, and then, after
-a time, he did not come in at all. Still, of course, I never dared to
-leave the room for an instant, for I was not sure when he might come,
-and the billet was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would
-not risk the loss of it.</p> <p>“Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about Abbots and Archery and Armor and Architecture and Attica, and hoped with diligence
-that I might get on to the B’s before very long. It cost me something
-in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly filled a shelf with my writings.
-And then suddenly the whole business came to an end.”</p> <p>“To an end?”</p> <p>“Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as usual at ten o’clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a little square
-of card-board hammered on to the middle of the panel with a tack. Here
-it is, and you can read for yourself.”</p> <p>He held up a piece of white card-board about the size of a sheet of note-paper. It read in this fashion:</p> <p>  “THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE    IS
-   DISSOLVED.
-   _October 9, 1890._”</p> <p>Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so completely
-overtopped every other consideration that we both burst out into a roar
-of laughter.</p> <p>“I cannot see that there is anything very funny,” cried our client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. “If you can do nothing
-better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere.”</p> <p>“No, no,” cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from which he had half risen. “I really wouldn’t miss your case for the world. It is
-most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you will excuse my saying
-so, something just a little funny about it. Pray what steps did you
-take when you found the card upon the door?”</p> <p>“I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything about it.
-Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant living on the
-ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me what had become of
-the Red-headed League. He said that he had never heard of any such
-body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan Ross was. He answered that the
-name was new to him.</p> <p>[Illustration: “THE DOOR WAS SHUT AND LOCKED”]</p> <p>“‘Well,’ said I, ‘the gentleman at No. 4.’</p> <p>“‘What, the red-headed man?’</p> <p>“‘Yes.’</p> <p>“‘Oh,’ said he, ‘his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor, and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new premises
-were ready. He moved out yesterday.’</p> <p>“‘Where could I find him?’</p> <p>“‘Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 King Edward Street, near St. Paul’s.’</p> <p>“I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever heard of
-either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross.”</p> <p>“And what did you do then?” asked Holmes.</p> <p>“I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say that
-if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite good enough,
-Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place without a struggle, so,
-as I had heard that you were good enough to give advice to poor folk
-who were in need of it, I came right away to you.”</p> <p>“And you did very wisely,” said Holmes. “Your case is an exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. From what you
-have told me I think that it is possible that graver issues hang from
-it than might at first sight appear.”</p> <p>“Grave enough!” said Mr. Jabez Wilson. “Why, I have lost four pound a week.”</p> <p>“As far as you are personally concerned,” remarked Holmes, “I do not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary league. On
-the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some £30, to say
-nothing of the minute knowledge which you have gained on every subject
-which comes under the letter A. You have lost nothing by them.”</p> <p>“No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, and what their object was in playing this prank—if it was a prank—upon me. It
-was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it cost them two and thirty
-pounds.”</p> <p>“We shall endeavor to clear up these points for you. And, first, one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who first called
-your attention to the advertisement—how long had he been with you?”</p> <p>“About a month then.”</p> <p>“How did he come?”</p> <p>“In answer to an advertisement.”</p> <p>“Was he the only applicant?”</p> <p>“No, I had a dozen.”</p> <p>“Why did you pick him?”</p> <p>“Because he was handy, and would come cheap.”</p> <p>“At half-wages, in fact.”</p> <p>“Yes.”</p> <p>“What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?”</p> <p>“Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, though he’s not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon his
-forehead.”</p> <p>Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. “I thought as much,” said he. “Have you ever observed that his ears are pierced for
-earrings?”</p> <p>“Yes, sir. He told me that a gypsy had done it for him when he was a lad.”</p> <p>“Hum!” said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. “He is still with you?”</p> <p>“Oh yes, sir; I have only just left him.”</p> <p>“And has your business been attended to in your absence?”</p> <p>“Nothing to complain of, sir. There’s never very much to do of a morning.”</p> <p>“That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is Saturday, and I
-hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion.”</p> <p>“Well, Watson,” said Holmes, when our visitor had left us, “what do you make of it all?”</p> <p>“I make nothing of it,” I answered, frankly. “It is a most mysterious business.”</p> <p>“As a rule,” said Holmes, “the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes
-which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most
-difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this matter.”</p> <p>“What are you going to do, then?” I asked.</p> <p>“To smoke,” he answered. “It is quite a three-pipe problem, and I beg that you won’t speak to me for fifty minutes.” He curled himself up
-in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his hawk-like nose, and
-there he sat with his eyes closed and his black clay pipe thrusting out
-like the bill of some strange bird. I had come to the conclusion that
-he had dropped asleep, and indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly
-sprang out of his chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his
-mind, and put his pipe down upon the mantel-piece.</p> <p>“Sarasate plays at the St. James’s Hall this afternoon,” he remarked. “What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare you for a few
-hours?”</p> <p>“I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very absorbing.”</p> <p>“Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the city first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that there is a good deal
-of German music on the programme, which is rather more to my taste than
-Italian or French. It is introspective, and I want to introspect. Come
-along!”</p> <p>We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular story which we
-had listened to in the morning. It was a pokey, little, shabby-genteel
-place, where four lines of dingy two-storied brick houses looked out
-into a small railed-in enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and
-a few clumps of faded laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a
-smoke-laden and uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown
-board with “JABEZ WILSON” in white letters, upon a corner
-house, announced the place where our red-headed client carried on his
-business. Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one
-side, and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between
-puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down again
-to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally he returned
-to the pawnbroker’s, and, having thumped vigorously upon the pavement
-with his stick two or three times, he went up to the door and knocked.
-It was instantly opened by a bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow,
-who asked him to step in.</p> <p>“Thank you,” said Holmes, “I only wished to ask you how you would go from here to the Strand.”</p> <p>“Third right, fourth left,” answered the assistant, promptly, closing the door.</p> <p>“Smart fellow, that,” observed Holmes, as we walked away. “He is, in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring I am not
-sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known something of him
-before.”</p> <p>“Evidently,” said I, “Mr. Wilson’s assistant counts for a good deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you inquired your
-way merely in order that you might see him.”</p> <p>“Not him.”</p> <p>“What then?”</p> <p>“The knees of his trousers.”</p> <p>“And what did you see?”</p> <p>“What I expected to see.”</p> <p>“Why did you beat the pavement?”</p> <p>“My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We are spies in an enemy’s country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg Square.
-Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it.”</p> <p>The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a contrast to
-it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was one of the main
-arteries which convey the traffic of the city to the north and west.
-The roadway was blocked with the immense stream of commerce flowing
-in a double tide inward and outward, while the foot-paths were black
-with the hurrying swarm of pedestrians. It was difficult to realize
-as we looked at the line of fine shops and stately business premises
-that they really abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant
-square which we had just quitted.</p> <p>“Let me see,” said Holmes, standing at the corner, and glancing along the line, “I should like just to remember the order of the houses here.
-It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of London. There is
-Mortimer’s, the tobacconist, the little newspaper shop, the Coburg
-branch of the City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restaurant, and
-McFarlane’s carriage-building depot. That carries us right on to the
-other block. And now, doctor, we’ve done our work, so it’s time we had
-some play. A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land,
-where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no
-red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums.”</p> <p>My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a very capable performer, but a composer of no ordinary merit. All the
-afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness,
-gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the music, while his
-gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those
-of Holmes, the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted,
-ready-handed criminal agent, as it was possible to conceive. In his
-singular character the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and
-his extreme exactness and astuteness represented, as I have often
-thought, the reaction against the poetic and contemplative mood which
-occasionally predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from
-extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was never
-so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been lounging in
-his arm-chair amid his improvisations and his black-letter editions.
-Then it was that the lust of the chase would suddenly come upon him,
-and that his brilliant reasoning power would rise to the level of
-intuition, until those who were unacquainted with his methods would
-look askance at him as on a man whose knowledge was not that of other
-mortals. When I saw him that afternoon so enrapt in the music at St.
-James’s Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom
-he had set himself to hunt down.</p> <p>“You want to go home, no doubt, doctor,” he remarked, as we emerged.</p> <p>“Yes, it would be as well.”</p> <p>“And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This business at Coburg Square is serious.”</p> <p>“Why serious?”</p> <p>“A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being Saturday
-rather complicates matters. I shall want your help to-night.”</p> <p>“At what time?”</p> <p>“Ten will be early enough.”</p> <p>“I shall be at Baker Street at ten.”</p> <p>“Very well. And, I say, doctor, there may be some little danger, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket.” He waved his hand,
-turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the crowd.</p> <p>[Illustration: “ALL AFTERNOON HE SAT IN THE STALLS”]</p> <p>I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbors, but I was always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings with Sherlock
-Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had seen what he had
-seen, and yet from his words it was evident that he saw clearly not
-only what had happened, but what was about to happen, while to me the
-whole business was still confused and grotesque. As I drove home to
-my house in Kensington I thought over it all, from the extraordinary
-story of the red-headed copier of the “Encyclopædia” down to the visit
-to Saxe-Coburg Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted
-from me. What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed?
-Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from Holmes
-that this smooth-faced pawnbroker’s assistant was a formidable man—a
-man who might play a deep game. I tried to puzzle it out, but gave it
-up in despair, and set the matter aside until night should bring an
-explanation.</p> <p>It was a quarter past nine when I started from home and made my way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker Street. Two
-hansoms were standing at the door, and, as I entered the passage, I
-heard the sound of voices from above. On entering his room I found
-Holmes in animated conversation with two men, one of whom I recognized
-as Peter Jones, the official police agent, while the other was a long,
-thin, sad-faced man, with a very shiny hat and oppressively respectable
-frock-coat.</p> <p>“Ha! our party is complete,” said Holmes, buttoning up his pea-jacket, and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. “Watson, I think
-you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me introduce you to Mr.
-Merryweather, who is to be our companion in to-night’s adventure.”</p> <p>“We’re hunting in couples again, doctor, you see,” said Jones, in his consequential way. “Our friend here is a wonderful man for starting a
-chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do the running down.”</p> <p>“I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase,” observed Mr. Merryweather, gloomily.</p> <p>“You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir,” said the police agent, loftily. “He has his own little methods, which are, if he
-won’t mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical and fantastic,
-but he has the makings of a detective in him. It is not too much to
-say that once or twice, as in that business of the Sholto murder and
-the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly correct than the official
-force.”</p> <p>“Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right,” said the stranger, with deference. “Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. It is the
-first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I have not had my
-rubber.”</p> <p>“I think you will find,” said Sherlock Holmes, “that you will play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and that the play
-will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, the stake will be
-some £30,000; and for you, Jones, it will be the man upon whom you wish
-to lay your hands.”</p> <p>“John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He’s a young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his profession, and I would
-rather have my bracelets on him than on any criminal in London. He’s a
-remarkable man, is young John Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke,
-and he himself has been to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as
-his fingers, and though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never
-know where to find the man himself. He’ll crack a crib in Scotland one
-week, and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next.
-I’ve been on his track for years, and have never set eyes on him yet.”</p> <p>“I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. I’ve had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I agree with
-you that he is at the head of his profession. It is past ten, however,
-and quite time that we started. If you two will take the first hansom,
-Watson and I will follow in the second.”</p> <p>Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive, and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in the
-afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit streets
-until we emerged into Farringdon Street.</p> <p>“We are close there now,” my friend remarked. “This fellow Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the matter. I thought
-it as well to have Jones with us also. He is not a bad fellow, though
-an absolute imbecile in his profession. He has one positive virtue. He
-is as brave as a bull-dog, and as tenacious as a lobster if he gets his
-claws upon any one. Here we are, and they are waiting for us.”</p> <p>We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, following
-the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a narrow passage
-and through a side door, which he opened for us. Within there was a
-small corridor, which ended in a very massive iron gate. This also was
-opened, and led down a flight of winding stone steps, which terminated
-at another formidable gate. Mr. Merryweather stopped to light a
-lantern, and then conducted us down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and
-so, after opening a third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was
-piled all round with crates and massive boxes.</p> <p>“You are not very vulnerable from above,” Holmes remarked, as he held up the lantern and gazed about him.</p> <p>“Nor from below,” said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon the flags which lined the floor. “Why, dear me, it sounds quite hollow!” he
-remarked, looking up in surprise.</p> <p>“I must really ask you to be a little more quiet,” said Holmes, severely. “You have already imperilled the whole success of our
-expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit down
-upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?”</p> <p>The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his knees
-upon the floor, and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, began to
-examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few seconds sufficed
-to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again, and put his glass in
-his pocket.</p> <p>“We have at least an hour before us,” he remarked; “for they can hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed.
-Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their work
-the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at present,
-doctor—as no doubt you have divined—in the cellar of the city branch
-of one of the principal London banks. Mr. Merryweather is the chairman
-of directors, and he will explain to you that there are reasons why the
-more daring criminals of London should take a considerable interest in
-this cellar at present.”</p> <p>“It is our French gold,” whispered the director. “We have had several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it.”</p> <p>“Your French gold?”</p> <p>“Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources, and borrowed, for that purpose, 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of France.
-It has become known that we have never had occasion to unpack the
-money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The crate upon which
-I sit contains 2000 napoleons packed between layers of lead foil. Our
-reserve of bullion is much larger at present than is usually kept in a
-single branch office, and the directors have had misgivings upon the
-subject.”</p> <p>“Which were very well justified,” observed Holmes. “And now it is time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an hour matters
-will come to a head. In the mean time, Mr. Merryweather, we must put
-the screen over that dark lantern.”</p> <p>“And sit in the dark?”</p> <p>“I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and I thought that, as we were a _partie carrée_, you might have your rubber
-after all. But I see that the enemy’s preparations have gone so far
-that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, first of all, we must
-choose our positions. These are daring men, and though we shall take
-them at a disadvantage, they may do us some harm unless we are careful.
-I shall stand behind this crate, and do you conceal yourselves behind
-those. Then, when I flash a light upon them, close in swiftly. If they
-fire, Watson, have no compunction about shooting them down.”</p> <p>I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front of his
-lantern, and left us in pitch darkness—such an absolute darkness
-as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot metal remained
-to assure us that the light was still there, ready to flash out at
-a moment’s notice. To me, with my nerves worked up to a pitch of
-expectancy, there was something depressing and subduing in the sudden
-gloom, and in the cold, dank air of the vault.</p> <p>“They have but one retreat,” whispered Holmes. “That is back through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have done what I
-asked you, Jones?”</p> <p>“I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door.”</p> <p>“Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent and wait.”</p> <p>What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must have
-almost gone, and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs were weary and
-stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my nerves were worked
-up to the highest pitch of tension, and my hearing was so acute that I
-could not only hear the gentle breathing of my companions, but I could
-distinguish the deeper, heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the
-thin, sighing note of the bank director. From my position I could look
-over the case in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught
-the glint of a light.</p> <p>At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, without any
-warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand appeared; a white,
-almost womanly hand, which felt about in the centre of the little area
-of light. For a minute or more the hand, with its writhing fingers,
-protruded out of the floor. Then it was withdrawn as suddenly as it
-appeared, and all was dark again save the single lurid spark which
-marked a chink between the stones.</p> <p>Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon its side, and
-left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed the light of a
-lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, boyish face, which
-looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand on either side of the
-aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and waist-high, until one knee
-rested upon the edge. In another instant he stood at the side of the
-hole, and was hauling after him a companion, lithe and small like
-himself, with a pale face and a shock of very red hair.</p> <p>“It’s all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags. Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I’ll swing for it!”</p> <p>Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth
-as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed upon the barrel of a
-revolver, but Holmes’s hunting crop came down on the man’s wrist, and
-the pistol clinked upon the stone floor.</p> <p>“It’s no use, John Clay,” said Holmes, blandly. “You have no chance at all.”</p> <p>“So I see,” the other answered, with the utmost coolness. “I fancy that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his coat-tails.”</p> <p>“There are three men waiting for him at the door,” said Holmes.</p> <p>“Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I must compliment you.”</p> <p>“And I you,” Holmes answered. “Your red-headed idea was very new and effective.”</p> <p>“You’ll see your pal again presently,” said Jones. “He’s quicker at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the derbies.”</p> <p>“I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands,” remarked our prisoner, as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. “You may not
-be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have the goodness, also,
-when you address me always to say ‘sir’ and ‘please.’”</p> <p>“All right,” said Jones, with a stare and a snigger. “Well, would you please, sir, march up-stairs, where we can get a cab to carry your
-highness to the police-station?”</p> <p>“That is better,” said John Clay, serenely. He made a sweeping bow to the three of us, and walked quietly off in the custody of the detective.</p> <p>“Really Mr. Holmes,” said Mr. Merryweather, as we followed them from the cellar, “I do not know how the bank can thank you or repay you.
-There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated in the most
-complete manner one of the most determined attempts at bank robbery
-that have ever come within my experience.”</p> <p>“I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. John Clay,” said Holmes. “I have been at some small expense over this
-matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond that I am
-amply repaid by having had an experience which is in many ways unique,
-and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of the Red-headed League.”</p> <p>       *       *       *       *       *</p> <p>“You see, Watson,” he explained, in the early hours of the morning, as we sat over a glass of whiskey-and-soda in Baker Street, “it was
-perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible object of this
-rather fantastic business of the advertisement of the League, and the
-copying of the ‘Encyclopædia,’ must be to get this not over-bright
-pawnbroker out of the way for a number of hours every day. It was a
-curious way of managing it, but, really, it would be difficult to
-suggest a better. The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious
-mind by the color of his accomplice’s hair. The £4 a week was a lure
-which must draw him, and what was it to them, who were playing for
-thousands? They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary
-office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and together
-they manage to secure his absence every morning in the week. From
-the time that I heard of the assistant having come for half wages,
-it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive for securing the
-situation.”</p> <p>“But how could you guess what the motive was?”</p> <p>“Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The man’s
-business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which
-could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure
-as they were at. It must, then, be something out of the house. What
-could it be? I thought of the assistant’s fondness for photography,
-and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar! There was the
-end of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious
-assistant, and found that I had to deal with one of the coolest
-and most daring criminals in London. He was doing something in the
-cellar—something which took many hours a day for months on end. What
-could it be, once more? I could think of nothing save that he was
-running a tunnel to some other building.</p> <p>“So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was
-ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind.
-It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the
-assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had never
-set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his face. His
-knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have remarked how
-worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of those hours of
-burrowing. The only remaining point was what they were burrowing for. I
-walked round the corner, saw that the City and Suburban Bank abutted on
-our friend’s premises, and felt that I had solved my problem. When you
-drove home after the concert I called upon Scotland Yard, and upon the
-chairman of the bank directors, with the result that you have seen.”</p> <p>“And how could you tell that they would make their attempt to-night?” I asked.</p> <p>“Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson’s presence—in other words,
-that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential that they
-should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the bullion might
-be removed. Saturday would suit them better than any other day, as it
-would give them two days for their escape. For all these reasons I
-expected them to come to-night.”</p> <p>“You reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed, in unfeigned admiration. “It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings true.”</p> <p>“It saved me from ennui,” he answered, yawning. “Alas! I already feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort to escape
-from the commonplaces of existence. These little problems help me to do
-so.”</p> <p>“And you are a benefactor of the race,” said I.</p> <p>He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, perhaps, after all, it is of some little use,” he remarked. “‘L’homme c’est rien—l’oeuvre c’est
-tout,’ as Gustave Flaubert wrote to Georges Sand.”
-</p></body></html>
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index 928d752..0000000
--- a/dist/index.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-<!doctype html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"><title>Generated Site</title><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"></head><body><h1>Generated Site</h1><div><h3><a href="Silver Blaze.html">Silver Blaze</a></h3><h3><a href="The Adventure of the Six Napoleans.html">The Adventure of the Six Napoleans</a></h3><h3><a href="The Adventure of the Speckled Band.html">The Adventure of the Speckled Band</a></h3><h3><a href="The Naval Treaty.html">The Naval Treaty</a></h3><h3><a href="The Red Headed League.html">The Red Headed League</a></h3></div></body></html>
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diff --git a/fs-Handler.js b/fs-Handler.js
index e27acf7..7ca5759 100644
--- a/fs-Handler.js
+++ b/fs-Handler.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ var fse = require("fs-extra");
 const path = require("path");
 
 function isMarkDown(filename) {
-  return filename.split('.')[1] === 'md';
+  return filename.substr(filename.length - 3) === ".md";
 }
 
 function readFile(fileSrc) {
@@ -17,13 +17,13 @@ function readFile(fileSrc) {
     .catch((err) => {
       console.log(err);
     });
+
   if (fs.lstatSync(fileSrc).isDirectory()) {
     fs.readdir(fileSrc, (err, files) => {
       if (err) {
         console.log(err);
         process.exit(1);
       }
-      
       fs.mkdir(process.cwd() + "/dist", { recursive: true }, (error) => {
         if (error) {
           console.log(`An error occurred: ${error}`);
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ function readFile(fileSrc) {
                       process.exit(1);
                     }
                     fileDir = path.basename(file, ".txt") + ".html";
-                    htmlConverter(data, fileDir);
+                    console.log("direct files");
+                    htmlConverter(data, fileDir, isMarkDown(file));
                   }
                 );
               }
@@ -65,7 +66,10 @@ function readFile(fileSrc) {
         if (error) {
           console.log(`An error occurred: ${error}`);
         } else {
-          fileDir = isMarkDown(filename) ? path.basename(filename, ".md") + ".html" : path.basename(filename, ".txt") + ".html";
+          fileDir = isMarkDown(filename)
+            ? path.basename(filename, ".md") + ".html"
+            : path.basename(filename, ".txt") + ".html";
+          console.log("single file");
           htmlConverter(data, fileDir, isMarkDown(filename));
         }
       });
@@ -76,7 +80,7 @@ function readFile(fileSrc) {
 function htmlConverter(src, fileDirName, isMarkDown = false) {
   var fileName = "";
   var text = "";
- 
+
   var title = src.match(/^.+(\r?\n\r?\n\r?\n)/) || "";
 
   if (!title) {
@@ -87,55 +91,64 @@ function htmlConverter(src, fileDirName, isMarkDown = false) {
     title = title[0].trim();
     text = src.substring(fileName.length + 3);
   }
-
-  let htmlElement = '';
-  if(!isMarkDown){
+//aa
+  let htmlElement = "";
+  if (!isMarkDown) {
     htmlElement = text
-    .split(/\r?\n\r?\n/)
-    .map((para) => `<p>${para.replace(/\r?\n/, " ")}</p>`)
-    .join(" ");
-  }else {
+      .split(/\r?\n\r?\n/)
+      .map((para) => `<p>${para.replace(/\r?\n/, " ")}</p>`)
+      .join(" ");
+  } else {
     const htmlArr = [];
-    console.log(text.split(/\r?\n/));
+    //console.log(text.split(/\r?\n/));
     let isOpen = false;
-    text
-    .split(/\r?\n/)
-    .forEach(e => {
-      const arrData = e.split(' ');
-      arrData[0] = arrData[0].startsWith('```') && arrData[0].length > 3 ? '````' : arrData[0];
-      if(arrData[0] !== '```' && isOpen) {
-        arrData[0] = 'e';
+    text.split(/\r?\n/).forEach((e) => {
+      const arrData = e.split(" ");
+      arrData[0] =
+        arrData[0].startsWith("```") && arrData[0].length > 3
+          ? "````"
+          : arrData[0];
+      if (arrData[0] !== "```" && isOpen) {
+        arrData[0] = "e";
       }
-      switch(arrData[0]) {
-        case '#':
+      switch (arrData[0]) {
+        case "#":
           htmlArr.push(`<h1>${arrData.slice(1).join(" ")}</h1><hr />\n`);
           break;
-        case '##':
+        case "##":
           htmlArr.push(`<h2>${arrData.slice(1).join(" ")}</h2>\n`);
           break;
-        case '###':
+        case "###":
           htmlArr.push(`<h3>${arrData.slice(1).join(" ")}</h3>\n`);
           break;
-        case '```':
+        case "`":
+          htmlArr.push(`<code>${e.substr(1)}\n`);
+          isOpen = false;
+          break;
+        case "`":
+          htmlArr.push(`${e.substr(e.length)}</code>\n`);
+          isOpen = true;
+          break;
+        case "```":
           htmlArr.push(`${e}</xmp>\n`);
           isOpen = false;
           break;
-        case '````':
+        case "````":
           htmlArr.push(`<xmp>${e}\n`);
           isOpen = true;
           break;
-        case '':
+        case "":
           htmlArr.push(`<br />\n`);
           break;
-        case 'e':
+
+        case "e":
           htmlArr.push(`${e}\n`);
           break;
         default:
           htmlArr.push(`<p>${e}</p>\n`);
       }
-      htmlElement = htmlArr.join("")
+      htmlElement = htmlArr.join("");
     });
-
   }
 
   var htmlBase =