sherlock.yaml

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ADVENTURE I. A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA:
- ''
- I.
- ''
- To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard
- him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses
- and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt
- any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that
- one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but
- admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect
- reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a
- lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never
- spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They
- were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the
- veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner
- to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely
- adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which
- might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a
- sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power
- lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a
- nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and
- that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable
- memory.
- ''
- I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us
- away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the
- home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first
- finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to
- absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of
- society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in
- Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from
- week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the
- drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still,
- as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his
- immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in
- following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which
- had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time
- 'to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons'
- to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up
- of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee,
- and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so
- delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland.
- Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely
- shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of
- my former friend and companion.
- ''
- One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was
- returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to
- civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I
- passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated
- in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the
- Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes
- again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers.
- His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw
- his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against
- the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head
- sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who
- knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their
- own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his
- drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new
- problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which
- had formerly been in part my own.
- ''
- His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I
- think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly
- eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars,
- and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he
- stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular
- introspective fashion.
- ''
- '"Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have'
- put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you."
- ''
- '"Seven!" I answered.'
- ''
- '"Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more,'
- I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not
- tell me that you intended to go into harness."
- ''
- '"Then, how do you know?"'
- ''
- '"I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting'
- yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and
- careless servant girl?"
- ''
- '"My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly'
- have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true
- that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful
- mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you
- deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has
- given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it
- out."
- ''
- He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands
- together.
- ''
- '"It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the'
- inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it,
- the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they
- have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round
- the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it.
- Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile
- weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting
- specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a
- gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black
- mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge
- on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted
- his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce
- him to be an active member of the medical profession."
- ''
- I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his
- process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I
- remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously
- simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each
- successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you
- explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good
- as yours."
- ''
- '"Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing'
- himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe.
- The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen
- the steps which lead up from the hall to this room."
- ''
- '"Frequently."'
- ''
- '"How often?"'
- ''
- '"Well, some hundreds of times."'
- ''
- '"Then how many are there?"'
- ''
- '"How many? I don''t know."'
- ''
- '"Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is'
- just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps,
- because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are
- interested in these little problems, and since you are good
- enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you
- may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick,
- pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table.
- '"It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud."'
- ''
- The note was undated, and without either signature or address.
- ''
- '"There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight'
- o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a
- matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of
- the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may
- safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which
- can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all
- quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do
- not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask."
- ''
- '"This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that'
- it means?"
- ''
- '"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before'
- one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit
- theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself.
- What do you deduce from it?"
- ''
- I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was
- written.
- ''
- '"The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked,'
- endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper
- could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly
- strong and stiff."
- ''
- '"Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an'
- English paper at all. Hold it up to the light."
- ''
- I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a
- large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper.
- ''
- '"What do you make of that?" asked Holmes.'
- ''
- '"The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather."'
- ''
- '"Not at all. The ''G'' with the small ''t'' stands for'
- '''Gesellschaft,'' which is the German for ''Company.'' It is a'
- customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for
- '''Papier.'' Now for the ''Eg.'' Let us glance at our Continental'
- Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves.
- '"Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking'
- country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being
- the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous
- glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you
- make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue
- triumphant cloud from his cigarette.
- ''
- '"The paper was made in Bohemia," I said.'
- ''
- '"Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you'
- note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of
- you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian
- could not have written that. It is the German who is so
- uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover
- what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and
- prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if
- I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts."
- ''
- As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and
- grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the
- bell. Holmes whistled.
- ''
- '"A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing'
- out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of
- beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in
- this case, Watson, if there is nothing else."
- ''
- '"I think that I had better go, Holmes."'
- ''
- '"Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my'
- Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity
- to miss it."
- ''
- '"But your client--"'
- ''
- '"Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he'
- comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best
- attention."
- ''
- A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and
- in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there
- was a loud and authoritative tap.
- ''
- '"Come in!" said Holmes.'
- ''
- A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six
- inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His
- dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked
- upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed
- across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while
- the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined
- with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch
- which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended
- halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with
- rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence
- which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a
- broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper
- part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black
- vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment,
- for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower
- part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character,
- with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive
- of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy.
- ''
- '"You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a'
- strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He
- looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to
- address.
- ''
- '"Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and'
- colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me
- in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?"
- ''
- '"You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman.'
- I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour
- and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most
- extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate
- with you alone."
- ''
- I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me
- back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say
- before this gentleman anything which you may say to me."
- ''
- The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said
- he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at
- the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At
- present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it
- may have an influence upon European history."
- ''
- '"I promise," said Holmes.'
- ''
- '"And I."'
- ''
- '"You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The'
- august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to
- you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have
- just called myself is not exactly my own."
- ''
- '"I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly.'
- ''
- '"The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution'
- has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense
- scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of
- Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House
- of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia."
- ''
- '"I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself'
- down in his armchair and closing his eyes.
- ''
- Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid,
- lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him
- as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe.
- Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his
- gigantic client.
- ''
- '"If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he'
- remarked, "I should be better able to advise you."
- ''
- The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in
- uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he
- tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You
- are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to
- conceal it?"
- ''
- '"Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken'
- before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich
- Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and
- hereditary King of Bohemia."
- ''
- '"But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down'
- once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you
- can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in
- my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not
- confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I
- have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting
- you."
- ''
- '"Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more.'
- ''
- '"The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a'
- lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known
- adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you."
- ''
- '"Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without'
- opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of
- docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it
- was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not
- at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography
- sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a
- staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea
- fishes.
- ''
- '"Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year'
- 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera
- of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in
- London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled
- with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and
- is now desirous of getting those letters back."
- ''
- '"Precisely so. But how--"'
- ''
- '"Was there a secret marriage?"'
- ''
- '"None."'
- ''
- '"No legal papers or certificates?"'
- ''
- '"None."'
- ''
- '"Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should'
- produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is
- she to prove their authenticity?"
- ''
- '"There is the writing."'
- ''
- '"Pooh, pooh! Forgery."'
- ''
- '"My private note-paper."'
- ''
- '"Stolen."'
- ''
- '"My own seal."'
- ''
- '"Imitated."'
- ''
- '"My photograph."'
- ''
- '"Bought."'
- ''
- '"We were both in the photograph."'
- ''
- '"Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an'
- indiscretion."
- ''
- '"I was mad--insane."'
- ''
- '"You have compromised yourself seriously."'
- ''
- '"I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now."'
- ''
- '"It must be recovered."'
- ''
- '"We have tried and failed."'
- ''
- '"Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought."'
- ''
- '"She will not sell."'
- ''
- '"Stolen, then."'
- ''
- '"Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked'
- her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice
- she has been waylaid. There has been no result."
- ''
- '"No sign of it?"'
- ''
- '"Absolutely none."'
- ''
- Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he.
- ''
- '"But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully.'
- ''
- '"Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the'
- photograph?"
- ''
- '"To ruin me."'
- ''
- '"But how?"'
- ''
- '"I am about to be married."'
- ''
- '"So I have heard."'
- ''
- '"To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the'
- King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her
- family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a
- doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end."
- ''
- '"And Irene Adler?"'
- ''
- '"Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I'
- know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul
- of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and
- the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry
- another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not
- go--none."
- ''
- '"You are sure that she has not sent it yet?"'
- ''
- '"I am sure."'
- ''
- '"And why?"'
- ''
- '"Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the'
- betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday."
- ''
- '"Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That'
- is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to
- look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in
- London for the present?"
- ''
- '"Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the'
- Count Von Kramm."
- ''
- '"Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress."'
- ''
- '"Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety."'
- ''
- '"Then, as to money?"'
- ''
- '"You have carte blanche."'
- ''
- '"Absolutely?"'
- ''
- '"I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom'
- to have that photograph."
- ''
- '"And for present expenses?"'
- ''
- The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak
- and laid it on the table.
- ''
- '"There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in'
- notes," he said.
- ''
- Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and
- handed it to him.
- ''
- '"And Mademoiselle''s address?" he asked.'
- ''
- '"Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John''s Wood."'
- ''
- Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the
- photograph a cabinet?"
- ''
- '"It was."'
- ''
- '"Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon'
- have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added,
- as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If
- you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three
- o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you."
- ''
- ''
- II.
- ''
- At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had
- not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the
- house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down
- beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him,
- however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his
- inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and
- strange features which were associated with the two crimes which
- I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the
- exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own.
- Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my
- friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of
- a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a
- pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the
- quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most
- inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable
- success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to
- enter into my head.
- ''
- It was close upon four before the door opened, and a
- drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an
- inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room.
- Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of
- disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it
- was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he
- emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old.
- Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in
- front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes.
- ''
- '"Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again'
- until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the
- chair.
- ''
- '"What is it?"'
- ''
- '"It''s quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I'
- employed my morning, or what I ended by doing."
- ''
- '"I can''t imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the'
- habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler."
- ''
- '"Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you,'
- however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this
- morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a
- wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of
- them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found
- Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but
- built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock
- to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well
- furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those
- preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open.
- Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window
- could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round
- it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without
- noting anything else of interest.
- ''
- '"I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that'
- there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the
- garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses,
- and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two
- fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire
- about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in
- the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but
- whose biographies I was compelled to listen to."
- ''
- '"And what of Irene Adler?" I asked.'
- ''
- '"Oh, she has turned all the men''s heads down in that part. She is'
- the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the
- Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts,
- drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for
- dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings.
- Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark,
- handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and
- often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See
- the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him
- home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him.
- When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up
- and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan
- of campaign.
- ''
- '"This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the'
- matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the
- relation between them, and what the object of his repeated
- visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the
- former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his
- keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this
- question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony
- Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the
- Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my
- inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to
- let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the
- situation."
- ''
- '"I am following you closely," I answered.'
- ''
- '"I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab'
- drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a
- remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently
- the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a
- great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the
- maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly
- at home.
- ''
- '"He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch'
- glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and
- down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see
- nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than
- before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from
- his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he
- shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to
- the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if
- you do it in twenty minutes!'
- ''
- '"Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do'
- well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau,
- the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under
- his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of
- the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall
- door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment,
- but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for.
- ''
- '"''The Church of St. Monica, John,'' she cried, ''and half a'
- sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.'
- ''
- '"This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing'
- whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her
- landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked
- twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could
- object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign
- if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to
- twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind.
- ''
- '"My cabby drove fast. I don''t think I ever drove faster, but the'
- others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their
- steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid
- the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there
- save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who
- seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three
- standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side
- aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church.
- Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to
- me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards
- me.
- ''
- '"''Thank God,'' he cried. ''You''ll do. Come! Come!'''
- ''
- '"''What then?'' I asked.'
- ''
- '"''Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won''t be legal.'''
- ''
- '"I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was'
- I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear,
- and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally
- assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to
- Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and
- there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady
- on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was
- the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my
- life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just
- now. It seems that there had been some informality about their
- license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them
- without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance
- saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in
- search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean
- to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion."
- ''
- '"This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what'
- then?"
- ''
- '"Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if'
- the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate
- very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church
- door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and
- she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as
- usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove
- away in different directions, and I went off to make my own
- arrangements."
- ''
- '"Which are?"'
- ''
- '"Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the'
- bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to
- be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want
- your co-operation."
- ''
- '"I shall be delighted."'
- ''
- '"You don''t mind breaking the law?"'
- ''
- '"Not in the least."'
- ''
- '"Nor running a chance of arrest?"'
- ''
- '"Not in a good cause."'
- ''
- '"Oh, the cause is excellent!"'
- ''
- '"Then I am your man."'
- ''
- '"I was sure that I might rely on you."'
- ''
- '"But what is it you wish?"'
- ''
- '"When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to'
- you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that
- our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I
- have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must
- be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns
- from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her."
- ''
- '"And what then?"'
- ''
- '"You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to'
- occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must
- not interfere, come what may. You understand?"
- ''
- '"I am to be neutral?"'
- ''
- '"To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small'
- unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being
- conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the
- sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close
- to that open window."
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you."'
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what'
- I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of
- fire. You quite follow me?"
- ''
- '"Entirely."'
- ''
- '"It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped'
- roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket,
- fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting.
- Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire,
- it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then
- walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten
- minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?"
- ''
- '"I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you,'
- and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry
- of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street."
- ''
- '"Precisely."'
- ''
- '"Then you may entirely rely on me."'
- ''
- '"That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I'
- prepare for the new role I have to play."
- ''
- He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in
- the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist
- clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white
- tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and
- benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have
- equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His
- expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every
- fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as
- science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in
- crime.
- ''
- It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still
- wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in
- Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just
- being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge,
- waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such
- as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description,
- but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On
- the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was
- remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men
- smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his
- wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and
- several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with
- cigars in their mouths.
- ''
- '"You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of'
- the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The
- photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are
- that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey
- Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his
- princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the
- photograph?"
- ''
- '"Where, indeed?"'
- ''
- '"It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is'
- cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's
- dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid
- and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We
- may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her."
- ''
- '"Where, then?"'
- ''
- '"Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But'
- I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive,
- and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it
- over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but
- she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be
- brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she
- had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she
- can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house."
- ''
- '"But it has twice been burgled."'
- ''
- '"Pshaw! They did not know how to look."'
- ''
- '"But how will you look?"'
- ''
- '"I will not look."'
- ''
- '"What then?"'
- ''
- '"I will get her to show me."'
- ''
- '"But she will refuse."'
- ''
- '"She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is'
- her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter."
- ''
- As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round
- the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which
- rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of
- the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in
- the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another
- loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce
- quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who
- took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder,
- who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and
- in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was
- the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who
- struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes
- dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached
- her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood
- running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to
- their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while
- a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle
- without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to
- attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her,
- had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her
- superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking
- back into the street.
- ''
- '"Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked.'
- ''
- '"He is dead," cried several voices.'
- ''
- '"No, no, there''s life in him!" shouted another. "But he''ll be'
- gone before you can get him to hospital."
- ''
- '"He''s a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the'
- lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a
- gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now."
- ''
- '"He can''t lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?"'
- ''
- '"Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable'
- sofa. This way, please!"
- ''
- Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out
- in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings
- from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the
- blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay
- upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with
- compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I
- know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life
- than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was
- conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited
- upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery
- to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted
- to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under
- my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are
- but preventing her from injuring another.
- ''
- Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man
- who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the
- window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the
- signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The
- word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of
- spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and
- servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds
- of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I
- caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice
- of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm.
- Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner
- of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my
- friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar.
- He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we
- had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the
- Edgeware Road.
- ''
- '"You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could'
- have been better. It is all right."
- ''
- '"You have the photograph?"'
- ''
- '"I know where it is."'
- ''
- '"And how did you find out?"'
- ''
- '"She showed me, as I told you she would."'
- ''
- '"I am still in the dark."'
- ''
- '"I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter'
- was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the
- street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening."
- ''
- '"I guessed as much."'
- ''
- '"Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in'
- the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand
- to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick."
- ''
- '"That also I could fathom."'
- ''
- '"Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else'
- could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room
- which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was
- determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for
- air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your
- chance."
- ''
- '"How did that help you?"'
- ''
- '"It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on'
- fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she
- values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have
- more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the
- Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in
- the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby;
- an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to
- me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious
- to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it.
- The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were
- enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The
- photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the
- right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a
- glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it
- was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed
- from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making
- my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to
- attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had
- come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to
- wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all."
- ''
- '"And now?" I asked.'
- ''
- '"Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King'
- to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be
- shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is
- probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the
- photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain
- it with his own hands."
- ''
- '"And when will you call?"'
- ''
- '"At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall'
- have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage
- may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to
- the King without delay."
- ''
- We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was
- 'searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said:'
- ''
- '"Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes."'
- ''
- There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the
- greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had
- hurried by.
- ''
- '"I''ve heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the'
- dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have
- been."
- ''
- ''
- III.
- ''
- I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our
- toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed
- into the room.
- ''
- '"You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by'
- either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face.
- ''
- '"Not yet."'
- ''
- '"But you have hopes?"'
- ''
- '"I have hopes."'
- ''
- '"Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone."'
- ''
- '"We must have a cab."'
- ''
- '"No, my brougham is waiting."'
- ''
- '"Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off'
- once more for Briony Lodge.
- ''
- '"Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes.'
- ''
- '"Married! When?"'
- ''
- '"Yesterday."'
- ''
- '"But to whom?"'
- ''
- '"To an English lawyer named Norton."'
- ''
- '"But she could not love him."'
- ''
- '"I am in hopes that she does."'
- ''
- '"And why in hopes?"'
- ''
- '"Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future'
- annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your
- Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason
- why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan."
- ''
- '"It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own'
- station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a
- moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in
- Serpentine Avenue.
- ''
- The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood
- upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped
- from the brougham.
- ''
- '"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she.'
- ''
- '"I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a'
- questioning and rather startled gaze.
- ''
- '"Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She'
- left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing
- Cross for the Continent."
- ''
- '"What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and'
- surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?"
- ''
- '"Never to return."'
- ''
- '"And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost."'
- ''
- '"We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the'
- drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was
- scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and
- open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before
- her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small
- sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a
- photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler
- herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to
- '"Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend'
- tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at
- 'midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way:'
- ''
- '"MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You'
- took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a
- suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I
- began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had
- been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly
- be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this,
- you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became
- suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind
- old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress
- myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage
- of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to
- watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call
- them, and came down just as you departed.
- ''
- '"Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was'
- really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock
- Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and
- started for the Temple to see my husband.
- ''
- '"We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by'
- so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when
- you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in
- peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may
- do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly
- wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a
- weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might
- take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to
- possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes,
- ''
- '                                      "Very truly yours,'
- '                                   "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER."'
- ''
- '"What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when'
- we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick
- and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen?
- Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?"
- ''
- '"From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a'
- very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am
- sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business
- to a more successful conclusion."
- ''
- '"On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be'
- more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The
- photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire."
- ''
- '"I am glad to hear your Majesty say so."'
- ''
- '"I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can'
- reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from
- his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand.
- ''
- '"Your Majesty has something which I should value even more'
- highly," said Holmes.
- ''
- '"You have but to name it."'
- ''
- '"This photograph!"'
- ''
- The King stared at him in amazement.
- ''
- '"Irene''s photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it."'
- ''
- '"I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the'
- matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He
- bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the
- King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his
- chambers.
- ''
- And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom
- of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were
- beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the
- cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And
- when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her
- photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman.
ADVENTURE II. 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 armchair and'
- putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in
- judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love
- of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum
- routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by
- the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you
- will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own
- little adventures."
- ''
- '"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 greatcoat. As he glanced down the
- advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper
- flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and
- endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the
- indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance.
- ''
- I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor
- bore every mark of being an average commonplace British
- tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey
- shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat,
- unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy
- Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as
- an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a
- wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether,
- look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save
- his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and
- discontent upon his features.
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook
- his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances.
- '"Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual'
- labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has
- been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of
- writing lately, I can deduce nothing else."
- ''
- 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 labour. 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 halfway 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, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now
- another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a
- salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All
- red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age
- of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at
- eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices 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 develop 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 colour, 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 colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to
- do.'
- ''
- '"''But,'' said I, ''there would be millions of red-headed men who'
- would apply.'
- ''
- '"''Not so many as you might think,'' he answered. ''You 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 colour they
- were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay;
- but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real
- vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I
- would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear
- of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and
- pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up
- to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream
- upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back
- dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found
- ourselves in the office."
- ''
- '"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 favourable to me than to any of
- the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he
- might have a private word with us.
- ''
- '"''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 favour 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 should 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 pounds 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 "Encyclopaedia 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 anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay
- such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the
- '''Encyclopaedia 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 Armour and Architecture and Attica, and
- hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very
- long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly
- filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole
- business came to an end."
- ''
- '"To an end?"'
- ''
- '"Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as'
- usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a
- little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the
- panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself."
- ''
- He held up a piece of white cardboard 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.
- ''
- '"''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 pounds, 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 endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first,'
- one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who
- first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he
- been with you?"
- ''
- '"About a month then."'
- ''
- '"How did he come?"'
- ''
- '"In answer to an advertisement."'
- ''
- '"Was he the only applicant?"'
- ''
- '"No, I had a dozen."'
- ''
- '"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 gipsy 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 mantelpiece.
- ''
- '"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 poky,
- little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy
- two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in
- enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded
- laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and
- uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with
- '"JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced'
- the place where our red-headed client carried on his business.
- Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side
- and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between
- puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down
- again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally
- he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously
- upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up
- to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a
- bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step
- in.
- ''
- '"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 conveyed the traffic of the City
- to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense
- stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward,
- while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of
- pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line
- of fine shops and stately business premises that they really
- abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square
- which we had just quitted.
- ''
- '"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 armchair amid his improvisations and his
- black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase
- would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning
- power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were
- unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a
- man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him
- that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I
- felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set
- himself to hunt down.
- ''
- '"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.
- ''
- I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was
- always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings
- with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had
- seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that
- he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to
- happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and
- grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought
- over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed
- copier of the "Encyclopaedia" 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 recognised as Peter Jones, the official police
- agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a
- very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat.
- ''
- '"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 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will
- be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands."
- ''
- '"John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He''s a'
- young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his
- profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on
- any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is 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 Farrington 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 bulldog and as
- tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we
- are, and they are waiting for us."
- ''
- We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had
- found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and,
- following the guidance 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 2,000 napoleons packed between
- layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at
- present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the
- directors have had misgivings upon the subject."
- ''
- '"Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is'
- time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an
- hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr.
- Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern."
- ''
- '"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' 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 upstairs, 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 whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it
- was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible
- object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of
- the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get
- this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of
- hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but,
- really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was
- no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his
- accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw
- him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands?
- They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the 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 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 George Sand."
ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY:
- ''
- '"My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side'
- of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely
- stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We
- would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere
- commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window
- hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the
- roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the
- strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the
- wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and
- leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with
- its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and
- unprofitable."
- ''
- '"And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which'
- come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and
- vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to
- its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed,
- neither fascinating nor artistic."
- ''
- '"A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a'
- realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the
- police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the
- platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an
- observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend
- upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace."
- ''
- I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking
- so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser
- and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout
- three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is
- strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper
- from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the
- first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his
- wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without
- reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of
- course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the
- bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of
- writers could invent nothing more crude."
- ''
- '"Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument,"'
- said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This
- is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged
- in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The
- husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the
- conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of
- winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling
- them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely
- to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a
- pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over
- you in your example."
- ''
- He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in
- the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his
- homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon
- it.
- ''
- '"Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks.'
- It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my
- assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers."
- ''
- '"And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which'
- sparkled upon his finger.
- ''
- '"It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in'
- which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it
- even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of
- my little problems."
- ''
- '"And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest.'
- ''
- '"Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of'
- interest. They are important, you understand, without being
- interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in
- unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation,
- and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the
- charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the
- simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is
- the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter
- which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing
- which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however,
- that I may have something better before very many minutes are
- over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken."
- ''
- He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted
- blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street.
- Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite
- there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck,
- and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was
- tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her
- ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous,
- hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated
- backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove
- buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves
- the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp
- clang of the bell.
- ''
- '"I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his'
- cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always
- means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure
- that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet
- even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously
- wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom
- is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love
- matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or
- grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts."
- ''
- As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons
- entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself
- loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed
- merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed
- her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and,
- having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked
- her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was
- peculiar to him.
- ''
- '"Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a'
- little trying to do so much typewriting?"
- ''
- '"I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters'
- are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport
- of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear
- and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've
- heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know
- all that?"
- ''
- '"Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know'
- things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others
- overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?"
- ''
- '"I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege,'
- whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had
- given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as
- much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in
- my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and
- I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel."
- ''
- '"Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked'
- Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to
- the ceiling.
- ''
- Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss
- Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said,
- '"for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr.'
- Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to
- the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he
- would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done,
- it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away
- to you."
- ''
- '"Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the'
- name is different."
- ''
- '"Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny,'
- too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself."
- ''
- '"And your mother is alive?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn''t best pleased, Mr.'
- Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and
- a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father
- was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy
- business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the
- foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the
- business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines.
- They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't
- near as much as father could have got if he had been alive."
- ''
- I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this
- rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he
- had listened with the greatest concentration of attention.
- ''
- '"Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the'
- business?"
- ''
- '"Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle'
- Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per
- cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can
- only touch the interest."
- ''
- '"You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so'
- large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the
- bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in
- every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely
- upon an income of about 60 pounds."
- ''
- '"I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you'
- understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a
- burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while
- I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the
- time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it
- over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I
- earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can
- often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day."
- ''
- '"You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes.'
- '"This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as'
- freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your
- connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel."
- ''
- A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked
- nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the
- gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets
- when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and
- sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He
- never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I
- wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I
- was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to
- prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all
- father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing
- fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much
- as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do,
- he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went,
- mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it
- was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel."
- ''
- '"I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from'
- France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball."
- ''
- '"Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and'
- shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying
- anything to a woman, for she would have her way."
- ''
- '"I see. Then at the gasfitters'' ball you met, as I understand, a'
- gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel."
- ''
- '"Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if'
- we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to
- say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father
- came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house
- any more."
- ''
- '"No?"'
- ''
- '"Well, you know father didn''t like anything of the sort. He'
- wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to
- say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But
- then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to
- begin with, and I had not got mine yet."
- ''
- '"But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see'
- you?"
- ''
- '"Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer'
- wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each
- other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he
- used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so
- there was no need for father to know."
- ''
- '"Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that'
- we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in
- Leadenhall Street--and--"
- ''
- '"What office?"'
- ''
- '"That''s the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don''t know."'
- ''
- '"Where did he live, then?"'
- ''
- '"He slept on the premises."'
- ''
- '"And you don''t know his address?"'
- ''
- '"No--except that it was Leadenhall Street."'
- ''
- '"Where did you address your letters, then?"'
- ''
- '"To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called'
- for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be
- chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady,
- so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't
- have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come
- from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the
- machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he
- was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think
- of."
- ''
- '"It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom'
- of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.
- Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?"
- ''
- '"He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me'
- in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to
- be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his
- voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he
- was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat,
- and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always
- well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just
- as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare."
- ''
- '"Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather,'
- returned to France?"
- ''
- '"Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we'
- should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest
- and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever
- happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite
- right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion.
- Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder
- of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the
- week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to
- mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother
- said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like
- that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as
- he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do
- anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the
- company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on
- the very morning of the wedding."
- ''
- '"It missed him, then?"'
- ''
- '"Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived."'
- ''
- '"Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for'
- the Friday. Was it to be in church?"
- ''
- '"Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour''s, near'
- King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St.
- Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were
- two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a
- four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the
- street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler
- drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and
- when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one
- there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become
- of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was
- last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything
- since then to throw any light upon what became of him."
- ''
- '"It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said'
- Holmes.
- ''
- '"Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all'
- the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to
- be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to
- separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him,
- and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed
- strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since
- gives a meaning to it."
- ''
- '"Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some'
- unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?"
- ''
- '"Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he'
- would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw
- happened."
- ''
- '"But you have no notion as to what it could have been?"'
- ''
- '"None."'
- ''
- '"One more question. How did your mother take the matter?"'
- ''
- '"She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter'
- again."
- ''
- '"And your father? Did you tell him?"'
- ''
- '"Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had'
- happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said,
- what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of
- the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my
- money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him,
- there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about
- money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what
- could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me
- half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She
- pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob
- heavily into it.
- ''
- '"I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and'
- I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the
- weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind
- dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel
- vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life."
- ''
- '"Then you don''t think I''ll see him again?"'
- ''
- '"I fear not."'
- ''
- '"Then what has happened to him?"'
- ''
- '"You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an'
- accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can
- spare."
- ''
- '"I advertised for him in last Saturday''s Chronicle," said she.'
- '"Here is the slip and here are four letters from him."'
- ''
- '"Thank you. And your address?"'
- ''
- '"No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell."'
- ''
- '"Mr. Angel''s address you never had, I understand. Where is your'
- father's place of business?"
- ''
- '"He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers'
- of Fenchurch Street."
- ''
- '"Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will'
- leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given
- you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it
- to affect your life."
- ''
- '"You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be'
- true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back."
- ''
- For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was
- something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which
- compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon
- the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever
- she might be summoned.
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips
- still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him,
- and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down
- from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a
- counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with
- the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of
- infinite languor in his face.
- ''
- '"Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found'
- her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way,
- is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you
- consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of
- the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however,
- there were one or two details which were new to me. But the
- maiden herself was most instructive."
- ''
- '"You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite'
- invisible to me," I remarked.
- ''
- '"Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to'
- look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring
- you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of
- thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace.
- Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe
- it."
- ''
- '"Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a'
- feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads
- sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her
- dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little
- purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and
- were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't
- observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a
- general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable,
- easy-going way."
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled.
- ''
- '"''Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have'
- really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed
- everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and
- you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general
- impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My
- first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is
- perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you
- observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most
- useful material for showing traces. The double line a little
- above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table,
- was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type,
- leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side
- of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the
- broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and,
- observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I
- ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed
- to surprise her."
- ''
- '"It surprised me."'
- ''
- '"But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and'
- interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots
- which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were
- really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and
- the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower
- buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and
- fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly
- dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned,
- it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry."
- ''
- '"And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by'
- my friend's incisive reasoning.
- ''
- '"I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving'
- home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right
- glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see
- that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had
- written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been
- this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger.
- All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back
- to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised
- description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?"
- ''
- I held the little printed slip to the light.
- ''
- '"Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman'
- named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height;
- strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in
- the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted
- glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen,
- in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert
- chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over
- elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in
- Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--"
- ''
- '"That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued,'
- glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no
- clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There
- is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike
- you."
- ''
- '"They are typewritten," I remarked.'
- ''
- '"Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the'
- neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you
- see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is
- rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in
- fact, we may call it conclusive."
- ''
- '"Of what?"'
- ''
- '"My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it'
- bears upon the case?"
- ''
- '"I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able'
- to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were
- instituted."
- ''
- '"No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters,'
- which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the
- other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking
- him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow
- evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the
- male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the
- answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem
- upon the shelf for the interim."
- ''
- I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers
- of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that
- he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy
- demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had
- been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in
- the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler
- photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the
- Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with
- the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle
- indeed which he could not unravel.
- ''
- I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the
- conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would
- find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up
- to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary
- Sutherland.
- ''
- A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own
- attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at
- the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six
- o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a
- hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too
- late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found
- Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin
- form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable
- array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell
- of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the
- chemical work which was so dear to him.
- ''
- '"Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered.'
- ''
- '"Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta."'
- ''
- '"No, no, the mystery!" I cried.'
- ''
- '"Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon.'
- There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said
- yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback
- is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel."
- ''
- '"Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss'
- Sutherland?"
- ''
- The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet
- opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the
- passage and a tap at the door.
- ''
- '"This is the girl''s stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said'
- Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at
- six. Come in!"
- ''
- The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some
- thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a
- bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and
- penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of
- us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a
- slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair.
- ''
- '"Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that'
- this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an
- appointment with me for six o'clock?"
- ''
- '"Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not'
- quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland
- has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far
- better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite
- against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable,
- impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily
- controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I
- did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the
- official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family
- misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless
- expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?"
- ''
- '"On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to'
- believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel."
- ''
- Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am
- delighted to hear it," he said.
- ''
- '"It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has'
- really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless
- they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some
- letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one
- side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that
- in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and
- a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other
- characteristics, but those are the more obvious."
- ''
- '"We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office,'
- and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing
- keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes.
- ''
- '"And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study,'
- Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another
- little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its
- relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some
- little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come
- from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not
- only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will
- observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen
- other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well."
- ''
- Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I
- cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes,"
- he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know
- when you have done it."
- ''
- '"Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in'
- the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!"
- ''
- '"What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips'
- and glancing about him like a rat in a trap.
- ''
- '"Oh, it won''t do--really it won''t," said Holmes suavely. "There'
- is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too
- transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that
- it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's
- right! Sit down and let us talk it over."
- ''
- Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a
- glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he
- stammered.
- ''
- '"I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves,'
- Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a
- petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the
- course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong."
- ''
- The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his
- breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up
- on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands
- in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed,
- than to us.
- ''
- '"The man married a woman very much older than himself for her'
- money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the
- daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable
- sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have
- made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it.
- The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate
- and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with
- her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would
- not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would
- mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her
- stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of
- keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of
- people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not
- answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and
- finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain
- ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an
- idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the
- connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself,
- covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with
- a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice
- into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the
- girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off
- other lovers by making love himself."
- ''
- '"It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never'
- thought that she would have been so carried away."
- ''
- '"Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very'
- decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that
- her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never
- for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the
- gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the
- loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began
- to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as
- far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There
- were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the
- girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the
- deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys
- to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to
- bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it
- would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and
- prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to
- come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and
- hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening
- on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss
- Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to
- his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not
- listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her,
- and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished
- away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a
- four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of
- events, Mr. Windibank!"
- ''
- Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes
- had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold
- sneer upon his pale face.
- ''
- '"It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you'
- are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is
- you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing
- actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door
- locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal
- constraint."
- ''
- '"The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking'
- and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who
- deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a
- friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!"
- he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon
- the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but
- here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat
- myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he
- could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs,
- the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr.
- James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road.
- ''
- '"There''s a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he'
- threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will
- rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and
- ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not
- entirely devoid of interest."
- ''
- '"I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I'
- remarked.
- ''
- '"Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr.'
- Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious
- conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really
- profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the
- stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together,
- but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was
- suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice,
- which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My
- suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in
- typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his
- handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even
- the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts,
- together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same
- direction."
- ''
- '"And how did you verify them?"'
- ''
- '"Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I'
- knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed
- description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the
- result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I
- sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me
- whether it answered to the description of any of their
- travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the
- typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business
- address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his
- reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but
- characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from
- Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the
- description tallied in every respect with that of their employé,
- James Windibank. Voilà tout!"
- ''
- '"And Miss Sutherland?"'
- ''
- '"If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old'
- Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger
- cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.'
- There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much
- knowledge of the world."
ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY:
- ''
- We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the
- maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran
- 'in this way:'
- ''
- '"Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from'
- the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy.
- Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect.
- Leave Paddington by the 11:15."
- ''
- '"What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me.'
- '"Will you go?"'
- ''
- '"I really don''t know what to say. I have a fairly long list at'
- present."
- ''
- '"Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking'
- a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good,
- and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases."
- ''
- '"I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained'
- through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack
- at once, for I have only half an hour."
- ''
- My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the
- effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were
- few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a
- cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock
- Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt
- figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey
- travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap.
- ''
- '"It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It'
- makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on
- whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless
- or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall
- get the tickets."
- ''
- We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of
- papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged
- and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until
- we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a
- gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack.
- ''
- '"Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked.'
- ''
- '"Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days."'
- ''
- '"The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just'
- been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the
- particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those
- simple cases which are so extremely difficult."
- ''
- '"That sounds a little paradoxical."'
- ''
- '"But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a'
- clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more
- difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they
- have established a very serious case against the son of the
- murdered man."
- ''
- '"It is a murder, then?"'
- ''
- '"Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for'
- granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into
- it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have
- been able to understand it, in a very few words.
- ''
- '"Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in'
- Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a
- Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned
- some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he
- held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was
- also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the
- colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to
- settle down they should do so as near each other as possible.
- Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his
- tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect
- equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son,
- a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same
- age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have
- avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to
- have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of
- sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the
- neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl.
- Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the
- least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the
- families. Now for the facts.
- ''
- '"On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at'
- Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the
- Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out
- of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been
- out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told
- the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of
- importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came
- back alive.
- ''
- '"From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a'
- mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One
- was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was
- William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both
- these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The
- game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr.
- McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the
- same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the
- father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was
- following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in
- the evening of the tragedy that had occurred.
- ''
- '"The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder,'
- the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly
- wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the
- edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of
- the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the
- woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she
- saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr.
- McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a
- violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very
- strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his
- hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their
- violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached
- home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near
- Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to
- fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came
- running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead
- in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was
- much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right
- hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On
- following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the
- grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated
- blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as
- might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's
- gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the
- body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly
- arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned
- at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the
- magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next
- Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out
- before the coroner and the police-court."
- ''
- '"I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If'
- ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so
- here."
- ''
- '"Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes'
- thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing,
- but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it
- pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something
- entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case
- looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very
- possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people
- in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the
- daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his
- innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect
- in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in
- his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the
- case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are
- flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly
- digesting their breakfasts at home."
- ''
- '"I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you'
- will find little credit to be gained out of this case."
- ''
- '"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he'
- answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some
- other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to
- Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting
- when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by
- means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of
- understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly
- perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand
- side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted
- even so self-evident a thing as that."
- ''
- '"How on earth--"'
- ''
- '"My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness'
- which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this
- season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less
- and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until
- it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the
- jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated
- than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking
- at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a
- result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and
- inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that
- it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before
- us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in
- the inquest, and which are worth considering."
- ''
- '"What are they?"'
- ''
- '"It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after'
- the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary
- informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not
- surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts.
- This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any
- traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the
- coroner's jury."
- ''
- '"It was a confession," I ejaculated.'
- ''
- '"No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence."'
- ''
- '"Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at'
- least a most suspicious remark."
- ''
- '"On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I'
- can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be,
- he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the
- circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared
- surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I
- should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such
- surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances,
- and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His
- frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent
- man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and
- firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not
- unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of
- his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day
- so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and
- even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so
- important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The
- self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark
- appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a
- guilty one."
- ''
- I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter
- evidence," I remarked.
- ''
- '"So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged."'
- ''
- '"What is the young man''s own account of the matter?"'
- ''
- '"It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters,'
- though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive.
- You will find it here, and may read it for yourself."
- ''
- He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire
- paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the
- paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own
- statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the
- corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this
- 'way:'
- ''
- '"Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called'
- 'and gave evidence as follows: ''I had been away from home for'
- three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the
- morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at
- the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he
- had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after
- my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and,
- looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out
- of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was
- going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of
- the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit
- warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William
- Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but
- he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had
- no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards
- from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal
- between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found
- him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at
- seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A
- conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows,
- for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his
- passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned
- towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards,
- however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me
- to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground,
- with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in
- my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for
- some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper,
- his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one
- near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by
- his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and
- forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no
- active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.'
- ''
- '"The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before'
- he died?
- ''
- '"Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some'
- allusion to a rat.
- ''
- '"The Coroner: What did you understand by that?'
- ''
- '"Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was'
- delirious.
- ''
- '"The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father'
- had this final quarrel?
- ''
- '"Witness: I should prefer not to answer.'
- ''
- '"The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it.'
- ''
- '"Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can'
- assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which
- followed.
- ''
- '"The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point'
- out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case
- considerably in any future proceedings which may arise.
- ''
- '"Witness: I must still refuse.'
- ''
- '"The Coroner: I understand that the cry of ''Cooee'' was a common'
- signal between you and your father?
- ''
- '"Witness: It was.'
- ''
- '"The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw'
- you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol?
- ''
- '"Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know.'
- ''
- '"A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions'
- when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father
- fatally injured?
- ''
- '"Witness: Nothing definite.'
- ''
- '"The Coroner: What do you mean?'
- ''
- '"Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into'
- the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet
- I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay
- upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be
- something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps.
- When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was
- gone.
- ''
- '"''Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?'''
- ''
- '"''Yes, it was gone.'''
- ''
- '"''You cannot say what it was?'''
- ''
- '"''No, I had a feeling something was there.'''
- ''
- '"''How far from the body?'''
- ''
- '"''A dozen yards or so.'''
- ''
- '"''And how far from the edge of the wood?'''
- ''
- '"''About the same.'''
- ''
- '"''Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen'
- yards of it?'
- ''
- '"''Yes, but with my back towards it.'''
- ''
- '"This concluded the examination of the witness."'
- ''
- '"I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner'
- in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy.
- He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his
- father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his
- refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and
- his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all,
- as he remarks, very much against the son."
- ''
- Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon
- the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some
- pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the
- young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him
- credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too
- little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would
- give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from
- his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying
- reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No,
- sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what
- this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that
- hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and
- not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the
- scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be
- there in twenty minutes."
- ''
- It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through
- the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn,
- found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A
- lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for
- us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and
- leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic
- surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of
- Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a
- room had already been engaged for us.
- ''
- '"I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup'
- of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be
- happy until you had been on the scene of the crime."
- ''
- '"It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It'
- is entirely a question of barometric pressure."
- ''
- Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said.
- ''
- '"How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud'
- in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need
- smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country
- hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I
- shall use the carriage to-night."
- ''
- Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed
- your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as
- plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer
- it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a
- very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your
- opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing
- which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my
- soul! here is her carriage at the door."
- ''
- He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the
- most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her
- violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her
- cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her
- overpowering excitement and concern.
- ''
- '"Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the'
- other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition,
- fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I
- have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it.
- I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it,
- too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each
- other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no
- one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a
- charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him."
- ''
- '"I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes.'
- '"You may rely upon my doing all that I can."'
- ''
- '"But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion?'
- Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself
- think that he is innocent?"
- ''
- '"I think that it is very probable."'
- ''
- '"There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking'
- defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes."
- ''
- Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague
- has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said.
- ''
- '"But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did'
- it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the
- reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because
- I was concerned in it."
- ''
- '"In what way?" asked Holmes.'
- ''
- '"It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had'
- many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that
- there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always
- loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young
- and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he
- naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there
- were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them."
- ''
- '"And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a'
- union?"
- ''
- '"No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in'
- favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as
- Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her.
- ''
- '"Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father'
- if I call to-morrow?"
- ''
- '"I am afraid the doctor won''t allow it."'
- ''
- '"The doctor?"'
- ''
- '"Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for'
- years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken
- to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his
- nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive
- who had known dad in the old days in Victoria."
- ''
- '"Ha! In Victoria! That is important."'
- ''
- '"Yes, at the mines."'
- ''
- '"Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner'
- made his money."
- ''
- '"Yes, certainly."'
- ''
- '"Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to'
- me."
- ''
- '"You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you'
- will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do
- tell him that I know him to be innocent."
- ''
- '"I will, Miss Turner."'
- ''
- '"I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if'
- I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She
- hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we
- heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street.
- ''
- '"I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a'
- few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you
- are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I
- call it cruel."
- ''
- '"I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said'
- Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?"
- ''
- '"Yes, but only for you and me."'
- ''
- '"Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have'
- still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?"
- ''
- '"Ample."'
- ''
- '"Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very'
- slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours."
- ''
- I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through
- the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel,
- where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a
- yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin,
- however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were
- groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the
- action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and
- gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the
- day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were
- absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely
- unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between
- the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when,
- drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was
- something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the
- nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts?
- I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which
- contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's
- deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left
- parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been
- shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot
- upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from
- behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when
- seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it
- did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his
- back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call
- Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying
- reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be
- delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become
- delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how
- he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my
- brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident
- of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the
- murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his
- overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to
- return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was
- kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a
- tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I
- did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith
- in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long
- as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young
- McCarthy's innocence.
- ''
- It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone,
- for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town.
- ''
- '"The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down.'
- '"It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able'
- to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his
- very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not
- wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young
- McCarthy."
- ''
- '"And what did you learn from him?"'
- ''
- '"Nothing."'
- ''
- '"Could he throw no light?"'
- ''
- '"None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew'
- who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced
- now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very
- quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think,
- sound at heart."
- ''
- '"I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact'
- that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as
- this Miss Turner."
- ''
- '"Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly,'
- insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was
- only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away
- five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get
- into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a
- registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can
- imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not
- doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows
- to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort
- which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father,
- at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss
- Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself,
- and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would
- have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with
- his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in
- Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that
- point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however,
- for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious
- trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and
- has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the
- Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I
- think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all
- that he has suffered."
- ''
- '"But if he is innocent, who has done it?"'
- ''
- '"Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two'
- points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with
- someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his
- son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would
- return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry
- '''Cooee!'' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the'
- crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk
- about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all
- minor matters until to-morrow."
- ''
- There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke
- bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with
- the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe
- Pool.
- ''
- '"There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is'
- said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is
- despaired of."
- ''
- '"An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes.'
- ''
- '"About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life'
- abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This
- business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend
- of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I
- have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free."
- ''
- '"Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes.'
- ''
- '"Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody'
- about here speaks of his kindness to him."
- ''
- '"Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this'
- McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have
- been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of
- marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably,
- heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner,
- as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would
- follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself
- was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not
- deduce something from that?"
- ''
- '"We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said'
- Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts,
- Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies."
- ''
- '"You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard'
- to tackle the facts."
- ''
- '"Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it'
- difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth.
- ''
- '"And that is--"'
- ''
- '"That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that'
- all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine."
- ''
- '"Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes,'
- laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley
- Farm upon the left."
- ''
- '"Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking'
- building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches
- of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless
- chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight
- of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door,
- when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her
- master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the
- son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured
- these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes
- desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed
- the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool.
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent
- as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of
- Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed
- and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines,
- while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter.
- His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips
- compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long,
- sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal
- lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated
- upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell
- unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick,
- impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way
- along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of
- the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is
- all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon
- the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either
- side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and
- once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and
- I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous,
- while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the
- conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a
- definite end.
- ''
- The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water
- some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the
- Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner.
- Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see
- the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich
- landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods
- grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass
- twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds
- which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which
- the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground,
- that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the
- fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager
- face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read
- upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking
- up a scent, and then turned upon my companion.
- ''
- '"What did you go into the pool for?" he asked.'
- ''
- '"I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon'
- or other trace. But how on earth--"
- ''
- '"Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its'
- inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and
- there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all
- have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo
- and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the
- lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or
- eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of
- the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his
- waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to
- himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he
- was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are
- deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his
- story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are
- the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It
- is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this?
- Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite
- unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course
- that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up
- and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we
- were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a
- great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced
- his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon
- his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he
- remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks,
- gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and
- examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of
- the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among
- the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then
- he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the
- highroad, where all traces were lost.
- ''
- '"It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked,'
- returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on
- the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a
- word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done
- that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab,
- and I shall be with you presently."
- ''
- It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove
- back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he
- had picked up in the wood.
- ''
- '"This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out.'
- '"The murder was done with it."'
- ''
- '"I see no marks."'
- ''
- '"There are none."'
- ''
- '"How do you know, then?"'
- ''
- '"The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few'
- days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It
- corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other
- weapon."
- ''
- '"And the murderer?"'
- ''
- '"Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears'
- thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian
- cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his
- pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be
- enough to aid us in our search."
- ''
- Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he
- said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a
- hard-headed British jury."
- ''
- '"Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own'
- method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon,
- and shall probably return to London by the evening train."
- ''
- '"And leave your case unfinished?"'
- ''
- '"No, finished."'
- ''
- '"But the mystery?"'
- ''
- '"It is solved."'
- ''
- '"Who was the criminal, then?"'
- ''
- '"The gentleman I describe."'
- ''
- '"But who is he?"'
- ''
- '"Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a'
- populous neighbourhood."
- ''
- Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said,
- '"and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking'
- for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the
- laughing-stock of Scotland Yard."
- ''
- '"All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance.'
- Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before
- I leave."
- ''
- Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where
- we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in
- thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds
- himself in a perplexing position.
- ''
- '"Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit'
- down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't
- know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a
- cigar and let me expound."
- ''
- ' "Pray do so."'
- ''
- '"Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about'
- young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly,
- although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One
- was the fact that his father should, according to his account,
- cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying
- reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but
- that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double
- point our research must commence, and we will begin it by
- presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true."
- ''
- '"What of this ''Cooee!'' then?"'
- ''
- '"Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The'
- son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that
- he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the
- attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But
- '''Cooee'' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used'
- between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the
- person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was
- someone who had been in Australia."
- ''
- '"What of the rat, then?"'
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened
- it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria,"
- he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand
- over part of the map. "What do you read?"
- ''
- '"ARAT," I read.'
- ''
- '"And now?" He raised his hand.'
- ''
- '"BALLARAT."'
- ''
- '"Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his'
- son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter
- the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat."
- ''
- '"It is wonderful!" I exclaimed.'
- ''
- '"It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down'
- considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point
- which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a
- certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite
- conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak."
- ''
- '"Certainly."'
- ''
- '"And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only'
- be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could
- hardly wander."
- ''
- '"Quite so."'
- ''
- '"Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the'
- ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that
- imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal."
- ''
- '"But how did you gain them?"'
- ''
- '"You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of'
- trifles."
- ''
- '"His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length'
- of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces."
- ''
- '"Yes, they were peculiar boots."'
- ''
- '"But his lameness?"'
- ''
- '"The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than'
- his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he
- was lame."
- ''
- '"But his left-handedness."'
- ''
- '"You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded'
- by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from
- immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can
- that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind
- that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had
- even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special
- knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian
- cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and
- written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different
- varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the
- ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss
- where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety
- which are rolled in Rotterdam."
- ''
- '"And the cigar-holder?"'
- ''
- '"I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he'
- used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the
- cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife."
- ''
- '"Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which'
- he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as
- truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the
- direction in which all this points. The culprit is--"
- ''
- '"Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of'
- our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor.
- ''
- The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His
- slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of
- decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and
- his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual
- strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled
- hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air
- of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an
- ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were
- tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that
- he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease.
- ''
- '"Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my'
- note?"
- ''
- '"Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to'
- see me here to avoid scandal."
- ''
- '"I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall."'
- ''
- '"And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my'
- companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question
- was already answered.
- ''
- '"Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It'
- is so. I know all about McCarthy."
- ''
- The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried.
- '"But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you'
- my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at
- the Assizes."
- ''
- '"I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely.'
- ''
- '"I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It'
- would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears
- that I am arrested."
- ''
- '"It may not come to that," said Holmes.'
- ''
- '"What?"'
- ''
- '"I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter'
- who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests.
- Young McCarthy must be got off, however."
- ''
- '"I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for'
- years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a
- month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol."
- ''
- Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand
- and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he
- said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson
- here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the
- last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall
- not use it unless it is absolutely needed."
- ''
- '"It''s as well," said the old man; "it''s a question whether I'
- shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I
- should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the
- thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but
- will not take me long to tell.
- ''
- '"You didn''t know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil'
- incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of
- such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years,
- and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be
- in his power.
- ''
- '"It was in the early ''60''s at the diggings. I was a young chap'
- then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at
- anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck
- with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you
- would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and
- we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time
- to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings.
- Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party
- is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang.
- ''
- '"One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and'
- we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers
- and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of
- their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed,
- however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of
- the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the
- Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his
- wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every
- feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made
- our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted
- from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and
- respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in
- the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money,
- to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too,
- and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice.
- Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down
- the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned
- over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was
- going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me.
- ''
- '"I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in'
- Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his
- foot.
- ''
- '"''Here we are, Jack,'' says he, touching me on the arm; ''we''ll be'
- as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and
- you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine,
- law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman
- within hail.'
- ''
- '"Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking'
- them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land
- ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness;
- turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my
- elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more
- afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he
- wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without
- question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing
- which I could not give. He asked for Alice.
- ''
- '"His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was'
- known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that
- his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was
- firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that
- I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that
- was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do
- his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses
- to talk it over.
- ''
- '"When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I'
- smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone.
- But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in
- me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my
- daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she
- were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I
- and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a
- man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and
- a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb,
- I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl!
- Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I
- did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned,
- I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl
- should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more
- than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction
- than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought
- back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I
- was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in
- my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that
- occurred."
- ''
- '"Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man'
- signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we
- may never be exposed to such a temptation."
- ''
- '"I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?"'
- ''
- '"In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you'
- will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the
- Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is
- condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be
- seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or
- dead, shall be safe with us."
- ''
- '"Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds,'
- when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace
- which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his
- giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room.
- ''
- '"God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate'
- play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such
- a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say,
- '''There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.''"'
- ''
- James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a
- number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and
- submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven
- months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is
- every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily
- together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their
- past.
ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS:
- ''
- When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes
- cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which
- present strange and interesting features that it is no easy
- matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however,
- have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have
- not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend
- possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of
- these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his
- analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without
- an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and
- have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and
- surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to
- him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable
- in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted
- to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are
- points in connection with it which never have been, and probably
- never will be, entirely cleared up.
- ''
- The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater
- or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my
- headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the
- adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant
- Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a
- furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the
- British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the
- Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the
- Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered,
- Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to
- prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that
- therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a
- deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the
- case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of
- them present such singular features as the strange train of
- circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe.
- ''
- It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales
- had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had
- screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that
- even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced
- to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and
- to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which
- shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like
- untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew
- higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in
- the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the
- fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the
- other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until
- the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text,
- and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of
- the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a
- few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker
- Street.
- ''
- '"Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the'
- bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?"
- ''
- '"Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage'
- visitors."
- ''
- '"A client, then?"'
- ''
- '"If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out'
- on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more
- likely to be some crony of the landlady's."
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there
- came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He
- stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and
- towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit.
- ''
- '"Come in!" said he.'
- ''
- The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the
- outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of
- refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella
- which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told
- of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about
- him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his
- face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is
- weighed down with some great anxiety.
- ''
- '"I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to'
- his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have
- brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug
- chamber."
- ''
- '"Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest'
- here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from
- the south-west, I see."
- ''
- '"Yes, from Horsham."'
- ''
- '"That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is'
- quite distinctive."
- ''
- '"I have come for advice."'
- ''
- '"That is easily got."'
- ''
- '"And help."'
- ''
- '"That is not always so easy."'
- ''
- '"I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast'
- how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal."
- ''
- '"Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards."'
- ''
- '"He said that you could solve anything."'
- ''
- '"He said too much."'
- ''
- '"That you are never beaten."'
- ''
- '"I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a'
- woman."
- ''
- '"But what is that compared with the number of your successes?"'
- ''
- '"It is true that I have been generally successful."'
- ''
- '"Then you may be so with me."'
- ''
- '"I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me'
- with some details as to your case."
- ''
- '"It is no ordinary one."'
- ''
- '"None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of'
- appeal."
- ''
- '"And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you'
- have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of
- events than those which have happened in my own family."
- ''
- '"You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the'
- essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards
- question you as to those details which seem to me to be most
- important."
- ''
- The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out
- towards the blaze.
- ''
- '"My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have,'
- as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful
- business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an
- idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the
- affair.
- ''
- '"You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias'
- and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry,
- which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He
- was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business
- met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire
- upon a handsome competence.
- ''
- '"My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and'
- became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done
- very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army,
- and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When
- Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where
- he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came
- back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham.
- He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his
- reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his
- dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to
- them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very
- foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring
- disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I
- doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or
- three fields round his house, and there he would take his
- exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave
- his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very
- heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any
- friends, not even his own brother.
- ''
- '"He didn''t mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the'
- time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This
- would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years
- in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he
- was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be
- fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would
- make me his representative both with the servants and with the
- tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite
- master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I
- liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in
- his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he
- had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was
- invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or
- anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped
- through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a
- collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such
- a room.
- ''
- '"One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp'
- lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a
- common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all
- paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From
- India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can
- this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little
- dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to
- laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight
- of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his
- skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he
- still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and
- then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!'
- ''
- '"''What is it, uncle?'' I cried.'
- ''
- '"''Death,'' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his'
- room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope
- and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the
- gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else
- save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his
- overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I
- ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key,
- which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small
- brass box, like a cashbox, in the other.
- ''
- '"''They may do what they like, but I''ll checkmate them still,'''
- said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my
- room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.'
- ''
- '"I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to'
- step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the
- grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned
- paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I
- glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was
- printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the
- envelope.
- ''
- '"''I wish you, John,'' said my uncle, ''to witness my will. I leave'
- my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to
- my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to
- you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you
- cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest
- enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't
- say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper
- where Mr. Fordham shows you.'
- ''
- '"I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with'
- him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest
- impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every
- way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I
- could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left
- behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed
- and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I
- could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever,
- and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his
- time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the
- inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy
- and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a
- revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man,
- and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by
- man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would
- rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him,
- like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror
- which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen
- his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it
- were new raised from a basin.
- ''
- '"Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to'
- abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those
- drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when
- we went to search for him, face downward in a little
- green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There
- was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep,
- so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity,
- brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced
- from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself
- that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed,
- however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and
- of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank."
- ''
- '"One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee,'
- one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me
- have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and
- the date of his supposed suicide."
- ''
- '"The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks'
- later, upon the night of May 2nd."
- ''
- '"Thank you. Pray proceed."'
- ''
- '"When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my'
- request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been
- always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its
- contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a
- paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and
- '''Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register'' written beneath.'
- These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had
- been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was
- nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many
- scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in
- America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had
- done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier.
- Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern
- states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had
- evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag
- politicians who had been sent down from the North.
- ''
- '"Well, it was the beginning of ''84 when my father came to live at'
- Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the
- January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my
- father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the
- breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened
- envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the
- outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what
- he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked
- very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon
- himself.
- ''
- '"''Why, what on earth does this mean, John?'' he stammered.'
- ''
- '"My heart had turned to lead. ''It is K. K. K.,'' said I.'
- ''
- '"He looked inside the envelope. ''So it is,'' he cried. ''Here are'
- the very letters. But what is this written above them?'
- ''
- '"''Put the papers on the sundial,'' I read, peeping over his'
- shoulder.
- ''
- '"''What papers? What sundial?'' he asked.'
- ''
- '"''The sundial in the garden. There is no other,'' said I; ''but the'
- papers must be those that are destroyed.'
- ''
- '"''Pooh!'' said he, gripping hard at his courage. ''We are in a'
- civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind.
- Where does the thing come from?'
- ''
- '"''From Dundee,'' I answered, glancing at the postmark.'
- ''
- '"''Some preposterous practical joke,'' said he. ''What have I to do'
- with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such
- nonsense.'
- ''
- '"''I should certainly speak to the police,'' I said.'
- ''
- '"''And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.'''
- ''
- '"''Then let me do so?'''
- ''
- '"''No, I forbid you. I won''t have a fuss made about such'
- nonsense.'
- ''
- '"It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate'
- man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of
- forebodings.
- ''
- '"On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went'
- from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is
- in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad
- that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from
- danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in
- error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram
- from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had
- fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the
- neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I
- hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered
- his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from
- Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him,
- and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in
- bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.'
- Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I
- was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of
- murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no
- robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads.
- And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease,
- and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been
- woven round him.
- ''
- '"In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me'
- why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well
- convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an
- incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as
- pressing in one house as in another.
- ''
- '"It was in January, ''85, that my poor father met his end, and two'
- years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time
- I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that
- this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended
- with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon,
- however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in
- which it had come upon my father."
- ''
- The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and
- turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried
- orange pips.
- ''
- '"This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is'
- London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were
- 'upon my father''s last message: ''K. K. K.''; and then ''Put the'
- papers on the sundial.'"
- ''
- '"What have you done?" asked Holmes.'
- ''
- '"Nothing."'
- ''
- '"Nothing?"'
- ''
- '"To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white'
- hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor
- rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in
- the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight
- and no precautions can guard against."
- ''
- '"Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are'
- lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for
- despair."
- ''
- '"I have seen the police."'
- ''
- '"Ah!"'
- ''
- '"But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that'
- the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all
- practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really
- accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with
- the warnings."
- ''
- Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible
- imbecility!" he cried.
- ''
- '"They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in'
- the house with me."
- ''
- '"Has he come with you to-night?"'
- ''
- '"No. His orders were to stay in the house."'
- ''
- Again Holmes raved in the air.
- ''
- '"Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you'
- not come at once?"
- ''
- '"I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major'
- Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to
- you."
- ''
- '"It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have'
- acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than
- that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which
- might help us?"
- ''
- '"There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat'
- pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted
- paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance,"
- said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I
- observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the
- ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet
- upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it
- may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from
- among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond
- the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think
- myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is
- undoubtedly my uncle's."
- ''
- Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper,
- which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from
- a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the
- 'following enigmatical notices:'
- ''
- '"4th. Hudson came. Same old platform.'
- ''
- '"7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and'
- '      John Swain, of St. Augustine.'
- ''
- '"9th. McCauley cleared.'
- ''
- '"10th. John Swain cleared.'
- ''
- '"12th. Visited Paramore. All well."'
- ''
- '"Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it'
- to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another
- instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told
- me. You must get home instantly and act."
- ''
- '"What shall I do?"'
- ''
- '"There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must'
- put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass
- box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say
- that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that
- this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such
- words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you
- must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do
- you understand?"
- ''
- '"Entirely."'
- ''
- '"Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I'
- think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our
- web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first
- consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens
- you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the
- guilty parties."
- ''
- '"I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his'
- overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall
- certainly do as you advise."
- ''
- '"Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in'
- the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that
- you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you
- go back?"
- ''
- '"By train from Waterloo."'
- ''
- '"It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that'
- you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too
- closely."
- ''
- '"I am armed."'
- ''
- '"That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case."'
- ''
- '"I shall see you at Horsham, then?"'
- ''
- '"No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek'
- it."
- ''
- '"Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news'
- as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every
- particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside
- the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered
- against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come
- to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet
- of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them
- once more.
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk
- forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he
- lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue
- smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling.
- ''
- '"I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we'
- have had none more fantastic than this."
- ''
- '"Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four."'
- ''
- '"Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems'
- to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the
- Sholtos."
- ''
- '"But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to'
- what these perils are?"
- ''
- '"There can be no question as to their nature," he answered.'
- ''
- '"Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue'
- this unhappy family?"
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the
- arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal
- reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a
- single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the
- chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which
- would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole
- animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who
- has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents
- should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both
- before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the
- reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study
- which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the
- aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest
- pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to
- utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this
- in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all
- knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and
- encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so
- impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge
- which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have
- endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one
- occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits
- in a very precise fashion."
- ''
- '"Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document.'
- Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I
- remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the
- mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry
- eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime
- records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and
- self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the
- main points of my analysis."
- ''
- Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as
- I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic
- stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the
- rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he
- can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which
- has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster
- all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the
- '''American Encyclopaedia'' which stands upon the shelf beside you.'
- Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be
- deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong
- presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for
- leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their
- habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for
- the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love
- of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of
- someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis
- that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from
- America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by
- considering the formidable letters which were received by himself
- and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those
- letters?"
- ''
- '"The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the'
- third from London."
- ''
- '"From East London. What do you deduce from that?"'
- ''
- '"They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship."'
- ''
- '"Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that'
- the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was
- on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the
- case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and
- its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days.
- Does that suggest anything?"
- ''
- '"A greater distance to travel."'
- ''
- '"But the letter had also a greater distance to come."'
- ''
- '"Then I do not see the point."'
- ''
- '"There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man'
- or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send
- their singular warning or token before them when starting upon
- their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign
- when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a
- steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter.
- But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those
- seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which
- brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the
- writer."
- ''
- '"It is possible."'
- ''
- '"More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly'
- urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to
- caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which
- it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one
- comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay."
- ''
- '"Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless'
- persecution?"
- ''
- '"The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital'
- importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think
- that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them.
- A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way
- as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in
- it, and they must have been men of resource and determination.
- Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may.
- In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an
- individual and becomes the badge of a society."
- ''
- '"But of what society?"'
- ''
- '"Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and'
- sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?"
- ''
- '"I never have."'
- ''
- Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it
- 'is," said he presently:'
- ''
- '"''Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to'
- the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret
- society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the
- Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local
- branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee,
- Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was
- used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of
- the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country
- of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually
- preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic
- but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some
- parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this
- the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might
- fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would
- unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and
- unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the
- society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a
- case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with
- impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the
- perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite
- of the efforts of the United States government and of the better
- classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year
- 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have
- been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.'
- ''
- '"You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that'
- the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the
- disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may
- well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his
- family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track.
- You can understand that this register and diary may implicate
- some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many
- who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered."
- ''
- '"Then the page we have seen--"'
- ''
- '"Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, ''sent'
- the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to
- them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or
- left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a
- sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let
- some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only
- chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have
- told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done
- to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for
- half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable
- ways of our fellow-men."
- ''
- ''
- It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a
- subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the
- great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came
- down.
- ''
- '"You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I'
- foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of
- young Openshaw's."
- ''
- '"What steps will you take?" I asked.'
- ''
- '"It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries.'
- I may have to go down to Horsham, after all."
- ''
- '"You will not go there first?"'
- ''
- '"No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the'
- maid will bring up your coffee."
- ''
- As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and
- glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a
- chill to my heart.
- ''
- '"Holmes," I cried, "you are too late."'
- ''
- '"Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it'
- done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved.
- ''
- '"My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading ''Tragedy'
- 'Near Waterloo Bridge.'' Here is the account:'
- ''
- '"Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H'
- Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and
- a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and
- stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it
- was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was
- given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was
- eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman
- whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his
- pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham.
- It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch
- the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and
- the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge
- of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body
- exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that
- the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident,
- which should have the effect of calling the attention of the
- authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages."
- ''
- We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and
- shaken than I had ever seen him.
- ''
- '"That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty'
- feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal
- matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my
- hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that
- I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair
- and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a
- flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and
- unclasping of his long thin hands.
- ''
- '"They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could'
- they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the
- direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too
- crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson,
- we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!"
- ''
- '"To the police?"'
- ''
- '"No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may'
- take the flies, but not before."
- ''
- All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in
- the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes
- had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he
- entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard,
- and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously,
- washing it down with a long draught of water.
- ''
- '"You are hungry," I remarked.'
- ''
- '"Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since'
- breakfast."
- ''
- '"Nothing?"'
- ''
- '"Not a bite. I had no time to think of it."'
- ''
- '"And how have you succeeded?"'
- ''
- '"Well."'
- ''
- '"You have a clue?"'
- ''
- '"I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not'
- long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish
- trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!"
- ''
- '"What do you mean?"'
- ''
- He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he
- squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and
- thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote
- '"S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain'
- James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia."
- ''
- '"That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling.'
- '"It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a'
- precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him."
- ''
- '"And who is this Captain Calhoun?"'
- ''
- '"The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first."'
- ''
- '"How did you trace it, then?"'
- ''
- He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with
- dates and names.
- ''
- '"I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd''s registers'
- and files of the old papers, following the future career of every
- vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in
- '''83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were'
- reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,'
- instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported
- as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to
- one of the states of the Union."
- ''
- '"Texas, I think."'
- ''
- '"I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must'
- have an American origin."
- ''
- '"What then?"'
- ''
- '"I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque'
- '''Lone Star'' was there in January, ''85, my suspicion became a'
- certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present
- in the port of London."
- ''
- '"Yes?"'
- ''
- '"The ''Lone Star'' had arrived here last week. I went down to the'
- Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by
- the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired
- to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and
- as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the
- Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight."
- ''
- '"What will you do, then?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I'
- learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are
- Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away
- from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has
- been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship
- reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and
- the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these
- three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder."
- ''
- There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans,
- and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the
- orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as
- resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very
- severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for
- news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We
- did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a
- shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough
- of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is
- all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star."
ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP:
- ''
- Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal
- of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to
- opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some
- foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De
- Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had
- drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the
- same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the
- practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many
- years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of
- mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see
- him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point
- pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble
- man.
- ''
- One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell,
- about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the
- clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work
- down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment.
- ''
- '"A patient!" said she. "You''ll have to go out."'
- ''
- I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day.
- ''
- We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps
- upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in
- some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room.
- ''
- '"You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then,'
- suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms
- about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in
- such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help."
- ''
- '"Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney.'
- How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when
- you came in."
- ''
- '"I didn''t know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was'
- always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds
- to a light-house.
- ''
- '"It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine'
- and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or
- should you rather that I sent James off to bed?"
- ''
- '"Oh, no, no! I want the doctor''s advice and help, too. It''s about'
- Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about
- him!"
- ''
- It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her
- husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend
- and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words
- as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it
- possible that we could bring him back to her?
- ''
- It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late
- he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the
- farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been
- confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and
- shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him
- eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the
- dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the
- effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar
- of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could
- she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and
- pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him?
- ''
- There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of
- it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second
- thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical
- adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it
- better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would
- send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the
- address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left
- my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding
- eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at
- the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to
- be.
- ''
- But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my
- adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the
- high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east
- of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached
- by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the
- mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search.
- Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in
- the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the
- light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch
- and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the
- brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the
- forecastle of an emigrant ship.
- ''
- Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying
- in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads
- thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a
- dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black
- shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright,
- now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of
- the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to
- themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low,
- monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then
- suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own
- thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At
- the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside
- which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old
- man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon
- his knees, staring into the fire.
- ''
- As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe
- for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth.
- ''
- '"Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend'
- of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him."
- ''
- There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and
- peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and
- unkempt, staring out at me.
- ''
- '"My God! It''s Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of'
- reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what
- o'clock is it?"
- ''
- '"Nearly eleven."'
- ''
- '"Of what day?"'
- ''
- '"Of Friday, June 19th."'
- ''
- '"Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What'
- d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his
- arms and began to sob in a high treble key.
- ''
- '"I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting'
- this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!"
- ''
- '"So I am. But you''ve got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here'
- a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll
- go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate.
- Give me your hand! Have you a cab?"
- ''
- '"Yes, I have one waiting."'
- ''
- '"Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I'
- owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself."
- ''
- I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of
- sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying
- fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed
- the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my
- skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look
- back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I
- glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my
- side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very
- wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between
- his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his
- fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my
- self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of
- astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him
- but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull
- eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and
- grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He
- made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he
- turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided
- into a doddering, loose-lipped senility.
- ''
- '"Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?"'
- ''
- '"As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you'
- would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend
- of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with
- you."
- ''
- '"I have a cab outside."'
- ''
- '"Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he'
- appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should
- recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to
- say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait
- outside, I shall be with you in five minutes."
- ''
- It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for
- they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with
- such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney
- was once confined in the cab my mission was practically
- accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better
- than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular
- adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a
- few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him
- out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a
- very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den,
- and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two
- streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot.
- Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and
- burst into a hearty fit of laughter.
- ''
- '"I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added'
- opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little
- weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical
- views."
- ''
- '"I was certainly surprised to find you there."'
- ''
- '"But not more so than I to find you."'
- ''
- '"I came to find a friend."'
- ''
- '"And I to find an enemy."'
- ''
- '"An enemy?"'
- ''
- '"Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural'
- prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable
- inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent
- ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been
- recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an
- hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own
- purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have
- vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that
- building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some
- strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless
- nights."
- ''
- '"What! You do not mean bodies?"'
- ''
- '"Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds'
- for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It
- is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that
- Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our
- trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his
- teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a
- similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle
- of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs.
- ''
- '"Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through'
- the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from
- its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?"
- ''
- '"If I can be of use."'
- ''
- '"Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still'
- more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one."
- ''
- '"The Cedars?"'
- ''
- '"Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair''s house. I am staying there while I'
- conduct the inquiry."
- ''
- '"Where is it, then?"'
- ''
- '"Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us."'
- ''
- '"But I am all in the dark."'
- ''
- '"Of course you are. You''ll know all about it presently. Jump up'
- here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a
- crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her
- head. So long, then!"
- ''
- He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through
- the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which
- widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad
- balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly
- beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and
- mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of
- the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of
- revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a
- star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of
- the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his
- breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat
- beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which
- seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in
- upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles,
- and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban
- villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up
- his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he
- is acting for the best.
- ''
- '"You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes'
- you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great
- thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are
- not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear
- little woman to-night when she meets me at the door."
- ''
- '"You forget that I know nothing about it."'
- ''
- '"I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before'
- we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can
- get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I
- can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case
- clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a
- spark where all is dark to me."
- ''
- '"Proceed, then."'
- ''
- '"Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee'
- a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have
- plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very
- nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made
- friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter
- of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no
- occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into
- town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon
- Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of
- age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very
- affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know
- him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far
- as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while
- he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and
- Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money
- troubles have been weighing upon his mind.
- ''
- '"Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier'
- than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important
- commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy
- home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife
- received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his
- departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable
- value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the
- offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up
- in your London, you will know that the office of the company is
- in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where
- you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for
- the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office,
- got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through
- Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me
- so far?"
- ''
- '"It is very clear."'
- ''
- '"If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St.'
- Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab,
- as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself.
- While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly
- heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her
- husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning
- to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she
- distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly
- agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then
- vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that
- he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind.
- One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that
- although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town
- in, he had on neither collar nor necktie.
- ''
- '"Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the'
- steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which
- you found me to-night--and running through the front room she
- attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At
- the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of
- whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who
- acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled
- with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the
- lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of
- constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The
- inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the
- continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to
- the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no
- sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was
- no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who,
- it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly
- swore that no one else had been in the front room during the
- afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was
- staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had
- been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box
- which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell
- a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had
- promised to bring home.
- ''
- '"This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple'
- showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious.
- The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an
- abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a
- sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon
- the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom
- window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered
- at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The
- bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On
- examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill,
- and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of
- the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were
- all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of
- his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were
- there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these
- garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St.
- Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no
- other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon
- the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by
- swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of
- the tragedy.
- ''
- '"And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately'
- implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the
- vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was
- known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few
- seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could
- hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence
- was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no
- knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he
- could not account in any way for the presence of the missing
- gentleman's clothes.
- ''
- '"So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who'
- lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was
- certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St.
- Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which
- is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a
- professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police
- regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some
- little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand
- side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the
- wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat,
- cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he
- is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the
- greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I
- have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of
- making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised
- at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His
- appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him
- without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face
- disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has
- turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a
- pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular
- contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid
- the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he
- is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be
- thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now
- learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been
- the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest."
- ''
- '"But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed'
- against a man in the prime of life?"
- ''
- '"He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in'
- other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man.
- Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that
- weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional
- strength in the others."
- ''
- '"Pray continue your narrative."'
- ''
- '"Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the'
- window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her
- presence could be of no help to them in their investigations.
- Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful
- examination of the premises, but without finding anything which
- threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not
- arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes
- during which he might have communicated with his friend the
- Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and
- searched, without anything being found which could incriminate
- him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right
- shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been
- cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from
- there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and
- that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from
- the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr.
- Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in
- his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to
- Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband
- at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or
- dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the
- police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in
- the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue.
- ''
- '"And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they'
- had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not
- Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And
- what do you think they found in the pockets?"
- ''
- '"I cannot imagine."'
- ''
- '"No, I don''t think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with'
- pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It
- was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a
- human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between
- the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the
- weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked
- away into the river."
- ''
- '"But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the'
- room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?"
- ''
- '"No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose'
- that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the
- window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed.
- What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him
- that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize
- the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it
- would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little
- time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried
- to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his
- Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street.
- There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret
- hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he
- stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the
- pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and
- would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard
- the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the
- window when the police appeared."
- ''
- '"It certainly sounds feasible."'
- ''
- '"Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a'
- better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the
- station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before
- been anything against him. He had for years been known as a
- professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very
- quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and
- the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was
- doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is
- he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are
- all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot
- recall any case within my experience which looked at the first
- glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties."
- ''
- While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of
- events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great
- town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and
- we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us.
- Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered
- villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows.
- ''
- '"We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have'
- touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in
- Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent.
- See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside
- that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have
- little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet."
- ''
- '"But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I'
- asked.
- ''
- '"Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here.'
- Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and
- you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for
- my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have
- no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!"
- ''
- We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its
- own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and
- springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding
- gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door
- flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad
- in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy
- pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure
- outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one
- half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head
- and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing
- question.
- ''
- '"Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two'
- of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw
- that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
- ''
- '"No good news?"'
- ''
- '"None."'
- ''
- '"No bad?"'
- ''
- '"No."'
- ''
- '"Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have'
- had a long day."
- ''
- '"This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to'
- me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it
- possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this
- investigation."
- ''
- '"I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly.'
- '"You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our'
- arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so
- suddenly upon us."
- ''
- '"My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were'
- not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of
- any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be
- indeed happy."
- ''
- '"Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a'
- well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had
- been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two
- plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain
- answer."
- ''
- '"Certainly, madam."'
- ''
- '"Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given'
- to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion."
- ''
- '"Upon what point?"'
- ''
- '"In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?"'
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question.
- '"Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking'
- keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair.
- ''
- '"Frankly, then, madam, I do not."'
- ''
- '"You think that he is dead?"'
- ''
- '"I do."'
- ''
- '"Murdered?"'
- ''
- '"I don''t say that. Perhaps."'
- ''
- '"And on what day did he meet his death?"'
- ''
- '"On Monday."'
- ''
- '"Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how'
- it is that I have received a letter from him to-day."
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been
- galvanised.
- ''
- '"What!" he roared.'
- ''
- '"Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of'
- paper in the air.
- ''
- '"May I see it?"'
- ''
- '"Certainly."'
- ''
- He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out
- upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I
- had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The
- envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend
- postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day
- before, for it was considerably after midnight.
- ''
- '"Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your'
- husband's writing, madam."
- ''
- '"No, but the enclosure is."'
- ''
- '"I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go'
- and inquire as to the address."
- ''
- '"How can you tell that?"'
- ''
- '"The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried'
- itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that
- blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight
- off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This
- man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before
- he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not
- familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is
- nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha!
- there has been an enclosure here!"
- ''
- '"Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring."'
- ''
- '"And you are sure that this is your husband''s hand?"'
- ''
- '"One of his hands."'
- ''
- '"One?"'
- ''
- '"His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual'
- writing, and yet I know it well."
- ''
- '"''Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a'
- huge error which it may take some little time to rectify.
- Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf
- of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in
- Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been
- gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been
- chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's
- hand, madam?"
- ''
- '"None. Neville wrote those words."'
- ''
- '"And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair,'
- the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the
- danger is over."
- ''
- '"But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes."'
- ''
- '"Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent.'
- The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from
- him."
- ''
- '"No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!"'
- ''
- '"Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only'
- posted to-day."
- ''
- '"That is possible."'
- ''
- '"If so, much may have happened between."'
- ''
- '"Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is'
- well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I
- should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him
- last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room
- rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that
- something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such
- a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?"
- ''
- '"I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman'
- may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical
- reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong
- piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband
- is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away
- from you?"
- ''
- '"I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable."'
- ''
- '"And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?"'
- ''
- '"No."'
- ''
- '"And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?"'
- ''
- '"Very much so."'
- ''
- '"Was the window open?"'
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"Then he might have called to you?"'
- ''
- '"He might."'
- ''
- '"He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?"'
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"A call for help, you thought?"'
- ''
- '"Yes. He waved his hands."'
- ''
- '"But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the'
- unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?"
- ''
- '"It is possible."'
- ''
- '"And you thought he was pulled back?"'
- ''
- '"He disappeared so suddenly."'
- ''
- '"He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the'
- room?"
- ''
- '"No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and'
- the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs."
- ''
- '"Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his'
- ordinary clothes on?"
- ''
- '"But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare'
- throat."
- ''
- '"Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?"'
- ''
- '"Never."'
- ''
- '"Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?"'
- ''
- '"Never."'
- ''
- '"Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about'
- which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little
- supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day
- to-morrow."
- ''
- A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our
- disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary
- after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however,
- who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for
- days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over,
- rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view
- until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his
- data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now
- preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and
- waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered
- about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from
- the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of
- Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with
- an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front
- of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an
- old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the
- corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him,
- silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set
- aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he
- sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found
- the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still
- between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was
- full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of
- shag which I had seen upon the previous night.
- ''
- '"Awake, Watson?" he asked.'
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"Game for a morning drive?"'
- ''
- '"Certainly."'
- ''
- '"Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the'
- stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He
- chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed
- a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night.
- ''
- As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one
- was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly
- finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was
- putting in the horse.
- ''
- '"I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his'
- boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the
- presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve
- to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the
- key of the affair now."
- ''
- '"And where is it?" I asked, smiling.'
- ''
- '"In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he'
- continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been
- there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this
- Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will
- not fit the lock."
- ''
- We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into
- the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and
- trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both
- sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country
- carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but
- the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as
- some city in a dream.
- ''
- '"It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes,'
- flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been
- as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than
- never to learn it at all."
- ''
- In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily
- from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey
- side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the
- river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the
- right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well
- known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted
- him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in.
- ''
- '"Who is on duty?" asked Holmes.'
- ''
- '"Inspector Bradstreet, sir."'
- ''
- '"Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come'
- down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged
- jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet."
- '"Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small,'
- office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a
- telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his
- desk.
- ''
- '"What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?"'
- ''
- '"I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged'
- with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St.
- Clair, of Lee."
- ''
- '"Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries."'
- ''
- '"So I heard. You have him here?"'
- ''
- '"In the cells."'
- ''
- '"Is he quiet?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel."'
- ''
- '"Dirty?"'
- ''
- '"Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his'
- face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been
- settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you
- saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it."
- ''
- '"I should like to see him very much."'
- ''
- '"Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave'
- your bag."
- ''
- '"No, I think that I''ll take it."'
- ''
- '"Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a'
- passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and
- brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each
- side.
- ''
- '"The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it'
- is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door
- and glanced through.
- ''
- '"He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well."'
- ''
- We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his
- face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and
- heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his
- calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his
- tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely
- dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its
- repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right
- across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up
- one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a
- perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over
- his eyes and forehead.
- ''
- '"He''s a beauty, isn''t he?" said the inspector.'
- ''
- '"He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that'
- he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me."
- He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my
- astonishment, a very large bath-sponge.
- ''
- '"He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector.'
- ''
- '"Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very'
- quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable
- figure."
- ''
- '"Well, I don''t know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn''t'
- look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his
- key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The
- sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep
- slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge,
- and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the
- prisoner's face.
- ''
- '"Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of'
- Lee, in the county of Kent."
- ''
- Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled
- off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the
- coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had
- seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the
- repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled
- red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale,
- sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned,
- rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment.
- Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and
- threw himself down with his face to the pillow.
- ''
- '"Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing'
- man. I know him from the photograph."
- ''
- The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons
- himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I
- charged with?"
- ''
- '"With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can''t be'
- charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of
- it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been
- twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake."
- ''
- '"If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime'
- has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally
- detained."
- ''
- '"No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said'
- Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife."
- ''
- '"It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner.'
- '"God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My'
- God! What an exposure! What can I do?"
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him
- kindly on the shoulder.
- ''
- '"If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said'
- he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand,
- if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible
- case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the
- details should find their way into the papers. Inspector
- Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you
- might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case
- would then never go into court at all."
- ''
- '"God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have'
- endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left
- my miserable secret as a family blot to my children.
- ''
- '"You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a'
- schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent
- education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and
- finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day
- my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the
- metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point
- from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying
- begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to
- base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the
- secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for
- my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my
- face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good
- scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a
- small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of
- hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business
- part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a
- beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned
- home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no
- less than 26s. 4d.
- ''
- '"I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until,'
- some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ
- served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get
- the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's
- grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers,
- and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In
- ten days I had the money and had paid the debt.
- ''
- '"Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous'
- work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in
- a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on
- the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my
- pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up
- reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first
- chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets
- with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a
- low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could
- every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings
- transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow,
- a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that
- my secret was safe in his possession.
- ''
- '"Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of'
- money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London
- could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average
- takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making
- up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by
- practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City.
- All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me,
- and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds.
- ''
- '"As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the'
- country, and eventually married, without anyone having a
- suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had
- business in the City. She little knew what.
- ''
- '"Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my'
- room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw,
- to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the
- street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of
- surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my
- confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from
- coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that
- she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on
- those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's
- eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it
- occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that
- the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening
- by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in
- the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was
- weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from
- the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of
- the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes
- would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of
- constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather,
- I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr.
- Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer.
- ''
- '"I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I'
- was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and
- hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would
- be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the
- Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together
- with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to
- fear."
- ''
- '"That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes.'
- ''
- '"Good God! What a week she must have spent!"'
- ''
- '"The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet,'
- '"and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to'
- post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor
- customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days."
- ''
- '"That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt'
- of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?"
- ''
- '"Many times; but what was a fine to me?"'
- ''
- '"It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are'
- to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone."
- ''
- '"I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take."'
- ''
- '"In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps'
- may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out.
- I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for
- having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your
- results."
- ''
- '"I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five'
- pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if
- we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast."
VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE:
- ''
- I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second
- morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the
- compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a
- purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the
- right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly
- studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and
- on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable
- hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several
- places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair
- suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the
- purpose of examination.
- ''
- '"You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you."'
- ''
- '"Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss'
- my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his
- thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in
- connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and
- even of instruction."
- ''
- I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his
- crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows
- were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that,
- homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to
- it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of
- some mystery and the punishment of some crime."
- ''
- '"No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of'
- those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have
- four million human beings all jostling each other within the
- space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so
- dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events
- may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be
- presented which may be striking and bizarre without being
- criminal. We have already had experience of such."
- ''
- '"So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I'
- have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any
- legal crime."
- ''
- '"Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler'
- papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the
- adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt
- that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category.
- You know Peterson, the commissionaire?"
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"It is to him that this trophy belongs."'
- ''
- '"It is his hat."'
- ''
- '"No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will'
- look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual
- problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon
- Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I
- have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's
- 'fire. The facts are these: about four o''clock on Christmas'
- morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was
- returning from some small jollification and was making his way
- homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in
- the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and
- carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the
- corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger
- and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the
- man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and,
- swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him.
- Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his
- assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and
- seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him,
- dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the
- labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham
- Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of
- Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of
- battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this
- battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose."
- ''
- '"Which surely he restored to their owner?"'
- ''
- '"My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that ''For'
- Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to
- the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H.
- B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are
- some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in
- this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any
- one of them."
- ''
- '"What, then, did Peterson do?"'
- ''
- '"He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning,'
- knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me.
- The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs
- that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it
- should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried
- it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose,
- while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who
- lost his Christmas dinner."
- ''
- '"Did he not advertise?"'
- ''
- '"No."'
- ''
- '"Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?"'
- ''
- '"Only as much as we can deduce."'
- ''
- '"From his hat?"'
- ''
- '"Precisely."'
- ''
- '"But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered'
- felt?"
- ''
- '"Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather'
- yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this
- article?"
- ''
- I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather
- ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round
- shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of
- red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's
- name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were
- scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a
- hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was
- cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places,
- although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the
- discoloured patches by smearing them with ink.
- ''
- '"I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend.'
- ''
- '"On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail,'
- however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in
- drawing your inferences."
- ''
- '"Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?"'
- ''
- He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective
- fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less
- suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there
- are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others
- which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That
- the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the
- face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the
- last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He
- had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a
- moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his
- fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink,
- at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that
- his wife has ceased to love him."
- ''
- '"My dear Holmes!"'
- ''
- '"He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he'
- continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a
- sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is
- middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the
- last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are
- the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also,
- by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid
- on in his house."
- ''
- '"You are certainly joking, Holmes."'
- ''
- '"Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you'
- these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?"
- ''
- '"I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I'
- am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that
- this man was intellectual?"
- ''
- For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right
- over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is
- a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a
- brain must have something in it."
- ''
- '"The decline of his fortunes, then?"'
- ''
- '"This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge'
- came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the
- band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could
- afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no
- hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world."
- ''
- '"Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the'
- foresight and the moral retrogression?"
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting
- his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer.
- '"They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a'
- sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his
- way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see
- that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace
- it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly,
- which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other
- hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the
- felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not
- entirely lost his self-respect."
- ''
- '"Your reasoning is certainly plausible."'
- ''
- '"The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is'
- grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses
- lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the
- lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of
- hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all
- appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of
- lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey
- dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house,
- showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while
- the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the
- wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in
- the best of training."
- ''
- '"But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him."'
- ''
- '"This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear'
- Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and
- when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear
- that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's
- affection."
- ''
- '"But he might be a bachelor."'
- ''
- '"Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his'
- wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg."
- ''
- '"You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce'
- that the gas is not laid on in his house?"
- ''
- '"One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I'
- see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt
- that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with
- burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in
- one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never
- got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?"
- ''
- '"Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as'
- you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm
- done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a
- waste of energy."
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew
- open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment
- with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with
- astonishment.
- ''
- '"The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped.'
- ''
- '"Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off'
- through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon
- the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face.
- ''
- '"See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out'
- his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly
- scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but
- of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric
- point in the dark hollow of his hand.
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said
- he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you
- have got?"
- ''
- '"A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though'
- it were putty."
- ''
- '"It''s more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone."'
- ''
- '"Not the Countess of Morcar''s blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated.'
- ''
- '"Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I'
- have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day
- lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be
- conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly
- not within a twentieth part of the market price."
- ''
- '"A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire'
- plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us.
- ''
- '"That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are'
- sentimental considerations in the background which would induce
- the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but
- recover the gem."
- ''
- '"It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I'
- remarked.
- ''
- '"Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner,'
- a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's
- jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case
- has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the
- matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers,
- glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out,
- 'doubled it over, and read the following paragraph:'
- ''
- '"Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was'
- brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst.,
- abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the
- valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder,
- upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect
- that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess
- of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might
- solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had
- remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been
- called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared,
- that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco
- casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was
- accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the
- dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was
- arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found
- either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to
- the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on
- discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room,
- where she found matters as described by the last witness.
- Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest
- of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence
- in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for
- robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate
- refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to
- the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion
- during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was
- carried out of court."
- ''
- '"Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully,'
- tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the
- sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to
- the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You
- see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much
- more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the
- stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry
- Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other
- characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set
- ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and
- ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To
- do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie
- undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If
- this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods."
- ''
- '"What will you say?"'
- ''
- '"Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: ''Found at'
- the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr.
- Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at
- 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise."
- ''
- '"Very. But will he see it?"'
- ''
- '"Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor'
- man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his
- mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson
- that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must
- have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his
- bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to
- see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to
- it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency
- and have this put in the evening papers."
- ''
- '"In which, sir?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James''s, Evening News,'
- Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you."
- ''
- '"Very well, sir. And this stone?"'
- ''
- '"Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say,'
- Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here
- with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place
- of the one which your family is now devouring."
- ''
- When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and
- held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just
- see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and
- focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet
- baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a
- bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found
- in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable
- in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is
- blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has
- already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a
- vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about
- for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal.
- Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the
- gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and
- drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it."
- ''
- '"Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?"'
- ''
- '"I cannot tell."'
- ''
- '"Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had'
- anything to do with the matter?"
- ''
- '"It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an'
- absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he
- was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made
- of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple
- test if we have an answer to our advertisement."
- ''
- '"And you can do nothing until then?"'
- ''
- '"Nothing."'
- ''
- '"In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall'
- come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I
- should like to see the solution of so tangled a business."
- ''
- '"Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I'
- believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I
- ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop."
- ''
- I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past
- six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I
- approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a
- coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the
- bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I
- arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to
- Holmes' room.
- ''
- '"Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair'
- and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he
- could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr.
- Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is
- more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have
- just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?"
- ''
- '"Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat."'
- ''
- He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a
- broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of
- grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight
- tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his
- habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in
- front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded
- from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a
- slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the
- impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had
- ill-usage at the hands of fortune.
- ''
- '"We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes,'
- '"because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your'
- address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise."
- ''
- Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not
- been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had
- no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off
- both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a
- hopeless attempt at recovering them."
- ''
- '"Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to'
- eat it."
- ''
- '"To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his'
- excitement.
- ''
- '"Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so.'
- But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is
- about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your
- purpose equally well?"
- ''
- '"Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of'
- relief.
- ''
- '"Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of'
- your own bird, so if you wish--"
- ''
- The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as
- relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly
- see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are
- going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I
- will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive
- upon the sideboard."
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug
- of his shoulders.
- ''
- '"There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the'
- way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one
- from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a
- better grown goose."
- ''
- '"Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly'
- gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who
- frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in
- the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our
- good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which,
- on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to
- receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the
- rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a
- Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With
- a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and
- strode off upon his way.
- ''
- '"So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the'
- door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing
- whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?"
- ''
- '"Not particularly."'
- ''
- '"Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow'
- up this clue while it is still hot."
- ''
- '"By all means."'
- ''
- It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped
- cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly
- in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out
- into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out
- crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter,
- Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into
- Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at
- the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one
- of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open
- the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from
- the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord.
- ''
- '"Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese,"'
- said he.
- ''
- '"My geese!" The man seemed surprised.'
- ''
- '"Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker,'
- who was a member of your goose club."
- ''
- '"Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them''s not our geese."'
- ''
- '"Indeed! Whose, then?"'
- ''
- '"Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden."'
- ''
- '"Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?"'
- ''
- '"Breckinridge is his name."'
- ''
- '"Ah! I don''t know him. Well, here''s your good health landlord,'
- and prosperity to your house. Good-night."
- ''
- '"Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat'
- as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though
- we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we
- have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal
- servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible
- that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we
- have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police,
- and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us
- follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and
- quick march!"
- ''
- We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a
- zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest
- stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor
- a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was
- helping a boy to put up the shutters.
- ''
- '"Good-evening. It''s a cold night," said Holmes.'
- ''
- The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my
- companion.
- ''
- '"Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the'
- bare slabs of marble.
- ''
- '"Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning."'
- ''
- '"That''s no good."'
- ''
- '"Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare."'
- ''
- '"Ah, but I was recommended to you."'
- ''
- '"Who by?"'
- ''
- '"The landlord of the Alpha."'
- ''
- '"Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen."'
- ''
- '"Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?"'
- ''
- To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the
- salesman.
- ''
- '"Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms'
- akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now."
- ''
- '"It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the'
- geese which you supplied to the Alpha."
- ''
- '"Well then, I shan''t tell you. So now!"'
- ''
- '"Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don''t know why you'
- should be so warm over such a trifle."
- ''
- '"Warm! You''d be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am.'
- When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end
- of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you
- sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One
- would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the
- fuss that is made over them."
- ''
- '"Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been'
- making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us
- the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my
- opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the
- bird I ate is country bred."
- ''
- '"Well, then, you''ve lost your fiver, for it''s town bred," snapped'
- the salesman.
- ''
- '"It''s nothing of the kind."'
- ''
- '"I say it is."'
- ''
- '"I don''t believe it."'
- ''
- '"D''you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled'
- them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that
- went to the Alpha were town bred."
- ''
- '"You''ll never persuade me to believe that."'
- ''
- '"Will you bet, then?"'
- ''
- '"It''s merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But'
- I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be
- obstinate."
- ''
- The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said
- he.
- ''
- The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great
- greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging
- lamp.
- ''
- '"Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I'
- was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is
- still one left in my shop. You see this little book?"
- ''
- '"Well?"'
- ''
- '"That''s the list of the folk from whom I buy. D''you see? Well,'
- then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers
- after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger.
- Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a
- list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just
- read it out to me."
- ''
- '"Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes.'
- ''
- '"Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger."'
- ''
- Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs.
- Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'"
- ''
- '"Now, then, what''s the last entry?"'
- ''
- '"''December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.''"'
- ''
- '"Quite so. There you are. And underneath?"'
- ''
- '"''Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.''"'
- ''
- '"What have you to say now?"'
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from
- his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the
- air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off
- he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless
- fashion which was peculiar to him.
- ''
- '"When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the ''Pink ''un'''
- protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet,"
- said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of
- him, that man would not have given me such complete information
- as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a
- wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our
- quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is
- whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or
- whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what
- that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves
- who are anxious about the matter, and I should--"
- ''
- His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke
- out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a
- little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of
- yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while
- Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was
- shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure.
- ''
- '"I''ve had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you'
- were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more
- with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs.
- Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with
- it? Did I buy the geese off you?"
- ''
- '"No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little'
- man.
- ''
- '"Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it."'
- ''
- '"She told me to ask you."'
- ''
- '"Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I''ve had'
- enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and
- the inquirer flitted away into the darkness.
- ''
- '"Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes.'
- '"Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this'
- fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who
- lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook
- the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang
- round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of
- colour had been driven from his face.
- ''
- '"Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering'
- voice.
- ''
- '"You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help'
- overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now.
- I think that I could be of assistance to you."
- ''
- '"You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?"'
- ''
- '"My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other'
- people don't know."
- ''
- '"But you can know nothing of this?"'
- ''
- '"Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to'
- trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton
- Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr.
- Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr.
- Henry Baker is a member."
- ''
- '"Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried'
- the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers.
- '"I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter."'
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that
- case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this
- wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we
- go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting."
- ''
- The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he
- answered with a sidelong glance.
- ''
- '"No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always'
- awkward doing business with an alias."
- ''
- A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then,"
- said he, "my real name is James Ryder."
- ''
- '"Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray'
- step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you
- everything which you would wish to know."
- ''
- The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with
- half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure
- whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe.
- Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in
- the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during
- our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and
- the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous
- tension within him.
- ''
- '"Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room.'
- '"The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold,'
- Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my
- slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then!
- You want to know what became of those geese?"
- ''
- '"Yes, sir."'
- ''
- '"Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in'
- which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the
- tail."
- ''
- Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell
- me where it went to?"
- ''
- '"It came here."'
- ''
- '"Here?"'
- ''
- '"Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don''t wonder that'
- you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was
- dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen.
- I have it here in my museum."
- ''
- Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece
- with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up
- the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold,
- brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a
- drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it.
- ''
- '"The game''s up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or'
- you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair,
- Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with
- impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little
- more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!"
- ''
- For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy
- brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring
- with frightened eyes at his accuser.
- ''
- '"I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I'
- could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me.
- Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case
- complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the
- Countess of Morcar's?"
- ''
- '"It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a'
- crackling voice.
- ''
- '"I see--her ladyship''s waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of'
- sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has
- been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous
- in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the
- making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man
- Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter
- before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him.
- What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's
- room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he
- should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled
- the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man
- arrested. You then--"
- ''
- Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my
- companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked.
- '"Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I'
- never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll
- swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's
- sake, don't!"
- ''
- '"Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well'
- to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this
- poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing."
- ''
- '"I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the'
- charge against him will break down."
- ''
- '"Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account'
- of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came
- the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies
- your only hope of safety."
- ''
- Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you
- it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been
- arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get
- away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment
- the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my
- room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe.
- I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's
- house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton
- Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there
- every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective;
- and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down
- my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me
- what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I
- had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went
- into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would
- be best to do.
- ''
- '"I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and'
- has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met
- me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they
- could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to
- me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind
- to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my
- confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money.
- But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had
- gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be
- seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat
- pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at
- the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly
- an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the
- best detective that ever lived.
- ''
- '"My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the'
- pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she
- was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in
- it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in
- the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big
- one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill
- open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger
- could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass
- along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped
- and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the
- matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and
- fluttered off among the others.
- ''
- '"''Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?'' says she.'
- ''
- '"''Well,'' said I, ''you said you''d give me one for Christmas, and I'
- was feeling which was the fattest.'
- ''
- '"''Oh,'' says she, ''we''ve set yours aside for you--Jem''s bird, we'
- call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six
- of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen
- for the market.'
- ''
- '"''Thank you, Maggie,'' says I; ''but if it is all the same to you,'
- I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.'
- ''
- '"''The other is a good three pound heavier,'' said she, ''and we'
- fattened it expressly for you.'
- ''
- '"''Never mind. I''ll have the other, and I''ll take it now,'' said I.'
- ''
- '"''Oh, just as you like,'' said she, a little huffed. ''Which is it'
- you want, then?'
- ''
- '"''That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the'
- flock.'
- ''
- '"''Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.'''
- ''
- '"Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird'
- all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was
- a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed
- until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My
- heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I
- knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird,
- rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There
- was not a bird to be seen there.
- ''
- '"''Where are they all, Maggie?'' I cried.'
- ''
- '"''Gone to the dealer''s, Jem.'''
- ''
- '"''Which dealer''s?'''
- ''
- '"''Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.'''
- ''
- '"''But was there another with a barred tail?'' I asked, ''the same'
- as the one I chose?'
- ''
- '"''Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never'
- tell them apart.'
- ''
- '"Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my'
- feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the
- lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they
- had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always
- answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad.
- Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself
- a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which
- I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into
- convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands.
- ''
- There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and
- by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the
- edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door.
- ''
- '"Get out!" said he.'
- ''
- '"What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!"'
- ''
- '"No more words. Get out!"'
- ''
- And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon
- the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running
- footfalls from the street.
- ''
- '"After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his'
- clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their
- deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing;
- but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must
- collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just
- possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong
- again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and
- you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of
- forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and
- whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you
- will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin
- another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief
- feature."
VIII. 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 widespread rumours 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
- mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I
- blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little
- resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits.
- ''
- '"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 grey, with restless
- frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features
- and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot
- with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard.
- Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick,
- all-comprehensive glances.
- ''
- '"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 stepfather, who'
- is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in
- England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of
- Surrey."
- ''
- 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 stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to
- the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which
- enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta,
- where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he
- established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused
- by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he
- beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital
- sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and
- afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man.
- ''
- '"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 pounds 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 stepfather about this time.'
- Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our
- neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of
- Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in
- his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious
- quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper
- approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the
- family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been
- intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of
- disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the
- police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village,
- and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of
- immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.
- ''
- '"Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a'
- stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I
- could gather together that I was able to avert another public
- exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies,
- and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few
- acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate,
- and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents,
- wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a
- passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a
- correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon,
- which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the
- villagers almost as much as their master.
- ''
- '"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
- stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and
- offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of
- the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event
- occurred which has deprived me of my only companion."
- ''
- 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 anyone 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 gipsies 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
- recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out
- in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was
- the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she
- would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the
- air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion
- seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for
- my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his
- dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was
- unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent
- for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for
- she slowly sank and died without having recovered her
- consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister."
- ''
- '"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 match-box."
- ''
- '"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 gipsies 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 gipsies in the plantation. I do not
- know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear
- over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which
- she used."
- ''
- 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 honour to ask
- my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the
- second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My
- stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to
- be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs
- were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom
- wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the
- chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in
- which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last
- night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I
- suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which
- had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the
- lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to
- go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was
- daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which
- is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on
- this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your
- advice."
- ''
- '"You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me'
- all?"
- ''
- '"Yes, all."'
- ''
- '"Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather."'
- ''
- '"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 coloured 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
- stepfather?"
- ''
- '"As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some'
- most important business. It is probable that he will be away all
- day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a
- housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily
- get her out of the way."
- ''
- '"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 gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor,
- the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has
- an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying
- allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner
- heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of
- those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its
- place, I think that there is good ground to think that the
- mystery may be cleared along those lines."
- ''
- '"But what, then, did the gipsies 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 stepdaughter 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 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural
- prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an
- income of 250 pounds, 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 wayside hedges were just throwing out
- their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant
- smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange
- contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this
- sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in
- the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over
- his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the
- deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the
- shoulder, and pointed over the meadows.
- ''
- '"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 grey 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 someone'
- more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself
- up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to
- your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our
- time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to
- examine."
- ''
- The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high
- central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab,
- thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were
- broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly
- caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little
- better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern,
- and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up
- from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided.
- Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the
- stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any
- workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and
- down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the
- outsides of the windows.
- ''
- '"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 anyone 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, endeavoured in every way to force the
- shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through
- which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his
- lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built
- firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his
- chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some
- difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were
- bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon
- the matter."
- ''
- A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which
- the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third
- chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss
- Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her
- fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a
- gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A
- brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow
- white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the
- left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small
- wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save
- for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and
- the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old
- and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building
- of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat
- silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down,
- taking in every detail of the apartment.
- ''
- '"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 housekeeper''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
- armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a
- round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things
- which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each
- and all of them with the keenest interest.
- ''
- '"What''s in here?" he asked, tapping the safe.'
- ''
- '"My stepfather''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
- daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He
- squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat
- of it with the greatest attention.
- ''
- '"Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting'
- his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! 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 whipcord.
- ''
- '"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 stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him
- retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window,
- undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then
- withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want
- into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in
- spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night."
- ''
- '"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."
- ''
- '"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--or 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' 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 catlike whine, which told us that
- the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the
- deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of
- an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and
- one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for
- whatever might befall.
- ''
- Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the
- direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was
- succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal.
- Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle
- sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the
- smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears.
- Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle,
- soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping
- continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes
- sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with
- his cane at the bell-pull.
- ''
- '"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 grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding
- beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers.
- Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we
- had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his
- eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the
- ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with
- brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his
- head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion.
- ''
- '"The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes.'
- ''
- I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began
- to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat
- diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent.
- ''
- '"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 gipsies, and the use of
- the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to
- explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of
- by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an
- entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly
- reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me
- that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not
- come either from the window or the door. My attention was
- speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this
- ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The
- discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to
- the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was
- there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and
- coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me,
- and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was
- furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I
- was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of
- poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical
- test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless
- man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such
- a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be
- an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could
- distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where
- the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the
- whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning
- light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by
- the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned.
- He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he
- thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the
- rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the
- occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but
- sooner or later she must fall a victim.
- ''
- '"I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his'
- room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in
- the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary
- in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the
- safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to
- finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic
- clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather
- hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant.
- Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in
- order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss
- as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the
- light and attacked it."
- ''
- '"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."
IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB:
- ''
- Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr.
- Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy,
- there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his
- notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel
- Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a
- finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was
- so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that
- it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it
- gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of
- reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story
- has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but,
- like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when
- set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the
- facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears
- gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads
- on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a
- deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly
- served to weaken the effect.
- ''
- It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the
- events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned
- to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker
- Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally
- even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come
- and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I
- happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington
- Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of
- these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was
- never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send
- me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence.
- ''
- One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by
- the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come
- from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I
- dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases
- were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my
- old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door
- tightly behind him.
- ''
- '"I''ve got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his'
- shoulder; "he's all right."
- ''
- '"What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was'
- some strange creature which he had caged up in my room.
- ''
- '"It''s a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I''d bring him'
- round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe
- and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the
- same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even
- giving me time to thank him.
- ''
- I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the
- table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a
- soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of
- his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all
- over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than
- five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but
- he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who
- was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his
- strength of mind to control.
- ''
- '"I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I'
- have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by
- train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I
- might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me
- here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon
- the side-table."
- ''
- I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic
- engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name,
- style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have
- kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You
- are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself
- a monotonous occupation."
- ''
- '"Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and'
- laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note,
- leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical
- instincts rose up against that laugh.
- ''
- '"Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out'
- some water from a caraffe.
- ''
- It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical
- outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis
- is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very
- weary and pale-looking.
- ''
- '"I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped.'
- ''
- '"Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water,'
- and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks.
- ''
- '"That''s better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would'
- kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb
- used to be."
- ''
- He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even
- my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four
- protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the
- thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from
- the roots.
- ''
- '"Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have'
- bled considerably."
- ''
- '"Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must'
- have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that
- it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very
- tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig."
- ''
- '"Excellent! You should have been a surgeon."'
- ''
- '"It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own'
- province."
- ''
- '"This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very'
- heavy and sharp instrument."
- ''
- '"A thing like a cleaver," said he.'
- ''
- '"An accident, I presume?"'
- ''
- '"By no means."'
- ''
- '"What! a murderous attack?"'
- ''
- '"Very murderous indeed."'
- ''
- '"You horrify me."'
- ''
- I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered
- it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back
- without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time.
- ''
- '"How is that?" I asked when I had finished.'
- ''
- '"Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man.'
- I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through."
- ''
- '"Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently'
- trying to your nerves."
- ''
- '"Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police;'
- but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing
- evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they
- believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I
- have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and,
- even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so
- vague that it is a question whether justice will be done."
- ''
- '"Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem'
- which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you
- to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the
- official police."
- ''
- '"Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I'
- should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of
- course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me
- an introduction to him?"
- ''
- '"I''ll do better. I''ll take you round to him myself."'
- ''
- '"I should be immensely obliged to you."'
- ''
- '"We''ll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to'
- have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?"
- ''
- '"Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story."'
- ''
- '"Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an'
- instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my
- wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my
- new acquaintance to Baker Street.
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his
- sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The
- Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed
- of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day
- before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the
- mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion,
- ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal.
- When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the
- sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of
- brandy and water within his reach.
- ''
- '"It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one,'
- Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself
- absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are
- tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant."
- ''
- '"Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since'
- the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has
- completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable
- time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar
- experiences."
- ''
- Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded
- expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat
- opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story
- which our visitor detailed to us.
- ''
- '"You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor,'
- residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a
- hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my
- work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner &
- Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago,
- having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of
- money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in
- business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria
- Street.
- ''
- '"I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in'
- business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so.
- During two years I have had three consultations and one small
- job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought
- me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from
- nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my
- little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to
- believe that I should never have any practice at all.
- ''
- '"Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the'
- office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who
- wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with
- the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at
- his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle
- size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have
- ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose
- and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over
- his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his
- natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his
- step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly
- dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than
- thirty.
- ''
- '"''Mr. Hatherley?'' said he, with something of a German accent.'
- '''You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man'
- who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet
- and capable of preserving a secret.'
- ''
- '"I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an'
- address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?'
- ''
- '"''Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just'
- at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both
- an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.'
- ''
- '"''That is quite correct,'' I answered; ''but you will excuse me if'
- I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional
- qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter
- that you wished to speak to me?'
- ''
- '"''Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to'
- the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute
- secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and
- of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than
- from one who lives in the bosom of his family.'
- ''
- '"''If I promise to keep a secret,'' said I, ''you may absolutely'
- depend upon my doing so.'
- ''
- '"He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I'
- had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye.
- ''
- '"''Do you promise, then?'' said he at last.'
- ''
- '"''Yes, I promise.'''
- ''
- '"''Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No'
- reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?'
- ''
- '"''I have already given you my word.'''
- ''
- '"''Very good.'' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning'
- across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was
- empty.
- ''
- '"''That''s all right,'' said he, coming back. ''I know that clerks are'
- sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk
- in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to
- stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look.
- ''
- '"A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun'
- to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man.
- Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from
- showing my impatience.
- ''
- '"''I beg that you will state your business, sir,'' said I; ''my time'
- is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the
- words came to my lips.
- ''
- '"''How would fifty guineas for a night''s work suit you?'' he asked.'
- ''
- '"''Most admirably.'''
- ''
- '"''I say a night''s work, but an hour''s would be nearer the mark. I'
- simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which
- has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon
- set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as
- that?'
- ''
- '"''The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.'''
- ''
- '"''Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last'
- train.'
- ''
- '"''Where to?'''
- ''
- '"''To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders'
- of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a
- train from Paddington which would bring you there at about
- 11:15.'
- ''
- '"''Very good.'''
- ''
- '"''I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.'''
- ''
- '"''There is a drive, then?'''
- ''
- '"''Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good'
- seven miles from Eyford Station.'
- ''
- '"''Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there'
- would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop
- the night.'
- ''
- '"''Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.'''
- ''
- '"''That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient'
- hour?'
- ''
- '"''We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to'
- recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a
- young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the
- very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would
- like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do
- so.'
- ''
- '"I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they'
- would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to
- accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to
- understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to
- do.'
- ''
- '"''Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which'
- we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I
- have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all
- laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from
- eavesdroppers?'
- ''
- '"''Entirely.'''
- ''
- '"''Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that'
- fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found
- in one or two places in England?'
- ''
- '"''I have heard so.'''
- ''
- '"''Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small'
- place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to
- discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my
- fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a
- comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two
- very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them,
- however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were
- absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was
- quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my
- interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value,
- but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I
- took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they
- suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little
- deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would
- enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been
- doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we
- erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already
- explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the
- subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it
- once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our
- little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts
- came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these
- fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you
- promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are
- going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?'
- ''
- '"''I quite follow you,'' said I. ''The only point which I could not'
- quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press
- in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out
- like gravel from a pit.'
- ''
- '"''Ah!'' said he carelessly, ''we have our own process. We compress'
- the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing
- what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully
- into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I
- trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at
- Eyford at 11:15.'
- ''
- '"''I shall certainly be there.'''
- ''
- '"''And not a word to a soul.'' He looked at me with a last long,'
- questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank
- grasp, he hurried from the room.
- ''
- '"Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very'
- much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission
- which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was
- glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked
- had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that
- this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face
- and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon
- me, and I could not think that his explanation of the
- fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my
- coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell
- anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate
- a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having
- obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue.
- ''
- '"At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station.'
- However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I
- reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the
- only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the
- platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed
- out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of
- the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a
- word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door
- of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either
- side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the
- horse could go."
- ''
- '"One horse?" interjected Holmes.'
- ''
- '"Yes, only one."'
- ''
- '"Did you observe the colour?"'
- ''
- '"Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the'
- carriage. It was a chestnut."
- ''
- '"Tired-looking or fresh?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, fresh and glossy."'
- ''
- '"Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue'
- your most interesting statement."
- ''
- '"Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel'
- Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I
- should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the
- time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat
- at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than
- once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me
- with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good
- in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I
- tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we
- were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out
- nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now
- and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the
- journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the
- conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the
- road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive,
- and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang
- out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch
- which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of
- the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the
- most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that
- I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us,
- and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage
- drove away.
- ''
- '"It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled'
- about looking for matches and muttering under his breath.
- Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a
- long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew
- broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she
- held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us.
- I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which
- the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich
- material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as
- though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a
- gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly
- fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered
- something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room
- from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the
- lamp in his hand.
- ''
- '"''Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a'
- few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a
- quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the
- centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel
- Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the
- door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and
- vanished into the darkness.
- ''
- '"I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my'
- ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises
- on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked
- across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of
- the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded
- across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old
- clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise
- everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began
- to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were
- they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And
- where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was
- all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no
- idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns,
- were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded,
- after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness,
- that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room,
- humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling
- that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee.
- ''
- '"Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the'
- utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman
- was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind
- her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and
- beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with
- fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one
- shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few
- whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back,
- like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her.
- ''
- '"''I would go,'' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to'
- speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no
- good for you to do.'
- ''
- '"''But, madam,'' said I, ''I have not yet done what I came for. I'
- cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.'
- ''
- '"''It is not worth your while to wait,'' she went on. ''You can pass'
- through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled
- and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and
- made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love
- of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too
- late!'
- ''
- '"But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to'
- engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I
- thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of
- the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to
- go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried
- out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This
- woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout
- bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I
- cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention
- of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties
- when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps
- was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up
- her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and
- as noiselessly as she had come.
- ''
- '"The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man'
- with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double
- chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson.
- ''
- '"''This is my secretary and manager,'' said the colonel. ''By the'
- way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just
- now. I fear that you have felt the draught.'
- ''
- '"''On the contrary,'' said I, ''I opened the door myself because I'
- felt the room to be a little close.'
- ''
- '"He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. ''Perhaps we had'
- better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I
- will take you up to see the machine.'
- ''
- '"''I had better put my hat on, I suppose.'''
- ''
- '"''Oh, no, it is in the house.'''
- ''
- '"''What, you dig fuller''s-earth in the house?'''
- ''
- '"''No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that.'
- All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us
- know what is wrong with it.'
- ''
- '"We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the'
- fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house,
- with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little
- low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the
- generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no
- signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster
- was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in
- green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an
- air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the
- lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon
- my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent
- man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at
- least a fellow-countryman.
- ''
- '"Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which'
- he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three
- of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside,
- and the colonel ushered me in.
- ''
- '"''We are now,'' said he, ''actually within the hydraulic press, and'
- it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were
- to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the
- end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of
- many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns
- of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and
- multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine
- goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working
- of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will
- have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set
- it right.'
- ''
- '"I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very'
- thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of
- exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and
- pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by
- the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed
- a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An
- examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was
- round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to
- fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause
- of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who
- followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical
- questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I
- had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the
- machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity.
- It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth
- was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose
- that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a
- purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a
- large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a
- crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was
- scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a
- muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the
- colonel looking down at me.
- ''
- '"''What are you doing there?'' he asked.'
- ''
- '"I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as'
- that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,'
- said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to
- your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it
- was used.'
- ''
- '"The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of'
- my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in
- his grey eyes.
- ''
- '"''Very well,'' said he, ''you shall know all about the machine.'' He'
- took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key
- in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it
- was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and
- shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!'
- ''
- '"And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my'
- heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish
- of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp
- still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining
- the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming
- down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than
- myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a
- shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and
- dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let
- me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my
- cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with
- my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it
- flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend
- very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my
- face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to
- think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and
- yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black
- shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand
- erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope
- back to my heart.
- ''
- '"I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the'
- walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw
- a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which
- broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For
- an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door
- which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself
- through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had
- closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few
- moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me
- how narrow had been my escape.
- ''
- '"I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and'
- I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor,
- while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand,
- while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend
- whose warning I had so foolishly rejected.
- ''
- '"''Come! come!'' she cried breathlessly. ''They will be here in a'
- moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste
- the so-precious time, but come!'
- ''
- '"This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to'
- my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding
- stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we
- reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of
- two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which  we
- were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about
- her like one  who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door
- which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon
- was shining brightly.
- ''
- '"''It is your only chance,'' said she. ''It is high, but it may be'
- that you can jump it.'
- ''
- '"As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the'
- passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark
- rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a
- butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom,
- flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and
- wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be
- more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I
- hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between
- my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used,
- then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance.
- The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at
- the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round
- him and tried to hold him back.
- ''
- '"''Fritz! Fritz!'' she cried in English, ''remember your promise'
- after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be
- silent! Oh, he will be silent!'
- ''
- '"''You are mad, Elise!'' he shouted, struggling to break away from'
- her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me
- pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the
- window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and
- was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was
- conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the
- garden below.
- ''
- '"I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and'
- rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I
- understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly,
- however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me.
- I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and
- then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and
- that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my
- handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my
- ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the
- rose-bushes.
- ''
- '"How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been'
- a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was
- breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with
- dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded
- thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the
- particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with
- the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But
- to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house
- nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the
- hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a
- long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the
- very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were
- it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed
- during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream.
- ''
- '"Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning'
- train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The
- same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I
- arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel
- Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a
- carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was
- there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three
- miles off.
- ''
- '"It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined'
- to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the
- police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first
- to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to
- bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do
- exactly what you advise."
- ''
- We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to
- this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down
- from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he
- placed his cuttings.
- ''
- '"Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It'
- 'appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this:'
- '''Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged'
- twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten
- o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was
- dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that
- the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy."
- ''
- '"Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the'
- girl said."
- ''
- '"Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and'
- desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should
- stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out
- pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well,
- every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall
- go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for
- Eyford."
- ''
- Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train
- together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village.
- There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector
- Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself.
- Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the
- seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford
- for its centre.
- ''
- '"There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of'
- ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere
- near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir."
- ''
- '"It was an hour''s good drive."'
- ''
- '"And you think that they brought you back all that way when you'
- were unconscious?"
- ''
- '"They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having'
- been lifted and conveyed somewhere."
- ''
- '"What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have'
- spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden.
- Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties."
- ''
- '"I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face'
- in my life."
- ''
- '"Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I'
- have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon
- it the folk that we are in search of are to be found."
- ''
- '"I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly.'
- ''
- '"Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your'
- opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is
- south, for the country is more deserted there."
- ''
- '"And I say east," said my patient.'
- ''
- '"I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are'
- several quiet little villages up there."
- ''
- '"And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there,'
- and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up
- any."
- ''
- '"Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it''s a very pretty'
- diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do
- you give your casting vote to?"
- ''
- '"You are all wrong."'
- ''
- '"But we can''t all be."'
- ''
- '"Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the'
- centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them."
- ''
- '"But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley.'
- ''
- '"Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the'
- horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that
- if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?"
- ''
- '"Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet'
- thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature
- of this gang."
- ''
- '"None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale,'
- and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the
- place of silver."
- ''
- '"We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work,"'
- said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by
- the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could
- get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that
- showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this
- lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough."
- ''
- But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not
- destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into
- Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed
- up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and
- hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape.
- ''
- '"A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off'
- again on its way.
- ''
- '"Yes, sir!" said the station-master.'
- ''
- '"When did it break out?"'
- ''
- '"I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse,'
- and the whole place is in a blaze."
- ''
- '"Whose house is it?"'
- ''
- '"Dr. Becher''s."'
- ''
- '"Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very'
- thin, with a long, sharp nose?"
- ''
- The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an
- Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a
- better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him,
- a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as
- if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm."
- ''
- The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all
- hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low
- hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in
- front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in
- the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to
- keep the flames under.
- ''
- '"That''s it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is'
- the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That
- second window is the one that I jumped from."
- ''
- '"Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon'
- them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which,
- when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls,
- though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to
- observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for
- your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are
- a good hundred miles off by now."
- ''
- And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this
- no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the
- sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a
- peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very
- bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but
- there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes'
- ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their
- whereabouts.
- ''
- The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements
- which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a
- newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor.
- About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and
- they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in,
- and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save
- some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of
- the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so
- dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored
- in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have
- explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been
- already referred to.
- ''
- How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to
- the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained
- forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a
- very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two
- persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other
- unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the
- silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his
- companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out
- of the way of danger.
- ''
- '"Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return'
- once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I
- have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what
- have I gained?"
- ''
- '"Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of'
- value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the
- reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your
- existence."
X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR:
- ''
- The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have
- long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles
- in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have
- eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the
- gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to
- believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to
- the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a
- considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no
- memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of
- this remarkable episode.
- ''
- It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I
- was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came
- home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table
- waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather
- had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and
- the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as
- a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence.
- With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had
- surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last,
- saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and
- lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the
- envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's
- noble correspondent could be.
- ''
- '"Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered.'
- '"Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a'
- fish-monger and a tide-waiter."
- ''
- '"Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he'
- answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more
- interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social
- summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie."
- ''
- He broke the seal and glanced over the contents.
- ''
- '"Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all."'
- ''
- '"Not social, then?"'
- ''
- '"No, distinctly professional."'
- ''
- '"And from a noble client?"'
- ''
- '"One of the highest in England."'
- ''
- '"My dear fellow, I congratulate you."'
- ''
- '"I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my'
- client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his
- case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be
- wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the
- papers diligently of late, have you not?"
- ''
- '"It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in'
- the corner. "I have had nothing else to do."
- ''
- '"It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I'
- read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The
- latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent
- events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his
- wedding?"
- ''
- '"Oh, yes, with the deepest interest."'
- ''
- '"That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord'
- St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn
- over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter.
- 'This is what he says:'
- ''
- '"''MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I'
- may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I
- have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you
- in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in
- connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is
- acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no
- objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that
- it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in
- the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that
- time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of
- paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.'
- ''
- '"It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen,'
- and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink
- upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes
- as he folded up the epistle.
- ''
- '"He says four o''clock. It is three now. He will be here in an'
- hour."
- ''
- '"Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon'
- the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in
- their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client
- is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of
- reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting
- down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham
- 'de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.'' Hum! ''Arms:'
- Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.'
- He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was
- Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The
- Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
- They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on
- the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in
- all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something
- more solid."
- ''
- '"I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I,'
- '"for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as'
- remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew
- that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the
- intrusion of other matters."
- ''
- '"Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square'
- furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it
- was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your
- newspaper selections."
- ''
- '"Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal'
- column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks
- 'back: ''A marriage has been arranged,'' it says, ''and will, if'
- rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert
- St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty
- Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San
- Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all."
- ''
- '"Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long,'
- thin legs towards the fire.
- ''
- '"There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society'
- 'papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: ''There will soon be a'
- call for protection in the marriage market, for the present
- free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home
- product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great
- Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across
- the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last
- week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by
- these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself
- for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has
- now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty
- Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss
- Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much
- attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child,
- and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to
- considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the
- future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has
- been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years,
- and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small
- estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress
- is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to
- make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a
- British peeress.'"
- ''
- '"Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning.'
- ''
- '"Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post'
- to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it
- would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen
- intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would
- return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been
- taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on
- Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had
- taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord
- Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices
- which appeared before the disappearance of the bride."
- ''
- '"Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start.'
- ''
- '"The vanishing of the lady."'
- ''
- '"When did she vanish, then?"'
- ''
- '"At the wedding breakfast."'
- ''
- '"Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite'
- dramatic, in fact."
- ''
- '"Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common."'
- ''
- '"They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during'
- the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt
- as this. Pray let me have the details."
- ''
- '"I warn you that they are very incomplete."'
- ''
- '"Perhaps we may make them less so."'
- ''
- '"Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a'
- morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is
- 'headed, ''Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding'':'
- ''
- '"''The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the'
- greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which
- have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as
- shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the
- previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to
- confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently
- floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush
- the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it
- that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what
- is a common subject for conversation.
- ''
- '"''The ceremony, which was performed at St. George''s, Hanover'
- Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the
- father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral,
- Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the
- younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia
- Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of
- Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been
- prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a
- woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to
- force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging
- that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a
- painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler
- and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house
- before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast
- with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and
- retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some
- comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that
- she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an
- ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the
- footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus
- apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress,
- believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his
- daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with
- the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with
- the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which
- will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very
- singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing
- had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There
- are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the
- police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the
- original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some
- other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange
- disappearance of the bride.'"
- ''
- '"And is that all?"'
- ''
- '"Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is'
- a suggestive one."
- ''
- '"And it is--"'
- ''
- '"That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance,'
- has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a
- danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom
- for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole
- case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the
- public press."
- ''
- '"And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would'
- not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell,
- Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I
- have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not
- dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness,
- if only as a check to my own memory."
- ''
- '"Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open'
- the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face,
- high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about
- the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose
- pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His
- manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue
- impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little
- bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off
- his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin
- upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of
- foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat,
- yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters.
- He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to
- right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his
- golden eyeglasses.
- ''
- '"Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray'
- take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr.
- Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this
- matter over."
- ''
- '"A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine,'
- Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you
- have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir,
- though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of
- society."
- ''
- '"No, I am descending."'
- ''
- '"I beg pardon."'
- ''
- '"My last client of the sort was a king."'
- ''
- '"Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?"'
- ''
- '"The King of Scandinavia."'
- ''
- '"What! Had he lost his wife?"'
- ''
- '"You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the'
- affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to
- you in yours."
- ''
- '"Of course! Very right! very right! I''m sure I beg pardon. As to'
- my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may
- assist you in forming an opinion."
- ''
- '"Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public'
- prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this
- article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride."
- ''
- Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it
- goes."
- ''
- '"But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could'
- offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most
- directly by questioning you."
- ''
- '"Pray do so."'
- ''
- '"When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?"'
- ''
- '"In San Francisco, a year ago."'
- ''
- '"You were travelling in the States?"'
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"Did you become engaged then?"'
- ''
- '"No."'
- ''
- '"But you were on a friendly footing?"'
- ''
- '"I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was'
- amused."
- ''
- '"Her father is very rich?"'
- ''
- '"He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope."'
- ''
- '"And how did he make his money?"'
- ''
- '"In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold,'
- invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds."
- ''
- '"Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady''s--your'
- wife's character?"
- ''
- The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down
- into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was
- twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she
- ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or
- mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than
- from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy,
- with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of
- traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She
- is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her
- resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the
- name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately
- cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I
- believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that
- anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her."
- ''
- '"Have you her photograph?"'
- ''
- '"I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the'
- full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an
- ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect
- of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the
- exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he
- closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon.
- ''
- '"The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your'
- acquaintance?"
- ''
- '"Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I'
- met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now
- married her."
- ''
- '"She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?"'
- ''
- '"A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family."'
- ''
- '"And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a'
- fait accompli?"
- ''
- '"I really have made no inquiries on the subject."'
- ''
- '"Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the'
- wedding?"
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"Was she in good spirits?"'
- ''
- '"Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our'
- future lives."
- ''
- '"Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the'
- wedding?"
- ''
- '"She was as bright as possible--at least until after the'
- ceremony."
- ''
- '"And did you observe any change in her then?"'
- ''
- '"Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had'
- ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident
- however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible
- bearing upon the case."
- ''
- '"Pray let us have it, for all that."'
- ''
- '"Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards'
- the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it
- fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the
- gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not
- appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of
- the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our
- way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause."
- ''
- '"Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of'
- the general public were present, then?"
- ''
- '"Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is'
- open."
- ''
- '"This gentleman was not one of your wife''s friends?"'
- ''
- '"No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a'
- common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But
- really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point."
- ''
- '"Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less'
- cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do
- on re-entering her father's house?"
- ''
- '"I saw her in conversation with her maid."'
- ''
- '"And who is her maid?"'
- ''
- '"Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California'
- with her."
- ''
- '"A confidential servant?"'
- ''
- '"A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed'
- her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they
- look upon these things in a different way."
- ''
- '"How long did she speak to this Alice?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of."'
- ''
- '"You did not overhear what they said?"'
- ''
- '"Lady St. Simon said something about ''jumping a claim.'' She was'
- accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she
- meant."
- ''
- '"American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your'
- wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?"
- ''
- '"She walked into the breakfast-room."'
- ''
- '"On your arm?"'
- ''
- '"No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that.'
- Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose
- hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She
- never came back."
- ''
- '"But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to'
- her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a
- bonnet, and went out."
- ''
- '"Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in'
- company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who
- had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that
- morning."
- ''
- '"Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady,'
- and your relations to her."
- ''
- Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows.
- '"We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on'
- a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have
- not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of
- complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes.
- Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and
- devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she
- heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the
- reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I
- feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to
- Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to
- push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my
- wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the
- possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police
- fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again.
- She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a
- row."
- ''
- '"Did your wife hear all this?"'
- ''
- '"No, thank goodness, she did not."'
- ''
- '"And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?"'
- ''
- '"Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as'
- so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid
- some terrible trap for her."
- ''
- '"Well, it is a possible supposition."'
- ''
- '"You think so, too?"'
- ''
- '"I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon'
- this as likely?"
- ''
- '"I do not think Flora would hurt a fly."'
- ''
- '"Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray'
- what is your own theory as to what took place?"
- ''
- '"Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I'
- have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may
- say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of
- this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a
- social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous
- disturbance in my wife."
- ''
- '"In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?"'
- ''
- '"Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I'
- will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to
- without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion."
- ''
- '"Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said'
- Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have
- nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the
- breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?"
- ''
- '"We could see the other side of the road and the Park."'
- ''
- '"Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer.'
- I shall communicate with you."
- ''
- '"Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our'
- client, rising.
- ''
- '"I have solved it."'
- ''
- '"Eh? What was that?"'
- ''
- '"I say that I have solved it."'
- ''
- '"Where, then, is my wife?"'
- ''
- '"That is a detail which I shall speedily supply."'
- ''
- Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take
- wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a
- stately, old-fashioned manner he departed.
- ''
- '"It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting'
- it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I
- think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all
- this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the
- case before our client came into the room."
- ''
- '"My dear Holmes!"'
- ''
- '"I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I'
- remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination
- served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial
- evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a
- trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example."
- ''
- '"But I have heard all that you have heard."'
- ''
- '"Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which'
- serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some
- years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich
- the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these
- cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade!
- You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are
- cigars in the box."
- ''
- The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat,
- which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a
- black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated
- himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him.
- ''
- '"What''s up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You'
- look dissatisfied."
- ''
- '"And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage'
- case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business."
- ''
- '"Really! You surprise me."'
- ''
- '"Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip'
- through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day."
- ''
- '"And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his'
- hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket.
- ''
- '"Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine."'
- ''
- '"In heaven''s name, what for?"'
- ''
- '"In search of the body of Lady St. Simon."'
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily.
- ''
- '"Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he'
- asked.
- ''
- '"Why? What do you mean?"'
- ''
- '"Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in'
- the one as in the other."
- ''
- Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you
- know all about it," he snarled.
- ''
- '"Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up."'
- ''
- '"Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in'
- the matter?"
- ''
- '"I think it very unlikely."'
- ''
- '"Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found'
- this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the
- floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin
- shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked
- in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the
- top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master
- Holmes."
- ''
- '"Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air.'
- '"You dragged them from the Serpentine?"'
- ''
- '"No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper.'
- They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me
- that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off."
- ''
- '"By the same brilliant reasoning, every man''s body is to be found'
- in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope
- to arrive at through this?"
- ''
- '"At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance."'
- ''
- '"I am afraid that you will find it difficult."'
- ''
- '"Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I'
- am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your
- deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as
- many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar."
- ''
- '"And how?"'
- ''
- '"In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the'
- card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it
- 'down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: ''You will'
- see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all
- along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora
- Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was
- responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her
- initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped
- into her hand at the door and which lured her within their
- reach."
- ''
- '"Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are'
- very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a
- listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he
- gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important,"
- said he.
- ''
- '"Ha! you find it so?"'
- ''
- '"Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly."'
- ''
- Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he
- shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!"
- ''
- '"On the contrary, this is the right side."'
- ''
- '"The right side? You''re mad! Here is the note written in pencil'
- over here."
- ''
- '"And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel'
- bill, which interests me deeply."
- ''
- '"There''s nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade.'
- '"''Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s.'
- 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that."
- ''
- '"Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the'
- note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I
- congratulate you again."
- ''
- '"I''ve wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in'
- hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories.
- Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom
- of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them
- into the bag, and made for the door.
- ''
- '"Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival'
- vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady
- St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any
- such person."
- ''
- Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me,
- tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and
- hurried away.
- ''
- He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on
- his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about
- outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must
- leave you to your papers for a little."
- ''
- It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had
- no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a
- confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked
- with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and
- presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean
- little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble
- lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold
- woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of
- ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries,
- my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian
- Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid
- for and were ordered to this address.
- ''
- Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the
- room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his
- eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his
- conclusions.
- ''
- '"They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands.'
- ''
- '"You seem to expect company. They have laid for five."'
- ''
- '"Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I'
- am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I
- fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs."
- ''
- It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in,
- dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very
- perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features.
- ''
- '"My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes.'
- ''
- '"Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure.'
- Have you good authority for what you say?"
- ''
- '"The best possible."'
- ''
- Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his
- forehead.
- ''
- '"What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of'
- the family has been subjected to such humiliation?"
- ''
- '"It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any'
- humiliation."
- ''
- '"Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint."'
- ''
- '"I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the'
- lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of
- doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she
- had no one to advise her at such a crisis."
- ''
- '"It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon,'
- tapping his fingers upon the table.
- ''
- '"You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so'
- unprecedented a position."
- ''
- '"I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have'
- been shamefully used."
- ''
- '"I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps'
- on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view
- of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here
- who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a
- lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to
- introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I
- think, you have already met."
- ''
- At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his
- seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand
- thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended
- dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out
- her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was
- as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was
- one which it was hard to resist.
- ''
- '"You''re angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every'
- cause to be."
- ''
- '"Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly.'
- ''
- '"Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I'
- should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of
- rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just
- didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't
- fall down and do a faint right there before the altar."
- ''
- '"Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave'
- the room while you explain this matter?"
- ''
- '"If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman,'
- '"we''ve had just a little too much secrecy over this business'
- already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to
- hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man,
- clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner.
- ''
- '"Then I''ll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here'
- and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa
- was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I;
- but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile,
- while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to
- nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa
- wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took
- me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so
- he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything
- about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just
- fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and
- make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had
- as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of
- time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived.
- '''Why shouldn''t we be married right away, then,'' said he, ''and'
- then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your
- husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had
- fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting,
- that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek
- his fortune, and I went back to pa.
- ''
- '"The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then'
- he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New
- Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a
- miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was
- my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was
- very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took
- me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a
- year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really
- dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London,
- and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt
- all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place
- in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank.
- ''
- '"Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I''d have done'
- my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our
- actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make
- him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may
- imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I
- glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the
- first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked
- again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as
- if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I
- didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the
- words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my
- ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make
- a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to
- know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to
- tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper,
- and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on
- the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the
- note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a
- line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so.
- Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now
- to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct.
- ''
- '"When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California,'
- and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but
- to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to
- have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before
- his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to
- run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten
- minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of
- the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park.
- I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman
- came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to
- me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little
- secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away
- from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and
- away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and
- that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank
- had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to
- '''Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to'
- England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the
- very morning of my second wedding."
- ''
- '"I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name'
- and the church but not where the lady lived."
- ''
- '"Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all'
- for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I
- should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just
- sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It
- was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting
- round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So
- Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of
- them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away
- somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we
- should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good
- gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how
- he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very
- clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and
- that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so
- secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord
- St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at
- once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if
- I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very
- meanly of me."
- ''
- Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but
- had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this
- long narrative.
- ''
- '"Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most'
- intimate personal affairs in this public manner."
- ''
- '"Then you won''t forgive me? You won''t shake hands before I go?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out'
- his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him.
- ''
- '"I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us'
- in a friendly supper."
- ''
- '"I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his'
- Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent
- developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over
- them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a
- very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and
- stalked out of the room.
- ''
- '"Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your'
- company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an
- American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the
- folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone
- years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens
- of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a
- quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes."
- ''
- '"The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our'
- visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how
- simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight
- seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural
- than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing
- stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr.
- Lestrade of Scotland Yard."
- ''
- '"You were not yourself at fault at all, then?"'
- ''
- '"From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that'
- the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony,
- the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of
- returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the
- morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that
- something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was
- out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she
- seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America
- because she had spent so short a time in this country that she
- could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence
- over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change
- her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a
- process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an
- American. Then who could this American be, and why should he
- possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might
- be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in
- rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got
- before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us
- of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so
- transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a
- bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very
- significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance
- means taking possession of that which another person has a prior
- claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had
- gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a
- previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter."
- ''
- '"And how in the world did you find them?"'
- ''
- '"It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held'
- information in his hands the value of which he did not himself
- know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance,
- but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had
- settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels."
- ''
- '"How did you deduce the select?"'
- ''
- '"By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence'
- for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive
- hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate.
- In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I
- learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an
- American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking
- over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I
- had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded
- to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate
- enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them
- some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be
- better in every way that they should make their position a little
- clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in
- particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I
- made him keep the appointment."
- ''
- '"But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was'
- certainly not very gracious."
- ''
- '"Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be'
- very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and
- wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of
- fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully
- and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in
- the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for
- the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away
- these bleak autumnal evenings."
XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET:
- ''
- '"Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking'
- down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather
- sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone."
- ''
- My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands
- in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It
- was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day
- before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the
- wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed
- into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and
- on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as
- when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but
- was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer
- passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the
- Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman
- whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention.
- ''
- He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a
- massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was
- dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining
- hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet
- his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress
- and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little
- springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to
- set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and
- down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most
- extraordinary contortions.
- ''
- '"What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is'
- looking up at the numbers of the houses."
- ''
- '"I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his'
- hands.
- ''
- '"Here?"'
- ''
- '"Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I'
- think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As
- he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and
- pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the
- clanging.
- ''
- A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still
- gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in
- his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and
- pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his
- body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the
- extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his
- feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we
- both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room.
- Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting
- beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy,
- soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ.
- ''
- '"You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he.'
- '"You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have'
- recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into
- any little problem which you may submit to me."
- ''
- The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting
- against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his
- brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us.
- ''
- '"No doubt you think me mad?" said he.'
- ''
- '"I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes.'
- ''
- '"God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my'
- reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might
- have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet
- borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man;
- but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have
- been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone.
- The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found
- out of this horrible affair."
- ''
- '"Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a'
- clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen
- you."
- ''
- '"My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your'
- ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder &
- Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street."
- ''
- The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior
- partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City
- of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the
- foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We
- waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced
- himself to tell his story.
- ''
- '"I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened'
- here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure
- your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and
- hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this
- snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who
- takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the
- facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can.
- ''
- '"It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking'
- business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative
- investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection
- and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means
- of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security
- is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction
- during the last few years, and there are many noble families to
- whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their
- pictures, libraries, or plate.
- ''
- '"Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a'
- card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I
- saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps
- even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name
- which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest,
- noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the
- honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged
- at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry
- quickly through a disagreeable task.
- ''
- '"''Mr. Holder,'' said he, ''I have been informed that you are in the'
- habit of advancing money.'
- ''
- '"''The firm does so when the security is good.'' I answered.'
- ''
- '"''It is absolutely essential to me,'' said he, ''that I should have'
- 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a
- sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it
- a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my
- position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place
- one's self under obligations.'
- ''
- '"''For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?'' I asked.'
- ''
- '"''Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most'
- certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you
- think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the
- money should be paid at once.'
- ''
- '"''I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my'
- own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be
- rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do
- it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must
- insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution
- should be taken.'
- ''
- '"''I should much prefer to have it so,'' said he, raising up a'
- square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair.
- '''You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?'''
- ''
- '"''One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,'''
- said I.
- ''
- '"''Precisely.'' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft,'
- flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery
- which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said
- he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The
- lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the
- sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my
- security.'
- ''
- '"I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some'
- perplexity from it to my illustrious client.
- ''
- '"''You doubt its value?'' he asked.'
- ''
- '"''Not at all. I only doubt--'''
- ''
- '"''The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest'
- about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely
- certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a
- pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?'
- ''
- '"''Ample.'''
- ''
- '"''You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof'
- of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I
- have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to
- refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to
- preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I
- need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any
- harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as
- serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the
- world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them.
- I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall
- call for it in person on Monday morning.'
- ''
- '"Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but,'
- calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000
- pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the
- precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not
- but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility
- which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it
- was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any
- misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever
- consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter
- the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned
- once more to my work.
- ''
- '"When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave'
- so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had
- been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how
- terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I
- determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always
- carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might
- never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a
- cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel
- with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs
- and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room.
- ''
- '"And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to'
- thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep
- out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three
- maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose
- absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy
- Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few
- months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has
- always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has
- attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place.
- That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we
- believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way.
- ''
- '"So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it'
- will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an
- only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr.
- Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am
- myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very
- likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I
- had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a
- moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it
- would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I
- meant it for the best.
- ''
- '"It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my'
- business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild,
- wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the
- handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a
- member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming
- manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long
- purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards
- and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again
- to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his
- allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried
- more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he
- was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir
- George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again.
- ''
- '"And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George'
- Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently
- brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could
- hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than
- Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been
- everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of
- great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far
- away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his
- cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that
- he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so,
- too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into
- character.
- ''
- '"And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but'
- when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the
- world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my
- daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful,
- a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and
- gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know
- what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone
- against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for
- he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I
- think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it
- would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his
- whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late!
- ''
- '"Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and'
- I shall continue with my miserable story.
- ''
- '"When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after'
- dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious
- treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name
- of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am
- sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed.
- Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous
- coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it.
- ''
- '"''Where have you put it?'' asked Arthur.'
- ''
- '"''In my own bureau.'''
- ''
- '"''Well, I hope to goodness the house won''t be burgled during the'
- night.' said he.
- ''
- '"''It is locked up,'' I answered.'
- ''
- '"''Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I'
- have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.'
- ''
- '"He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of'
- what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with
- a very grave face.
- ''
- '"''Look here, dad,'' said he with his eyes cast down, ''can you let'
- me have 200 pounds?'
- ''
- '"''No, I cannot!'' I answered sharply. ''I have been far too'
- generous with you in money matters.'
- ''
- '"''You have been very kind,'' said he, ''but I must have this money,'
- or else I can never show my face inside the club again.'
- ''
- '"''And a very good thing, too!'' I cried.'
- ''
- '"''Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,'''
- said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money
- in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try
- other means.'
- ''
- '"I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the'
- month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which
- he bowed and left the room without another word.
- ''
- '"When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my'
- treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go
- round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I
- usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform
- myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself
- at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as
- I approached.
- ''
- '"''Tell me, dad,'' said she, looking, I thought, a little'
- disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out
- to-night?'
- ''
- '"''Certainly not.'''
- ''
- '"''She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she'
- has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that
- it is hardly safe and should be stopped.'
- ''
- '"''You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer'
- it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?'
- ''
- '"''Quite sure, dad.'''
- ''
- '"''Then, good-night.'' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom'
- again, where I was soon asleep.
- ''
- '"I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may'
- have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question
- me upon any point which I do not make clear."
- ''
- '"On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid."'
- ''
- '"I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be'
- particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety
- in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual.
- About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in
- the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an
- impression behind it as though a window had gently closed
- somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my
- horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in
- the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear,
- and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door.
- ''
- '"''Arthur!'' I screamed, ''you villain! you thief! How dare you'
- touch that coronet?'
- ''
- '"The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy,'
- dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the
- light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be
- wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry
- he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I
- snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with
- three of the beryls in it, was missing.
- ''
- '"''You blackguard!'' I shouted, beside myself with rage. ''You have'
- destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the
- jewels which you have stolen?'
- ''
- '"''Stolen!'' he cried.'
- ''
- '"''Yes, thief!'' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder.'
- ''
- '"''There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,'' said he.'
- ''
- '"''There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I'
- call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to
- tear off another piece?'
- ''
- '"''You have called me names enough,'' said he, ''I will not stand it'
- any longer. I shall not say another word about this business,
- since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in
- the morning and make my own way in the world.'
- ''
- '"''You shall leave it in the hands of the police!'' I cried'
- half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to
- the bottom.'
- ''
- '"''You shall learn nothing from me,'' said he with a passion such'
- as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to
- call the police, let the police find what they can.'
- ''
- '"By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my'
- voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and,
- at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the
- whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the
- ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the
- investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a
- constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with
- his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge
- him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private
- matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was
- national property. I was determined that the law should have its
- way in everything.
- ''
- '"''At least,'' said he, ''you will not have me arrested at once. It'
- would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the
- house for five minutes.'
- ''
- '"''That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you'
- have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position
- in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only
- my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at
- stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would
- convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell
- me what he had done with the three missing stones.
- ''
- '"''You may as well face the matter,'' said I; ''you have been caught'
- in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous.
- If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling
- us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.'
- ''
- '"''Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,'' he answered,'
- turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened
- for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for
- it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search
- was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of
- every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed
- the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the
- wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our
- threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after
- going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to
- you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter.
- The police have openly confessed that they can at present make
- nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think
- necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My
- God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son
- in one night. Oh, what shall I do!"
- ''
- He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to
- and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got
- beyond words.
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows
- knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire.
- ''
- '"Do you receive much company?" he asked.'
- ''
- '"None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of'
- Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No
- one else, I think."
- ''
- '"Do you go out much in society?"'
- ''
- '"Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for'
- it."
- ''
- '"That is unusual in a young girl."'
- ''
- '"She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She'
- is four-and-twenty."
- ''
- '"This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to'
- her also."
- ''
- '"Terrible! She is even more affected than I."'
- ''
- '"You have neither of you any doubt as to your son''s guilt?"'
- ''
- '"How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet'
- in his hands."
- ''
- '"I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of'
- the coronet at all injured?"
- ''
- '"Yes, it was twisted."'
- ''
- '"Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to'
- straighten it?"
- ''
- '"God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me.'
- But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If
- his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?"
- ''
- '"Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie?'
- His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several
- singular points about the case. What did the police think of the
- noise which awoke you from your sleep?"
- ''
- '"They considered that it might be caused by Arthur''s closing his'
- bedroom door."
- ''
- '"A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door'
- so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the
- disappearance of these gems?"
- ''
- '"They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture'
- in the hope of finding them."
- ''
- '"Have they thought of looking outside the house?"'
- ''
- '"Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has'
- already been minutely examined."
- ''
- '"Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now'
- that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you
- or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you
- to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider
- what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came
- down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room,
- opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main
- force a small portion of it, went off to some other place,
- concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that
- nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six
- into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger
- of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?"
- ''
- '"But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of'
- despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain
- them?"
- ''
- '"It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if'
- you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together,
- and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into
- details."
- ''
- My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition,
- which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy
- were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I
- confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be
- as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such
- faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some
- grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted
- explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the
- southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his
- hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client
- appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope
- which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a
- desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway
- journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest
- residence of the great financier.
- ''
- Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing
- back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a
- snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates
- which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden
- thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges
- stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the
- tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the
- stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a
- public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing
- at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the
- front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden
- behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I
- went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should
- return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and
- a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height,
- slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against
- the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever
- seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were
- bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept
- silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of
- grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the
- more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong
- character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding
- my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand
- over his head with a sweet womanly caress.
- ''
- '"You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you'
- not, dad?" she asked.
- ''
- '"No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom."'
- ''
- '"But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman''s'
- instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will
- be sorry for having acted so harshly."
- ''
- '"Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?"'
- ''
- '"Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should'
- suspect him."
- ''
- '"How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with'
- the coronet in his hand?"
- ''
- '"Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take'
- my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say
- no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in
- prison!"
- ''
- '"I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary!'
- Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences
- to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman
- down from London to inquire more deeply into it."
- ''
- '"This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me.'
- ''
- '"No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in'
- the stable lane now."
- ''
- '"The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he'
- hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir,
- that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth,
- that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime."
- ''
- '"I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may'
- prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the
- snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing
- Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?"
- ''
- '"Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up."'
- ''
- '"You heard nothing yourself last night?"'
- ''
- '"Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard'
- that, and I came down."
- ''
- '"You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you'
- fasten all the windows?"
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"Were they all fastened this morning?"'
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked'
- to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?"
- ''
- '"Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and'
- who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet."
- ''
- '"I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her'
- sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery."
- ''
- '"But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the'
- banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with
- the coronet in his hands?"
- ''
- '"Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this'
- girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I
- presume?"
- ''
- '"Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I'
- met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom."
- ''
- '"Do you know him?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round.'
- His name is Francis Prosper."
- ''
- '"He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to'
- say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?"
- ''
- '"Yes, he did."'
- ''
- '"And he is a man with a wooden leg?"'
- ''
- Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive
- black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you
- know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in
- Holmes' thin, eager face.
- ''
- '"I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall'
- probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps
- I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up."
- ''
- He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at
- the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane.
- This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill
- with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs,"
- said he at last.
- ''
- The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little
- chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror.
- Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock.
- ''
- '"Which key was used to open it?" he asked.'
- ''
- '"That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the'
- lumber-room."
- ''
- '"Have you it here?"'
- ''
- '"That is it on the dressing-table."'
- ''
- Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau.
- ''
- '"It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did'
- not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must
- have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem
- he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the
- jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I
- have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge,
- where a corner holding three gems had been torn away.
- ''
- '"Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which'
- corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I
- beg that you will break it off."
- ''
- The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying,"
- said he.
- ''
- '"Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but'
- without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though
- I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my
- time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do
- you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would
- be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this
- happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard
- nothing of it?"
- ''
- '"I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me."'
- ''
- '"But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think,'
- Miss Holder?"
- ''
- '"I confess that I still share my uncle''s perplexity."'
- ''
- '"Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?"'
- ''
- '"He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt."'
- ''
- '"Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary'
- luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault
- if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your
- permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations
- outside."
- ''
- He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any
- unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an
- hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet
- heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever.
- ''
- '"I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr.'
- Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my
- rooms."
- ''
- '"But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?"'
- ''
- '"I cannot tell."'
- ''
- The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he
- cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?"
- ''
- '"My opinion is in no way altered."'
- ''
- '"Then, for God''s sake, what was this dark business which was'
- acted in my house last night?"
- ''
- '"If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow'
- morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to
- make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to
- act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you
- place no limit on the sum I may draw."
- ''
- '"I would give my fortune to have them back."'
- ''
- '"Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then.'
- Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here
- again before evening."
- ''
- It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up
- about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than
- I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward
- journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always
- glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in
- despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our
- rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in
- a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned
- up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he
- was a perfect sample of the class.
- ''
- '"I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass'
- above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me,
- Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in
- this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I
- shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few
- hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard,
- sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this
- rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition.
- ''
- I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in
- excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his
- hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a
- cup of tea.
- ''
- '"I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on."'
- ''
- '"Where to?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time'
- before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be
- late."
- ''
- '"How are you getting on?"'
- ''
- '"Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham'
- since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a
- very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a
- good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get
- these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly
- respectable self."
- ''
- I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for
- satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled,
- and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He
- hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of
- the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his
- congenial hunt.
- ''
- I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so
- I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away
- for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that
- his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he
- came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there
- he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the
- other, as fresh and trim as possible.
- ''
- '"You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but'
- you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this
- morning."
- ''
- '"Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be'
- surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring."
- ''
- It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the
- change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally
- of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in,
- while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered
- with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than
- his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into
- the armchair which I pushed forward for him.
- ''
- '"I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said'
- he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without
- a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured
- age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece,
- Mary, has deserted me."
- ''
- '"Deserted you?"'
- ''
- '"Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was'
- empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to
- her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had
- married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was
- thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers
- 'in this note:'
- ''
- '"''MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you,'
- and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune
- might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my
- mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must
- leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is
- provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will
- be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in
- death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.'
- ''
- '"What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it'
- points to suicide?"
- ''
- '"No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible'
- solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of
- your troubles."
- ''
- '"Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have'
- learned something! Where are the gems?"
- ''
- '"You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for'
- them?"
- ''
- '"I would pay ten."'
- ''
- '"That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter.'
- And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book?
- Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds."
- ''
- With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes
- walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of
- gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table.
- ''
- With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up.
- ''
- '"You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!"'
- ''
- The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and
- he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom.
- ''
- '"There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock'
- Holmes rather sternly.
- ''
- '"Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it."'
- ''
- '"No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that'
- noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I
- should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to
- have one."
- ''
- '"Then it was not Arthur who took them?"'
- ''
- '"I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not."'
- ''
- '"You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him'
- know that the truth is known."
- ''
- '"He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an'
- interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the
- story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was
- right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite
- clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his
- lips."
- ''
- '"For heaven''s sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary'
- mystery!"
- ''
- '"I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached'
- it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me
- 'to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding'
- between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now
- fled together."
- ''
- '"My Mary? Impossible!"'
- ''
- '"It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither'
- you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you
- admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most
- dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely
- desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece
- knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he
- had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she
- alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said,
- but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing
- him nearly every evening."
- ''
- '"I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an'
- ashen face.
- ''
- '"I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night.'
- Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room,
- slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which
- leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right
- through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the
- coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he
- bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but
- there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all
- other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had
- hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming
- downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you
- about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover,
- which was all perfectly true.
- ''
- '"Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but'
- he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts.
- In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door,
- so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin
- walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared
- into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad
- slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what
- would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the
- room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw
- that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed
- down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and
- slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see
- what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the
- window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then
- closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close
- to where he stood hid behind the curtain.
- ''
- '"As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action'
- without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the
- instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune
- this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it
- right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened
- the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane,
- where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George
- Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was
- a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the
- coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son
- struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something
- suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet
- in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your
- room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in
- the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you
- appeared upon the scene."
- ''
- '"Is it possible?" gasped the banker.'
- ''
- '"You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when'
- he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not
- explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who
- certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He
- took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her
- secret."
- ''
- '"And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the'
- coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have
- been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes!
- The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the
- scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!"
- ''
- '"When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went'
- very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in
- the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since
- the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost
- to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but
- found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it,
- however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood
- and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed
- that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been
- disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was
- shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had
- waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time
- that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had
- already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed
- round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks,
- which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable
- lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in
- front of me.
- ''
- '"There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second'
- double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked
- feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the
- latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the
- other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over
- the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed
- after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the
- hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while
- waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred
- yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round,
- where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle,
- and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me
- that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and
- another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been
- hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that
- the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue.
- ''
- '"On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the'
- sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could
- at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the
- outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming
- in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what
- had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had
- brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had
- pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged
- at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which
- neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the
- prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So
- far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who
- was it brought him the coronet?
- ''
- '"It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the'
- impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the
- truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down,
- so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were
- the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in
- their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his
- cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should
- retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful
- one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and
- how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture
- became a certainty.
- ''
- '"And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently,'
- for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must
- feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your
- circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir
- George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil
- reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots
- and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur
- had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was
- safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his
- own family.
- ''
- '"Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took'
- next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house,
- managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that
- his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at
- the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of
- his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and
- saw that they exactly fitted the tracks."
- ''
- '"I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening,"'
- said Mr. Holder.
- ''
- '"Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home'
- and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to
- play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert
- scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our
- hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of
- course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every
- particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a
- life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I
- clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he
- became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give
- him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That
- brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why,
- dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the
- three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had
- them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I
- set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000
- pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all
- was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after
- what I may call a really hard day's work."
- ''
- '"A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said'
- the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but
- you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your
- skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I
- must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I
- have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my
- very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now."
- ''
- '"I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is'
- wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that
- whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than
- sufficient punishment."
XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES:
- ''
- '"To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock'
- Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily
- Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest
- manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is
- pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped
- this truth that in these little records of our cases which you
- have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say,
- occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much
- to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I
- have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been
- trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those
- faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made
- my special province."
- ''
- '"And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved'
- from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my
- records."
- ''
- '"You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing'
- cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood
- pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a
- disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred
- perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your
- statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing
- upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is
- really the only notable feature about the thing."
- ''
- '"It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter,"'
- I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism
- which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my
- friend's singular character.
- ''
- '"No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as'
- was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full
- justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a
- thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it
- is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should
- dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of
- lectures into a series of tales."
- ''
- It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after
- breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at
- Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of
- dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark,
- shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit
- and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for
- the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been
- silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the
- advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last,
- having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very
- sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings.
- ''
- '"At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he'
- had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire,
- '"you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of'
- these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself
- in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense,
- at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King
- of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the
- problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the
- incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are
- outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I
- fear that you may have bordered on the trivial."
- ''
- '"The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold'
- to have been novel and of interest."
- ''
- '"Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant'
- public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a
- compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of
- analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot
- blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at
- least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As
- to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an
- agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to
- young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched
- bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my
- zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across
- to me.
- ''
- It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and
- 'ran thus:'
- ''
- '"DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether'
- I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered
- to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I
- do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully,
- '                                               "VIOLET HUNTER."'
- ''
- '"Do you know the young lady?" I asked.'
- ''
- '"Not I."'
- ''
- '"It is half-past ten now."'
- ''
- '"Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring."'
- ''
- '"It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You'
- remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to
- be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation.
- It may be so in this case, also."
- ''
- '"Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved,'
- for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question."
- ''
- As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room.
- She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face,
- freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a
- woman who has had her own way to make in the world.
- ''
- '"You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my'
- companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange
- experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort
- from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be
- kind enough to tell me what I should do."
- ''
- '"Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything'
- that I can to serve you."
- ''
- I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner
- and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching
- fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and
- his finger-tips together, to listen to her story.
- ''
- '"I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the'
- family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel
- received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his
- children over to America with him, so that I found myself without
- a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but
- without success. At last the little money which I had saved began
- to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do.
- ''
- '"There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End'
- called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in
- order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me.
- Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is
- really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office,
- and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom,
- and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers
- and sees whether she has anything which would suit them.
- ''
- '"Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office'
- as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A
- prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy
- chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at
- her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very
- earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a
- jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper.
- ''
- '"''That will do,'' said he; ''I could not ask for anything better.'
- Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his
- hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a
- comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at
- him.
- ''
- '"''You are looking for a situation, miss?'' he asked.'
- ''
- '"''Yes, sir.'''
- ''
- '"''As governess?'''
- ''
- '"''Yes, sir.'''
- ''
- '"''And what salary do you ask?'''
- ''
- '"''I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence'
- Munro.'
- ''
- '"''Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!'' he cried, throwing his'
- fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling
- passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with
- such attractions and accomplishments?'
- ''
- '"''My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,'' said I.'
- '''A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--'''
- ''
- '"''Tut, tut!'' he cried. ''This is all quite beside the question.'
- The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment
- of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are
- not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a
- considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have
- why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to
- accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me,
- madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.'
- ''
- '"You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was,'
- such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman,
- however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face,
- opened a pocket-book and took out a note.
- ''
- '"''It is also my custom,'' said he, smiling in the most pleasant'
- fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid
- the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies
- half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little
- expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.'
- ''
- '"It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so'
- thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the
- advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something
- unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know
- a little more before I quite committed myself.
- ''
- '"''May I ask where you live, sir?'' said I.'
- ''
- '"''Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles'
- on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my
- dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.'
- ''
- '"''And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would'
- be.'
- ''
- '"''One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if'
- you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack!
- smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back
- in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again.
- ''
- '"I was a little startled at the nature of the child''s amusement,'
- but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was
- joking.
- ''
- '"''My sole duties, then,'' I asked, ''are to take charge of a single'
- child?'
- ''
- '"''No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,'' he'
- cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would
- suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided
- always that they were such commands as a lady might with
- propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?'
- ''
- '"''I should be happy to make myself useful.'''
- ''
- '"''Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you'
- know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress
- which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim.
- Heh?'
- ''
- '"''No,'' said I, considerably astonished at his words.'
- ''
- '"''Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to'
- you?'
- ''
- '"''Oh, no.'''
- ''
- '"''Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?'''
- ''
- '"I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes,'
- my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of
- chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of
- sacrificing it in this offhand fashion.
- ''
- '"''I am afraid that that is quite impossible,'' said I. He had been'
- watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a
- shadow pass over his face as I spoke.
- ''
- '"''I am afraid that it is quite essential,'' said he. ''It is a'
- little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam,
- ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your
- hair?'
- ''
- '"''No, sir, I really could not,'' I answered firmly.'
- ''
- '"''Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a'
- pity, because in other respects you would really have done very
- nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more
- of your young ladies.'
- ''
- '"The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers'
- without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so
- much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting
- that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal.
- ''
- '"''Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?'' she asked.'
- ''
- '"''If you please, Miss Stoper.'''
- ''
- '"''Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the'
- most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You
- can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such
- opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong
- upon the table, and I was shown out by the page.
- ''
- '"Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found'
- little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the
- table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very
- foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and
- expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were
- at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few
- governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides,
- what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing
- it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was
- inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after
- I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go
- back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open
- when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it
- 'here and I will read it to you:'
- ''
- '                       "''The Copper Beeches, near Winchester.'
- '"''DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your'
- address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have
- reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you
- should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of
- you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a
- year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which
- our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My
- wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would
- like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need
- not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one
- belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which
- would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting
- here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that
- need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no
- doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty
- during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain
- firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary
- may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child
- is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall
- meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train.
- Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.'
- ''
- '"That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and'
- my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however,
- that before taking the final step I should like to submit the
- whole matter to your consideration."
- ''
- '"Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the'
- question," said Holmes, smiling.
- ''
- '"But you would not advise me to refuse?"'
- ''
- '"I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to'
- see a sister of mine apply for."
- ''
- '"What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?"'
- ''
- '"Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself'
- formed some opinion?"
- ''
- '"Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr.'
- Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not
- possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the
- matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that
- he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an
- outbreak?"
- ''
- '"That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is'
- the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a
- nice household for a young lady."
- ''
- '"But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!"'
- ''
- '"Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what'
- makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when
- they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some
- strong reason behind."
- ''
- '"I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would'
- understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so
- much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me."
- ''
- '"Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that'
- your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has
- come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel
- about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt
- or in danger--"
- ''
- '"Danger! What danger do you foresee?"'
- ''
- Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if
- we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a
- telegram would bring me down to your help."
- ''
- '"That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the'
- anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire
- quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once,
- sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester
- to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both
- good-night and bustled off upon her way.
- ''
- '"At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending'
- the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able
- to take care of herself."
- ''
- '"And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much'
- mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past."
- ''
- It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled.
- A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts
- turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of
- human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual
- salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to
- something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether
- the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond
- my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat
- frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an
- abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his
- hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried
- impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would
- always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever
- have accepted such a situation.
- ''
- The telegram which we eventually received came late one night
- just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down
- to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently
- indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a
- test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came
- down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope,
- and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me.
- ''
- '"Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back'
- to his chemical studies.
- ''
- The summons was a brief and urgent one.
- ''
- '"Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday'
- to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end.  HUNTER."
- ''
- '"Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up.'
- ''
- '"I should wish to."'
- ''
- '"Just look it up, then."'
- ''
- '"There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my'
- Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30."
- ''
- '"That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my'
- analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the
- morning."
- ''
- By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the
- old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers
- all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he
- threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal
- spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white
- clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining
- very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air,
- which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside,
- away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and
- grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light
- green of the new foliage.
- ''
- '"Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the'
- enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street.
- ''
- But Holmes shook his head gravely.
- ''
- '"Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of'
- a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with
- reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered
- houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them,
- and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their
- isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed
- there."
- ''
- '"Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these'
- dear old homesteads?"
- ''
- '"They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief,'
- Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest
- alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin
- than does the smiling and beautiful countryside."
- ''
- '"You horrify me!"'
- ''
- '"But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion'
- can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no
- lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of
- a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among
- the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever
- so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is
- but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these
- lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part
- with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the
- deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on,
- year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this
- lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I
- should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of
- country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is
- not personally threatened."
- ''
- '"No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away."'
- ''
- '"Quite so. She has her freedom."'
- ''
- '"What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?"'
- ''
- '"I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would'
- cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is
- correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we
- shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of
- the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has
- to tell."
- ''
- The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no
- distance from the station, and there we found the young lady
- waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch
- awaited us upon the table.
- ''
- '"I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It'
- is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I
- should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me."
- ''
- '"Pray tell us what has happened to you."'
- ''
- '"I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr.'
- Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into
- town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose."
- ''
- '"Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long'
- thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen.
- ''
- '"In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole,'
- with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is
- only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and
- I am not easy in my mind about them."
- ''
- '"What can you not understand?"'
- ''
- '"Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just'
- as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and
- drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he
- said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself,
- for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all
- stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds
- round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which
- slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about
- a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs
- to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord
- Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in
- front of the hall door has given its name to the place.
- ''
- '"I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever,'
- and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child.
- There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to
- us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is
- not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much
- younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think,
- while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their
- conversation I have gathered that they have been married about
- seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by
- the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr.
- Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them
- was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As
- the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite
- imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her
- father's young wife.
- ''
- '"Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as'
- in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse.
- She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately
- devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey
- eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every
- little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her
- also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they
- seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow,
- this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the
- saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her
- in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of
- her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so
- utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small
- for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large.
- His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between
- savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving
- pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea
- of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning
- the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would
- rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he
- has little to do with my story."
- ''
- '"I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they'
- seem to you to be relevant or not."
- ''
- '"I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one'
- unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was
- the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a
- man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough,
- uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual
- smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been
- quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it.
- His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as
- silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most
- unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the
- nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one
- corner of the building.
- ''
- '"For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was'
- very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after
- breakfast and whispered something to her husband.
- ''
- '"''Oh, yes,'' said he, turning to me, ''we are very much obliged to'
- you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut
- your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest
- iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue
- dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in
- your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should
- both be extremely obliged.'
- ''
- '"The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade'
- of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it
- bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not
- have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr.
- and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which
- seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for
- me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching
- along the entire front of the house, with three long windows
- reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the
- central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was
- asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the
- other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest
- stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how
- comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs.
- Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so
- much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad,
- anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle
- suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the
- day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in
- the nursery.
- ''
- '"Two days later this same performance was gone through under'
- exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I
- sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny
- stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which
- he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and
- moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not
- fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for
- about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then
- suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and
- to change my dress.
- ''
- '"You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to'
- what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly
- be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face
- away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire
- to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be
- impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been
- broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of
- the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst
- of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able
- with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I
- confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that
- was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I
- perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road,
- a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in
- my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are
- usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the
- railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I
- lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her
- eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing,
- but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my
- hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once.
- ''
- '"''Jephro,'' said she, ''there is an impertinent fellow upon the'
- road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.'
- ''
- '"''No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?'' he asked.'
- ''
- '"''No, I know no one in these parts.'''
- ''
- '"''Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to'
- him to go away.'
- ''
- '"''Surely it would be better to take no notice.'''
- ''
- '"''No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn'
- round and wave him away like that.'
- ''
- '"I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew'
- down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have
- not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor
- seen the man in the road."
- ''
- '"Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a'
- most interesting one."
- ''
- '"You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may'
- prove to be little relation between the different incidents of
- which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper
- Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands
- near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp
- rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving
- about.
- ''
- '"''Look in here!'' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two'
- planks. 'Is he not a beauty?'
- ''
- '"I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a'
- vague figure huddled up in the darkness.
- ''
- '"''Don''t be frightened,'' said my employer, laughing at the start'
- which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine,
- but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do
- anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then,
- so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose
- every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs
- upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your
- foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life
- is worth.'
- ''
- '"The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to'
- look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning.
- It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the
- house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was
- standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was
- aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper
- beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It
- was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging
- jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly
- across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side.
- That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not
- think that any burglar could have done.
- ''
- '"And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as'
- you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a
- great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the
- child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the
- furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things.
- There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones
- empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two
- with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was
- naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It
- struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight,
- so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very
- first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There
- was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never
- guess what it was. It was my coil of hair.
- ''
- '"I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint,'
- and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing
- obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in
- the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the
- contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two
- tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was
- it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at
- all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer,
- and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that
- I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had
- locked.
- ''
- '"I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes,'
- and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head.
- There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited
- at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of
- the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked.
- One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle
- coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on
- his face which made him a very different person to the round,
- jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his
- brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his
- temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me
- without a word or a look.
- ''
- '"This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the'
- grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I
- could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four
- of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the
- fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I
- strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle
- came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever.
- ''
- '"''Ah!'' said he, ''you must not think me rude if I passed you'
- without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with
- business matters.'
- ''
- '"I assured him that I was not offended. ''By the way,'' said I,'
- '''you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one'
- of them has the shutters up.'
- ''
- '"He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled'
- at my remark.
- ''
- '"''Photography is one of my hobbies,'' said he. ''I have made my'
- dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we
- have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever
- believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest
- in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and
- annoyance, but no jest.
- ''
- '"Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there'
- was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know,
- I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity,
- though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a
- feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this
- place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's
- instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there,
- and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the
- forbidden door.
- ''
- '"It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that,'
- besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to
- do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large
- black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been
- drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when
- I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at
- all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both
- downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an
- admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock,
- opened the door, and slipped through.
- ''
- '"There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and'
- uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end.
- Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third
- of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and
- cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so
- thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through
- them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it
- had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked
- at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with
- stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was
- not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the
- shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from
- beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was
- a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the
- passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it
- might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room
- and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little
- slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad,
- unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My
- overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran
- as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the
- skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door,
- and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting
- outside.
- ''
- '"''So,'' said he, smiling, ''it was you, then. I thought that it'
- must be when I saw the door open.'
- ''
- '"''Oh, I am so frightened!'' I panted.'
- ''
- '"''My dear young lady! my dear young lady!''--you cannot think how'
- caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened
- you, my dear young lady?'
- ''
- '"But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I'
- was keenly on my guard against him.
- ''
- '"''I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,'' I answered.'
- '''But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was'
- frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in
- there!'
- ''
- '"''Only that?'' said he, looking at me keenly.'
- ''
- '"''Why, what did you think?'' I asked.'
- ''
- '"''Why do you think that I lock this door?'''
- ''
- '"''I am sure that I do not know.'''
- ''
- '"''It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you'
- see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner.
- ''
- '"''I am sure if I had known--'''
- ''
- '"''Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over'
- that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into
- a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a
- demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.'
- ''
- '"I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that'
- I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing
- until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I
- thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without
- some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the
- woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible
- to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of
- course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was
- almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would
- send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the
- office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then
- returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my
- mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I
- remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of
- insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one
- in the household who had any influence with the savage creature,
- or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and
- lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you.
- I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this
- morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and
- Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the
- evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you
- all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you
- could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should
- do."
- ''
- Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story.
- My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in
- his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon
- his face.
- ''
- '"Is Toller still drunk?" he asked.'
- ''
- '"Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do'
- nothing with him."
- ''
- '"That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?"'
- ''
- '"Yes."'
- ''
- '"Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?"'
- ''
- '"Yes, the wine-cellar."'
- ''
- '"You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very'
- brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could
- perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not
- think you a quite exceptional woman."
- ''
- '"I will try. What is it?"'
- ''
- '"We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o''clock, my friend'
- and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will,
- we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might
- give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some
- errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate
- matters immensely."
- ''
- '"I will do it."'
- ''
- '"Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of'
- course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been
- brought there to personate someone, and the real person is
- imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this
- prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice
- Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to
- America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height,
- figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very
- possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of
- course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you
- came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some
- friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore
- the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your
- laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture,
- that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer
- desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent
- him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly
- clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of
- the child."
- ''
- '"What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated.'
- ''
- '"My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining'
- light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the
- parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have
- frequently gained my first real insight into the character of
- parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is
- abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he
- derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or
- from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their
- power."
- ''
- '"I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A'
- thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you
- have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to
- this poor creature."
- ''
- '"We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning'
- man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall
- be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the
- mystery."
- ''
- We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we
- reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside
- public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining
- like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were
- sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been
- standing smiling on the door-step.
- ''
- '"Have you managed it?" asked Holmes.'
- ''
- A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is
- Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring
- on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates
- of Mr. Rucastle's."
- ''
- '"You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now'
- lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black
- business."
- ''
- We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a
- passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss
- Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the
- transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but
- without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence
- Holmes' face clouded over.
- ''
- '"I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss'
- Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put
- your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our
- way in."
- ''
- It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united
- strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There
- was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a
- basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner
- gone.
- ''
- '"There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty'
- has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim
- off."
- ''
- '"But how?"'
- ''
- '"Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He'
- swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the
- end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did
- it."
- ''
- '"But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not'
- there when the Rucastles went away."
- ''
- '"He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and'
- dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were
- he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it
- would be as well for you to have your pistol ready."
- ''
- The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at
- the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy
- stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the
- wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and
- confronted him.
- ''
- '"You villain!" said he, "where''s your daughter?"'
- ''
- The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open
- skylight.
- ''
- '"It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies'
- and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll
- serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he
- could go.
- ''
- '"He''s gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter.'
- ''
- '"I have my revolver," said I.'
- ''
- '"Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed'
- down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we
- heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a
- horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An
- elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out
- at a side door.
- ''
- '"My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It''s not been'
- fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!"
- ''
- Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with
- Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its
- black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and
- screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and
- it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great
- creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and
- carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid
- him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered
- Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to
- relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door
- opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room.
- ''
- '"Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter.'
- ''
- '"Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he'
- went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know
- what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains
- were wasted."
- ''
- '"Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs.'
- Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else."
- ''
- '"Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know."'
- ''
- '"Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several'
- points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark."
- ''
- '"I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I''d have done'
- so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's
- police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the
- one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend
- too.
- ''
- '"She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn''t, from the time'
- that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no
- say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until
- after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could
- learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so
- quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them
- but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was
- safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming
- forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then
- her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to
- sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use
- her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until
- she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then
- she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her
- beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her
- young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be."
- ''
- '"Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough'
- to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce
- all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this
- system of imprisonment?"
- ''
- '"Yes, sir."'
- ''
- '"And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of'
- the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler."
- ''
- '"That was it, sir."'
- ''
- '"But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should'
- be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain
- arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your
- interests were the same as his."
- ''
- '"Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said'
- Mrs. Toller serenely.
- ''
- '"And in this way he managed that your good man should have no'
- want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment
- when your master had gone out."
- ''
- '"You have it, sir, just as it happened."'
- ''
- '"I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for'
- you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And
- here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think,
- Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester,
- as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a
- questionable one."
- ''
- And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the
- copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but
- was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of
- his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who
- probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it
- difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were
- married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their
- flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in
- the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend
- Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further
- interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one
- of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at
- Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success.