Te Adventuies of Sheilock Holmes

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Title Te Adventuies of Sheilock Holmes
Authoi Aithui Conan Doyle
Release Date Novembei :,, :oo: [EBook r1ee1]
Language English
Chaiactei set encoding UTl-s
*** START Ol THlS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES Ol
SHERLOCK HOLMES ***
Te Adventuies of Sheilock Holmes
By Aithui Conan Doyle
Contents
A Scandal in Bohemia
Te Red-headed League
A Case of ldentity
Te Boscombe Valley Mysteiy
Te live Oiange Pips
Te Man with the Twisted Lip
Te Adventuie of the Blue Caibuncle
Te Adventuie of the Speckled Band
Te Adventuie of the Engineeis Tumb
Te Adventuie of the Noble Bacheloi
Te Adventuie of the Beiyl Coionet
Te Adventuie of the Coppei Beeches
A Scandal in Bohemia
I.
To Sheilock Holmes she is always the woman. l have seldom heaid him mention
hei undei any othei name. ln his eyes she eclipses and piedominates the whole of
hei sex. lt was not that he felt any emotion akin to love foi liene Adlei. All emo-
tions, and that one paiticulaily, weie abhoiient to his cold, piecise but admiiably
balanced mind. He was, l take it, the most peifect ieasoning and obseiving ma-
chine that the woild has seen, but as a lovei he would have placed himself in a
false position. He nevei spoke of the sofei passions, save with a gibe and a sneei.
Tey weie admiiable things foi the obseiveiexcellent foi diawing the veil fiom
mens motives and actions. But foi the tiained ieasonei to admit such intiusions
into his own delicate and nely adjusted tempeiament was to intioduce a dis-
tiacting factoi which might thiow a doubt upon all his mental iesults. Giit in a
sensitive instiument, oi a ciack in one of his own high-powei lenses, would not
be moie distuibing than a stiong emotion in a natuie such as his. And yet theie
was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late liene Adlei, of dubious
and questionable memoiy.
l had seen liule of Holmes lately. My maiiiage had diifed us away fiom
each othei. My own complete happiness, and the home-centied inteiests which
iise up aiound the man who ist nds himself mastei of his own establishment,
weie sucient to absoib all my auention, while Holmes, who loathed eveiy foim
of society with his whole Bohemian soul, iemained in oui lodgings in Bakei Stieet,
buiied among his old books, and alteinating fiom week to week between cocaine
and ambition, the diowsiness of the diug, and the eice eneigy of his own keen
natuie. He was still, as evei, deeply auiacted by the study of ciime, and occu-
pied his immense faculties and extiaoidinaiy poweis of obseivation in following
out those clues, and cleaiing up those mysteiies which had been abandoned as
:
hopeless by the ocial police. liom time to time l heaid some vague account of
his doings of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Tiepo muidei, of his
cleaiing up of the singulai tiagedy of the Atkinson biotheis at Tiincomalee, and
nally of the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully
foi the ieigning family of Holland. Beyond these signs of his activity, howevei,
which l meiely shaied with all the ieadeis of the daily piess, l knew liule of my
foimei fiiend and companion.
One nightit was on the twentieth of Maich, 1sssl was ietuining fiom a
jouiney to a patient (foi l had nowietuined to civil piactice), when my way led me
thiough Bakei Stieet. As l passed the well-iemembeied dooi, which must always
be associated in my mind with my wooing, and with the daik incidents of the
Study in Scailet, l was seized with a keen desiie to see Holmes again, and to know
how he was employing his extiaoidinaiy poweis. His iooms weie biilliantly lit,
and, even as l looked up, l saw his tall, spaie guie pass twice in a daik silhoueue
against the blind. He was pacing the ioom swifly, eageily, with his head sunk
upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his eveiy
mood and habit, his auitude and mannei told theii own stoiy. He was at woik
again. He had iisen out of his diug-cieated dieams and was hot upon the scent of
some new pioblem. l iang the bell and was shown up to the chambei which had
foimeily been in pait my own.
His mannei was not eusive. lt seldom was, but he was glad, l think, to
see me. With haidly a woid spoken, but with a kindly eye, he waved me to an
aimchaii, thiewacioss his case of cigais, and indicated a spiiit case and a gasogene
in the coinei. Ten he stood befoie the ie and looked me ovei in his singulai
intiospective fashion.
Wedlock suits you, he iemaiked. l think, Watson, that you have put on
seven and a half pounds since l saw you.
Seven' l answeied.
lndeed, l should have thought a liule moie. Just a tiie moie, l fancy, Wat-
son. And in piactice again, l obseive. You did not tell me that you intended to go
into hainess.
Ten, how do you know`
l see it, l deduce it. How do l know that you have been geuing youiself
veiy wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and caieless seivant giil`
My deai Holmes, said l, this is too much. You would ceitainly have been
buined, had you lived a few centuiies ago. lt is tiue that l had a countiy walk on
Tuisday and came home in a dieadful mess, but as l have changed my clothes
l cant imagine how you deduce it. As to Maiy Jane, she is incoiiigible, and my

wife has given hei notice, but theie, again, l fail to see how you woik it out.
He chuckled to himself and iubbed his long, neivous hands togethei.
lt is simplicity itself, said he, my eyes tell me that on the inside of youi
lef shoe, just wheie the ielight stiikes it, the leathei is scoied by six almost
paiallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has veiy caie-
lessly sciaped iound the edges of the sole in oidei to iemove ciusted mud fiom
it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weathei,
and that you had a paiticulaily malignant boot-sliuing specimen of the London
slavey. As to youi piactice, if a gentleman walks into my iooms smelling of iod-
ofoim, with a black maik of nitiate of silvei upon his iight foiengei, and a bulge
on the iight side of his top-hat to show wheie he has secieted his stethoscope,
l must be dull, indeed, if l do not pionounce him to be an active membei of the
medical piofession.
l could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his piocess
of deduction. When l heai you give youi ieasons, l iemaiked, the thing always
appeais to me to be so iidiculously simple that l could easily do it myself, though
at each successive instance of youi ieasoning l am baed until you explain youi
piocess. And yet l believe that my eyes aie as good as youis.
Qite so, he answeied, lighting a cigaieue, and thiowing himself down
into an aimchaii. You see, but you do not obseive. Te distinction is cleai. loi
example, you have fiequently seen the steps which lead up fiom the hall to this
ioom.
liequently.
How ofen`
Well, some hundieds of times.
Ten how many aie theie`
How many` l dont know.
Qite so' You have not obseived. And yet you have seen. Tat is just my
point. Now, l know that theie aie seventeen steps, because l have both seen and
obseived. By the way, since you aie inteiested in these liule pioblems, and since
you aie good enough to chionicle one oi two of my tiiing expeiiences, you may
be inteiested in this. He thiew ovei a sheet of thick, pink-tinted notepapei which
had been lying open upon the table. lt came by the last post, said he. Read it
aloud.
Te note was undated, and without eithei signatuie oi addiess.
Teie will call upon you to-night, at a quaitei to eight oclock, it said, a
gentleman who desiies to consult you upon a mauei of the veiy deepest moment.
Youi iecent seivices to one of the ioyal houses of Euiope have shown that you aie

one who may safely be tiusted with maueis which aie of an impoitance which can
haidly be exaggeiated. Tis account of you we have fiom all quaiteis ieceived.
Be in youi chambei then at that houi, and do not take it amiss if youi visitoi weai
a mask.
Tis is indeed a mysteiy, l iemaiked. What do you imagine that it
means`
l have no data yet. lt is a capital mistake to theoiise befoie one has data.
lnsensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theoiies, instead of theoiies to suit
facts. But the note itself. What do you deduce fiom it`
l caiefully examined the wiiting, and the papei upon which it was wiiuen.
Te man who wiote it was piesumably well to do, l iemaiked, endeavoui-
ing to imitate my companions piocesses. Such papei could not be bought undei
half a ciown a packet. lt is peculiaily stiong and sti.
Peculiaithat is the veiy woid, said Holmes. lt is not an English papei
at all. Hold it up to the light.
l did so, and saw a laige E with a small g, a P, and a laige G with a
small t woven into the textuie of the papei.
What do you make of that` asked Holmes.
Te name of the makei, no doubt, oi his monogiam, iathei.
Not at all. Te G with the small t stands foi Gesellschaf, which is the
Geiman foi Company. lt is a customaiy contiaction like oui Co. P, of couise,
stands foi Papiei. Now foi the Eg. Let us glance at oui Continental Gazeueei.
He took down a heavy biown volume fiomhis shelves. Eglow, Eglonitzheie we
aie, Egiia. lt is in a Geiman-speaking countiyin Bohemia, not fai fiomCailsbad.
Remaikable as being the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and foi its numeious
glass-factoiies and papei-mills. Ha, ha, my boy, what do you make of that` His
eyes spaikled, and he sent up a gieat blue tiiumphant cloud fiom his cigaieue.
Te papei was made in Bohemia, l said.
Piecisely. And the man who wiote the note is a Geiman. Do you note
the peculiai constiuction of the sentenceTis account of you we have fiom all
quaiteis ieceived. A lienchman oi Russian could not have wiiuen that. lt is the
Geiman who is so uncouiteous to his veibs. lt only iemains, theiefoie, to discovei
what is wanted by this Geiman who wiites upon Bohemian papei and piefeis
weaiing a mask to showing his face. And heie he comes, if l am not mistaken, to
iesolve all oui doubts.
As he spoke theie was the shaip sound of hoises hoofs and giating wheels
against the cuib, followed by a shaip pull at the bell. Holmes whistled.
A paii, by the sound, said he. Yes, he continued, glancing out of the

window. A nice liule biougham and a paii of beauties. A hundied and fy

guineas apiece. Teies money in this case, Watson, if theie is nothing else.
l think that l had beuei go, Holmes.
Not a bit, Doctoi. Stay wheie you aie. l am lost without my Boswell. And
this piomises to be inteiesting. lt would be a pity to miss it.
But youi client
Nevei mind him. l may want youi help, and so may he. Heie he comes.
Sit down in that aimchaii, Doctoi, and give us youi best auention.
A slow and heavy step, which had been heaid upon the staiis and in the
passage, paused immediately outside the dooi. Ten theie was a loud and authoi-
itative tap.
Come in' said Holmes.
A man enteied who could haidly have been less than six feet six inches in
height, with the chest and limbs of a Heicules. His diess was iich with a iichness
which would, in England, be looked upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of
astiakhan weie slashed acioss the sleeves and fionts of his double-bieasted coat,
while the deep blue cloak which was thiown ovei his shouldeis was lined with
ame-colouied silk and secuied at the neck with a biooch which consisted of a sin-
gle aming beiyl. Boots which extended halfway up his calves, and which weie
tiimmed at the tops with iich biown fui, completed the impiession of baibaiic
opulence which was suggested by his whole appeaiance. He caiiied a bioad-
biimmed hat in his hand, while he woie acioss the uppei pait of his face, ex-
tending down past the cheekbones, a black vizaid mask, which he had appaiently
adjusted that veiy moment, foi his hand was still iaised to it as he enteied. liom
the lowei pait of the face he appeaied to be a man of stiong chaiactei, with a
thick, hanging lip, and a long, stiaight chin suggestive of iesolution pushed to the
length of obstinacy.
You had my note` he asked with a deep haish voice and a stiongly maiked
Geiman accent. l told you that l would call. He looked fiom one to the othei of
us, as if unceitain which to addiess.
Piay take a seat, said Holmes. Tis is my fiiend and colleague, Di. Wat-
son, who is occasionally good enough to help me in my cases. Whom have l the
honoui to addiess`
You may addiess me as the Count Von Kiamm, a Bohemian nobleman. l
undeistand that this gentleman, youi fiiend, is a man of honoui and discietion,
whom l may tiust with a mauei of the most extieme impoitance. lf not, l should
much piefei to communicate with you alone.
l iose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wiist and pushed me back into my
e
chaii. lt is both, oi none, said he. You may say befoie this gentleman anything
which you may say to me.
Te Count shiugged his bioad shouldeis. Ten l must begin, said he, by
binding you both to absolute seciecy foi two yeais, at the end of that time the
mauei will be of no impoitance. At piesent it is not too much to say that it is of
such weight it may have an inuence upon Euiopean histoiy.
l piomise, said Holmes.
And l.
You will excuse this mask, continued oui stiange visitoi. Te august pei-
son who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to you, and l may confess
at once that the title by which l have just called myself is not exactly my own.
l was awaie of it, said Holmes diyly.
Te ciicumstances aie of gieat delicacy, and eveiy piecaution has to be
taken to quench what might giow to be an immense scandal and seiiously com-
piomise one of the ieigning families of Euiope. To speak plainly, the mauei im-
plicates the gieat House of Oimstein, heieditaiy kings of Bohemia.
l was also awaie of that, muimuied Holmes, seuling himself down in his
aimchaii and closing his eyes.
Oui visitoi glanced with some appaient suipiise at the languid, lounging
guie of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him as the most incisive
ieasonei and most eneigetic agent in Euiope. Holmes slowly ieopened his eyes
and looked impatiently at his gigantic client.
lf youi Majesty would condescend to state youi case, he iemaiked, l
should be beuei able to advise you.
Te man spiang fiom his chaii and paced up and down the ioom in uncon-
tiollable agitation. Ten, with a gestuie of despeiation, he toie the mask fiom his
face and huiled it upon the giound. You aie iight, he ciied, l am the King. Why
should l auempt to conceal it`
Why, indeed` muimuied Holmes. Youi Majesty had not spoken befoie
l was awaie that l was addiessing Wilhelm Gousieich Sigismond von Oimstein,
Giand Duke of Cassel-lelstein, and heieditaiy King of Bohemia.
But you can undeistand, said oui stiange visitoi, siuing down once moie
and passing his hand ovei his high white foiehead, you can undeistand that l
am not accustomed to doing such business in my own peison. Yet the mauei was
so delicate that l could not conde it to an agent without puuing myself in his
powei. l have come incognito fiom Piague foi the puipose of consulting you.
Ten, piay consult, said Holmes, shuuing his eyes once moie.
Te facts aie biiey these Some ve yeais ago, duiing a lengthy visit to
,
Waisaw, l made the acquaintance of the well-known adventuiess, liene Adlei.
Te name is no doubt familiai to you.
Kindly look hei up in my index, Doctoi, muimuied Holmes without open-
ing his eyes. loi many yeais he had adopted a system of docketing all paiagiaphs
conceining men and things, so that it was dicult to name a subject oi a peison
on which he could not at once fuinish infoimation. ln this case l found hei biogia-
phy sandwiched in between that of a Hebiew iabbi and that of a sta-commandei
who had wiiuen a monogiaph upon the deep-sea shes.
Let me see' said Holmes. Hum' Boin in New Jeisey in the yeai 1ss.
Contialtohum' La Scala, hum' Piima donna lmpeiial Opeia of Waisawyes'
Retiied fiom opeiatic stageha' Living in Londonquite so' Youi Majesty, as l
undeistand, became entangled with this young peison, wiote hei some compio-
mising leueis, and is now desiious of geuing those leueis back.
Piecisely so. But how
Was theie a seciet maiiiage`
None.
No legal papeis oi ceiticates`
None.
Ten l fail to follow youi Majesty. lf this young peison should pioduce hei
leueis foi blackmailing oi othei puiposes, howis she to piove theii authenticity`
Teie is the wiiting.
Pooh, pooh' loigeiy.
My piivate note-papei.
Stolen.
My own seal.
lmitated.
My photogiaph.
Bought.
We weie both in the photogiaph.
Oh, deai' Tat is veiy bad' Youi Majesty has indeed commiued an indis-
cietion.
l was madinsane.
You have compiomised youiself seiiously.
l was only Ciown Piince then. l was young. l am but thiity now.
lt must be iecoveied.
We have tiied and failed.
Youi Majesty must pay. lt must be bought.
She will not sell.
s
Stolen, then.
live auempts have been made. Twice buiglais in my pay iansacked hei
house. Once we diveited hei luggage when she tiavelled. Twice she has been
waylaid. Teie has been no iesult.
No sign of it`
Absolutely none.
Holmes laughed. lt is quite a pieuy liule pioblem, said he.
But a veiy seiious one to me, ietuined the King iepioachfully.
Veiy, indeed. And what does she piopose to do with the photogiaph`
To iuin me.
But how`
l am about to be maiiied.
So l have heaid.
To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughtei of the King of
Scandinavia. You may know the stiict piinciples of hei family. She is heiself the
veiy soul of delicacy. A shadow of a doubt as to my conduct would biing the
mauei to an end.
And liene Adlei`
Tieatens to send them the photogiaph. And she will do it. l know that
she will do it. You do not know hei, but she has a soul of steel. She has the face of
the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most iesolute of men. Rathei
than l should maiiy anothei woman, theie aie no lengths to which she would not
gonone.
You aie suie that she has not sent it yet`
l am suie.
And why`
Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the betiothal
was publicly pioclaimed. Tat will be next Monday.
Oh, then we have thiee days yet, said Holmes with a yawn. Tat is veiy
foitunate, as l have one oi two maueis of impoitance to look into just at piesent.
Youi Majesty will, of couise, stay in London foi the piesent`
Ceitainly. You will nd me at the Langham undei the name of the Count
Von Kiamm.
Ten l shall diop you a line to let you know how we piogiess.
Piay do so. l shall be all anxiety.
Ten, as to money`
You have carte blane.
Absolutely`
,
l tell you that l would give one of the piovinces of my kingdom to have
that photogiaph.
And foi piesent expenses`
Te King took a heavy chamois leathei bag fiom undei his cloak and laid it
on the table.
Teie aie thiee hundied pounds in gold and seven hundied in notes, he
said.
Holmes sciibbled a ieceipt upon a sheet of his note-book and handed it to
him.
And Mademoiselles addiess` he asked.
ls Biiony Lodge, Seipentine Avenue, St. Johns Wood.
Holmes took a note of it. One othei question, said he. Was the photo-
giaph a cabinet`
lt was.
Ten, good-night, youi Majesty, and l tiust that we shall soon have some
good news foi you. And good-night, Watson, he added, as the wheels of the ioyal
biougham iolled down the stieet. lf you will be good enough to call to-moiiow
afeinoon at thiee oclock l should like to chat this liule mauei ovei with you.
II.
At thiee oclock piecisely l was at Bakei Stieet, but Holmes had not yet ietuined.
Te landlady infoimed me that he had lef the house shoitly afei eight oclock in
the moining. l sat down beside the ie, howevei, with the intention of awaiting
him, howevei long he might be. l was alieady deeply inteiested in his inquiiy, foi,
though it was suiiounded by none of the giim and stiange featuies which weie
associated with the two ciimes which l have alieady iecoided, still, the natuie
of the case and the exalted station of his client gave it a chaiactei of its own.
lndeed, apait fiom the natuie of the investigation which my fiiend had on hand,
theie was something in his masteily giasp of a situation, and his keen, incisive
ieasoning, which made it a pleasuie to me to study his system of woik, and to
follow the quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most inextiicable
mysteiies. So accustomed was l to his invaiiable success that the veiy possibility
of his failing had ceased to entei into my head.
lt was close upon foui befoie the dooi opened, and a diunken-looking
gioom, ill-kempt and side-whiskeied, with an inamed face and disieputable
clothes, walked into the ioom. Accustomed as l was to my fiiends amazing pow-
eis in the use of disguises, l had to look thiee times befoie l was ceitain that it
1o
was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedioom, whence he emeiged
in ve minutes tweed-suited and iespectable, as of old. Puuing his hands into his
pockets, he stietched out his legs in fiont of the ie and laughed heaitily foi some
minutes.
Well, ieally' he ciied, and then he choked and laughed again until he was
obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the chaii.
What is it`
lts quite too funny. l am suie you could nevei guess how l employed my
moining, oi what l ended by doing.
l cant imagine. l suppose that you have been watching the habits, and
peihaps the house, of Miss liene Adlei.
Qite so, but the sequel was iathei unusual. l will tell you, howevei. l lef
the house a liule afei eight oclock this moining in the chaiactei of a gioom out
of woik. Teie is a wondeiful sympathy and fieemasoniy among hoisey men.
Be one of them, and you will know all that theie is to know. l soon found Biiony
Lodge. lt is a bijou villa, with a gaiden at the back, but built out in fiont iight up to
the ioad, two stoiies. Chubb lock to the dooi. Laige siuing-ioomon the iight side,
well fuinished, with long windows almost to the ooi, and those pieposteious
English window fasteneis which a child could open. Behind theie was nothing
iemaikable, save that the passage window could be ieached fiom the top of the
coach-house. l walked iound it and examined it closely fiom eveiy point of view,
but without noting anything else of inteiest.
l then lounged down the stieet and found, as l expected, that theie was a
mews in a lane which iuns down by one wall of the gaiden. l lent the ostleis a hand
in iubbing down theii hoises, and ieceived in exchange twopence, a glass of half-
and-half, two lls of shag tobacco, and as much infoimation as l could desiie about
Miss Adlei, to say nothing of half a dozen othei people in the neighbouihood in
whom l was not in the least inteiested, but whose biogiaphies l was compelled to
listen to.
And what of liene Adlei` l asked.
Oh, she has tuined all the mens heads down in that pait. She is the dain-
tiest thing undei a bonnet on this planet. So say the Seipentine-mews, to a man.
She lives quietly, sings at conceits, diives out at ve eveiy day, and ietuins at
seven shaip foi dinnei. Seldom goes out at othei times, except when she sings.
Has only one male visitoi, but a good deal of him. He is daik, handsome, and
dashing, nevei calls less than once a day, and ofen twice. He is a Mi. Godfiey
Noiton, of the lnnei Temple. See the advantages of a cabman as a condant. Tey
had diiven him home a dozen times fiom Seipentine-mews, and knew all about
11
him. When l had listened to all they had to tell, l began to walk up and down neai
Biiony Lodge once moie, and to think ovei my plan of campaign.
Tis Godfiey Noiton was evidently an impoitant factoi in the mauei. He
was a lawyei. Tat sounded ominous. What was the ielation between them, and
what the object of his iepeated visits` Was she his client, his fiiend, oi his mis-
tiess` lf the foimei, she had piobably tiansfeiied the photogiaph to his keeping.
lf the lauei, it was less likely. On the issue of this question depended whethei
l should continue my woik at Biiony Lodge, oi tuin my auention to the gentle-
mans chambeis in the Temple. lt was a delicate point, and it widened the eld of
my inquiiy. l feai that l boie you with these details, but l have to let you see my
liule diculties, if you aie to undeistand the situation.
l am following you closely, l answeied.
l was still balancing the mauei in my mind when a hansom cab diove up
to Biiony Lodge, and a gentleman spiang out. He was a iemaikably handsome
man, daik, aquiline, and moustachedevidently the man of whom l had heaid.
He appeaied to be in a gieat huiiy, shouted to the cabman to wait, and biushed
past the maid who opened the dooi with the aii of a man who was thoioughly at
home.
He was in the house about half an houi, and l could catch glimpses of him
in the windows of the siuing-ioom, pacing up and down, talking excitedly, and
waving his aims. Of hei l could see nothing. Piesently he emeiged, looking even
moie uiiied than befoie. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch
fiom his pocket and looked at it eainestly, Diive like the devil, he shouted, ist
to Gioss & Hankeys in Regent Stieet, and then to the Chuich of St. Monica in
the Edgewaie Road. Half a guinea if you do it in twenty minutes'
Away they went, and l was just wondeiing whethei l should not do well
to follow them when up the lane came a neat liule landau, the coachman with his
coat only half-buuoned, and his tie undei his eai, while all the tags of his hainess
weie sticking out of the buckles. lt hadnt pulled up befoie she shot out of the
hall dooi and into it. l only caught a glimpse of hei at the moment, but she was a
lovely woman, with a face that a man might die foi.
Te Chuich of St. Monica, John, she ciied, and half a soveieign if you
ieach it in twenty minutes.
Tis was quite too good to lose, Watson. l was just balancing whethei l
should iun foi it, oi whethei l should peich behind hei landau when a cab came
thiough the stieet. Te diivei looked twice at such a shabby faie, but l jumped in
befoie he could object. Te Chuich of St. Monica, said l, and half a soveieign
if you ieach it in twenty minutes. lt was twenty-ve minutes to twelve, and of
1:
couise it was cleai enough what was in the wind.
My cabby diove fast. l dont think l evei diove fastei, but the otheis weie
theie befoie us. Te cab and the landau with theii steaming hoises weie in fiont
of the dooi when l aiiived. l paid the man and huiiied into the chuich. Teie was
not a soul theie save the two whom l had followed and a suipliced cleigyman,
who seemed to be expostulating with them. Tey weie all thiee standing in a
knot in fiont of the altai. l lounged up the side aisle like any othei idlei who has
diopped into a chuich. Suddenly, to my suipiise, the thiee at the altai faced iound
to me, and Godfiey Noiton came iunning as haid as he could towaids me.
Tank God, he ciied. Youll do. Come' Come'
What then` l asked.
Come, man, come, only thiee minutes, oi it wont be legal.
l was half-diagged up to the altai, and befoie l knew wheie l was l found
myself mumbling iesponses which weie whispeied in my eai, and vouching foi
things of which l knew nothing, and geneially assisting in the secuie tying up of
liene Adlei, spinstei, to Godfiey Noiton, bacheloi. lt was all done in an instant,
and theie was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady on the
othei, while the cleigyman beamed on me in fiont. lt was the most pieposteious
position in which l evei found myself in my life, and it was the thought of it
that staited me laughing just now. lt seems that theie had been some infoimality
about theii license, that the cleigyman absolutely iefused to maiiy them without
a witness of some soit, and that my lucky appeaiance saved the biidegioom fiom
having to sally out into the stieets in seaich of a best man. Te biide gave me a
soveieign, and l mean to weai it on my watch chain in memoiy of the occasion.
Tis is a veiy unexpected tuin of aaiis, said l, and what then`
Well, l found my plans veiy seiiously menaced. lt looked as if the paii
might take an immediate depaituie, and so necessitate veiy piompt and eneigetic
measuies on my pait. At the chuich dooi, howevei, they sepaiated, he diiving
back to the Temple, and she to hei own house. l shall diive out in the paik at ve
as usual, she said as she lef him. l heaid no moie. Tey diove away in dieient
diiections, and l went o to make my own aiiangements.
Which aie`
Some cold beef and a glass of beei, he answeied, iinging the bell. l have
been too busy to think of food, and l am likely to be busiei still this evening. By
the way, Doctoi, l shall want youi co-opeiation.
l shall be delighted.
You dont mind bieaking the law`
Not in the least.
1
Noi iunning a chance of aiiest`
Not in a good cause.
Oh, the cause is excellent'
Ten l am youi man.
l was suie that l might iely on you.
But what is it you wish`
When Mis. Tuinei has biought in the tiay l will make it cleai to you. Now,
he said as he tuined hungiily on the simple faie that oui landlady had piovided, l
must discuss it while l eat, foi l have not much time. lt is neaily ve now. ln two
houis we must be on the scene of action. Miss liene, oi Madame, iathei, ietuins
fiom hei diive at seven. We must be at Biiony Lodge to meet hei.
And what then`
You must leave that to me. l have alieady aiianged what is to occui. Teie
is only one point on which l must insist. You must not inteifeie, come what may.
You undeistand`
l am to be neutial`
To do nothing whatevei. Teie will piobably be some small unpleasant-
ness. Do not join in it. lt will end in my being conveyed into the house. loui
oi ve minutes afeiwaids the siuing-ioom window will open. You aie to station
youiself close to that open window.
Yes.
You aie to watch me, foi l will be visible to you.
Yes.
And when l iaise my handsoyou will thiow into the ioom what l give
you to thiow, and will, at the same time, iaise the ciy of ie. You quite follow
me`
Entiiely.
lt is nothing veiy foimidable, he said, taking a long cigai-shaped ioll fiom
his pocket. lt is an oidinaiy plumbeis smoke-iocket, ued with a cap at eithei
end to make it self-lighting. Youi task is conned to that. When you iaise youi
ciy of ie, it will be taken up by quite a numbei of people. You may then walk to
the end of the stieet, and l will iejoin you in ten minutes. l hope that l have made
myself cleai`
l am to iemain neutial, to get neai the window, to watch you, and at the
signal to thiow in this object, then to iaise the ciy of ie, and to wait you at the
coinei of the stieet.
Piecisely.
Ten you may entiiely iely on me.
1
Tat is excellent. l think, peihaps, it is almost time that l piepaie foi the
new iole l have to play.
He disappeaied into his bedioom and ietuined in a fewminutes in the chai-
actei of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconfoimist cleigyman. His bioad
black hat, his baggy tiouseis, his white tie, his sympathetic smile, and geneial look
of peeiing and benevolent cuiiosity weie such as Mi. John Haie alone could have
equalled. lt was not meiely that Holmes changed his costume. His expiession, his
mannei, his veiy soul seemed to vaiy with eveiy fiesh pait that he assumed. Te
stage lost a ne actoi, even as science lost an acute ieasonei, when he became a
specialist in ciime.
lt was a quaitei past six when we lef Bakei Stieet, and it still wanted ten
minutes to the houi when we found ouiselves in Seipentine Avenue. lt was al-
ieady dusk, and the lamps weie just being lighted as we paced up and down in
fiont of Biiony Lodge, waiting foi the coming of its occupant. Te house was
just such as l had pictuied it fiom Sheilock Holmes succinct desciiption, but the
locality appeaied to be less piivate than l expected. On the contiaiy, foi a small
stieet in a quiet neighbouihood, it was iemaikably animated. Teie was a gioup
of shabbily diessed men smoking and laughing in a coinei, a scissois-giindei with
his wheel, two guaidsmen who weie iiting with a nuise-giil, and seveial well-
diessed young men who weie lounging up and down with cigais in theii mouths.
You see, iemaiked Holmes, as we paced to and fio in fiont of the house,
this maiiiage iathei simplies maueis. Te photogiaph becomes a double-edged
weapon now. Te chances aie that she would be as aveise to its being seen by Mi.
Godfiey Noiton, as oui client is to its coming to the eyes of his piincess. Now the
question is, Wheie aie we to nd the photogiaph`
Wheie, indeed`
lt is most unlikely that she caiiies it about with hei. lt is cabinet size.
Too laige foi easy concealment about a womans diess. She knows that the King
is capable of having hei waylaid and seaiched. Two auempts of the soit have
alieady been made. We may take it, then, that she does not caiiy it about with
hei.
Wheie, then`
Hei bankei oi hei lawyei. Teie is that double possibility. But l aminclined
to think neithei. Women aie natuially secietive, and they like to do theii own
secieting. Why should she hand it ovei to anyone else` She could tiust hei own
guaidianship, but she could not tell what indiiect oi political inuence might be
biought to beai upon a business man. Besides, iemembei that she had iesolved to
use it within a few days. lt must be wheie she can lay hei hands upon it. lt must
1
be in hei own house.
But it has twice been buigled.
Pshaw' Tey did not know how to look.
But how will you look`
l will not look.
What then`
l will get hei to show me.
But she will iefuse.
She will not be able to. But l heai the iumble of wheels. lt is hei caiiiage.
Now caiiy out my oideis to the leuei.
As he spoke the gleam of the sidelights of a caiiiage came iound the cuive
of the avenue. lt was a smait liule landau which iauled up to the dooi of Biiony
Lodge. As it pulled up, one of the loang men at the coinei dashed foiwaid to
open the dooi in the hope of eaining a coppei, but was elbowed away by an-
othei loafei, who had iushed up with the same intention. A eice quaiiel bioke
out, which was incieased by the two guaidsmen, who took sides with one of the
loungeis, and by the scissois-giindei, who was equally hot upon the othei side. A
blow was stiuck, and in an instant the lady, who had stepped fiom hei caiiiage,
was the centie of a liule knot of ushed and stiuggling men, who stiuck savagely
at each othei with theii sts and sticks. Holmes dashed into the ciowd to piotect
the lady, but, just as he ieached hei, he gave a ciy and diopped to the giound,
with the blood iunning fieely down his face. At his fall the guaidsmen took to
theii heels in one diiection and the loungeis in the othei, while a numbei of beuei
diessed people, who had watched the scue without taking pait in it, ciowded
in to help the lady and to auend to the injuied man. liene Adlei, as l will still
call hei, had huiiied up the steps, but she stood at the top with hei supeib guie
outlined against the lights of the hall, looking back into the stieet.
ls the pooi gentleman much huit` she asked.
He is dead, ciied seveial voices.
No, no, theies life in him' shouted anothei. But hell be gone befoie you
can get him to hospital.
Hes a biave fellow, said a woman. Tey would have had the ladys puise
and watch if it hadnt been foi him. Tey weie a gang, and a iough one, too. Ah,
hes bieathing now.
He cant lie in the stieet. May we biing him in, maim`
Suiely. Biing him into the siuing-ioom. Teie is a comfoitable sofa. Tis
way, please'
Slowly and solemnly he was boine into Biiony Lodge and laid out in the
1e
piincipal ioom, while l still obseived the pioceedings fiom my post by the win-
dow. Te lamps had been lit, but the blinds had not been diawn, so that l could
see Holmes as he lay upon the couch. l do not know whethei he was seized with
compunction at that moment foi the pait he was playing, but l know that l nevei
felt moie heaitily ashamed of myself in my life than when l saw the beautiful
cieatuie against whom l was conspiiing, oi the giace and kindliness with which
she waited upon the injuied man. And yet it would be the blackest tieacheiy to
Holmes to diaw back now fiom the pait which he had intiusted to me. l haidened
my heait, and took the smoke-iocket fiom undei my ulstei. Afei all, l thought,
we aie not injuiing hei. We aie but pieventing hei fiom injuiing anothei.
Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and l saw him motion like a man who
is in need of aii. A maid iushed acioss and thiew open the window. At the same
instant l saw him iaise his hand and at the signal l tossed my iocket into the
ioom with a ciy of liie' Te woid was no soonei out of my mouth than the
whole ciowd of spectatois, well diessed and illgentlemen, ostleis, and seivant
maidsjoined in a geneial shiiek of liie' Tick clouds of smoke cuiled thiough
the ioom and out at the open window. l caught a glimpse of iushing guies, and
a moment latei the voice of Holmes fiom within assuiing them that it was a false
alaim. Slipping thiough the shouting ciowd l made my way to the coinei of the
stieet, and in ten minutes was iejoiced to nd my fiiends aim in mine, and to
get away fiom the scene of upioai. He walked swifly and in silence foi some few
minutes until we had tuined down one of the quiet stieets which lead towaids
the Edgewaie Road.
You did it veiy nicely, Doctoi, he iemaiked. Nothing could have been
beuei. lt is all iight.
You have the photogiaph`
l know wheie it is.
And how did you nd out`
She showed me, as l told you she would.
l am still in the daik.
l do not wish to make a mysteiy, said he, laughing. Te mauei was pei-
fectly simple. You, of couise, saw that eveiyone in the stieet was an accomplice.
Tey weie all engaged foi the evening.
l guessed as much.
Ten, when the iow bioke out, l had a liule moist ied paint in the palm of
my hand. l iushed foiwaid, fell down, clapped my hand to my face, and became
a piteous spectacle. lt is an old tiick.
Tat also l could fathom.
1,
Ten they caiiied me in. She was bound to have me in. What else could
she do` And into hei siuing-ioom, which was the veiy ioom which l suspected.
lt lay between that and hei bedioom, and l was deteimined to see which. Tey
laid me on a couch, l motioned foi aii, they weie compelled to open the window,
and you had youi chance.
How did that help you`
lt was all-impoitant. When a woman thinks that hei house is on ie, hei
instinct is at once to iush to the thing which she values most. lt is a peifectly
oveipoweiing impulse, and l have moie than once taken advantage of it. ln the
case of the Dailington Substitution Scandal it was of use to me, and also in the
Ainswoith Castle business. A maiiied woman giabs at hei baby, an unmaiiied
one ieaches foi hei jewel-box. Now it was cleai to me that oui lady of to-day
had nothing in the house moie piecious to hei than what we aie in quest of. She
would iush to secuie it. Te alaim of ie was admiiably done. Te smoke and
shouting weie enough to shake neives of steel. She iesponded beautifully. Te
photogiaph is in a iecess behind a sliding panel just above the iight bell-pull. She
was theie in an instant, and l caught a glimpse of it as she half diew it out. When
l ciied out that it was a false alaim, she ieplaced it, glanced at the iocket, iushed
fiom the ioom, and l have not seen hei since. l iose, and, making my excuses,
escaped fiom the house. l hesitated whethei to auempt to secuie the photogiaph
at once, but the coachman had come in, and as he was watching me naiiowly, it
seemed safei to wait. A liule ovei-piecipitance may iuin all.
And now` l asked.
Oui quest is piactically nished. l shall call with the King to-moiiow, and
with you, if you caie to come with us. We will be shown into the siuing-ioom to
wait foi the lady, but it is piobable that when she comes she may nd neithei us
noi the photogiaph. lt might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to iegain it with his
own hands.
And when will you call`
At eight in the moining. She will not be up, so that we shall have a cleai
eld. Besides, we must be piompt, foi this maiiiage may mean a complete change
in hei life and habits. l must wiie to the King without delay.
We had ieached Bakei Stieet and had stopped at the dooi. He was seaiching
his pockets foi the key when someone passing said
Good-night, Mistei Sheilock Holmes.
Teie weie seveial people on the pavement at the time, but the gieeting
appeaied to come fiom a slim youth in an ulstei who had huiiied by.
lve heaid that voice befoie, said Holmes, staiing down the dimly lit stieet.
1s
Now, l wondei who the deuce that could have been.
III.
l slept at Bakei Stieet that night, and we weie engaged upon oui toast and coee
in the moining when the King of Bohemia iushed into the ioom.
You have ieally got it' he ciied, giasping Sheilock Holmes by eithei shoul-
dei and looking eageily into his face.
Not yet.
But you have hopes`
l have hopes.
Ten, come. l am all impatience to be gone.
We must have a cab.
No, my biougham is waiting.
Ten that will simplify maueis. We descended and staited o once moie
foi Biiony Lodge.
liene Adlei is maiiied, iemaiked Holmes.
Maiiied' When`
Yesteiday.
But to whom`
To an English lawyei named Noiton.
But she could not love him.
l am in hopes that she does.
And why in hopes`
Because it would spaie youi Majesty all feai of futuie annoyance. lf the
lady loves hei husband, she does not love youi Majesty. lf she does not love youi
Majesty, theie is no ieason why she should inteifeie with youi Majestys plan.
lt is tiue. And yet' Well' l wish she had been of my own station' What
a queen she would have made' He ielapsed into a moody silence, which was not
bioken until we diew up in Seipentine Avenue.
Te dooi of Biiony Lodge was open, and an eldeily woman stood upon the
steps. She watched us with a saidonic eye as we stepped fiom the biougham.
Mi. Sheilock Holmes, l believe` said she.
l am Mi. Holmes, answeied my companion, looking at hei with a ques-
tioning and iathei staitled gaze.
lndeed' My mistiess told me that you weie likely to call. She lef this moin-
ing with hei husband by the 1 tiain fiom Chaiing Cioss foi the Continent.
What' Sheilock Holmes staggeied back, white with chagiin and suipiise.
1,
Do you mean that she has lef England`
Nevei to ietuin.
And the papeis` asked the King hoaisely. All is lost.
We shall see. He pushed past the seivant and iushed into the diawing-
ioom, followed by the King and myself. Te fuinituie was scaueied about in
eveiy diiection, with dismantled shelves and open diaweis, as if the lady had
huiiiedly iansacked them befoie hei ight. Holmes iushed at the bell-pull, toie
back a small sliding shuuei, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a photogiaph
and a leuei. Te photogiaph was of liene Adlei heiself in evening diess, the leuei
was supeisciibed to Sheilock Holmes, Esq. To be lef till called foi. My fiiend
toie it open, and we all thiee iead it togethei. lt was dated at midnight of the
pieceding night and ian in this way
Mv Dr~v Mv. Surviocx Hoixrs, You ieally did it veiy well.
You took me in completely. Until afei the alaim of ie, l had not a
suspicion. But then, when l found howl had betiayed myself, l began
to think. l had been wained against you months ago. l had been told
that, if the King employed an agent, it would ceitainly be you. And
youi addiess had been given me. Yet, with all this, you made me
ieveal what you wanted to know. Even afei l became suspicious, l
found it haid to think evil of such a deai, kind old cleigyman. But,
you know, l have been tiained as an actiess myself. Male costume
is nothing new to me. l ofen take advantage of the fieedom which
it gives. l sent John, the coachman, to watch you, ian upstaiis, got
into my walking clothes, as l call them, and came down just as you
depaited.
Well, l followed you to youi dooi, and so made suie that l was
ieally an object of inteiest to the celebiated Mi. Sheilock Holmes.
Ten l, iathei impiudently, wished you good-night, and staited foi
the Temple to see my husband.
We both thought the best iesouice was ight, when puisued
by so foimidable an antagonist, so you will nd the nest empty when
you call to-moiiow. As to the photogiaph, youi client may iest in
peace. l love and am loved by a beuei man than he. Te King may
do what he will without hindiance fiom one whom he has ciuelly
wionged. l keep it only to safeguaid myself, and to pieseive a weapon
which will always secuie me fiom any steps which he might take in
the futuie. l leave a photogiaph which he might caie to possess, and
l iemain, deai Mi. Sheilock Holmes,
:o
Veiy tiuly youis,
liene Noiton, ne Adlei.
What a womanoh, what a woman' ciied the King of Bohemia, when we had
all thiee iead this epistle. Did l not tell you how quick and iesolute she was`
Would she not have made an admiiable queen` ls it not a pity that she was not
on my level`
liom what l have seen of the lady, she seems, indeed, to be on a veiy
dieient level to youi Majesty, said Holmes coldly. l am soiiy that l have not
been able to biing youi Majestys business to a moie successful conclusion.
On the contiaiy, my deai sii, ciied the King, nothing could be moie suc-
cessful. l know that hei woid is inviolate. Te photogiaph is now as safe as if it
weie in the ie.
l am glad to heai youi Majesty say so.
l am immensely indebted to you. Piay tell me in what way l can iewaid
you. Tis iing He slipped an emeiald snake iing fiom his ngei and held it out
upon the palm of his hand.
Youi Majesty has something which l should value even moie highly, said
Holmes.
You have but to name it.
Tis photogiaph'
Te King staied at him in amazement.
lienes photogiaph' he ciied. Ceitainly, if you wish it.
l thank youi Majesty. Ten theie is no moie to be done in the mauei. l
have the honoui to wish you a veiy good moining. He bowed, and, tuining away
without obseiving the hand which the King had stietched out to him, he set o
in my company foi his chambeis.
And that was how a gieat scandal thieatened to aect the kingdom of Bo-
hemia, and how the best plans of Mi. Sheilock Holmes weie beaten by a womans
wit. He used to make meiiy ovei the cleveiness of women, but l have not heaid
him do it of late. And when he speaks of liene Adlei, oi when he iefeis to hei
photogiaph, it is always undei the honouiable title of the woman.
Te Red-headed Ieague
l had called upon my fiiend, Mi. Sheilock Holmes, one day in the autumn of last
yeai and found him in deep conveisation with a veiy stout, oiid-faced, eldeily
gentleman with eiy ied haii. With an apology foi my intiusion, l was about to
withdiaw when Holmes pulled me abiuptly into the ioom and closed the dooi
behind me.
You could not possibly have come at a beuei time, my deai Watson, he
said coidially.
l was afiaid that you weie engaged.
So l am. Veiy much so.
Ten l can wait in the next ioom.
Not at all. Tis gentleman, Mi. Wilson, has been my paitnei and helpei
in many of my most successful cases, and l have no doubt that he will be of the
utmost use to me in youis also.
Te stout gentleman half iose fiom his chaii and gave a bob of gieeting,
with a quick liule questioning glance fiom his small fat-enciicled eyes.
Tiy the seuee, said Holmes, ielapsing into his aimchaii and puuing his
ngeitips togethei, as was his custom when in judicial moods. l know, my deai
Watson, that you shaie my love of all that is bizaiie and outside the conventions
and humdium ioutine of eveiyday life. You have shown youi ielish foi it by
the enthusiasm which has piompted you to chionicle, and, if you will excuse my
saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own liule adventuies.
Youi cases have indeed been of the gieatest inteiest to me, l obseived.
You will iemembei that l iemaiked the othei day, just befoie we went into
the veiy simple pioblem piesented by Miss Maiy Sutheiland, that foi stiange
eects and extiaoidinaiy combinations we must go to life itself, which is always
fai moie daiing than any eoit of the imagination.
A pioposition which l took the libeity of doubting.
::
You did, Doctoi, but none the less you must come iound to my view, foi
otheiwise l shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you until youi ieason bieaks
down undei them and acknowledges me to be iight. Now, Mi. Jabez Wilson heie
has been good enough to call upon me this moining, and to begin a naiiative
which piomises to be one of the most singulai which l have listened to foi some
time. You have heaid me iemaik that the stiangest and most unique things aie
veiy ofen connected not with the laigei but with the smallei ciimes, and occa-
sionally, indeed, wheie theie is ioom foi doubt whethei any positive ciime has
been commiued. As fai as l have heaid, it is impossible foi me to say whethei
the piesent case is an instance of ciime oi not, but the couise of events is cei-
tainly among the most singulai that l have evei listened to. Peihaps, Mi. Wilson,
you would have the gieat kindness to iecommence youi naiiative. l ask you not
meiely because my fiiend Di. Watson has not heaid the opening pait but also
because the peculiai natuie of the stoiy makes me anxious to have eveiy possible
detail fiom youi lips. As a iule, when l have heaid some slight indication of the
couise of events, l am able to guide myself by the thousands of othei similai cases
which occui to my memoiy. ln the piesent instance l am foiced to admit that the
facts aie, to the best of my belief, unique.
Te poitly client pued out his chest with an appeaiance of some liule piide
and pulled a diity and wiinkled newspapei fiomthe inside pocket of his gieatcoat.
As he glanced down the adveitisement column, with his head thiust foiwaid and
the papei auened out upon his knee, l took a good look at the man and endeav-
ouied, afei the fashion of my companion, to iead the indications which might be
piesented by his diess oi appeaiance.
l did not gain veiy much, howevei, by my inspection. Oui visitoi boie eveiy
maik of being an aveiage commonplace Biitish tiadesman, obese, pompous, and
slow. He woie iathei baggy giey shepheids check tiouseis, a not ovei-clean black
fiock-coat, unbuuoned in the fiont, and a diab waistcoat with a heavy biassy
Albeit chain, and a squaie pieiced bit of metal dangling down as an oinament. A
fiayed top-hat and a faded biown oveicoat with a wiinkled velvet collai lay upon
a chaii beside him. Altogethei, look as l would, theie was nothing iemaikable
about the man save his blazing ied head, and the expiession of extieme chagiin
and discontent upon his featuies.
Sheilock 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 laboui, that he takes snu, that he is a
lieemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a consideiable amount
of wiiting lately, l can deduce nothing else.
:
Mi. Jabez Wilson staited up in his chaii, with his foiengei upon the papei,
but his eyes upon my companion.
How, in the name of good-foitune, did you know all that, Mi. Holmes` he
asked. How did you know, foi example, that l did manual laboui. lts as tiue as
gospel, foi l began as a ships caipentei.
Youi hands, my deai sii. Youi iight hand is quite a size laigei than youi
lef. You have woiked with it, and the muscles aie moie developed.
Well, the snu, then, and the lieemasoniy`
l wont insult youi intelligence by telling you howl iead that, especially as,
iathei against the stiict iules of youi oidei, you use an aic-and-compass bieast-
pin.
Ah, of couise, l foigot that. But the wiiting`
What else can be indicated by that iight cu so veiy shiny foi ve inches,
and the lef one with the smooth patch neai the elbow wheie you iest it upon the
desk`
Well, but China`
Te sh that you have tauooed immediately above youi iight wiist could
only have been done in China. l have made a small study of tauoo maiks and
have even contiibuted to the liteiatuie of the subject. Tat tiick of staining the
shes scales of a delicate pink is quite peculiai to China. When, in addition, l see
a Chinese coin hanging fiom youi watch-chain, the mauei becomes even moie
simple.
Mi. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. Well, l nevei' said he. l thought at
ist that you had done something clevei, but l see that theie was nothing in it
afei all.
l begin to think, Watson, said Holmes, that l make a mistake in explaining.
Omne ignotum pro magnico, you know, and my pooi liule ieputation, such as it
is, will suei shipwieck if l am so candid. Can you not nd the adveitisement,
Mi. Wilson`
Yes, l have got it now, he answeied with his thick ied ngei planted
halfway down the column. Heie it is. Tis is what began it all. You just iead
it foi youiself, sii.
l took the papei fiom him and iead as follows
To 1ur Rruur~uru Lr~cUr On account of the bequest of the late
Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., theie is now
anothei vacancy open which entitles a membei of the League to a
salaiy of i a week foi puiely nominal seivices. All ied-headed men
who aie sound in body and mind and above the age of twenty-one
:
yeais, aie eligible. Apply in peison on Monday, at eleven oclock,
to Duncan Ross, at the oces of the League, , Popes Couit, lleet
Stieet.
What on eaith does this mean` l ejaculated afei l had twice iead ovei the ex-
tiaoidinaiy announcement.
Holmes chuckled and wiiggled in his chaii, as was his habit when in high
spiiits. lt is a liule o the beaten tiack, isnt it` said he. And now, Mi. Wilson,
o you go at sciatch and tell us all about youiself, youi household, and the eect
which this adveitisement had upon youi foitunes. You will ist make a note,
Doctoi, of the papei and the date.
lt is e Morning Chronicle of Apiil :,, 1s,o. Just two months ago.
Veiy good. Now, Mi. Wilson`
Well, it is just as l have been telling you, Mi. Sheilock Holmes, said Jabez
Wilson, mopping his foiehead, l have a small pawnbiokeis business at Cobuig
Squaie, neai the City. lts not a veiy laige aaii, and of late yeais it has not done
moie than just give me a living. l used to be able to keep two assistants, but now
l only keep one, and l would have a job to pay him but that he is willing to come
foi half wages so as to leain the business.
What is the name of this obliging youth` asked Sheilock Holmes.
His name is Vincent Spaulding, and hes not such a youth, eithei. lts haid
to say his age. l should not wish a smaitei assistant, Mi. Holmes, and l know veiy
well that he could beuei himself and eain twice what l am able to give him. But,
afei all, if he is satised, why should l put ideas in his head`
Why, indeed` You seem most foitunate in having an employ who comes
undei the full maiket piice. lt is not a common expeiience among employeis in
this age. l dont know that youi assistant is not as iemaikable as youi adveitise-
ment.
Oh, he has his faults, too, said Mi. Wilson. Nevei was such a fellow foi
photogiaphy. Snapping away with a cameia when he ought to be impioving his
mind, and then diving down into the cellai like a iabbit into its hole to develop
his pictuies. Tat is his main fault, but on the whole hes a good woikei. Teies
no vice in him.
He is still with you, l piesume`
Yes, sii. He and a giil of fouiteen, who does a bit of simple cooking and
keeps the place cleanthats all l have in the house, foi l am a widowei and nevei
had any family. We live veiy quietly, sii, the thiee of us, and we keep a ioof ovei
oui heads and pay oui debts, if we do nothing moie.
Te ist thing that put us out was that adveitisement. Spaulding, he came
:
down into the oce just this day eight weeks, with this veiy papei in his hand,
and he says
l wish to the Loid, Mi. Wilson, that l was a ied-headed man.
Why that` l asks.
Why, says he, heies anothei vacancy on the League of the Red-headed
Men. lts woith quite a liule foitune to any man who gets it, and l undeistand
that theie aie moie vacancies than theie aie men, so that the tiustees aie at theii
wits end what to do with the money. lf my haii would only change coloui, heies
a nice liule ciib all ieady foi me to step into.
Why, what is it, then` l asked. You see, Mi. Holmes, l am a veiy stay-
at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of my having to go to it, l
was ofen weeks on end without puuing my foot ovei the dooi-mat. ln that way
l didnt know much of what was going on outside, and l was always glad of a bit
of news.
Have you nevei heaid of the League of the Red-headed Men` he asked
with his eyes open.
Nevei.
Why, l wondei at that, foi you aie eligible youiself foi one of the vacan-
cies.
And what aie they woith` l asked.
Oh, meiely a couple of hundied a yeai, but the woik is slight, and it need
not inteifeie veiy much with ones othei occupations.
Well, you can easily think that that made me piick up my eais, foi the
business has not been ovei good foi some yeais, and an extia couple of hundied
would have been veiy handy.
Tell me all about it, said l.
Well, said he, showing me the adveitisement, you can see foi youiself
that the League has a vacancy, and theie is the addiess wheie you should apply
foi paiticulais. As fai as l can make out, the League was founded by an Ameiican
millionaiie, Ezekiah Hopkins, who was veiy peculiai in his ways. He was himself
ied-headed, and he had a gieat sympathy foi all ied-headed men, so, when he
died, it was found that he had lef his enoimous foitune in the hands of tiustees,
with instiuctions to apply the inteiest to the pioviding of easy beiths to men
whose haii is of that coloui. liom all l heai it is splendid pay and veiy liule to
do.
But, said l, theie would be millions of ied-headed men who would apply.
Not so many as you might think, he answeied. You see it is ieally con-
ned to Londoneis, and to giown men. Tis Ameiican had staited fiom London
:e
when he was young, and he wanted to do the old town a good tuin. Ten, again, l
have heaid it is no use youi applying if youi haii is light ied, oi daik ied, oi any-
thing but ieal biight, blazing, eiy ied. Now, if you caied to apply, Mi. Wilson,
you would just walk in, but peihaps it would haidly be woith youi while to put
youiself out of the way foi the sake of a few hundied pounds.
Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see foi youiselves, that my haii
is of a veiy full and iich tint, so that it seemed to me that if theie was to be any
competition in the mauei l stood as good a chance as any man that l had evei met.
Vincent Spaulding seemed to knowso much about it that l thought he might piove
useful, so l just oideied him to put up the shuueis foi the day and to come iight
away with me. He was veiy willing to have a holiday, so we shut the business up
and staited o foi the addiess that was given us in the adveitisement.
l nevei hope to see such a sight as that again, Mi. Holmes. liom noith,
south, east, and west eveiy man who had a shade of ied in his haii had tiamped
into the city to answei the adveitisement. lleet Stieet was choked with ied-
headed folk, and Popes Couit looked like a costeis oiange baiiow. l should not
have thought theie weie so many in the whole countiy as weie biought togethei
by that single adveitisement. Eveiy shade of coloui they weiestiaw, lemon, oi-
ange, biick, liish-seuei, livei, clay, but, as Spaulding said, theie weie not many
who had the ieal vivid ame-colouied tint. When l saw how many weie waiting,
l would have given it up in despaii, but Spaulding would not heai of it. How he
did it l could not imagine, but he pushed and pulled and buued until he got me
thiough the ciowd, and iight up to the steps which led to the oce. Teie was
a double stieam upon the staii, some going up in hope, and some coming back
dejected, but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found ouiselves in the
oce.
Youi expeiience has been a most enteitaining one, iemaiked Holmes as
his client paused and iefieshed his memoiy with a huge pinch of snu. Piay
continue youi veiy inteiesting statement.
Teie was nothing in the oce but a couple of wooden chaiis and a deal
table, behind which sat a small man with a head that was even ieddei than mine.
He said a fewwoids to each candidate as he came up, and then he always managed
to nd some fault in them which would disqualify them. Geuing a vacancy did
not seem to be such a veiy easy mauei, afei all. Howevei, when oui tuin came
the liule man was much moie favouiable to me than to any of the otheis, and he
closed the dooi as we enteied, so that he might have a piivate woid with us.
Tis is Mi. Jabez Wilson, said my assistant, and he is willing to ll a
vacancy in the League.
:,
And he is admiiably suited foi it, the othei answeied. He has eveiy ie-
quiiement. l cannot iecall when l have seen anything so ne. He took a step
backwaid, cocked his head on one side, and gazed at my haii until l felt quite
bashful. Ten suddenly he plunged foiwaid, wiung my hand, and congiatulated
me waimly on my success.
lt would be injustice to hesitate, said he. You will, howevei, l am suie,
excuse me foi taking an obvious piecaution. With that he seized my haii in both
his hands, and tugged until l yelled with the pain. Teie is watei in youi eyes,
said he as he ieleased me. l peiceive that all is as it should be. But we have to
be caieful, foi we have twice been deceived by wigs and once by paint. l could
tell you tales of cobbleis wax which would disgust you with human natuie. He
stepped ovei to the window and shouted thiough it at the top of his voice that
the vacancy was lled. A gioan of disappointment came up fiom below, and the
folk all tiooped away in dieient diiections until theie was not a ied-head to be
seen except my own and that of the managei.
My name, said he, is Mi. Duncan Ross, and l am myself one of the pen-
sioneis upon the fund lef by oui noble benefactoi. Aie you a maiiied man, Mi.
Wilson` Have you a family`
l answeied that l had not.
His face fell immediately.
Deai me' he said giavely, that is veiy seiious indeed' l am soiiy to heai
you say that. Te fund was, of couise, foi the piopagation and spiead of the ied-
heads as well as foi theii maintenance. lt is exceedingly unfoitunate that you
should be a bacheloi.
My face lengthened at this, Mi. Holmes, foi l thought that l was not to
have the vacancy afei all, but afei thinking it ovei foi a few minutes he said that
it would be all iight.
ln the case of anothei, said he, the objection might be fatal, but we must
stietch a point in favoui of a man with such a head of haii as youis. When shall
you be able to entei upon youi new duties`
Well, it is a liule awkwaid, foi l have a business alieady, said l.
Oh, nevei mind about that, Mi. Wilson' said Vincent Spaulding. l should
be able to look afei that foi you.
What would be the houis` l asked.
Ten to two.
Now a pawnbiokeis business is mostly done of an evening, Mi. Holmes,
especially Tuisday and liiday evening, which is just befoie pay-day, so it would
suit me veiy well to eain a liule in the moinings. Besides, l knewthat my assistant
:s
was a good man, and that he would see to anything that tuined up.
Tat would suit me veiy well, said l. And the pay`
ls i a week.
And the woik`
ls puiely nominal.
What do you call puiely nominal`
Well, you have to be in the oce, oi at least in the building, the whole
time. lf you leave, you foifeit youi whole position foievei. Te will is veiy cleai
upon that point. You dont comply with the conditions if you budge fiom the
oce duiing that time.
lts only foui houis a day, and l should not think of leaving, said l.
No excuse will avail, said Mi. Duncan Ross, neithei sickness noi business
noi anything else. Teie you must stay, oi you lose youi billet.
And the woik`
ls to copy out the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Teie is the ist volume of
it in that piess. You must nd youi own ink, pens, and blouing-papei, but we
piovide this table and chaii. Will you be ieady to-moiiow`
Ceitainly, l answeied.
Ten, good-bye, Mi. Jabez Wilson, and let me congiatulate you once moie
on the impoitant position which you have been foitunate enough to gain. He
bowed me out of the ioom and l went home with my assistant, haidly knowing
what to say oi do, l was so pleased at my own good foitune.
Well, l thought ovei the mauei all day, and by evening l was in low spiiits
again, foi l had quite peisuaded myself that the whole aaii must be some gieat
hoax oi fiaud, though what its object might be l could not imagine. lt seemed
altogethei past belief that anyone could make such a will, oi that they would pay
such a sum foi doing anything so simple as copying out the Encyclopaedia Britan-
nica. Vincent Spaulding did what he could to cheei me up, but by bedtime l had
ieasoned myself out of the whole thing. Howevei, in the moining l deteimined to
have a look at it anyhow, so l bought a penny boule of ink, and with a quill-pen,
and seven sheets of foolscap papei, l staited o foi Popes Couit.
Well, to my suipiise and delight, eveiything was as iight as possible. Te
table was set out ieady foi me, and Mi. Duncan Ross was theie to see that l got
faiily to woik. He staited me o upon the leuei A, and then he lef me, but he
would diop in fiom time to time to see that all was iight with me. At two oclock
he bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that l had wiiuen, and
locked the dooi of the oce afei me.
Tis went on day afei day, Mi. Holmes, and on Satuiday the managei
:,
came in and planked down foui golden soveieigns foi my weeks woik. lt was
the same next week, and the same the week afei. Eveiy moining l was theie at
ten, and eveiy afeinoon l lef at two. By degiees Mi. Duncan Ross took to coming
in only once of a moining, and then, afei a time, he did not come in at all. Still,
of couise, l nevei daied to leave the ioom foi an instant, foi l was not suie when
he might come, and the billet was such a good one, and suited me so well, that l
would not iisk the loss of it.
Eight weeks passed away like this, and l had wiiuen about Abbots and
Aicheiy and Aimoui and Aichitectuie and Auica, and hoped with diligence that
l might get on to the Bs befoie veiy long. lt cost me something in foolscap, and
l had pieuy neaily lled a shelf with my wiitings. And then suddenly the whole
business came to an end.
To an end`
Yes, sii. And no latei than this moining. l went to my woik as usual at
ten oclock, but the dooi was shut and locked, with a liule squaie of caidboaid
hammeied on to the middle of the panel with a tack. Heie it is, and you can iead
foi youiself.
He held up a piece of white caidboaid about the size of a sheet of note-papei.
lt iead in this fashion
Tur Rruur~uru Lr~cUr
ls
Dissoivru.
Oc1onrv ,, 1s,o.
Sheilock Holmes and l suiveyed this cuit announcement and the iueful face be-
hind it, until the comical side of the aaii so completely oveitopped eveiy othei
consideiation that we both buist out into a ioai of laughtei.
l cannot see that theie is anything veiy funny, ciied oui client, ushing
up to the ioots of his aming head. lf you can do nothing beuei than laugh at
me, l can go elsewheie.
No, no, ciied Holmes, shoving him back into the chaii fiom which he had
half iisen. l ieally wouldnt miss youi case foi the woild. lt is most iefieshingly
unusual. But theie is, if you will excuse my saying so, something just a liule funny
about it. Piay what steps did you take when you found the caid upon the dooi`
l was staggeied, sii. l did not know what to do. Ten l called at the oces
iound, but none of them seemed to know anything about it. linally, l went to the
landloid, who is an accountant living on the giound ooi, and l asked him if he
could tell me what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had
o
nevei heaid of any such body. Ten l asked him who Mi. Duncan Ross was. He
answeied that the name was new to him.
Well, said l, the gentleman at No. .
What, the ied-headed man`
Yes.
Oh, said he, his name was William Moiiis. He was a solicitoi and was
using my ioom as a tempoiaiy convenience until his new piemises weie ieady.
He moved out yesteiday.
Wheie could l nd him`
Oh, at his new oces. He did tell me the addiess. Yes, 1, King Edwaid
Stieet, neai St. Pauls.
l staited o, Mi. Holmes, but when l got to that addiess it was a manufac-
toiy of aiticial knee-caps, and no one in it had evei heaid of eithei Mi. William
Moiiis oi Mi. Duncan Ross.
And what did you do then` asked Holmes.
l went home to Saxe-Cobuig Squaie, and l took the advice of my assistant.
But he could not help me in any way. He could only say that if l waited l should
heai by post. But that was not quite good enough, Mi. Holmes. l did not wish to
lose such a place without a stiuggle, so, as l had heaid that you weie good enough
to give advice to pooi folk who weie in need of it, l came iight away to you.
And you did veiy wisely, said Holmes. Youi case is an exceedingly ie-
maikable one, and l shall be happy to look into it. liom what you have told me
l think that it is possible that giavei issues hang fiom it than might at ist sight
appeai.
Giave enough' said Mi. Jabez Wilson. Why, l have lost foui pound a
week.
As fai as you aie peisonally conceined, iemaiked Holmes, l do not see
that you have any giievance against this extiaoidinaiy league. On the contiaiy,
you aie, as l undeistand, iichei by some io, to say nothing of the minute knowl-
edge which you have gained on eveiy subject which comes undei the leuei A.
You have lost nothing by them.
No, sii. But l want to nd out about them, and who they aie, and what
theii object was in playing this piankif it was a piankupon me. lt was a pieuy
expensive joke foi them, foi it cost them two and thiity pounds.
We shall endeavoui to cleai up these points foi you. And, ist, one oi two
questions, Mi. Wilson. Tis assistant of youis who ist called youi auention to
the adveitisementhow long had he been with you`
About a month then.
1
How did he come`
ln answei to an adveitisement.
Was he the only applicant`
No, l 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, veiy quick in his ways, no haii on his face, though hes
not shoit of thiity. Has a white splash of acid upon his foiehead.
Holmes sat up in his chaii in consideiable excitement. l thought as much,
said he. Have you evei obseived that his eais aie pieiced foi eaiiings`
Yes, sii. He told me that a gipsy had done it foi him when he was a lad.
Hum' said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. He is still with you`
Oh, yes, sii, l have only just lef him.
And has youi business been auended to in youi absence`
Nothing to complain of, sii. Teies nevei veiy much to do of a moining.
Tat will do, Mi. Wilson. l shall be happy to give you an opinion upon
the subject in the couise of a day oi two. To-day is Satuiday, and l hope that by
Monday we may come to a conclusion.
Well, Watson, said Holmes when oui visitoi had lef us, what do you
make of it all`
l make nothing of it, l answeied fiankly. lt is a most mysteiious business.
As a iule, said Holmes, the moie bizaiie a thing is the less mysteiious it
pioves to be. lt is youi commonplace, featuieless ciimes which aie ieally puzzling,
just as a commonplace face is the most dicult to identify. But l must be piompt
ovei this mauei.
What aie you going to do, then` l asked.
To smoke, he answeied. lt is quite a thiee pipe pioblem, and l beg that
you wont speak to me foi fy minutes. He cuiled himself up in his chaii, with
his thin knees diawn up to his hawk-like nose, and theie he sat with his eyes
closed and his black clay pipe thiusting out like the bill of some stiange biid. l
had come to the conclusion that he had diopped asleep, and indeed was nodding
myself, when he suddenly spiang out of his chaii with the gestuie of a man who
has made up his mind and put his pipe down upon the mantelpiece.
Saiasate plays at the St. Jamess Hall this afeinoon, he iemaiked. What
do you think, Watson` Could youi patients spaie you foi a few houis`
:
l have nothing to do to-day. My piactice is nevei veiy absoibing.
Ten put on youi hat and come. l am going thiough the City ist, and we
can have some lunch on the way. l obseive that theie is a good deal of Geiman
music on the piogiamme, which is iathei moie to my taste than ltalian oi liench.
lt is intiospective, and l want to intiospect. Come along'
We tiavelled by the Undeigiound as fai as Aldeisgate, and a shoit walk took
us to Saxe-Cobuig Squaie, the scene of the singulai stoiy which we had listened
to in the moining. lt was a poky, liule, shabby-genteel place, wheie foui lines of
dingy two-stoiied biick houses looked out into a small iailed-in enclosuie, wheie
a lawn of weedy giass and a few clumps of faded lauiel bushes made a haid ght
against a smoke-laden and uncongenial atmospheie. Tiee gilt balls and a biown
boaid with J~nrz WiisoN in white leueis, upon a coinei house, announced
the place wheie oui ied-headed client caiiied on his business. Sheilock Holmes
stopped in fiont of it with his head on one side and looked it all ovei, with his
eyes shining biightly between puckeied lids. Ten he walked slowly up the stieet,
and then down again to the coinei, still looking keenly at the houses. linally he
ietuined to the pawnbiokeis, and, having thumped vigoiously upon the pave-
ment with his stick two oi thiee times, he went up to the dooi and knocked. lt
was instantly opened by a biight-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked
him to step in.
Tank you, said Holmes, l only wished to ask you howyou would go fiom
heie to the Stiand.
Tiid iight, fouith lef, answeied the assistant piomptly, closing the dooi.
Smait fellow, that, obseived Holmes as we walked away. He is, in my
judgment, the fouith smaitest man in London, and foi daiing l am not suie that
he has not a claim to be thiid. l have known something of him befoie.
Evidently, said l, Mi. Wilsons assistant counts foi a good deal in this
mysteiy of the Red-headed League. l am suie that you inquiied youi way meiely
in oidei that you might see him.
Not him.
What then`
Te knees of his tiouseis.
And what did you see`
What l expected to see.
Why did you beat the pavement`
My deai doctoi, this is a time foi obseivation, not foi talk. We aie spies
in an enemys countiy. We know something of Saxe-Cobuig Squaie. Let us now
exploie the paits which lie behind it.

Te ioad in which we found ouiselves as we tuined iound the coinei fiom

the ietiied Saxe-Cobuig Squaie piesented as gieat a contiast to it as the fiont
of a pictuie does to the back. lt was one of the main aiteiies which conveyed
the tiac of the City to the noith and west. Te ioadway was blocked with the
immense stieam of commeice owing in a double tide inwaid and outwaid, while
the footpaths weie black with the huiiying swaim of pedestiians. lt was dicult
to iealise as we looked at the line of ne shops and stately business piemises that
they ieally abuued on the othei side upon the faded and stagnant squaie which
we had just quiued.
Let me see, said Holmes, standing at the coinei and glancing along the
line, l should like just to iemembei the oidei of the houses heie. lt is a hobby of
mine to have an exact knowledge of London. Teie is Moitimeis, the tobacconist,
the liule newspapei shop, the Cobuig bianch of the City and Subuiban Bank, the
Vegetaiian Restauiant, and Mclailanes caiiiage-building depot. Tat caiiies us
iight on to the othei block. And now, Doctoi, weve done oui woik, so its time
we had some play. A sandwich and a cup of coee, and then o to violin-land,
wheie all is sweetness and delicacy and haimony, and theie aie no ied-headed
clients to vex us with theii conundiums.
My fiiend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a veiy ca-
pable peifoimei but a composei of no oidinaiy meiit. All the afeinoon he sat in
the stalls wiapped in the most peifect happiness, gently waving his long, thin n-
geis in time to the music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dieamy
eyes weie as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the ielentless,
keen-wiued, ieady-handed ciiminal agent, as it was possible to conceive. ln his
singulai chaiactei the dual natuie alteinately asseited itself, and his extieme ex-
actness and astuteness iepiesented, as l have ofen thought, the ieaction against
the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally piedominated in him. Te
swing of his natuie took him fiom extieme languoi to devouiing eneigy, and, as
l knew well, he was nevei so tiuly foimidable as when, foi days on end, he had
been lounging in his aimchaii amid his impiovisations and his black-leuei edi-
tions. Ten it was that the lust of the chase would suddenly come upon him, and
that his biilliant ieasoning powei would iise to the level of intuition, until those
who weie unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a man
whose knowledge was not that of othei moitals. When l saw him that afeinoon
so enwiapped in the music at St. Jamess Hall l 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, Doctoi, he iemaiked as we emeiged.
Yes, it would be as well.

And l have some business to do which will take some houis. Tis business
at Cobuig Squaie is seiious.
Why seiious`
A consideiable ciime is in contemplation. l have eveiy ieason to believe
that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being Satuiday iathei complicates
maueis. l shall want youi help to-night.
At what time`
Ten will be eaily enough.
l shall be at Bakei Stieet at ten.
Veiy well. And, l say, Doctoi, theie may be some liule dangei, so kindly
put youi aimy ievolvei in youi pocket. He waved his hand, tuined on his heel,
and disappeaied in an instant among the ciowd.
l tiust that l am not moie dense than my neighbouis, but l was always
oppiessed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings with Sheilock Holmes.
Heie l had heaid what he had heaid, l had seen what he had seen, and yet fiom
his woids it was evident that he saw cleaily not only what had happened but
what was about to happen, while to me the whole business was still confused
and giotesque. As l diove home to my house in Kensington l thought ovei it
all, fiom the extiaoidinaiy stoiy of the ied-headed copiei of the Encyclopaedia
down to the visit to Saxe-Cobuig Squaie, and the ominous woids with which he
had paited fiom me. What was this noctuinal expedition, and why should l go
aimed` Wheie weie we going, and what weie we to do` l had the hint fiom
Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbiokeis assistant was a foimidable mana
man who might play a deep game. l tiied to puzzle it out, but gave it up in despaii
and set the mauei aside until night should biing an explanation.
lt was a quaitei-past nine when l staited fiom home and made my way
acioss the Paik, and so thiough Oxfoid Stieet to Bakei Stieet. Two hansoms weie
standing at the dooi, and as l enteied the passage l heaid the sound of voices fiom
above. On enteiing his ioom, l found Holmes in animated conveisation with two
men, one of whom l iecognised as Petei Jones, the ocial police agent, while the
othei was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a veiy shiny hat and oppiessively
iespectable fiock-coat.
Ha' Oui paity is complete, said Holmes, buuoning up his pea-jacket and
taking his heavy hunting ciop fiom the iack. Watson, l think you know Mi.
Jones, of Scotland Yaid` Let me intioduce you to Mi. Meiiyweathei, who is to be
oui companion in to-nights adventuie.
Weie hunting in couples again, Doctoi, you see, said Jones in his conse-
quential way. Oui fiiend heie is a wondeiful man foi staiting a chase. All he

wants is an old dog to help him to do the iunning down.

l hope a wild goose may not piove to be the end of oui chase, obseived
Mi. Meiiyweathei gloomily.
You may place consideiable condence in Mi. Holmes, sii, said the police
agent lofily. He has his own liule methods, which aie, if he wont mind my
saying so, just a liule too theoietical and fantastic, but he has the makings of a
detective in him. lt is not too much to say that once oi twice, as in that business
of the Sholto muidei and the Agia tieasuie, he has been moie neaily coiiect than
the ocial foice.
Oh, if you say so, Mi. Jones, it is all iight, said the stiangei with defeience.
Still, l confess that l miss my iubbei. lt is the ist Satuiday night foi seven-and-
twenty yeais that l have not had my iubbei.
l think you will nd, said Sheilock Holmes, that you will play foi a highei
stake to-night than you have evei done yet, and that the play will be moie exciting.
loi you, Mi. Meiiyweathei, the stake will be some io,ooo, and foi you, Jones, it
will be the man upon whom you wish to lay youi hands.
John Clay, the muideiei, thief, smashei, and foigei. Hes a young man, Mi.
Meiiyweathei, but he is at the head of his piofession, and l would iathei have
my biacelets on him than on any ciiminal in London. Hes a iemaikable man,
is young John Clay. His giandfathei was a ioyal duke, and he himself has been
to Eton and Oxfoid. His biain is as cunning as his ngeis, and though we meet
signs of him at eveiy tuin, we nevei know wheie to nd the man himself. Hell
ciack a ciib in Scotland one week, and be iaising money to build an oiphanage
in Coinwall the next. lve been on his tiack foi yeais and have nevei set eyes on
him yet.
l hope that l may have the pleasuie of intioducing you to-night. lve had
one oi two liule tuins also with Mi. John Clay, and l agiee with you that he is at
the head of his piofession. lt is past ten, howevei, and quite time that we staited.
lf you two will take the ist hansom, Watson and l will follow in the second.
Sheilock Holmes was not veiy communicative duiing the long diive and
lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heaid in the afeinoon.
We iauled thiough an endless labyiinth of gas-lit stieets until we emeiged into
laiiington Stieet.
We aie close theie now, my fiiend iemaiked. Tis fellow Meiiyweathei
is a bank diiectoi, and peisonally inteiested in the mauei. l thought it as well
to have Jones with us also. He is not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile
in his piofession. He has one positive viitue. He is as biave as a bulldog and as
tenacious as a lobstei if he gets his claws upon anyone. Heie we aie, and they aie
e
waiting foi us.
We had ieached the same ciowded thoioughfaie in which we had found
ouiselves in the moining. Oui cabs weie dismissed, and, following the guidance
of Mi. Meiiyweathei, we passed down a naiiow passage and thiough a side dooi,
which he opened foi us. Within theie was a small coiiidoi, which ended in a veiy
massive iion gate. Tis also was opened, and led down a ight of winding stone
steps, which teiminated at anothei foimidable gate. Mi. Meiiyweathei stopped
to light a lantein, and then conducted us down a daik, eaith-smelling passage,
and so, afei opening a thiid dooi, into a huge vault oi cellai, which was piled all
iound with ciates and massive boxes.
You aie not veiy vulneiable fiom above, Holmes iemaiked as he held up
the lantein and gazed about him.
Noi fiom below, said Mi. Meiiyweathei, stiiking his stick upon the ags
which lined the ooi. Why, deai me, it sounds quite hollow' he iemaiked, look-
ing up in suipiise.
l must ieally ask you to be a liule moie quiet' said Holmes seveiely. You
have alieady impeiilled the whole success of oui expedition. Might l beg that
you would have the goodness to sit down upon one of those boxes, and not to
inteifeie`
Te solemn Mi. Meiiyweathei peiched himself upon a ciate, with a veiy
injuied expiession upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his knees upon the ooi
and, with the lantein and a magnifying lens, began to examine minutely the ciacks
between the stones. A few seconds suced to satisfy him, foi he spiang to his
feet again and put his glass in his pocket.
We have at least an houi befoie us, he iemaiked, foi they can haidly take
any steps until the good pawnbiokei is safely in bed. Ten they will not lose a
minute, foi the soonei they do theii woik the longei time they will have foi theii
escape. We aie at piesent, Doctoias no doubt you have divinedin the cellai of
the City bianch of one of the piincipal London banks. Mi. Meiiyweathei is the
chaiiman of diiectois, and he will explain to you that theie aie ieasons why the
moie daiing ciiminals of London should take a consideiable inteiest in this cellai
at piesent.
lt is oui liench gold, whispeied the diiectoi. We have had seveial wain-
ings that an auempt might be made upon it.
Youi liench gold`
Yes. We had occasion some months ago to stiengthen oui iesouices and
boiiowed foi that puipose o,ooo napoleons fiom the Bank of liance. lt has be-
come known that we have nevei had occasion to unpack the money, and that it is
,
still lying in oui cellai. Te ciate upon which l sit contains :,ooo napoleons packed
between layeis of lead foil. Oui ieseive of bullion is much laigei at piesent than
is usually kept in a single bianch oce, and the diiectois have had misgivings
upon the subject.
Which weie veiy well justied, obseived Holmes. And nowit is time that
we aiianged oui liule plans. l expect that within an houi maueis will come to a
head. ln the meantime Mi. Meiiyweathei, we must put the scieen ovei that daik
lantein.
And sit in the daik`
l am afiaid so. l had biought a pack of caids in my pocket, and l thought
that, as we weie a partie carre, you might have youi iubbei afei all. But l see that
the enemys piepaiations have gone so fai that we cannot iisk the piesence of a
light. And, ist of all, we must choose oui positions. Tese aie daiing men, and
though we shall take themat a disadvantage, they may do us some haimunless we
aie caieful. l shall stand behind this ciate, and do you conceal youiselves behind
those. Ten, when l ash a light upon them, close in swifly. lf they ie, Watson,
have no compunction about shooting them down.
l placed my ievolvei, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case behind which
l ciouched. Holmes shot the slide acioss the fiont of his lantein and lef us in pitch
daiknesssuch an absolute daikness as l have nevei befoie expeiienced. Te smell
of hot metal iemained to assuie us that the light was still theie, ieady to ash out
at a moments notice. To me, with my neives woiked up to a pitch of expectancy,
theie was something depiessing and subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the
cold dank aii of the vault.
Tey have but one ietieat, whispeied Holmes. Tat is back thiough the
house into Saxe-Cobuig Squaie. l hope that you have done what l asked you,
Jones`
l have an inspectoi and two oceis waiting at the fiont dooi.
Ten we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent and wait.
What a time it seemed' liomcompaiing notes afeiwaids it was but an houi
and a quaitei, yet it appeaied to me that the night must have almost gone, and the
dawn be bieaking above us. My limbs weie weaiy and sti, foi l feaied to change
my position, yet my neives weie woiked up to the highest pitch of tension, and
my heaiing was so acute that l could not only heai the gentle bieathing of my
companions, but l could distinguish the deepei, heaviei in-bieath of the bulky
Jones fiom the thin, sighing note of the bank diiectoi. liom my position l could
look ovei the case in the diiection of the ooi. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint
of a light.
s
At ist it was but a luiid spaik upon the stone pavement. Ten it lengthened
out until it became a yellow line, and then, without any waining oi sound, a gash
seemed to open and a hand appeaied, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt
about in the centie of the liule aiea of light. loi a minute oi moie the hand,
with its wiithing ngeis, piotiuded out of the ooi. Ten it was withdiawn as
suddenly as it appeaied, and all was daik again save the single luiid spaik which
maiked a chink between the stones.
lts disappeaiance, howevei, was but momentaiy. With a iending, teaiing
sound, one of the bioad, white stones tuined ovei upon its side and lef a squaie,
gaping hole, thiough which stieamed the light of a lantein. Ovei the edge theie
peeped a clean-cut, boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a
hand on eithei side of the apeituie, diewitself shouldei-high and waist-high, until
one knee iested upon the edge. ln anothei instant he stood at the side of the hole
and was hauling afei him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale
face and a shock of veiy ied haii.
lts all cleai, he whispeied. Have you the chisel and the bags` Gieat Scou'
Jump, Aichie, jump, and lll swing foi it'
Sheilock Holmes had spiung out and seized the intiudei by the collai. Te
othei dived down the hole, and l heaid the sound of iending cloth as Jones clutched
at his skiits. Te light ashed upon the baiiel of a ievolvei, but Holmes hunting
ciop came down on the mans wiist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone ooi.
lts no use, John Clay, said Holmes blandly. You have no chance at all.
So l see, the othei answeied with the utmost coolness. l fancy that my
pal is all iight, though l see you have got his coat-tails.
Teie aie thiee men waiting foi him at the dooi, said Holmes.
Oh, indeed' You seem to have done the thing veiy completely. l must
compliment you.
And l you, Holmes answeied. Youi ied-headed idea was veiy new and
eective.
Youll see youi pal again piesently, said Jones. Hes quickei at climbing
down holes than l am. Just hold out while l x the deibies.
l beg that you will not touch me with youi lthy hands, iemaiked oui
piisonei as the handcus claueied upon his wiists. You may not be awaie that
l have ioyal blood in my veins. Have the goodness, also, when you addiess me
always to say sii and please.
All iight, said Jones with a staie and a sniggei. Well, would you please,
sii, maich upstaiis, wheie we can get a cab to caiiy youi Highness to the police-
station`
,
Tat is beuei, said John Clay seienely. He made a sweeping bow to the
thiee of us and walked quietly o in the custody of the detective.
Really, Mi. Holmes, said Mi. Meiiyweathei as we followed them fiom the
cellai, l do not knowhowthe bank can thank you oi iepay you. Teie is no doubt
that you have detected and defeated in the most complete mannei one of the most
deteimined auempts at bank iobbeiy that have evei come within my expeiience.
l have had one oi two liule scoies of my own to seule with Mi. John Clay,
said Holmes. l have been at some small expense ovei this mauei, which l shall
expect the bank to iefund, but beyond that l am amply iepaid by having had an
expeiience which is in many ways unique, and by heaiing the veiy iemaikable
naiiative of the Red-headed League.
You see, Watson, he explained in the eaily houis of the moining as we
sat ovei a glass of whisky and soda in Bakei Stieet, it was peifectly obvious
fiom the ist that the only possible object of this iathei fantastic business of the
adveitisement of the League, and the copying of the Encyclopaedia, must be to get
this not ovei-biight pawnbiokei out of the way foi a numbei of houis eveiy day.
lt was a cuiious way of managing it, but, ieally, it would be dicult to suggest a
beuei. Te method was no doubt suggested to Clays ingenious mind by the coloui
of his accomplices haii. Te i a week was a luie which must diaw him, and what
was it to them, who weie playing foi thousands` Tey put in the adveitisement,
one iogue has the tempoiaiy oce, the othei iogue incites the man to apply foi
it, and togethei they manage to secuie his absence eveiy moining in the week.
liom the time that l heaid of the assistant having come foi half wages, it was
obvious to me that he had some stiong motive foi secuiing the situation.
But how could you guess what the motive was`
Had theie been women in the house, l should have suspected a meie vulgai
intiigue. Tat, howevei, was out of the question. Te mans business was a small
one, and theie was nothing in his house which could account foi such elaboiate
piepaiations, and such an expendituie as they weie at. lt must, then, be something
out of the house. What could it be` l thought of the assistants fondness foi
photogiaphy, and his tiick of vanishing into the cellai. Te cellai' Teie was the
end of this tangled clue. Ten l made inquiiies as to this mysteiious assistant
and found that l had to deal with one of the coolest and most daiing ciiminals
in London. He was doing something in the cellaisomething which took many
houis a day foi months on end. What could it be, once moie` l could think of
nothing save that he was iunning a tunnel to some othei building.
So fai l had got when we went to visit the scene of action. l suipiised you by
beating upon the pavement with my stick. l was asceitaining whethei the cellai
o
stietched out in fiont oi behind. lt was not in fiont. Ten l iang the bell, and,
as l hoped, the assistant answeied it. We have had some skiimishes, but we had
nevei set eyes upon each othei befoie. l haidly looked at his face. His knees weie
what l wished to see. You must youiself have iemaiked how woin, wiinkled, and
stained they weie. Tey spoke of those houis of buiiowing. Te only iemaining
point was what they weie buiiowing foi. l walked iound the coinei, saw the City
and Subuiban Bank abuued on oui fiiends piemises, and felt that l had solved
my pioblem. When you diove home afei the conceit l called upon Scotland Yaid
and upon the chaiiman of the bank diiectois, with the iesult that you have seen.
And how could you tell that they would make theii auempt to-night` l
asked.
Well, when they closed theii League oces that was a sign that they caied
no longei about Mi. Jabez Wilsons piesencein othei woids, that they had com-
pleted theii tunnel. But it was essential that they should use it soon, as it might
be discoveied, oi the bullion might be iemoved. Satuiday would suit them beuei
than any othei day, as it would give them two days foi theii escape. loi all these
ieasons l expected them to come to-night.
You ieasoned it out beautifully, l exclaimed in unfeigned admiiation. lt
is so long a chain, and yet eveiy link iings tiue.
lt saved me fiom ennui, he answeied, yawning. Alas' l alieady feel it
closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long eoit to escape fiom the com-
monplaces of existence. Tese liule pioblems help me to do so.
And you aie a benefactoi of the iace, said l.
He shiugged his shouldeis. Well, peihaps, afei all, it is of some liule use,
he iemaiked. Lhomme cest rienloeuvre cest tout, as Gustave llaubeit wiote
to Geoige Sand.
A Case of Identity
My deai fellow, said Sheilock Holmes as we sat on eithei side of the ie in his
lodgings at Bakei Stieet, life is innitely stiangei than anything which the mind
of man could invent. We would not daie to conceive the things which aie ieally
meie commonplaces of existence. lf we could y out of that windowhand in hand,
hovei ovei this gieat city, gently iemove the ioofs, and peep in at the queei things
which aie going on, the stiange coincidences, the plannings, the cioss-puiposes,
the wondeiful chains of events, woiking thiough geneiations, and leading to the
most outr iesults, it would make all ction with its conventionalities and foieseen
conclusions most stale and unpiotable.
And yet l am not convinced of it, l answeied. Te cases which come to
light in the papeis aie, as a iule, bald enough, and vulgai enough. We have in oui
police iepoits iealism pushed to its extieme limits, and yet the iesult is, it must
be confessed, neithei fascinating noi aitistic.
A ceitain selection and discietion must be used in pioducing a iealistic
eect, iemaiked Holmes. Tis is wanting in the police iepoit, wheie moie stiess
is laid, peihaps, upon the platitudes of the magistiate than upon the details, which
to an obseivei contain the vital essence of the whole mauei. Depend upon it, theie
is nothing so unnatuial as the commonplace.
l smiled and shook my head. l can quite undeistand youi thinking so, l
said. Of couise, in youi position of unocial advisei and helpei to eveiybody
who is absolutely puzzled, thioughout thiee continents, you aie biought in con-
tact with all that is stiange and bizaiie. But heiel picked up the moining papei
fiom the gioundlet us put it to a piactical test. Heie is the ist heading upon
which l come. Ahusbands ciuelty to his wife. Teie is half a column of piint, but
l know without ieading it that it is all peifectly familiai to me. Teie is, of couise,
the othei woman, the diink, the push, the blow, the biuise, the sympathetic sistei
oi landlady. Te ciudest of wiiteis could invent nothing moie ciude.
:
lndeed, youi example is an unfoitunate one foi youi aigument, said
Holmes, taking the papei and glancing his eye down it. Tis is the Dundas sep-
aiation case, and, as it happens, l was engaged in cleaiing up some small points
in connection with it. Te husband was a teetotalei, theie was no othei woman,
and the conduct complained of was that he had diifed into the habit of winding
up eveiy meal by taking out his false teeth and huiling them at his wife, which,
you will allow, is not an action likely to occui to the imagination of the aveiage
stoiy-tellei. Take a pinch of snu, Doctoi, and acknowledge that l have scoied
ovei you in youi example.
He held out his snubox of old gold, with a gieat amethyst in the centie of
the lid. lts splendoui was in such contiast to his homely ways and simple life that
l could not help commenting upon it.
Ah, said he, l foigot that l had not seen you foi some weeks. lt is a liule
souvenii fiom the King of Bohemia in ietuin foi my assistance in the case of the
liene Adlei papeis.
And the iing` l asked, glancing at a iemaikable biilliant which spaikled
upon his ngei.
lt was fiom the ieigning family of Holland, though the mauei in which l
seived them was of such delicacy that l cannot conde it even to you, who have
been good enough to chionicle one oi two of my liule pioblems.
And have you any on hand just now` l asked with inteiest.
Some ten oi twelve, but none which piesent any featuie of inteiest. Tey
aie impoitant, you undeistand, without being inteiesting. lndeed, l have found
that it is usually in unimpoitant maueis that theie is a eld foi the obseivation,
and foi the quick analysis of cause and eect which gives the chaim to an inves-
tigation. Te laigei ciimes aie apt to be the simplei, foi the biggei the ciime the
moie obvious, as a iule, is the motive. ln these cases, save foi one iathei intiicate
mauei which has been iefeiied to me fiom Maiseilles, theie is nothing which
piesents any featuies of inteiest. lt is possible, howevei, that l may have some-
thing beuei befoie veiy many minutes aie ovei, foi this is one of my clients, oi l
am much mistaken.
He had iisen fiom his chaii and was standing between the paited blinds
gazing down into the dull neutial-tinted London stieet. Looking ovei his shouldei,
l saw that on the pavement opposite theie stood a laige woman with a heavy fui
boa iound hei neck, and a laige cuiling ied feathei in a bioad-biimmed hat which
was tilted in a coqueuish Duchess of Devonshiie fashion ovei hei eai. liomundei
this gieat panoply she peeped up in a neivous, hesitating fashion at oui windows,
while hei body oscillated backwaid and foiwaid, and hei ngeis dgeted with hei

glove buuons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmei who leaves the bank,
she huiiied acioss the ioad, and we heaid the shaip clang of the bell.
l have seen those symptoms befoie, said Holmes, thiowing his cigaieue
into the ie. Oscillation upon the pavement always means an aaire de coeur.
She would like advice, but is not suie that the mauei is not too delicate foi com-
munication. And yet even heie we may disciiminate. When a woman has been
seiiously wionged by a man she no longei oscillates, and the usual symptom is
a bioken bell wiie. Heie we may take it that theie is a love mauei, but that the
maiden is not so much angiy as peiplexed, oi giieved. But heie she comes in
peison to iesolve oui doubts.
As he spoke theie was a tap at the dooi, and the boy in buuons enteied to
announce Miss Maiy Sutheiland, while the lady heiself loomed behind his small
black guie like a full-sailed meichant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sheilock
Holmes welcomed hei with the easy couitesy foi which he was iemaikable, and,
having closed the dooi and bowed hei into an aimchaii, he looked hei ovei in the
minute and yet abstiacted fashion which was peculiai to him.
Do you not nd, he said, that with youi shoit sight it is a liule tiying to
do so much typewiiting`
l did at ist, she answeied, but now l know wheie the leueis aie without
looking. Ten, suddenly iealising the full puipoit of his woids, she gave a violent
stait and looked up, with feai and astonishment upon hei bioad, good-humouied
face. Youve heaid about me, Mi. Holmes, she ciied, else how could you know
all that`
Nevei mind, said Holmes, laughing, it is my business to know things.
Peihaps l have tiained myself to see what otheis oveilook. lf not, why should
you come to consult me`
l came to you, sii, because l heaid of you fiom Mis. Etheiege, whose hus-
band you found so easy when the police and eveiyone had given him up foi dead.
Oh, Mi. Holmes, l wish you would do as much foi me. lm not iich, but still l have
a hundied a yeai in my own iight, besides the liule that l make by the machine,
and l would give it all to know what has become of Mi. Hosmei Angel.
Why did you come away to consult me in such a huiiy` asked Sheilock
Holmes, with his ngei-tips togethei and his eyes to the ceiling.
Again a staitled look came ovei the somewhat vacuous face of Miss Maiy
Sutheiland. Yes, l did bang out of the house, she said, foi it made me angiy
to see the easy way in which Mi. Windibankthat is, my fatheitook 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 theie was no haim done, it made me mad, and

l just on with my things and came iight away to you.

Youi fathei, said Holmes, youi stepfathei, suiely, since the name is dif-
feient.
Yes, my stepfathei. l call him fathei, though it sounds funny, too, foi he is
only ve yeais and two months oldei than myself.
And youi mothei is alive`
Oh, yes, mothei is alive and well. l wasnt best pleased, Mi. Holmes, when
she maiiied again so soon afei fatheis death, and a man who was neaily feen
yeais youngei than heiself. lathei was a plumbei in the Touenham Couit Road,
and he lef a tidy business behind him, which mothei caiiied on with Mi. Haidy,
the foieman, but when Mi. Windibank came he made hei sell the business, foi
he was veiy supeiioi, being a tiavellei in wines. Tey got i,oo foi the goodwill
and inteiest, which wasnt neai as much as fathei could have got if he had been
alive.
l had expected to see Sheilock Holmes impatient undei this iambling and
inconsequential naiiative, but, on the contiaiy, he had listened with the gieatest
concentiation of auention.
Youi own liule income, he asked, does it come out of the business`
Oh, no, sii. lt is quite sepaiate and was lef me by my uncle Ned in Auck-
land. lt is in New Zealand stock, paying pei cent. Two thousand ve hundied
pounds was the amount, but l can only touch the inteiest.
You inteiest me extiemely, said Holmes. And since you diaw so laige a
sumas a hundied a yeai, with what you eain into the baigain, you no doubt tiavel
a liule and indulge youiself in eveiy way. l believe that a single lady can get on
veiy nicely upon an income of about ieo.
l could do with much less than that, Mi. Holmes, but you undeistand that
as long as l live at home l dont wish to be a buiden to them, and so they have the
use of the money just while l am staying with them. Of couise, that is only just
foi the time. Mi. Windibank diaws my inteiest eveiy quaitei and pays it ovei
to mothei, and l nd that l can do pieuy well with what l eain at typewiiting. lt
biings me twopence a sheet, and l can ofen do fiom feen to twenty sheets in a
day.
You have made youi position veiy cleai to me, said Holmes. Tis is my
fiiend, Di. Watson, befoie whom you can speak as fieely as befoie myself. Kindly
tell us now all about youi connection with Mi. Hosmei Angel.
A ush stole ovei Miss Sutheilands face, and she picked neivously at the
fiinge of hei jacket. l met him ist at the gasueis ball, she said. Tey used
to send fathei tickets when he was alive, and then afeiwaids they iemembeied

us, and sent them to mothei. Mi. Windibank did not wish us to go. He nevei did
wish us to go anywheie. He would get quite mad if l wanted so much as to join
a Sunday-school tieat. But this time l was set on going, and l would go, foi what
iight had he to pievent` He said the folk weie not t foi us to know, when all
fatheis fiiends weie to be theie. And he said that l had nothing t to weai, when
l had my puiple plush that l had nevei so much as taken out of the diawei. At
last, when nothing else would do, he went o to liance upon the business of the
im, but we went, mothei and l, with Mi. Haidy, who used to be oui foieman,
and it was theie l met Mi. Hosmei Angel.
l suppose, said Holmes, that when Mi. Windibank came back fiomliance
he was veiy annoyed at youi having gone to the ball.
Oh, well, he was veiy good about it. He laughed, l iemembei, and shiugged
his shouldeis, and said theie was no use denying anything to a woman, foi she
would have hei way.
l see. Ten at the gasueis ball you met, as l undeistand, a gentleman
called Mi. Hosmei Angel.
Yes, sii. l met him that night, and he called next day to ask if we had got
home all safe, and afei that we met himthat is to say, Mi. Holmes, l met him
twice foi walks, but afei that fathei came back again, and Mi. Hosmei Angel
could not come to the house any moie.
No`
Well, you know fathei didnt like anything of the soit. He wouldnt have
any visitois if he could help it, and he used to say that a woman should be happy
in hei own family ciicle. But then, as l used to say to mothei, a woman wants hei
own ciicle to begin with, and l had not got mine yet.
But how about Mi. Hosmei Angel` Did he make no auempt to see you`
Well, fathei was going o to liance again in a week, and Hosmei wiote
and said that it would be safei and beuei not to see each othei until he had gone.
We could wiite in the meantime, and he used to wiite eveiy day. l took the leueis
in in the moining, so theie was no need foi fathei to know.
Weie you engaged to the gentleman at this time`
Oh, yes, Mi. Holmes. We weie engaged afei the ist walk that we took.
HosmeiMi. Angelwas a cashiei in an oce in Leadenhall Stieetand
What oce`
Tats the woist of it, Mi. Holmes, l dont know.
Wheie did he live, then`
He slept on the piemises.
And you dont know his addiess`
e
Noexcept that it was Leadenhall Stieet.
Wheie did you addiess youi leueis, then`
To the Leadenhall Stieet Post Oce, to be lef till called foi. He said that
if they weie sent to the oce he would be chaed by all the othei cleiks about
having leueis fiom a lady, so l oeied to typewiite them, like he did his, but he
wouldnt have that, foi he said that when l wiote them they seemed to come fiom
me, but when they weie typewiiuen he always felt that the machine had come
between us. Tat will just show you how fond he was of me, Mi. Holmes, and the
liule things that he would think of.
lt was most suggestive, said Holmes. lt has long been an axiom of mine
that the liule things aie innitely the most impoitant. Can you iemembei any
othei liule things about Mi. Hosmei Angel`
He was a veiy shy man, Mi. Holmes. He would iathei walk with me in the
evening than in the daylight, foi he said that he hated to be conspicuous. Veiy
ietiiing and gentlemanly he was. Even his voice was gentle. Hed had the quinsy
and swollen glands when he was young, he told me, and it had lef him with a
weak thioat, and a hesitating, whispeiing fashion of speech. He was always well
diessed, veiy neat and plain, but his eyes weie weak, just as mine aie, and he
woie tinted glasses against the glaie.
Well, and what happened when Mi. Windibank, youi stepfathei, ietuined
to liance`
Mi. Hosmei Angel came to the house again and pioposed that we should
maiiy befoie fathei came back. He was in dieadful eainest and made me sweai,
with my hands on the Testament, that whatevei happened l would always be tiue
to him. Mothei said he was quite iight to make me sweai, and that it was a sign
of his passion. Mothei was all in his favoui fiom the ist and was even fondei
of him than l was. Ten, when they talked of maiiying within the week, l began
to ask about fathei, but they both said nevei to mind about fathei, but just to tell
him afeiwaids, and mothei said she would make it all iight with him. l didnt
quite like that, Mi. Holmes. lt seemed funny that l should ask his leave, as he was
only a few yeais oldei than me, but l didnt want to do anything on the sly, so
l wiote to fathei at Boideaux, wheie the company has its liench oces, but the
leuei came back to me on the veiy moining of the wedding.
lt missed him, then`
Yes, sii, foi he had staited to England just befoie it aiiived.
Ha' that was unfoitunate. Youi wedding was aiianged, then, foi the lii-
day. Was it to be in chuich`
Yes, sii, but veiy quietly. lt was to be at St. Saviouis, neai Kings Cioss,
,
and we weie to have bieakfast afeiwaids at the St. Pancias Hotel. Hosmei came
foi us in a hansom, but as theie weie two of us he put us both into it and stepped
himself into a foui-wheelei, which happened to be the only othei cab in the stieet.
We got to the chuich ist, and when the foui-wheelei diove up we waited foi him
to step out, but he nevei did, and when the cabman got down fiom the box and
looked theie was no one theie' Te cabman said that he could not imagine what
had become of him, foi he had seen him get in with his own eyes. Tat was last
liiday, Mi. Holmes, and l have nevei seen oi heaid anything since then to thiow
any light upon what became of him.
lt seems to me that you have been veiy shamefully tieated, said Holmes.
Oh, no, sii' He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all the moining
he was saying to me that, whatevei happened, l was to be tiue, and that even if
something quite unfoieseen occuiied to sepaiate us, l was always to iemembei
that l was pledged to him, and that he would claim his pledge soonei oi latei. lt
seemed stiange talk foi a wedding-moining, but what has happened since gives
a meaning to it.
Most ceitainly it does. Youi own opinion is, then, that some unfoieseen
catastiophe has occuiied to him`
Yes, sii. l believe that he foiesaw some dangei, oi else he would not have
talked so. And then l think that what he foiesaw happened.
But you have no notion as to what it could have been`
None.
One moie question. How did youi mothei take the mauei`
She was angiy, and said that l was nevei to speak of the mauei again.
And youi fathei` Did you tell him`
Yes, and he seemed to think, with me, that something had happened, and
that l should heai of Hosmei again. As he said, what inteiest could anyone have
in biinging me to the doois of the chuich, and then leaving me` Now, if he had
boiiowed my money, oi if he had maiiied me and got my money seuled on him,
theie might be some ieason, but Hosmei was veiy independent about money and
nevei would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what could have happened` And
why could he not wiite` Oh, it diives me half-mad to think of it, and l cant sleep
a wink at night. She pulled a liule handkeichief out of hei mu and began to sob
heavily into it.
l shall glance into the case foi you, said Holmes, iising, and l have no
doubt that we shall ieach some denite iesult. Let the weight of the mauei iest
upon me now, and do not let youi mind dwell upon it fuithei. Above all, tiy to
let Mi. Hosmei Angel vanish fiom youi memoiy, as he has done fiom youi life.
s
Ten you dont think lll see him again`
l feai not.
Ten what has happened to him`
You will leave that question in my hands. l should like an accuiate desciip-
tion of him and any leueis of his which you can spaie.
l adveitised foi him in last Satuidays Chronicle, said she. Heie is the slip
and heie aie foui leueis fiom him.
Tank you. And youi addiess`
No. 1 Lyon Place, Cambeiwell.
Mi. Angels addiess you nevei had, l undeistand. Wheie is youi fatheis
place of business`
He tiavels foi Westhouse & Maibank, the gieat claiet impoiteis of
lenchuich Stieet.
Tank you. You have made youi statement veiy cleaily. You will leave
the papeis heie, and iemembei the advice which l have given you. Let the whole
incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it to aect youi life.
You aie veiy kind, Mi. Holmes, but l cannot do that. l shall be tiue to
Hosmei. He shall nd me ieady when he comes back.
loi all the pieposteious hat and the vacuous face, theie was something no-
ble in the simple faith of oui visitoi which compelled oui iespect. She laid hei
liule bundle of papeis upon the table and went hei way, with a piomise to come
again whenevei she might be summoned.
Sheilock Holmes sat silent foi a few minutes with his ngeitips still piessed
togethei, his legs stietched out in fiont of him, and his gaze diiected upwaid to
the ceiling. Ten he took down fiom the iack the old and oily clay pipe, which
was to him as a counselloi, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chaii, with the
thick blue cloud-wieaths spinning up fiom him, and a look of innite languoi in
his face.
Qite an inteiesting study, that maiden, he obseived. l found hei moie
inteiesting than hei liule pioblem, which, by the way, is iathei a tiite one. You
will nd paiallel cases, if you consult my index, in Andovei in ,,, and theie was
something of the soit at Te Hague last yeai. Old as is the idea, howevei, theie
weie one oi two details which weie new to me. But the maiden heiself was most
instiuctive.
You appeaied to iead a good deal upon hei which was quite invisible to
me, l iemaiked.
Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know wheie to look, and
so you missed all that was impoitant. l can nevei biing you to iealise the impoi-
,
tance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, oi the gieat issues that may
hang fioma boot-lace. Now, what did you gathei fiomthat womans appeaiance`
Desciibe it.
Well, she had a slate-colouied, bioad-biimmed stiaw hat, with a feathei of
a biickish ied. Hei jacket was black, with black beads sewn upon it, and a fiinge of
liule black jet oinaments. Hei diess was biown, iathei daikei than coee coloui,
with a liule puiple plush at the neck and sleeves. Hei gloves weie gieyish and
weie woin thiough at the iight foiengei. Hei boots l didnt obseive. She had
small iound, hanging gold eaiiings, and a geneial aii of being faiily well-to-do in
a vulgai, comfoitable, easy-going way.
Sheilock Holmes clapped his hands sofly togethei and chuckled.
Pon my woid, Watson, you aie coming along wondeifully. You have ieally
done veiy well indeed. lt is tiue that you have missed eveiything of impoitance,
but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye foi coloui. Nevei
tiust to geneial impiessions, my boy, but concentiate youiself upon details. My
ist glance is always at a womans sleeve. ln a man it is peihaps beuei ist to take
the knee of the tiousei. As you obseive, this woman had plush upon hei sleeves,
which is a most useful mateiial foi showing tiaces. Te double line a liule above
the wiist, wheie the typewiitist piesses against the table, was beautifully dened.
Te sewing-machine, of the hand type, leaves a similai maik, but only on the lef
aim, and on the side of it faithest fiom the thumb, instead of being iight acioss
the bioadest pait, as this was. l then glanced at hei face, and, obseiving the dint
of a pince-nez at eithei side of hei nose, l ventuied a iemaik upon shoit sight and
typewiiting, which seemed to suipiise hei.
lt suipiised me.
But, suiely, it was obvious. l was then much suipiised and inteiested on
glancing down to obseive that, though the boots which she was weaiing weie
not unlike each othei, they weie ieally odd ones, the one having a slightly deco-
iated toe-cap, and the othei a plain one. One was buuoned only in the two lowei
buuons out of ve, and the othei at the ist, thiid, and fh. Now, when you
see that a young lady, otheiwise neatly diessed, has come away fiom home with
odd boots, half-buuoned, it is no gieat deduction to say that she came away in a
huiiy.
And what else` l asked, keenly inteiested, as l always was, by my fiiends
incisive ieasoning.
l noted, in passing, that she had wiiuen a note befoie leaving home but
afei being fully diessed. You obseived that hei iight glove was toin at the foie-
ngei, but you did not appaiently see that both glove and ngei weie stained with
o
violet ink. She had wiiuen in a huiiy and dipped hei pen too deep. lt must have
been this moining, oi the maik would not iemain cleai upon the ngei. All this
is amusing, though iathei elementaiy, but l must go back to business, Watson.
Would you mind ieading me the adveitised desciiption of Mi. Hosmei Angel`
l held the liule piinted slip to the light.
Missing, it said, on the moining of the fouiteenth, a gentleman named
Hosmei Angel. About ve f. seven in. in height, stiongly built, sallow complex-
ion, black haii, a liule bald in the centie, bushy, black side-whiskeis and mous-
tache, tinted glasses, slight inimity of speech. Was diessed, when last seen, in
black fiock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albeit chain, and giey Hai-
iis tweed tiouseis, with biown gaiteis ovei elastic-sided boots. Known to have
been employed in an oce in Leadenhall Stieet. Anybody biinging
Tat will do, said Holmes. As to the leueis, he continued, glancing ovei
them, they aie veiy commonplace. Absolutely no clue in them to Mi. Angel,
save that he quotes Balzac once. Teie is one iemaikable point, howevei, which
will no doubt stiike you.
Tey aie typewiiuen, l iemaiked.
Not only that, but the signatuie is typewiiuen. Look at the neat liule Hos-
mei Angel at the bouom. Teie is a date, you see, but no supeisciiption except
Leadenhall Stieet, which is iathei vague. Te point about the signatuie is veiy
suggestivein fact, we may call it conclusive.
Of what`
My deai fellow, is it possible you do not see how stiongly it beais upon the
case`
l cannot say that l do unless it weie that he wished to be able to deny his
signatuie if an action foi bieach of piomise weie instituted.
No, that was not the point. Howevei, l shall wiite two leueis, which should
seule the mauei. One is to a im in the City, the othei is to the young ladys step-
fathei, Mi. Windibank, asking him whethei he could meet us heie at six oclock
to-moiiow evening. lt is just as well that we should do business with the male
ielatives. And now, Doctoi, we can do nothing until the answeis to those leueis
come, so we may put oui liule pioblem upon the shelf foi the inteiim.
l had had so many ieasons to believe in my fiiends subtle poweis of iea-
soning and extiaoidinaiy eneigy in action that l felt that he must have some solid
giounds foi the assuied and easy demeanoui with which he tieated the singulai
mysteiy which he had been called upon to fathom. Once only had l known him
to fail, in the case of the King of Bohemia and of the liene Adlei photogiaph, but
when l looked back to the weiid business of the Sign of loui, and the extiaoidi-
1
naiy ciicumstances connected with the Study in Scailet, l felt that it would be a
stiange tangle indeed which he could not uniavel.
l lef him then, still pung at his black clay pipe, with the conviction that
when l came again on the next evening l would nd that he held in his hands all
the clues which would lead up to the identity of the disappeaiing biidegioom of
Miss Maiy Sutheiland.
A piofessional case of gieat giavity was engaging my own auention at the
time, and the whole of next day l was busy at the bedside of the sueiei. lt was
not until close upon six oclock that l found myself fiee and was able to spiing into
a hansom and diive to Bakei Stieet, half afiaid that l might be too late to assist
at the dnouement of the liule mysteiy. l found Sheilock Holmes alone, howevei,
half asleep, with his long, thin foim cuiled up in the iecesses of his aimchaii.
A foimidable aiiay of boules and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell of
hydiochloiic acid, told me that he had spent his day in the chemical woik which
was so deai to him.
Well, have you solved it` l asked as l enteied.
Yes. lt was the bisulphate of baiyta.
No, no, the mysteiy' l ciied.
Oh, that' l thought of the salt that l have been woiking upon. Teie was
nevei any mysteiy in the mauei, though, as l said yesteiday, some of the details
aie of inteiest. Te only diawback is that theie is no law, l feai, that can touch
the scoundiel.
Who was he, then, and what was his object in deseiting Miss Sutheiland`
Te question was haidly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet opened
his lips to ieply, when we heaid a heavy footfall in the passage and a tap at the
dooi.
Tis is the giils stepfathei, Mi. James Windibank, said Holmes. He has
wiiuen to me to say that he would be heie at six. Come in'
Te man who enteied was a stuidy, middle-sized fellow, some thiity yeais
of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a bland, insinuating mannei, and a
paii of wondeifully shaip and penetiating giey eyes. He shot a questioning glance
at each of us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboaid, and with a slight bow
sidled down into the neaiest chaii.
Good-evening, Mi. James Windibank, said Holmes. l think that this type-
wiiuen leuei is fiom you, in which you made an appointment with me foi six
oclock`
Yes, sii. l am afiaid that l am a liule late, but l am not quite my own mastei,
you know. l am soiiy that Miss Sutheiland has tioubled you about this liule
:
mauei, foi l think it is fai beuei not to wash linen of the soit in public. lt was
quite against my wishes that she came, but she is a veiy excitable, impulsive giil,
as you may have noticed, and she is not easily contiolled when she has made
up hei mind on a point. Of couise, l did not mind you so much, as you aie not
connected with the ocial police, but it is not pleasant to have a family misfoitune
like this noised abioad. Besides, it is a useless expense, foi howcould you possibly
nd this Hosmei Angel`
On the contiaiy, said Holmes quietly, l have eveiy ieason to believe that
l will succeed in discoveiing Mi. Hosmei Angel.
Mi. Windibank gave a violent stait and diopped his gloves. l am delighted
to heai it, he said.
lt is a cuiious thing, iemaiked Holmes, that a typewiitei has ieally quite
as much individuality as a mans handwiiting. Unless they aie quite new, no two
of them wiite exactly alike. Some leueis get moie woin than otheis, and some
weai only on one side. Now, you iemaik in this note of youis, Mi. Windibank,
that in eveiy case theie is some liule sluiiing ovei of the e, and a slight defect in
the tail of the i. Teie aie fouiteen othei chaiacteiistics, but those aie the moie
obvious.
We do all oui coiiespondence with this machine at the oce, and no doubt
it is a liule woin, oui visitoi answeied, glancing keenly at Holmes with his biight
liule eyes.
And now l will show you what is ieally a veiy inteiesting study, Mi.
Windibank, Holmes continued. l think of wiiting anothei liule monogiaph some
of these days on the typewiitei and its ielation to ciime. lt is a subject to which
l have devoted some liule auention. l have heie foui leueis which puipoit to
come fiom the missing man. Tey aie all typewiiuen. ln each case, not only aie
the es sluiied and the is tailless, but you will obseive, if you caie to use my
magnifying lens, that the fouiteen othei chaiacteiistics to which l have alluded
aie theie as well.
Mi. Windibank spiang out of his chaii and picked up his hat. l cannot
waste time ovei this soit of fantastic talk, Mi. Holmes, he said. lf you can catch
the man, catch him, and let me know when you have done it.
Ceitainly, said Holmes, stepping ovei and tuining the key in the dooi. l
let you know, then, that l have caught him'
What' wheie` shouted Mi. Windibank, tuining white to his lips and
glancing about him like a iat in a tiap.
Oh, it wont doieally it wont, said Holmes suavely. Teie is no possible
geuing out of it, Mi. Windibank. lt is quite too tianspaient, and it was a veiy bad

compliment when you said that it was impossible foi me to solve so simple a
question. Tats iight' Sit down and let us talk it ovei.
Oui visitoi collapsed into a chaii, with a ghastly face and a gliuei of mois-
tuie on his biow. ltits not actionable, he stammeied.
l am veiy much afiaid that it is not. But between ouiselves, Windibank, it
was as ciuel and selsh and heaitless a tiick in a peuy way as evei came befoie
me. Now, let me just iun ovei the couise of events, and you will contiadict me if
l go wiong.
Te man sat huddled up in his chaii, with his head sunk upon his bieast,
like one who is uueily ciushed. Holmes stuck his feet up on the coinei of the
mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands in his pockets, began talking, iathei
to himself, as it seemed, than to us.
Te man maiiied a woman veiy much oldei than himself foi hei money,
said he, and he enjoyed the use of the money of the daughtei as long as she lived
with them. lt was a consideiable sum, foi people in theii position, and the loss
of it would have made a seiious dieience. lt was woith an eoit to pieseive
it. Te daughtei was of a good, amiable disposition, but aectionate and waim-
heaited in hei ways, so that it was evident that with hei faii peisonal advantages,
and hei liule income, she would not be allowed to iemain single long. Now hei
maiiiage would mean, of couise, the loss of a hundied a yeai, so what does hei
stepfathei do to pievent it` He takes the obvious couise of keeping hei at home
and foibidding hei to seek the company of people of hei own age. But soon he
found that that would not answei foievei. She became iestive, insisted upon hei
iights, and nally announced hei positive intention of going to a ceitain ball.
What does hei clevei stepfathei do then` He conceives an idea moie cieditable
to his head than to his heait. With the connivance and assistance of his wife he
disguised himself, coveied those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face
with a moustache and a paii of bushy whiskeis, sunk that cleai voice into an
insinuating whispei, and doubly secuie on account of the giils shoit sight, he
appeais as Mi. Hosmei Angel, and keeps o othei loveis by making love himself.
lt was only a joke at ist, gioaned oui visitoi. We nevei thought that she
would have been so caiiied away.
Veiy likely not. Howevei that may be, the young lady was veiy decidedly
caiiied away, and, having quite made up hei mind that hei stepfathei was in
liance, the suspicion of tieacheiy nevei foi an instant enteied hei mind. She was
aueied by the gentlemans auentions, and the eect was incieased by the loudly
expiessed admiiation of hei mothei. Ten Mi. Angel began to call, foi it was
obvious that the mauei should be pushed as fai as it would go if a ieal eect weie

to be pioduced. Teie weie meetings, and an engagement, which would nally

secuie the giils aections fiom tuining towaids anyone else. But the deception
could not be kept up foievei. Tese pietended jouineys to liance weie iathei
cumbious. Te thing to do was cleaily to biing the business to an end in such
a diamatic mannei that it would leave a peimanent impiession upon the young
ladys mind and pievent hei fiom looking upon any othei suitoi foi some time
to come. Hence those vows of delity exacted upon a Testament, and hence also
the allusions to a possibility of something happening on the veiy moining of the
wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Sutheiland to be so bound to Hosmei
Angel, and so unceitain as to his fate, that foi ten yeais to come, at any iate, she
would not listen to anothei man. As fai as the chuich dooi he biought hei, and
then, as he could go no faithei, he conveniently vanished away by the old tiick
of stepping in at one dooi of a foui-wheelei and out at the othei. l think that was
the chain of events, Mi. Windibank'
Oui visitoi had iecoveied something of his assuiance while Holmes had
been talking, and he iose fiom his chaii now with a cold sneei upon his pale face.
lt may be so, oi it may not, Mi. Holmes, said he, but if you aie so veiy
shaip you ought to be shaip enough to know that it is you who aie bieaking the
law now, and not me. l have done nothing actionable fiom the ist, but as long
as you keep that dooi locked you lay youiself open to an action foi assault and
illegal constiaint.
Te law cannot, as you say, touch you, said Holmes, unlocking and thiow-
ing open the dooi, yet theie nevei was a man who deseived punishment moie.
lf the young lady has a biothei oi a fiiend, he ought to lay a whip acioss youi
shouldeis. By Jove' he continued, ushing up at the sight of the biuei sneei
upon the mans face, it is not pait of my duties to my client, but heies a hunting
ciop handy, and l think l shall just tieat myself to He took two swif steps to
the whip, but befoie he could giasp it theie was a wild clauei of steps upon the
staiis, the heavy hall dooi banged, and fiom the window we could see Mi. James
Windibank iunning at the top of his speed down the ioad.
Teies a cold-blooded scoundiel' said Holmes, laughing, as he thiewhim-
self down into his chaii once moie. Tat fellowwill iise fiomciime to ciime until
he does something veiy bad, and ends on a gallows. Te case has, in some iespects,
been not entiiely devoid of inteiest.
l cannot now entiiely see all the steps of youi ieasoning, l iemaiked.
Well, of couise it was obvious fiom the ist that this Mi. Hosmei Angel
must have some stiong object foi his cuiious conduct, and it was equally cleai that
the only man who ieally pioted by the incident, as fai as we could see, was the

stepfathei. Ten the fact that the two men weie nevei togethei, but that the one
always appeaied when the othei was away, was suggestive. So weie the tinted
spectacles and the cuiious voice, which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy
whiskeis. My suspicions weie all conimed by his peculiai action in typewiiting
his signatuie, which, of couise, infeiied that his handwiiting was so familiai to
hei that she would iecognise even the smallest sample of it. You see all these
isolated facts, togethei with many minoi ones, all pointed in the same diiection.
And how did you veiify them`
Having once spoued my man, it was easy to get coiioboiation. l knew the
im foi which this man woiked. Having taken the piinted desciiption. l elim-
inated eveiything fiom it which could be the iesult of a disguisethe whiskeis,
the glasses, the voice, and l sent it to the im, with a iequest that they would
infoim me whethei it answeied to the desciiption of any of theii tiavelleis. l had
alieady noticed the peculiaiities of the typewiitei, and l wiote to the man himself
at his business addiess asking him if he would come heie. As l expected, his ie-
ply was typewiiuen and ievealed the same tiivial but chaiacteiistic defects. Te
same post biought me a leuei fiomWesthouse &Maibank, of lenchuich Stieet, to
say that the desciiption tallied in eveiy iespect with that of theii employ, James
Windibank. Voil tout'
And Miss Sutheiland`
lf l tell hei she will not believe me. You may iemembei the old Peisian
saying, Teie is dangei foi him who taketh the tigei cub, and dangei also foi
whoso snatches a delusion fiom a woman. Teie is as much sense in Haz as in
Hoiace, and as much knowledge of the woild.
Te Boscombe Valley Mystery
We weie seated at bieakfast one moining, my wife and l, when the maid biought
in a telegiam. lt was fiom Sheilock Holmes and ian in this way
Have you a couple of days to spaie` Have just been wiied foi fiom the
west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tiagedy. Shall be glad if
you will come with me. Aii and sceneiy peifect. Leave Paddington by the 111.
What do you say, deai` said my wife, looking acioss at me. Will you go`
l ieally dont know what to say. l have a faiily long list at piesent.
Oh, Anstiuthei would do youi woik foi you. You have been looking a
liule pale lately. l think that the change would do you good, and you aie always
so inteiested in Mi. Sheilock Holmes cases.
l should be ungiateful if l weie not, seeing what l gained thiough one of
them, l answeied. But if l am to go, l must pack at once, foi l have only half an
houi.
My expeiience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the eect of
making me a piompt and ieady tiavellei. My wants weie few and simple, so
that in less than the time stated l was in a cab with my valise, iauling away to
Paddington Station. Sheilock Holmes was pacing up and down the platfoim, his
tall, gaunt guie made even gauntei and tallei by his long giey tiavelling-cloak
and close-uing cloth cap.
lt is ieally veiy good of you to come, Watson, said he. lt makes a con-
sideiable dieience to me, having someone with me on whom l can thoioughly
iely. Local aid is always eithei woithless oi else biassed. lf you will keep the two
coinei seats l shall get the tickets.
We had the caiiiage to ouiselves save foi an immense liuei of papeis which
Holmes had biought with him. Among these he iummaged and iead, with in-
teivals of note-taking and of meditation, until we weie past Reading. Ten he
suddenly iolled them all into a gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the iack.
s
Have you heaid anything of the case` he asked.
Not a woid. l have not seen a papei foi some days.
Te London piess has not had veiy full accounts. l have just been looking
thiough all the iecent papeis in oidei to mastei the paiticulais. lt seems, fiom
what l gathei, to be one of those simple cases which aie so extiemely dicult.
Tat sounds a liule paiadoxical.
But it is piofoundly tiue. Singulaiity is almost invaiiably a clue. Te moie
featuieless and commonplace a ciime is, the moie dicult it is to biing it home.
ln this case, howevei, they have established a veiy seiious case against the son of
the muideied man.
lt is a muidei, then`
Well, it is conjectuied to be so. l shall take nothing foi gianted until l have
the oppoitunity of looking peisonally into it. l will explain the state of things to
you, as fai as l have been able to undeistand it, in a veiy few woids.
Boscombe Valley is a countiy distiict not veiy fai fiom Ross, in Heiefoid-
shiie. Te laigest landed piopiietoi in that pait is a Mi. John Tuinei, who made
his money in Austialia and ietuined some yeais ago to the old countiy. One of
the faims which he held, that of Hatheiley, was let to Mi. Chailes McCaithy, who
was also an ex-Austialian. Te men had known each othei in the colonies, so that
it was not unnatuial that when they came to seule down they should do so as
neai each othei as possible. Tuinei was appaiently the iichei man, so McCaithy
became his tenant but still iemained, it seems, upon teims of peifect equality,
as they weie fiequently togethei. McCaithy had one son, a lad of eighteen, and
Tuinei had an only daughtei of the same age, but neithei of them had wives liv-
ing. Tey appeai to have avoided the society of the neighbouiing English families
and to have led ietiied lives, though both the McCaithys weie fond of spoit and
weie fiequently seen at the iace-meetings of the neighbouihood. McCaithy kept
two seivantsa man and a giil. Tuinei had a consideiable household, some half-
dozen at the least. Tat is as much as l have been able to gathei about the families.
Now foi the facts.
On June id, that is, on Monday last, McCaithy lef his house at Hathei-
ley about thiee in the afeinoon and walked down to the Boscombe Pool, which
is a small lake foimed by the spieading out of the stieam which iuns down the
Boscombe Valley. He had been out with his seiving-man in the moining at Ross,
and he had told the man that he must huiiy, as he had an appointment of impoi-
tance to keep at thiee. liom that appointment he nevei came back alive.
liom Hatheiley laimhouse to the Boscombe Pool is a quaitei of a mile,
and two people saw him as he passed ovei this giound. One was an old woman,
,
whose name is not mentioned, and the othei was WilliamCiowdei, a game-keepei
in the employ of Mi. Tuinei. Both these witnesses depose that Mi. McCaithy was
walking alone. Te game-keepei adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mi.
McCaithy pass he had seen his son, Mi. James McCaithy, going the same way
with a gun undei his aim. To the best of his belief, the fathei was actually in sight
at the time, and the son was following him. He thought no moie of the mauei
until he heaid in the evening of the tiagedy that had occuiied.
Te two McCaithys weie seen afei the time when William Ciowdei, the
game-keepei, lost sight of them. Te Boscombe Pool is thickly wooded iound,
with just a fiinge of giass and of ieeds iound the edge. Agiil of fouiteen, Patience
Moian, who is the daughtei of the lodge-keepei of the Boscombe Valley estate,
was in one of the woods picking oweis. She states that while she was theie she
saw, at the boidei of the wood and close by the lake, Mi. McCaithy and his son,
and that they appeaied to be having a violent quaiiel. She heaid Mi. McCaithy
the eldei using veiy stiong language to his son, and she saw the lauei iaise up
his hand as if to stiike his fathei. She was so fiightened by theii violence that
she ian away and told hei mothei when she ieached home that she had lef the
two McCaithys quaiielling neai Boscombe Pool, and that she was afiaid that they
weie going to ght. She had haidly said the woids when young Mi. McCaithy
came iunning up to the lodge to say that he had found his fathei dead in the wood,
and to ask foi the help of the lodge-keepei. He was much excited, without eithei
his gun oi his hat, and his iight hand and sleeve weie obseived to be stained with
fiesh blood. On following him they found the dead body stietched out upon the
giass beside the pool. Te head had been beaten in by iepeated blows of some
heavy and blunt weapon. Te injuiies weie such as might veiy well have been
inicted by the buu-end of his sons gun, which was found lying on the giass
within a few paces of the body. Undei these ciicumstances the young man was
instantly aiiested, and a veidict of wilful muidei having been ietuined at the
inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday biought befoie the magistiates at Ross,
who have iefeiied the case to the next Assizes. Tose aie the main facts of the
case as they came out befoie the coionei and the police-couit.
l could haidly imagine a moie damning case, l iemaiked. lf evei ciicum-
stantial evidence pointed to a ciiminal it does so heie.
Ciicumstantial evidence is a veiy tiicky thing, answeied Holmes thought-
fully. lt may seem to point veiy stiaight to one thing, but if you shif youi own
point of view a liule, you may nd it pointing in an equally uncompiomising
mannei to something entiiely dieient. lt must be confessed, howevei, that the
case looks exceedingly giave against the young man, and it is veiy possible that
eo
he is indeed the culpiit. Teie aie seveial people in the neighbouihood, howevei,
and among them Miss Tuinei, the daughtei of the neighbouiing landownei, who
believe in his innocence, and who have ietained Lestiade, whom you may iecol-
lect in connection with the Study in Scailet, to woik out the case in his inteiest.
Lestiade, being iathei puzzled, has iefeiied the case to me, and hence it is that
two middle-aged gentlemen aie ying westwaid at fy miles an houi instead of
quietly digesting theii bieakfasts at home.
l am afiaid, said l, that the facts aie so obvious that you will nd liule
ciedit to be gained out of this case.
Teie is nothing moie deceptive than an obvious fact, he answeied, laugh-
ing. Besides, we may chance to hit upon some othei obvious facts which may
have been by no means obvious to Mi. Lestiade. You know me too well to think
that l am boasting when l say that l shall eithei conim oi destioy his theoiy by
means which he is quite incapable of employing, oi even of undeistanding. To
take the ist example to hand, l veiy cleaily peiceive that in youi bedioom the
window is upon the iight-hand side, and yet l question whethei Mi. Lestiade
would have noted even so self-evident a thing as that.
How on eaith
My deai fellow, l know you well. l know the militaiy neatness which chai-
acteiises you. You shave eveiy moining, and in this season you shave by the
sunlight, but since youi shaving is less and less complete as we get faithei back
on the lef side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we get iound the angle of
the jaw, it is suiely veiy cleai that that side is less illuminated than the othei. l
could not imagine a man of youi habits looking at himself in an equal light and
being satised with such a iesult. l only quote this as a tiivial example of obseiva-
tion and infeience. Teiein lies my mtier, and it is just possible that it may be of
some seivice in the investigation which lies befoie us. Teie aie one oi two minoi
points which weie biought out in the inquest, and which aie woith consideiing.
What aie they`
lt appeais that his aiiest did not take place at once, but afei the ietuin to
Hatheiley laim. On the inspectoi of constabulaiy infoiming him that he was a
piisonei, he iemaiked that he was not suipiised to heai it, and that it was no moie
than his deseits. Tis obseivation of his had the natuial eect of iemoving any
tiaces of doubt which might have iemained in the minds of the coioneis juiy.
lt was a confession, l ejaculated.
No, foi it was followed by a piotestation of innocence.
Coming on the top of such a damning seiies of events, it was at least a most
suspicious iemaik.
e1
On the contiaiy, said Holmes, it is the biightest iif which l can at piesent
see in the clouds. Howevei innocent he might be, he could not be such an absolute
imbecile as not to see that the ciicumstances weie veiy black against him. Had he
appeaied suipiised at his own aiiest, oi feigned indignation at it, l should have
looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such suipiise oi angei would not be
natuial undei the ciicumstances, and yet might appeai to be the best policy to
a scheming man. His fiank acceptance of the situation maiks him as eithei an
innocent man, oi else as a man of consideiable self-iestiaint and imness. As
to his iemaik about his deseits, it was also not unnatuial if you considei that he
stood beside the dead body of his fathei, and that theie is no doubt that he had
that veiy day so fai foigouen his lial duty as to bandy woids with him, and even,
accoiding to the liule giil whose evidence is so impoitant, to iaise his hand as if
to stiike him. Te self-iepioach and contiition which aie displayed in his iemaik
appeai to me to be the signs of a healthy mind iathei than of a guilty one.
l shook my head. Many men have been hanged on fai slightei evidence, l
iemaiked.
So they have. And many men have been wiongfully hanged.
What is the young mans own account of the mauei`
lt is, l am afiaid, not veiy encouiaging to his suppoiteis, though theie aie
one oi two points in it which aie suggestive. You will nd it heie, and may iead
it foi youiself.
He picked out fiom his bundle a copy of the local Heiefoidshiie papei, and
having tuined down the sheet he pointed out the paiagiaph in which the unfoi-
tunate young man had given his own statement of what had occuiied. l seuled
myself down in the coinei of the caiiiage and iead it veiy caiefully. lt ian in this
way
Mi. James McCaithy, the only son of the deceased, was then called and
gave evidence as follows l had been away fiom home foi thiee days at Biistol,
and had only just ietuined upon the moining of last Monday, the id. My fathei
was absent fiom home at the time of my aiiival, and l was infoimed by the maid
that he had diiven ovei to Ross with John Cobb, the gioom. Shoitly afei my
ietuin l heaid the wheels of his tiap in the yaid, and, looking out of my window, l
sawhimget out and walk iapidly out of the yaid, though l was not awaie in which
diiection he was going. l then took my gun and stiolled out in the diiection of the
Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the iabbit waiien which is upon the
othei side. On my way l saw William Ciowdei, the game-keepei, as he had stated
in his evidence, but he is mistaken in thinking that l was following my fathei. l
had no idea that he was in fiont of me. When about a hundied yaids fiom the
e:
pool l heaid a ciy of Cooee' which was a usual signal between my fathei and
myself. l then huiiied foiwaid, and found him standing by the pool. He appeaied
to be much suipiised at seeing me and asked me iathei ioughly what l was doing
theie. Aconveisation ensued which led to high woids and almost to blows, foi my
fathei was a man of a veiy violent tempei. Seeing that his passion was becoming
ungoveinable, l lef him and ietuined towaids Hatheiley laim. l had not gone
moie than 1o yaids, howevei, when l heaid a hideous outciy behind me, which
caused me to iun back again. l found my fathei expiiing upon the giound, with his
head teiiibly injuied. l diopped my gun and held him in my aims, but he almost
instantly expiied. l knelt beside him foi some minutes, and then made my way
to Mi. Tuineis lodge-keepei, his house being the neaiest, to ask foi assistance.
l saw no one neai my fathei when l ietuined, and l have no idea how he came
by his injuiies. He was not a populai man, being somewhat cold and foibidding
in his manneis, but he had, as fai as l know, no active enemies. l know nothing
fuithei of the mauei.
Te Coionei Did youi fathei make any statement to you befoie he died`
Witness He mumbled a few woids, but l could only catch some allusion
to a iat.
Te Coionei What did you undeistand by that`
Witness lt conveyed no meaning to me. l thought that he was deliiious.
Te Coionei What was the point upon which you and youi fathei had
this nal quaiiel`
Witness l should piefei not to answei.
Te Coionei l am afiaid that l must piess it.
Witness lt is ieally impossible foi me to tell you. l can assuie you that it
has nothing to do with the sad tiagedy which followed.
Te Coionei Tat is foi the couit to decide. l need not point out to you
that youi iefusal to answei will piejudice youi case consideiably in any futuie
pioceedings which may aiise.
Witness l must still iefuse.
Te Coionei l undeistand that the ciy of Cooee was a common signal
between you and youi fathei`
Witness lt was.
Te Coionei How was it, then, that he uueied it befoie he saw you, and
befoie he even knew that you had ietuined fiom Biistol`
Witness (with consideiable confusion) l do not know.
A Juiyman Did you see nothing which aioused youi suspicions when you
ietuined on heaiing the ciy and found youi fathei fatally injuied`
e
Witness Nothing denite.
Te Coionei What do you mean`
Witness l was so distuibed and excited as l iushed out into the open, that
l could think of nothing except of my fathei. Yet l have a vague impiession that
as l ian foiwaid something lay upon the giound to the lef of me. lt seemed to
me to be something giey in coloui, a coat of some soit, oi a plaid peihaps. When
l iose fiom my fathei l looked iound foi it, but it was gone.
Do you mean that it disappeaied befoie you went foi help`
Yes, it was gone.
You cannot say what it was`
No, l had a feeling something was theie.
How fai fiom the body`
A dozen yaids oi so.
And how fai fiom the edge of the wood`
About the same.
Ten if it was iemoved it was while you weie within a dozen yaids of it`
Yes, but with my back towaids it.
Tis concluded the examination of the witness.
l see, said l as l glanced down the column, that the coionei in his con-
cluding iemaiks was iathei seveie upon young McCaithy. He calls auention, and
with ieason, to the disciepancy about his fathei having signalled to him befoie
seeing him, also to his iefusal to give details of his conveisation with his fathei,
and his singulai account of his fatheis dying woids. Tey aie all, as he iemaiks,
veiy much against the son.
Holmes laughed sofly to himself and stietched himself out upon the cush-
ioned seat. Both you and the coionei have been at some pains, said he, to single
out the veiy stiongest points in the young mans favoui. Dont you see that you
alteinately give him ciedit foi having too much imagination and too liule` Too
liule, if he could not invent a cause of quaiiel which would give himthe sympathy
of the juiy, too much, if he evolved fiom his own innei consciousness anything
so outr as a dying iefeience to a iat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No,
sii, l shall appioach this case fiom the point of view that what this young man
says is tiue, and we shall see whithei that hypothesis will lead us. And now heie
is my pocket Petiaich, and not anothei woid shall l say of this case until we aie
on the scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and l see that we shall be theie in
twenty minutes.
lt was neaily foui oclock when we at last, afei passing thiough the beau-
tiful Stioud Valley, and ovei the bioad gleaming Sevein, found ouiselves at the
e
pieuy liule countiy-town of Ross. Alean, feiiet-like man, fuitive and sly-looking,
was waiting foi us upon the platfoim. ln spite of the light biown dustcoat and
leathei-leggings which he woie in defeience to his iustic suiioundings, l had no
diculty in iecognising Lestiade, of Scotland Yaid. With him we diove to the
Heiefoid Aims wheie a ioom had alieady been engaged foi us.
l have oideied a caiiiage, said Lestiade as we sat ovei a cup of tea. l knew
youi eneigetic natuie, and that you would not be happy until you had been on
the scene of the ciime.
lt was veiy nice and complimentaiy of you, Holmes answeied. lt is en-
tiiely a question of baiometiic piessuie.
Lestiade looked staitled. l do not quite follow, he said.
How is the glass` Twenty-nine, l see. No wind, and not a cloud in the sky.
l have a caseful of cigaieues heie which need smoking, and the sofa is veiy much
supeiioi to the usual countiy hotel abomination. l do not think that it is piobable
that l shall use the caiiiage to-night.
Lestiade laughed indulgently. You have, no doubt, alieady foimed youi
conclusions fiom the newspapeis, he said. Te case is as plain as a pikesta,
and the moie one goes into it the plainei it becomes. Still, of couise, one cant
iefuse a lady, and such a veiy positive one, too. She has heaid of you, and would
have youi opinion, though l iepeatedly told hei that theie was nothing which you
could do which l had not alieady done. Why, bless my soul' heie is hei caiiiage
at the dooi.
He had haidly spoken befoie theie iushed into the ioom one of the most
lovely young women that l have evei seen in my life. Hei violet eyes shining, hei
lips paited, a pink ush upon hei cheeks, all thought of hei natuial ieseive lost
in hei oveipoweiing excitement and concein.
Oh, Mi. Sheilock Holmes' she ciied, glancing fiom one to the othei of
us, and nally, with a womans quick intuition, fastening upon my companion, l
am so glad that you have come. l have diiven down to tell you so. l know that
James didnt do it. l know it, and l want you to stait upon youi woik knowing it,
too. Nevei let youiself doubt upon that point. We have known each othei since
we weie liule childien, and l know his faults as no one else does, but he is too
tendei-heaited to huit a y. Such a chaige is absuid to anyone who ieally knows
him.
l hope we may cleai him, Miss Tuinei, said Sheilock Holmes. You may
iely upon my doing all that l can.
But you have iead the evidence. You have foimed some conclusion` Do
you not see some loophole, some aw` Do you not youiself think that he is
e
innocent`
l think that it is veiy piobable.
Teie, now' she ciied, thiowing back hei head and looking deantly at
Lestiade. You heai' He gives me hopes.
Lestiade shiugged his shouldeis. l am afiaid that my colleague has been a
liule quick in foiming his conclusions, he said.
But he is iight. Oh' l know that he is iight. James nevei did it. And about
his quaiiel with his fathei, l am suie that the ieason why he would not speak
about it to the coionei was because l was conceined in it.
ln what way` asked Holmes.
lt is no time foi me to hide anything. James and his fathei had many dis-
agieements about me. Mi. McCaithy was veiy anxious that theie should be a
maiiiage between us. James and l have always loved each othei as biothei and
sistei, but of couise he is young and has seen veiy liule of life yet, andandwell,
he natuially did not wish to do anything like that yet. So theie weie quaiiels, and
this, l am suie, was one of them.
And youi fathei` asked Holmes. Was he in favoui of such a union`
No, he was aveise to it also. No one but Mi. McCaithy was in favoui of it.
A quick blush passed ovei hei fiesh young face as Holmes shot one of his keen,
questioning glances at hei.
Tank you foi this infoimation, said he. May l see youi fathei if l call
to-moiiow`
l am afiaid the doctoi wont allow it.
Te doctoi`
Yes, have you not heaid` Pooi fathei has nevei been stiong foi yeais back,
but this has bioken him down completely. He has taken to his bed, and Di. Wil-
lows says that he is a wieck and that his neivous system is shaueied. Mi. Mc-
Caithy was the only man alive who had known dad in the old days in Victoiia.
Ha' ln Victoiia' Tat is impoitant.
Yes, at the mines.
Qite so, at the gold-mines, wheie, as l undeistand, Mi. Tuinei made his
money.
Yes, ceitainly.
Tank you, Miss Tuinei. You have been of mateiial assistance to me.
You will tell me if you have any news to-moiiow. No doubt you will go to
the piison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mi. Holmes, do tell him that l know him
to be innocent.
l will, Miss Tuinei.
ee
l must go home now, foi dad is veiy ill, and he misses me so if l leave him.
Good-bye, and God help you in youi undeitaking. She huiiied fiom the ioom as
impulsively as she had enteied, and we heaid the wheels of hei caiiiage iaule o
down the stieet.
l am ashamed of you, Holmes, said Lestiade with dignity afei a few min-
utes silence. Why should you iaise up hopes which you aie bound to disappoint`
l am not ovei-tendei of heait, but l call it ciuel.
l think that l see my way to cleaiing James McCaithy, said Holmes. Have
you an oidei to see him in piison`
Yes, but only foi you and me.
Ten l shall ieconsidei my iesolution about going out. We have still time
to take a tiain to Heiefoid and see him to-night`
Ample.
Ten let us do so. Watson, l feai that you will nd it veiy slow, but l shall
only be away a couple of houis.
l walked down to the station with them, and then wandeied thiough the
stieets of the liule town, nally ietuining to the hotel, wheie l lay upon the sofa
and tiied to inteiest myself in a yellow-backed novel. Te puny plot of the stoiy
was so thin, howevei, when compaied to the deep mysteiy thiough which we
weie gioping, and l found my auention wandei so continually fiom the action to
the fact, that l at last ung it acioss the ioom and gave myself up entiiely to a
consideiation of the events of the day. Supposing that this unhappy young mans
stoiy weie absolutely tiue, then what hellish thing, what absolutely unfoieseen
and extiaoidinaiy calamity could have occuiied between the time when he paited
fiom his fathei, and the moment when, diawn back by his scieams, he iushed into
the glade` lt was something teiiible and deadly. What could it be` Might not the
natuie of the injuiies ieveal something to my medical instincts` l iang the bell
and called foi the weekly county papei, which contained a veibatim account of
the inquest. ln the suigeons deposition it was stated that the posteiioi thiid of
the lef paiietal bone and the lef half of the occipital bone had been shaueied by a
heavy blow fiom a blunt weapon. l maiked the spot upon my own head. Cleaily
such a blowmust have been stiuck fiombehind. Tat was to some extent in favoui
of the accused, as when seen quaiielling he was face to face with his fathei. Still, it
did not go foi veiy much, foi the oldei man might have tuined his back befoie the
blow fell. Still, it might be woith while to call Holmes auention to it. Ten theie
was the peculiai dying iefeience to a iat. What could that mean` lt could not be
deliiium. A man dying fiom a sudden blow does not commonly become deliiious.
No, it was moie likely to be an auempt to explain how he met his fate. But what
e,
could it indicate` l cudgelled my biains to nd some possible explanation. And
then the incident of the giey cloth seen by young McCaithy. lf that weie tiue
the muideiei must have diopped some pait of his diess, piesumably his oveicoat,
in his ight, and must have had the haidihood to ietuin and to caiiy it away at
the instant when the son was kneeling with his back tuined not a dozen paces
o. What a tissue of mysteiies and impiobabilities the whole thing was' l did not
wondei at Lestiades opinion, and yet l had so much faith in Sheilock Holmes
insight that l could not lose hope as long as eveiy fiesh fact seemed to stiengthen
his conviction of young McCaithys innocence.
lt was late befoie Sheilock Holmes ietuined. He came back alone, foi
Lestiade was staying in lodgings in the town.
Te glass still keeps veiy high, he iemaiked as he sat down. lt is of im-
poitance that it should not iain befoie we aie able to go ovei the giound. On the
othei hand, a man should be at his veiy best and keenest foi such nice woik as
that, and l did not wish to do it when fagged by a long jouiney. l have seen young
McCaithy.
And what did you leain fiom him`
Nothing.
Could he thiow no light`
None at all. l was inclined to think at one time that he knew who had done
it and was scieening him oi hei, but l am convinced now that he is as puzzled as
eveiyone else. He is not a veiy quick-wiued youth, though comely to look at and,
l should think, sound at heait.
l cannot admiie his taste, l iemaiked, if it is indeed a fact that he was
aveise to a maiiiage with so chaiming a young lady as this Miss Tuinei.
Ah, theieby hangs a iathei painful tale. Tis fellow is madly, insanely, in
love with hei, but some two yeais ago, when he was only a lad, and befoie he
ieally knew hei, foi she had been away ve yeais at a boaiding-school, what
does the idiot do but get into the clutches of a baimaid in Biistol and maiiy hei
at a iegistiy oce` No one knows a woid of the mauei, but you can imagine
how maddening it must be to him to be upbiaided foi not doing what he would
give his veiy eyes to do, but what he knows to be absolutely impossible. lt was
sheei fienzy of this soit which made him thiow his hands up into the aii when
his fathei, at theii last inteiview, was goading him on to piopose to Miss Tuinei.
On the othei hand, he had no means of suppoiting himself, and his fathei, who
was by all accounts a veiy haid man, would have thiown him ovei uueily had
he known the tiuth. lt was with his baimaid wife that he had spent the last thiee
days in Biistol, and his fathei did not know wheie he was. Maik that point. lt is
es
of impoitance. Good has come out of evil, howevei, foi the baimaid, nding fiom
the papeis that he is in seiious tiouble and likely to be hanged, has thiown him
ovei uueily and has wiiuen to him to say that she has a husband alieady in the
Beimuda Dockyaid, so that theie is ieally no tie between them. l think that that
bit of news has consoled young McCaithy foi all that he has sueied.
But if he is innocent, who has done it`
Ah' who` l would call youi auention veiy paiticulaily to two points. One
is that the muideied man had an appointment with someone at the pool, and that
the someone could not have been his son, foi his son was away, and he did not
know when he would ietuin. Te second is that the muideied man was heaid
to ciy Cooee' befoie he knew that his son had ietuined. Tose aie the ciucial
points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk about Geoige Meiedith,
if you please, and we shall leave all minoi maueis until to-moiiow.
Teie was no iain, as Holmes had foietold, and the moining bioke biight
and cloudless. At nine oclock Lestiade called foi us with the caiiiage, and we set
o foi Hatheiley laim and the Boscombe Pool.
Teie is seiious news this moining, Lestiade obseived. lt is said that Mi.
Tuinei, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is despaiied of.
An eldeily man, l piesume` said Holmes.
About sixty, but his constitution has been shaueied by his life abioad, and
he has been in failing health foi some time. Tis business has had a veiy bad eect
upon him. He was an old fiiend of McCaithys, and, l may add, a gieat benefactoi
to him, foi l have leained that he gave him Hatheiley laim ient fiee.
lndeed' Tat is inteiesting, said Holmes.
Oh, yes' ln a hundied othei ways he has helped him. Eveiybody about
heie speaks of his kindness to him.
Really' Does it not stiike you as a liule singulai that this McCaithy, who
appeais to have had liule of his own, and to have been undei such obligations
to Tuinei, should still talk of maiiying his son to Tuineis daughtei, who is, pie-
sumably, heiiess to the estate, and that in such a veiy cocksuie mannei, as if it
weie meiely a case of a pioposal and all else would follow` lt is the moie stiange,
since we know that Tuinei himself was aveise to the idea. Te daughtei told us
as much. Do you not deduce something fiom that`
We have got to the deductions and the infeiences, said Lestiade, winking
at me. l nd it haid enough to tackle facts, Holmes, without ying away afei
theoiies and fancies.
You aie iight, said Holmes demuiely, you do nd it veiy haid to tackle
the facts.
e,
Anyhow, l have giasped one fact which you seem to nd it dicult to get
hold of, ieplied Lestiade with some waimth.
And that is
Tat McCaithy senioi met his death fiom McCaithy junioi and that all
theoiies to the contiaiy aie the meiest moonshine.
Well, moonshine is a biightei thing than fog, said Holmes, laughing. But
l am veiy much mistaken if this is not Hatheiley laim upon the lef.
Yes, that is it. lt was a widespiead, comfoitable-looking building, two-
stoiied, slate-ioofed, with gieat yellow blotches of lichen upon the giey walls.
Te diawn blinds and the smokeless chimneys, howevei, gave it a stiicken look,
as though the weight of this hoiioi still lay heavy upon it. We called at the dooi,
when the maid, at Holmes iequest, showed us the boots which hei mastei woie
at the time of his death, and also a paii of the sons, though not the paii which he
had then had. Having measuied these veiy caiefully fiom seven oi eight dieient
points, Holmes desiied to be led to the couit-yaid, fiom which we all followed the
winding tiack which led to Boscombe Pool.
Sheilock Holmes was tiansfoimed when he was hot upon such a scent as
this. Men who had only known the quiet thinkei and logician of Bakei Stieet
would have failed to iecognise him. His face ushed and daikened. His biows
weie diawn into two haid black lines, while his eyes shone out fiom beneath
them with a steely gliuei. His face was bent downwaid, his shouldeis bowed,
his lips compiessed, and the veins stood out like whipcoid in his long, sinewy
neck. His nostiils seemed to dilate with a puiely animal lust foi the chase, and his
mind was so absolutely concentiated upon the mauei befoie him that a question
oi iemaik fell unheeded upon his eais, oi, at the most, only piovoked a quick,
impatient snail in ieply. Swifly and silently he made his way along the tiack
which ian thiough the meadows, and so by way of the woods to the Boscombe
Pool. lt was damp, maishy giound, as is all that distiict, and theie weie maiks
of many feet, both upon the path and amid the shoit giass which bounded it on
eithei side. Sometimes Holmes would huiiy on, sometimes stop dead, and once
he made quite a liule detoui into the meadow. Lestiade and l walked behind
him, the detective indieient and contemptuous, while l watched my fiiend with
the inteiest which spiang fiom the conviction that eveiy one of his actions was
diiected towaids a denite end.
Te Boscombe Pool, which is a liule ieed-giit sheet of watei some fy yaids
acioss, is situated at the boundaiy between the Hatheiley laim and the piivate
paik of the wealthy Mi. Tuinei. Above the woods which lined it upon the faithei
side we could see the ied, juuing pinnacles which maiked the site of the iich
,o
landowneis dwelling. On the Hatheiley side of the pool the woods giew veiy
thick, and theie was a naiiow belt of sodden giass twenty paces acioss between
the edge of the tiees and the ieeds which lined the lake. Lestiade showed us
the exact spot at which the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the
giound, that l could plainly see the tiaces which had been lef by the fall of the
stiicken man. To Holmes, as l could see by his eagei face and peeiing eyes, veiy
many othei things weie to be iead upon the tiampled giass. He ian iound, like a
dog who is picking up a scent, and then tuined upon my companion.
What did you go into the pool foi` he asked.
l shed about with a iake. l thought theie might be some weapon oi othei
tiace. But how on eaith
Oh, tut, tut' l have no time' Tat lef foot of youis with its inwaid twist is
all ovei the place. A mole could tiace it, and theie it vanishes among the ieeds.
Oh, howsimple it would all have been had l been heie befoie they came like a heid
of bualo and wallowed all ovei it. Heie is wheie the paity with the lodge-keepei
came, and they have coveied all tiacks foi six oi eight feet iound the body. But
heie aie thiee sepaiate tiacks of the same feet. He diew out a lens and lay down
upon his wateipioof to have a beuei view, talking all the time iathei to himself
than to us. Tese aie young McCaithys feet. Twice he was walking, and once
he ian swifly, so that the soles aie deeply maiked and the heels haidly visible.
Tat beais out his stoiy. He ian when he saw his fathei on the giound. Ten heie
aie the fatheis feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then` lt is the buu-
end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this` Ha, ha' What have we heie`
Tiptoes' tiptoes' Squaie, too, quite unusual boots' Tey come, they go, they come
againof couise that was foi the cloak. Now wheie did they come fiom` He ian
up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes nding the tiack until we weie well
within the edge of the wood and undei the shadow of a gieat beech, the laigest
tiee in the neighbouihood. Holmes tiaced his way to the faithei side of this and
lay down once moie upon his face with a liule ciy of satisfaction. loi a long time
he iemained theie, tuining ovei the leaves and diied sticks, gatheiing up what
seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and examining with his lens not only
the giound but even the baik of the tiee as fai as he could ieach. A jagged stone
was lying among the moss, and this also he caiefully examined and ietained. Ten
he followed a pathway thiough the wood until he came to the highioad, wheie
all tiaces weie lost.
lt has been a case of consideiable inteiest, he iemaiked, ietuining to his
natuial mannei. l fancy that this giey house on the iight must be the lodge. l
think that l will go in and have a woid with Moian, and peihaps wiite a liule note.
,1
Having done that, we may diive back to oui luncheon. You may walk to the cab,
and l shall be with you piesently.
lt was about ten minutes befoie we iegained oui cab and diove back into
Ross, Holmes still caiiying with him the stone which he had picked up in the
wood.
Tis may inteiest you, Lestiade, he iemaiked, holding it out. Te muidei
was done with it.
l see no maiks.
Teie aie none.
How do you know, then`
Te giass was giowing undei it. lt had only lain theie a few days. Teie
was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. lt coiiesponds with the injuiies.
Teie is no sign of any othei weapon.
And the muideiei`
ls a tall man, lef-handed, limps with the iight leg, weais thick-soled
shooting-boots and a giey cloak, smokes lndian cigais, uses a cigai-holdei, and
caiiies a blunt pen-knife in his pocket. Teie aie seveial othei indications, but
these may be enough to aid us in oui seaich.
Lestiade laughed. l am afiaid that l am still a sceptic, he said. Teoiies
aie all veiy well, but we have to deal with a haid-headed Biitish juiy.
Nous verrons, answeied Holmes calmly. You woik youi own method, and
l shall woik mine. l shall be busy this afeinoon, and shall piobably ietuin to
London by the evening tiain.
And leave youi case unnished`
No, nished.
But the mysteiy`
lt is solved.
Who was the ciiminal, then`
Te gentleman l desciibe.
But who is he`
Suiely it would not be dicult to nd out. Tis is not such a populous
neighbouihood.
Lestiade shiugged his shouldeis. l ama piactical man, he said, and l ieally
cannot undeitake to go about the countiy looking foi a lef-handed gentleman
with a game leg. l should become the laughing-stock of Scotland Yaid.
All iight, said Holmes quietly. l have given you the chance. Heie aie youi
lodgings. Good-bye. l shall diop you a line befoie l leave.
Having lef Lestiade at his iooms, we diove to oui hotel, wheie we found
,:
lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buiied in thought with a pained
expiession upon his face, as one who nds himself in a peiplexing position.
Look heie, Watson, he said when the cloth was cleaied just sit down in
this chaii and let me pieach to you foi a liule. l dont know quite what to do, and
l should value youi advice. Light a cigai and let me expound.
Piay do so.
Well, now, in consideiing this case theie aie two points about young Mc-
Caithys naiiative which stiuck us both instantly, although they impiessed me
in his favoui and you against him. One was the fact that his fathei should, ac-
coiding to his account, ciy Cooee' befoie seeing him. Te othei was his singulai
dying iefeience to a iat. He mumbled seveial woids, you undeistand, but that
was all that caught the sons eai. Now fiom this double point oui ieseaich must
commence, and we will begin it by piesuming that what the lad says is absolutely
tiue.
What of this Cooee' then`
Well, obviously it could not have been meant foi the son. Te son, as fai
as he knew, was in Biistol. lt was meie chance that he was within eaishot. Te
Cooee' was meant to auiact the auention of whoevei it was that he had the
appointment with. But Cooee is a distinctly Austialian ciy, and one which is
used between Austialians. Teie is a stiong piesumption that the peison whom
McCaithy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was someone who had been
in Austialia.
What of the iat, then`
Sheilock Holmes took a folded papei fiom his pocket and auened it out on
the table. Tis is a map of the Colony of Victoiia, he said. l wiied to Biistol foi
it last night. He put his hand ovei pait of the map. What do you iead`
ARAT, l iead.
And now` He iaised his hand.
BALLARAT.
Qite so. Tat was the woid the man uueied, and of which his son only
caught the last two syllables. He was tiying to uuei the name of his muideiei. So
and so, of Ballaiat.
lt is wondeiful' l exclaimed.
lt is obvious. And now, you see, l had naiiowed the eld down consid-
eiably. Te possession of a giey gaiment was a thiid point which, gianting the
sons statement to be coiiect, was a ceitainty. We have come now out of meie
vagueness to the denite conception of an Austialian fiom Ballaiat with a giey
cloak.
,
Ceitainly.
And one who was at home in the distiict, foi the pool can only be ap-
pioached by the faim oi by the estate, wheie stiangeis could haidly wandei.
Qite so.
Ten comes oui expedition of to-day. By an examination of the giound l
gained the tiiing details which l gave to that imbecile Lestiade, as to the peison-
ality of the ciiminal.
But how did you gain them`
You know my method. lt is founded upon the obseivation of tiies.
His height l know that you might ioughly judge fiom the length of his
stiide. His boots, too, might be told fiom theii tiaces.
Yes, they weie peculiai boots.
But his lameness`
Te impiession of his iight foot was always less distinct than his lef. He
put less weight upon it. Why` Because he limpedhe was lame.
But his lef-handedness.
You weie youiself stiuck by the natuie of the injuiy as iecoided by the
suigeon at the inquest. Te blow was stiuck fiom immediately behind, and yet
was upon the lef side. Now, how can that be unless it weie by a lef-handed man`
He had stood behind that tiee duiing the inteiview between the fathei and son.
He had even smoked theie. l found the ash of a cigai, which my special knowledge
of tobacco ashes enables me to pionounce as an lndian cigai. l have, as you know,
devoted some auention to this, and wiiuen a liule monogiaph on the ashes of 1o
dieient vaiieties of pipe, cigai, and cigaieue tobacco. Having found the ash, l
then looked iound and discoveied the stump among the moss wheie he had tossed
it. lt was an lndian cigai, of the vaiiety which aie iolled in Roueidam.
And the cigai-holdei`
l could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Teiefoie he used a
holdei. Te tip had been cut o, not biuen o, but the cut was not a clean one, so
l deduced a blunt pen-knife.
Holmes, l said, you have diawn a net iound this man fiom which he
cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as tiuly as if you had
cut the coid which was hanging him. l see the diiection in which all this points.
Te culpiit is
Mi. John Tuinei, ciied the hotel waitei, opening the dooi of oui siuing-
ioom, and usheiing in a visitoi.
Te man who enteied was a stiange and impiessive guie. His slow, limp-
ing step and bowed shouldeis gave the appeaiance of deciepitude, and yet his
,
haid, deep-lined, ciaggy featuies, and his enoimous limbs showed that he was
possessed of unusual stiength of body and of chaiactei. His tangled beaid, giiz-
zled haii, and outstanding, diooping eyebiows combined to give an aii of dignity
and powei to his appeaiance, but his face was of an ashen white, while his lips
and the coineis of his nostiils weie tinged with a shade of blue. lt was cleai to
me at a glance that he was in the giip of some deadly and chionic disease.
Piay sit down on the sofa, said Holmes gently. You had my note`
Yes, the lodge-keepei biought it up. You said that you wished to see me
heie to avoid scandal.
l thought people would talk if l went to the Hall.
And why did you wish to see me` He looked acioss at my companion with
despaii in his weaiy eyes, as though his question was alieady answeied.
Yes, said Holmes, answeiing the look iathei than the woids. lt is so. l
know all about McCaithy.
Te old man sank his face in his hands. God help me' he ciied. But l
would not have let the young man come to haim. l give you my woid that l
would have spoken out if it went against him at the Assizes.
l am glad to heai you say so, said Holmes giavely.
l would have spoken now had it not been foi my deai giil. lt would bieak
hei heaitit will bieak hei heait when she heais that l am aiiested.
lt may not come to that, said Holmes.
What`
l am no ocial agent. l undeistand that it was youi daughtei who iequiied
my piesence heie, and l am acting in hei inteiests. Young McCaithy must be got
o, howevei.
l am a dying man, said old Tuinei. l have had diabetes foi yeais. My
doctoi says it is a question whethei l shall live a month. Yet l would iathei die
undei my own ioof than in a gaol.
Holmes iose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand and a bundle
of papei befoie him. Just tell us the tiuth, he said. l shall jot down the facts. You
will sign it, and Watson heie can witness it. Ten l could pioduce youi confession
at the last extiemity to save young McCaithy. l piomise you that l shall not use
it unless it is absolutely needed.
lts as well, said the old man, its a question whethei l shall live to the
Assizes, so it maueis liule to me, but l should wish to spaie Alice the shock. And
now l will make the thing cleai to you, it has been a long time in the acting, but
will not take me long to tell.
You didnt know this dead man, McCaithy. He was a devil incainate. l tell
,
you that. God keep you out of the clutches of such a man as he. His giip has been
upon me these twenty yeais, and he has blasted my life. lll tell you ist how l
came to be in his powei.
lt was in the eaily eos at the diggings. l was a young chap then, hot-
blooded and ieckless, ieady to tuin my hand at anything, l got among bad com-
panions, took to diink, had no luck with my claim, took to the bush, and in a
woid became what you would call ovei heie a highway iobbei. Teie weie six
of us, and we had a wild, fiee life of it, sticking up a station fiom time to time, oi
stopping the wagons on the ioad to the diggings. Black Jack of Ballaiat was the
name l went undei, and oui paity is still iemembeied in the colony as the Ballaiat
Gang.
One day a gold convoy came down fiom Ballaiat to Melbouine, and we lay
in wait foi it and auacked it. Teie weie six tioopeis and six of us, so it was a
close thing, but we emptied foui of theii saddles at the ist volley. Tiee of oui
boys weie killed, howevei, befoie we got the swag. l put my pistol to the head of
the wagon-diivei, who was this veiy man McCaithy. l wish to the Loid that l had
shot him then, but l spaied him, though l saw his wicked liule eyes xed on my
face, as though to iemembei eveiy featuie. We got away with the gold, became
wealthy men, and made oui way ovei to England without being suspected. Teie
l paited fiommy old pals and deteimined to seule down to a quiet and iespectable
life. l bought this estate, which chanced to be in the maiket, and l set myself to
do a liule good with my money, to make up foi the way in which l had eained it.
l maiiied, too, and though my wife died young she lef me my deai liule Alice.
Even when she was just a baby hei wee hand seemed to lead me down the iight
path as nothing else had evei done. ln a woid, l tuined ovei a new leaf and did
my best to make up foi the past. All was going well when McCaithy laid his giip
upon me.
l had gone up to town about an investment, and l met him in Regent Stieet
with haidly a coat to his back oi a boot to his foot.
Heie we aie, Jack, says he, touching me on the aim, well be as good as
a family to you. Teies two of us, me and my son, and you can have the keeping
of us. lf you dontits a ne, law-abiding countiy is England, and theies always
a policeman within hail.
Well, down they came to the west countiy, theie was no shaking them o,
and theie they have lived ient fiee on my best land evei since. Teie was no iest
foi me, no peace, no foigetfulness, tuin wheie l would, theie was his cunning,
giinning face at my elbow. lt giew woise as Alice giew up, foi he soon saw l was
moie afiaid of hei knowing my past than of the police. Whatevei he wanted he
,e
must have, and whatevei it was l gave himwithout question, land, money, houses,
until at last he asked a thing which l could not give. He asked foi Alice.
His son, you see, had giown up, and so had my giil, and as l was known to
be in weak health, it seemed a ne stioke to him that his lad should step into the
whole piopeity. But theie l was im. l would not have his cuised stock mixed
with mine, not that l had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that
was enough. l stood im. McCaithy thieatened. l biaved him to do his woist.
We weie to meet at the pool midway between oui houses to talk it ovei.
When l went down theie l found him talking with his son, so l smoked a
cigai and waited behind a tiee until he should be alone. But as l listened to his
talk all that was black and biuei in me seemed to come uppeimost. He was uiging
his son to maiiy my daughtei with as liule iegaid foi what she might think as if
she weie a slut fiom o the stieets. lt diove me mad to think that l and all that l
held most deai should be in the powei of such a man as this. Could l not snap the
bond` l was alieady a dying and a despeiate man. Tough cleai of mind and faiily
stiong of limb, l knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memoiy and my giil'
Both could be saved if l could but silence that foul tongue. l did it, Mi. Holmes.
l would do it again. Deeply as l have sinned, l have led a life of maityidom to
atone foi it. But that my giil should be entangled in the same meshes which held
me was moie than l could suei. l stiuck him down with no moie compunction
than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His ciy biought back his son,
but l had gained the covei of the wood, though l was foiced to go back to fetch
the cloak which l had diopped in my ight. Tat is the tiue stoiy, gentlemen, of
all that occuiied.
Well, it is not foi me to judge you, said Holmes as the old man signed the
statement which had been diawn out. l piay that we may nevei be exposed to
such a temptation.
l piay not, sii. And what do you intend to do`
ln view of youi health, nothing. You aie youiself awaie that you will soon
have to answei foi youi deed at a highei couit than the Assizes. l will keep youi
confession, and if McCaithy is condemned l shall be foiced to use it. lf not, it shall
nevei be seen by moital eye, and youi seciet, whethei you be alive oi dead, shall
be safe with us.
laiewell, then, said the old man solemnly. Youi own deathbeds, when
they come, will be the easiei foi the thought of the peace which you have given
to mine. Toueiing and shaking in all his giant fiame, he stumbled slowly fiom
the ioom.
God help us' said Holmes afei a long silence. Why does fate play such
,,
tiicks with pooi, helpless woims` l nevei heai of such a case as this that l do not
think of Baxteis woids, and say, Teie, but foi the giace of God, goes Sheilock
Holmes.
James McCaithy was acquiued at the Assizes on the stiength of a numbei of
objections which had been diawn out by Holmes and submiued to the defending
counsel. Old Tuinei lived foi seven months afei oui inteiview, but he is now
dead, and theie is eveiy piospect that the son and daughtei may come to live
happily togethei in ignoiance of the black cloud which iests upon theii past.
Te Five Orange Pips
When l glance ovei my notes and iecoids of the Sheilock Holmes cases between
the yeais s: and ,o, l am faced by so many which piesent stiange and inteiest-
ing featuies that it is no easy mauei to know which to choose and which to leave.
Some, howevei, have alieady gained publicity thiough the papeis, and otheis
have not oeied a eld foi those peculiai qualities which my fiiend possessed in
so high a degiee, and which it is the object of these papeis to illustiate. Some, too,
have baed his analytical skill, and would be, as naiiatives, beginnings without
an ending, while otheis have been but paitially cleaied up, and have theii expla-
nations founded iathei upon conjectuie and suimise than on that absolute logical
pioof which was so deai to him. Teie is, howevei, one of these last which was
so iemaikable in its details and so staitling in its iesults that l am tempted to give
some account of it in spite of the fact that theie aie points in connection with it
which nevei have been, and piobably nevei will be, entiiely cleaied up.
Te yeai s, fuinished us with a long seiies of cases of gieatei oi less in-
teiest, of which l ietain the iecoids. Among my headings undei this one twelve
months l nd an account of the adventuie of the Paiadol Chambei, of the Ama-
teui Mendicant Society, who held a luxuiious club in the lowei vault of a fuinituie
waiehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the Biitish baique Sophy An-
derson, of the singulai adventuies of the Giice Pateisons in the island of Ua, and
nally of the Cambeiwell poisoning case. ln the lauei, as may be iemembeied,
Sheilock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead mans watch, to piove that it
had been wound up two houis befoie, and that theiefoie the deceased had gone to
bed within that timea deduction which was of the gieatest impoitance in cleai-
ing up the case. All these l may sketch out at some futuie date, but none of them
piesent such singulai featuies as the stiange tiain of ciicumstances which l have
now taken up my pen to desciibe.
lt was in the lauei days of Septembei, and the equinoctial gales had set in
so
with exceptional violence. All day the wind had scieamed and the iain had beaten
against the windows, so that even heie in the heait of gieat, hand-made London
we weie foiced to iaise oui minds foi the instant fiom the ioutine of life and to
iecognise the piesence of those gieat elemental foices which shiiek at mankind
thiough the bais of his civilisation, like untamed beasts in a cage. As evening
diew in, the stoim giew highei and loudei, and the wind ciied and sobbed like
a child in the chimney. Sheilock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the ieplace
cioss-indexing his iecoids of ciime, while l at the othei was deep in one of Claik
Russells ne sea-stoiies until the howl of the gale fiom without seemed to blend
with the text, and the splash of the iain to lengthen out into the long swash of
the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to hei motheis, and foi a few days l was a
dwellei once moie in my old quaiteis at Bakei Stieet.
Why, said l, glancing up at my companion, that was suiely the bell. Who
could come to-night` Some fiiend of youis, peihaps`
Except youiself l have none, he answeied. l do not encouiage visitois.
A client, then`
lf so, it is a seiious case. Nothing less would biing a man out on such a day
and at such an houi. But l take it that it is moie likely to be some ciony of the
landladys.
Sheilock Holmes was wiong in his conjectuie, howevei, foi theie came a
step in the passage and a tapping at the dooi. He stietched out his long aim to
tuin the lamp away fiom himself and towaids the vacant chaii upon which a
newcomei must sit.
Come in' said he.
Te man who enteied was young, some two-and-twenty at the outside,
well-gioomed and tiimly clad, with something of ienement and delicacy in his
beaiing. Te stieaming umbiella which he held in his hand, and his long shin-
ing wateipioof told of the eice weathei thiough which he had come. He looked
about him anxiously in the glaie of the lamp, and l could see that his face was pale
and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is weighed down with some gieat
anxiety.
l owe you an apology, he said, iaising his golden pince-nez to his eyes. l
tiust that l am not intiuding. l feai that l have biought some tiaces of the stoim
and iain into youi snug chambei.
Give me youi coat and umbiella, said Holmes. Tey may iest heie on the
hook and will be diy piesently. You have come up fiom the south-west, l see.
Yes, fiom Hoisham.
Tat clay and chalk mixtuie which l see upon youi toe caps is quite dis-
s1
tinctive.
l have come foi advice.
Tat is easily got.
And help.
Tat is not always so easy.
l have heaid of you, Mi. Holmes. l heaid fiom Majoi Piendeigast how you
saved him in the Tankeiville Club scandal.
Ah, of couise. He was wiongfully accused of cheating at caids.
He said that you could solve anything.
He said too much.
Tat you aie nevei beaten.
l have been beaten foui timesthiee times by men, and once by a woman.
But what is that compaied with the numbei of youi successes`
lt is tiue that l have been geneially successful.
Ten you may be so with me.
l beg that you will diaw youi chaii up to the ie and favoui me with some
details as to youi case.
lt is no oidinaiy one.
None of those which come to me aie. l am the last couit of appeal.
And yet l question, sii, whethei, in all youi expeiience, you have evei lis-
tened to a moie mysteiious and inexplicable chain of events than those which
have happened in my own family.
You ll me with inteiest, said Holmes. Piay give us the essential facts
fiom the commencement, and l can afeiwaids question you as to those details
which seem to me to be most impoitant.
Te young man pulled his chaii up and pushed his wet feet out towaids the
blaze.
My name, said he, is John Openshaw, but my own aaiis have, as fai as l
can undeistand, liule to do with this awful business. lt is a heieditaiy mauei, so
in oidei to give you an idea of the facts, l must go back to the commencement of
the aaii.
You must know that my giandfathei had two sonsmy uncle Elias and
my fathei Joseph. My fathei had a small factoiy at Coventiy, which he enlaiged
at the time of the invention of bicycling. He was a patentee of the Openshaw
unbieakable tiie, and his business met with such success that he was able to sell
it and to ietiie upon a handsome competence.
My uncle Elias emigiated to Ameiica when he was a young man and be-
came a plantei in lloiida, wheie he was iepoited to have done veiy well. At the
s:
time of the wai he fought in Jacksons aimy, and afeiwaids undei Hood, wheie
he iose to be a colonel. When Lee laid down his aims my uncle ietuined to his
plantation, wheie he iemained foi thiee oi foui yeais. About 1se, oi 1s,o he came
back to Euiope and took a small estate in Sussex, neai Hoisham. He had made
a veiy consideiable foitune in the States, and his ieason foi leaving them was
his aveision to the negioes, and his dislike of the Republican policy in extending
the fianchise to them. He was a singulai man, eice and quick-tempeied, veiy
foul-mouthed when he was angiy, and of a most ietiiing disposition. Duiing all
the yeais that he lived at Hoisham, l doubt if evei he set foot in the town. He
had a gaiden and two oi thiee elds iound his house, and theie he would take
his exeicise, though veiy ofen foi weeks on end he would nevei leave his ioom.
He diank a gieat deal of biandy and smoked veiy heavily, but he would see no
society and did not want any fiiends, not even his own biothei.
He didnt mind me, in fact, he took a fancy to me, foi at the time when he
saw me ist l was a youngstei of twelve oi so. Tis would be in the yeai 1s,s,
afei he had been eight oi nine yeais in England. He begged my fathei to let me
live with him and he was veiy kind to me in his way. When he was sobei he used
to be fond of playing backgammon and diaughts with me, and he would make
me his iepiesentative both with the seivants and with the tiadespeople, so that
by the time that l was sixteen l was quite mastei of the house. l kept all the keys
and could go wheie l liked and do what l liked, so long as l did not distuib him in
his piivacy. Teie was one singulai exception, howevei, foi he had a single ioom,
a lumbei-ioom up among the auics, which was invaiiably locked, and which he
would nevei peimit eithei me oi anyone else to entei. With a boys cuiiosity l
have peeped thiough the keyhole, but l was nevei able to see moie than such a
collection of old tiunks and bundles as would be expected in such a ioom.
One dayit was in Maich, 1ssa leuei with a foieign stamp lay upon the
table in fiont of the colonels plate. lt was not a common thing foi him to ieceive
leueis, foi his bills weie all paid in ieady money, and he had no fiiends of any
soit. liom lndia' said he as he took it up, Pondicheiiy postmaik' What can this
be` Opening it huiiiedly, out theie jumped ve liule diied oiange pips, which
paueied down upon his plate. l began to laugh at this, but the laugh was stiuck
fiom my lips at the sight of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes weie piotiuding,
his skin the coloui of puuy, and he glaied at the envelope which he still held in
his tiembling hand, K. K. K.' he shiieked, and then, My God, my God, my sins
have oveitaken me'
What is it, uncle` l ciied.
Death, said he, and iising fiom the table he ietiied to his ioom, leaving
s
me palpitating with hoiioi. l took up the envelope and saw sciawled in ied ink
upon the innei ap, just above the gum, the leuei K thiee times iepeated. Teie
was nothing else save the ve diied pips. What could be the ieason of his ovei-
poweiing teiioi` l lef the bieakfast-table, and as l ascended the staii l met him
coming down with an old iusty key, which must have belonged to the auic, in
one hand, and a small biass box, like a cashbox, in the othei.
Tey may do what they like, but lll checkmate them still, said he with
an oath. Tell Maiy that l shall want a ie in my ioom to-day, and send down to
loidham, the Hoisham lawyei.
l did as he oideied, and when the lawyei aiiived l was asked to step up
to the ioom. Te ie was buining biightly, and in the giate theie was a mass of
black, uy ashes, as of buined papei, while the biass box stood open and empty
beside it. As l glanced at the box l noticed, with a stait, that upon the lid was
piinted the tieble K which l had iead in the moining upon the envelope.
l wish you, John, said my uncle, to witness my will. l leave my es-
tate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to my biothei, youi fathei,
whence it will, no doubt, descend to you. lf you can enjoy it in peace, well and
good' lf you nd you cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to youi dead-
liest enemy. l am soiiy to give you such a two-edged thing, but l cant say what
tuin things aie going to take. Kindly sign the papei wheie Mi. loidham shows
you.
l signed the papei as diiected, and the lawyei took it away with him. Te
singulai incident made, as you may think, the deepest impiession upon me, and l
pondeied ovei it and tuined it eveiy way in my mind without being able to make
anything of it. Yet l could not shake o the vague feeling of diead which it lef
behind, though the sensation giew less keen as the weeks passed and nothing
happened to distuib the usual ioutine of oui lives. l could see a change in my
uncle, howevei. He diank moie than evei, and he was less inclined foi any soit of
society. Most of his time he would spend in his ioom, with the dooi locked upon
the inside, but sometimes he would emeige in a soit of diunken fienzy and would
buist out of the house and teai about the gaiden with a ievolvei in his hand,
scieaming out that he was afiaid of no man, and that he was not to be cooped up,
like a sheep in a pen, by man oi devil. When these hot ts weie ovei, howevei,
he would iush tumultuously in at the dooi and lock and bai it behind him, like
a man who can biazen it out no longei against the teiioi which lies at the ioots
of his soul. At such times l have seen his face, even on a cold day, glisten with
moistuie, as though it weie new iaised fiom a basin.
Well, to come to an end of the mauei, Mi. Holmes, and not to abuse youi
s
patience, theie came a night when he made one of those diunken sallies fiom
which he nevei came back. We found him, when we went to seaich foi him, face
downwaid in a liule gieen-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the gaiden.
Teie was no sign of any violence, and the watei was but two feet deep, so that
the juiy, having iegaid to his known eccentiicity, biought in a veidict of suicide.
But l, who knew how he winced fiom the veiy thought of death, had much ado
to peisuade myself that he had gone out of his way to meet it. Te mauei passed,
howevei, and my fathei enteied into possession of the estate, and of some i1,ooo,
which lay to his ciedit at the bank.
One moment, Holmes inteiposed, youi statement is, l foiesee, one of the
most iemaikable to which l have evei listened. Let me have the date of the iecep-
tion by youi uncle of the leuei, and the date of his supposed suicide.
Te leuei aiiived on Maich 1o, 1ss. His death was seven weeks latei, upon
the night of May :nd.
Tank you. Piay pioceed.
When my fathei took ovei the Hoisham piopeity, he, at my iequest, made
a caieful examination of the auic, which had been always locked up. We found
the biass box theie, although its contents had been destioyed. On the inside of the
covei was a papei label, with the initials of K. K. K. iepeated upon it, and Leueis,
memoianda, ieceipts, and a iegistei wiiuen beneath. Tese, we piesume, indi-
cated the natuie of the papeis which had been destioyed by Colonel Openshaw.
loi the iest, theie was nothing of much impoitance in the auic save a gieat many
scaueied papeis and note-books beaiing upon my uncles life in Ameiica. Some
of them weie of the wai time and showed that he had done his duty well and had
boine the iepute of a biave soldiei. Otheis weie of a date duiing the ieconstiuc-
tion of the Southein states, and weie mostly conceined with politics, foi he had
evidently taken a stiong pait in opposing the caipet-bag politicians who had been
sent down fiom the Noith.
Well, it was the beginning of s when my fathei came to live at Hoisham,
and all went as well as possible with us until the Januaiy of s. On the fouith day
afei the newyeai l heaid my fathei give a shaip ciy of suipiise as we sat togethei
at the bieakfast-table. Teie he was, siuing with a newly opened envelope in one
hand and ve diied oiange pips in the outstietched palm of the othei one. He
had always laughed at what he called my cock-and-bull stoiy about the colonel,
but he looked veiy scaied and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon
himself.
Why, what on eaith does this mean, John` he stammeied.
My heait had tuined to lead. lt is K. K. K., said l.
s
He looked inside the envelope. So it is, he ciied. Heie aie the veiy leueis.
But what is this wiiuen above them`
Put the papeis on the sundial, l iead, peeping ovei his shouldei.
What papeis` What sundial` he asked.
Te sundial in the gaiden. Teie is no othei, said l, but the papeis must
be those that aie destioyed.
Pooh' said he, giipping haid at his couiage. We aie in a civilised land
heie, and we cant have tomfooleiy of this kind. Wheie does the thing come
fiom`
liom Dundee, l answeied, glancing at the postmaik.
Some pieposteious piactical joke, said he. What have l to do with sun-
dials and papeis` l shall take no notice of such nonsense.
l should ceitainly speak to the police, l said.
And be laughed at foi my pains. Nothing of the soit.
Ten let me do so`
No, l foibid you. l wont have a fuss made about such nonsense.
lt was in vain to aigue with him, foi he was a veiy obstinate man. l went
about, howevei, with a heait which was full of foiebodings.
On the thiid day afei the coming of the leuei my fathei went fiom home
to visit an old fiiend of his, Majoi lieebody, who is in command of one of the foits
upon Poitsdown Hill. l was glad that he should go, foi it seemed to me that he
was faithei fiom dangei when he was away fiom home. ln that, howevei, l was
in eiioi. Upon the second day of his absence l ieceived a telegiam fiom the majoi,
imploiing me to come at once. My fathei had fallen ovei one of the deep chalk-pits
which abound in the neighbouihood, and was lying senseless, with a shaueied
skull. l huiiied to him, but he passed away without having evei iecoveied his
consciousness. He had, as it appeais, been ietuining fiomlaiehamin the twilight,
and as the countiy was unknown to him, and the chalk-pit unfenced, the juiy had
no hesitation in biinging in a veidict of death fiom accidental causes. Caiefully
as l examined eveiy fact connected with his death, l was unable to nd anything
which could suggest the idea of muidei. Teie weie no signs of violence, no
footmaiks, no iobbeiy, no iecoid of stiangeis having been seen upon the ioads.
And yet l need not tell you that my mind was fai fiom at ease, and that l was
well-nigh ceitain that some foul plot had been woven iound him.
ln this sinistei way l came into my inheiitance. You will ask me why l did
not dispose of it` l answei, because l was well convinced that oui tioubles weie
in some way dependent upon an incident in my uncles life, and that the dangei
would be as piessing in one house as in anothei.
se
lt was in Januaiy, s, that my pooi fathei met his end, and two yeais and
eight months have elapsed since then. Duiing that time l have lived happily at
Hoisham, and l had begun to hope that this cuise had passed away fiom the
family, and that it had ended with the last geneiation. l had begun to take comfoit
too soon, howevei, yesteiday moining the blow fell in the veiy shape in which it
had come upon my fathei.
Te young man took fiom his waistcoat a ciumpled envelope, and tuining
to the table he shook out upon it ve liule diied oiange pips.
Tis is the envelope, he continued. Te postmaik is Londoneastein di-
vision. Within aie the veiy woids which weie upon my fatheis last message K.
K. K., and then Put the papeis on the sundial.
What have you done` asked Holmes.
Nothing.
Nothing`
To tell the tiuthhe sank his face into his thin, white handsl have felt
helpless. l have felt like one of those pooi iabbits when the snake is wiithing
towaids it. l seem to be in the giasp of some iesistless, inexoiable evil, which no
foiesight and no piecautions can guaid against.
Tut' tut' ciied Sheilock Holmes. You must act, man, oi you aie lost.
Nothing but eneigy can save you. Tis is no time foi despaii.
l have seen the police.
Ah'
But they listened to my stoiy with a smile. l am convinced that the in-
spectoi has foimed the opinion that the leueis aie all piactical jokes, and that the
deaths of my ielations weie ieally accidents, as the juiy stated, and weie not to
be connected with the wainings.
Holmes shook his clenched hands in the aii. lnciedible imbecility' he
ciied.
Tey have, howevei, allowed me a policeman, who may iemain in the
house with me.
Has he come with you to-night`
No. His oideis weie to stay in the house.
Again Holmes iaved in the aii.
Why did you come to me, he ciied, and, above all, why did you not come
at once`
l did not know. lt was only to-day that l spoke to Majoi Piendeigast about
my tioubles and was advised by him to come to you.
lt is ieally two days since you had the leuei. We should have acted befoie
s,
this. You have no fuithei evidence, l suppose, than that which you have placed
befoie usno suggestive detail which might help us`
Teie is one thing, said John Openshaw. He iummaged in his coat pocket,
and, diawing out a piece of discolouied, blue-tinted papei, he laid it out upon
the table. l have some iemembiance, said he, that on the day when my uncle
buined the papeis l obseived that the small, unbuined maigins which lay amid
the ashes weie of this paiticulai coloui. l found this single sheet upon the ooi
of his ioom, and l am inclined to think that it may be one of the papeis which
has, peihaps, uueied out fiom among the otheis, and in that way has escaped
destiuction. Beyond the mention of pips, l do not see that it helps us much. l
think myself that it is a page fiom some piivate diaiy. Te wiiting is undoubtedly
my uncles.
Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent ovei the sheet of papei, which
showed by its iagged edge that it had indeed been toin fioma book. lt was headed,
Maich, 1se,, and beneath weie the following enigmatical notices
th. Hudson came. Same old platfoim.
,th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paiamoie, and John Swain, of
St. Augustine.
,th. McCauley cleaied.
1oth. John Swain cleaied.
1:th. Visited Paiamoie. All well.
Tank you' said Holmes, folding up the papei and ietuining it to oui visitoi.
And now you must on no account lose anothei instant. We cannot spaie time
even to discuss what you have told me. You must get home instantly and act.
What shall l do`
Teie is but one thing to do. lt must be done at once. You must put this
piece of papei which you have shown us into the biass box which you have de-
sciibed. You must also put in a note to say that all the othei papeis weie buined
by youi uncle, and that this is the only one which iemains. You must asseit that
in such woids as will caiiy conviction with them. Having done this, you must at
once put the box out upon the sundial, as diiected. Do you undeistand`
Entiiely.
Do not think of ievenge, oi anything of the soit, at piesent. l think that we
may gain that by means of the law, but we have oui web to weave, while theiis
is alieady woven. Te ist consideiation is to iemove the piessing dangei which
thieatens you. Te second is to cleai up the mysteiy and to punish the guilty
paities.
ss
l thank you, said the young man, iising and pulling on his oveicoat. You
have given me fiesh life and hope. l shall ceitainly do as you advise.
Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take caie of youiself in the mean-
while, foi l do not think that theie can be a doubt that you aie thieatened by a
veiy ieal and imminent dangei. How do you go back`
By tiain fiom Wateiloo.
lt is not yet nine. Te stieets will be ciowded, so l tiust that you may be in
safety. And yet you cannot guaid youiself too closely.
l am aimed.
Tat is well. To-moiiow l shall set to woik upon youi case.
l shall see you at Hoisham, then`
No, youi seciet lies in London. lt is theie that l shall seek it.
Ten l shall call upon you in a day, oi in two days, with news as to the box
and the papeis. l shall take youi advice in eveiy paiticulai. He shook hands with
us and took his leave. Outside the wind still scieamed and the iain splashed and
paueied against the windows. Tis stiange, wild stoiy seemed to have come to
us fiom amid the mad elementsblown in upon us like a sheet of sea-weed in a
galeand now to have been ieabsoibed by them once moie.
Sheilock Holmes sat foi some time in silence, with his head sunk foiwaid
and his eyes bent upon the ied glow of the ie. Ten he lit his pipe, and leaning
back in his chaii he watched the blue smoke-iings as they chased each othei up
to the ceiling.
l think, Watson, he iemaiked at last, that of all oui cases we have had
none moie fantastic than this.
Save, peihaps, the Sign of loui.
Well, yes. Save, peihaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems to me
to be walking amid even gieatei peiils than did the Sholtos.
But have you, l asked, foimed any denite conception as to what these
peiils aie`
Teie can be no question as to theii natuie, he answeied.
Ten what aie they` Who is this K. K. K., and why does he puisue this
unhappy family`
Sheilock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the aims of
his chaii, with his ngei-tips togethei. Te ideal ieasonei, he iemaiked, would,
when he had once been shown a single fact in all its beaiings, deduce fiom it
not only all the chain of events which led up to it but also all the iesults which
would follow fiom it. As Cuviei could coiiectly desciibe a whole animal by the
contemplation of a single bone, so the obseivei who has thoioughly undeistood
s,
one link in a seiies of incidents should be able to accuiately state all the othei
ones, both befoie and afei. We have not yet giasped the iesults which the ieason
alone can auain to. Pioblems may be solved in the study which have baed all
those who have sought a solution by the aid of theii senses. To caiiy the ait,
howevei, to its highest pitch, it is necessaiy that the ieasonei should be able to
utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge, and this in itself implies, as
you will ieadily see, a possession of all knowledge, which, even in these days of
fiee education and encyclopaedias, is a somewhat iaie accomplishment. lt is not
so impossible, howevei, that a man should possess all knowledge which is likely
to be useful to him in his woik, and this l have endeavouied in my case to do.
lf l iemembei iightly, you on one occasion, in the eaily days of oui fiiendship,
dened my limits in a veiy piecise fashion.
Yes, l answeied, laughing. lt was a singulai document. Philosophy, as-
tionomy, and politics weie maiked at zeio, l iemembei. Botany vaiiable, ge-
ology piofound as iegaids the mud-stains fiom any iegion within fy miles
of town, chemistiy eccentiic, anatomy unsystematic, sensational liteiatuie and
ciime iecoids unique, violin-playei, boxei, swoidsman, lawyei, and self-poisonei
by cocaine and tobacco. Tose, l think, weie the main points of my analysis.
Holmes giinned at the last item. Well, he said, l say now, as l said then,
that a man should keep his liule biain-auic stocked with all the fuinituie that he
is likely to use, and the iest he can put away in the lumbei-ioom of his libiaiy,
wheie he can get it if he wants it. Now, foi such a case as the one which has been
submiued to us to-night, we need ceitainly to mustei all oui iesouices. Kindly
hand me down the leuei K of the American Encyclopaedia which stands upon the
shelf beside you. Tank you. Now let us considei the situation and see what may
be deduced fiomit. ln the ist place, we may stait with a stiong piesumption that
Colonel Openshaw had some veiy stiong ieason foi leaving Ameiica. Men at his
time of life do not change all theii habits and exchange willingly the chaiming
climate of lloiida foi the lonely life of an English piovincial town. His extieme
love of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in feai of someone oi
something, so we may assume as a woiking hypothesis that it was feai of someone
oi something which diove him fiom Ameiica. As to what it was he feaied, we
can only deduce that by consideiing the foimidable leueis which weie ieceived
by himself and his successois. Did you iemaik the postmaiks of those leueis`
Te ist was fiom Pondicheiiy, the second fiom Dundee, and the thiid
fiom London.
liom East London. What do you deduce fiom that`
Tey aie all seapoits. Tat the wiitei was on boaid of a ship.
,o
Excellent. We have alieady a clue. Teie can be no doubt that the pioba-
bilitythe stiong piobabilityis that the wiitei was on boaid of a ship. And now
let us considei anothei point. ln the case of Pondicheiiy, seven weeks elapsed
between the thieat and its fullment, in Dundee it was only some thiee oi foui
days. Does that suggest anything`
A gieatei distance to tiavel.
But the leuei had also a gieatei distance to come.
Ten l do not see the point.
Teie is at least a piesumption that the vessel in which the man oi men aie
is a sailing-ship. lt looks as if they always send theii singulai waining oi token
befoie them when staiting upon theii mission. You see how quickly the deed
followed the sign when it came fiom Dundee. lf they had come fiom Pondicheiiy
in a steamei they would have aiiived almost as soon as theii leuei. But, as a
mauei of fact, seven weeks elapsed. l think that those seven weeks iepiesented the
dieience between the mail-boat which biought the leuei and the sailing vessel
which biought the wiitei.
lt is possible.
Moie than that. lt is piobable. And now you see the deadly uigency of
this new case, and why l uiged young Openshaw to caution. Te blow has always
fallen at the end of the time which it would take the sendeis to tiavel the distance.
But this one comes fiom London, and theiefoie we cannot count upon delay.
Good God' l ciied. What can it mean, this ielentless peisecution`
Te papeis which Openshaw caiiied aie obviously of vital impoitance to
the peison oi peisons in the sailing-ship. l think that it is quite cleai that theie
must be moie than one of them. A single man could not have caiiied out two
deaths in such a way as to deceive a coioneis juiy. Teie must have been seveial
in it, and they must have been men of iesouice and deteimination. Teii papeis
they mean to have, be the holdei of them who it may. ln 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 nevei said Sheilock Holmes, bending foiwaid and sinking his
voicehave you nevei heaid of the Ku Klux Klan`
l nevei have.
Holmes tuined ovei the leaves of the book upon his knee. Heie it is, said
he piesently
Ku Klux Klan. Aname deiived fiomthe fanciful iesemblance to the sound
pioduced by cocking a iie. Tis teiiible seciet society was foimed by some ex-
Confedeiate soldieis in the Southein states afei the Civil Wai, and it iapidly
,1
foimed local bianches in dieient paits of the countiy, notably in Tennessee,
Louisiana, the Caiolinas, Geoigia, and lloiida. lts powei was used foi political
puiposes, piincipally foi the teiioiising of the negio voteis and the muideiing
and diiving fiom the countiy of those who weie opposed to its views. lts out-
iages weie usually pieceded by a waining sent to the maiked man in some fan-
tastic but geneially iecognised shapea spiig of oak-leaves in some paits, melon
seeds oi oiange pips in otheis. On ieceiving this the victim might eithei openly
abjuie his foimei ways, oi might y fiomthe countiy. lf he biaved the mauei out,
death would unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some stiange and unfoie-
seen mannei. So peifect was the oiganisation of the society, and so systematic
its methods, that theie is haidly a case upon iecoid wheie any man succeeded in
biaving it with impunity, oi in which any of its outiages weie tiaced home to the
peipetiatois. loi some yeais the oiganisation ouiished in spite of the eoits
of the United States goveinment and of the beuei classes of the community in
the South. Eventually, in the yeai 1se,, the movement iathei suddenly collapsed,
although theie have been spoiadic outbieaks of the same soit since that date.
You will obseive, said Holmes, laying down the volume, that the sudden
bieaking up of the society was coincident with the disappeaiance of Openshaw
fiom Ameiica with theii papeis. lt may well have been cause and eect. lt is
no wondei that he and his family have some of the moie implacable spiiits upon
theii tiack. You can undeistand that this iegistei and diaiy may implicate some
of the ist men in the South, and that theie may be many who will not sleep easy
at night until it is iecoveied.
Ten the page we have seen
ls such as we might expect. lt ian, if l iemembei iight, sent the pips to A,
B, and Cthat is, sent the societys waining to them. Ten theie aie successive
entiies that A and B cleaied, oi lef the countiy, and nally that C was visited,
with, l feai, a sinistei iesult foi C. Well, l think, Doctoi, that we may let some
light into this daik place, and l believe that the only chance young Openshaw has
in the meantime is to do what l have told him. Teie is nothing moie to be said oi
to be done to-night, so hand me ovei my violin and let us tiy to foiget foi half an
houi the miseiable weathei and the still moie miseiable ways of oui fellow men.
lt had cleaied in the moining, and the sun was shining with a subdued
biightness thiough the dim veil which hangs ovei the gieat city. Sheilock Holmes
was alieady at bieakfast when l came down.
You will excuse me foi not waiting foi you, said he, l have, l foiesee, a
veiy busy day befoie me in looking into this case of young Openshaws.
What steps will you take` l asked.
,:
lt will veiy much depend upon the iesults of my ist inquiiies. l may have
to go down to Hoisham, afei all.
You will not go theie ist`
No, l shall commence with the City. Just iing the bell and the maid will
biing up youi coee.
As l waited, l lifed the unopened newspapei fiom the table and glanced my
eye ovei it. lt iested upon a heading which sent a chill to my heait.
Holmes, l ciied, you aie too late.
Ah' said he, laying down his cup, l feaied as much. How was it done`
He spoke calmly, but l could see that he was deeply moved.
My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading Tiagedy Neai
Wateiloo Biidge. Heie is the account
Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H Division,
on duty neai Wateiloo Biidge, heaid a ciy foi help and a splash in the watei. Te
night, howevei, was extiemely daik and stoimy, so that, in spite of the help of
seveial passeis-by, it was quite impossible to eect a iescue. Te alaim, howevei,
was given, and, by the aid of the watei-police, the body was eventually iecov-
eied. lt pioved to be that of a young gentleman whose name, as it appeais fiom
an envelope which was found in his pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose ies-
idence is neai Hoisham. lt is conjectuied that he may have been huiiying down
to catch the last tiain fiom Wateiloo Station, and that in his haste and the ex-
tieme daikness he missed his path and walked ovei the edge of one of the small
landing-places foi iivei steamboats. Te body exhibited no tiaces of violence, and
theie can be no doubt that the deceased had been the victim of an unfoitunate ac-
cident, which should have the eect of calling the auention of the authoiities to
the condition of the iiveiside landing-stages.
We sat in silence foi some minutes, Holmes moie depiessed and shaken
than l had evei seen him.
Tat huits my piide, Watson, he said at last. lt is a peuy feeling, no doubt,
but it huits my piide. lt becomes a peisonal mauei with me now, and, if God sends
me health, l shall set my hand upon this gang. Tat he should come to me foi help,
and that l should send him away to his death' He spiang fiom his chaii and
paced about the ioom in uncontiollable agitation, with a ush upon his sallow
cheeks and a neivous clasping and unclasping of his long thin hands.
Tey must be cunning devils, he exclaimed at last. How could they have
decoyed himdown theie` Te Embankment is not on the diiect line to the station.
Te biidge, no doubt, was too ciowded, even on such a night, foi theii puipose.
Well, Watson, we shall see who will win in the long iun. l am going out now'
,
To the police`
No, l shall be my own police. When l have spun the web they may take
the ies, but not befoie.
All day l was engaged in my piofessional woik, and it was late in the evening
befoie l ietuined to Bakei Stieet. Sheilock Holmes had not come back yet. lt was
neaily ten oclock befoie he enteied, looking pale and woin. He walked up to the
sideboaid, and teaiing a piece fiom the loaf he devouied it voiaciously, washing
it down with a long diaught of watei.
You aie hungiy, l iemaiked.
Staiving. lt had escaped my memoiy. l have had nothing since bieakfast.
Nothing`
Not a bite. l had no time to think of it.
And how have you succeeded`
Well.
You have a clue`
l have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not long
iemain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put theii own devilish tiade-maik upon
them. lt is well thought of'
What do you mean`
He took an oiange fiom the cupboaid, and teaiing it to pieces he squeezed
out the pips upon the table. Of these he took ve and thiust theminto an envelope.
On the inside of the ap he wiote S. H. foi J. O. Ten he sealed it and addiessed
it to Captain James Calhoun, Baique Lone Star, Savannah, Geoigia.
Tat will await him when he enteis poit, said he, chuckling. lt may give
him a sleepless night. He will nd it as suie a piecuisoi of his fate as Openshaw
did befoie him.
And who is this Captain Calhoun`
Te leadei of the gang. l shall have the otheis, but he ist.
How did you tiace it, then`
He took a laige sheet of papei fiom his pocket, all coveied with dates and
names.
l have spent the whole day, said he, ovei Lloyds iegisteis and les of
the old papeis, following the futuie caieei of eveiy vessel which touched at
Pondicheiiy in Januaiy and lebiuaiy in s. Teie weie thiity-six ships of faii
tonnage which weie iepoited theie duiing those months. Of these, one, the Lone
Star, instantly auiacted my auention, since, although it was iepoited as having
cleaied fiom London, the name is that which is given to one of the states of the
Union.
,
Texas, l think.
l was not and am not suie which, but l knew that the ship must have an
Ameiican oiigin.
What then`
l seaiched the Dundee iecoids, and when l found that the baique Lone Star
was theie in Januaiy, s, my suspicion became a ceitainty. l then inquiied as to
the vessels which lay at piesent in the poit of London.
Yes`
Te Lone Star had aiiived heie last week. l went down to the Albeit Dock
and found that she had been taken down the iivei by the eaily tide this moining,
homewaid bound to Savannah. l wiied to Giavesend and leained that she had
passed some time ago, and as the wind is easteily l have no doubt that she is now
past the Goodwins and not veiy fai fiom the lsle of Wight.
What will you do, then`
Oh, l have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, aie as l leain, the
only native-boin Ameiicans in the ship. Te otheis aie linns and Geimans. l
know, also, that they weie all thiee away fiom the ship last night. l had it fiom
the stevedoie who has been loading theii caigo. By the time that theii sailing-
ship ieaches Savannah the mail-boat will have caiiied this leuei, and the cable
will have infoimed the police of Savannah that these thiee gentlemen aie badly
wanted heie upon a chaige of muidei.
Teie is evei a aw, howevei, in the best laid of human plans, and the mui-
deieis of John Openshawweie nevei to ieceive the oiange pips which would show
themthat anothei, as cunning and as iesolute as themselves, was upon theii tiack.
Veiy long and veiy seveie weie the equinoctial gales that yeai. We waited long
foi news of the Lone Star of Savannah, but none evei ieached us. We did at last
heai that somewheie fai out in the Atlantic a shaueied stein-post of a boat was
seen swinging in the tiough of a wave, with the leueis L. S. caived upon it, and
that is all which we shall evei know of the fate of the Lone Star.
Te Man with the Twisted Iip
lsa Whitney, biothei of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Piincipal of the Teological
College of St. Geoiges, was much addicted to opium. Te habit giewupon him, as
l undeistand, fiom some foolish fieak when he was at college, foi having iead De
Qinceys desciiption of his dieams and sensations, he had dienched his tobacco
with laudanum in an auempt to pioduce the same eects. He found, as so many
moie have done, that the piactice is easiei to auain than to get iid of, and foi
many yeais he continued to be a slave to the diug, an object of mingled hoiioi
and pity to his fiiends and ielatives. l can see him now, with yellow, pasty face,
diooping lids, and pin-point pupils, all huddled in a chaii, the wieck and iuin of
a noble man.
One nightit was in June, s,theie came a iing to my bell, about the houi
when a man gives his ist yawn and glances at the clock. l sat up in my chaii,
and my wife laid hei needle-woik down in hei lap and made a liule face of dis-
appointment.
A patient' said she. Youll have to go out.
l gioaned, foi l was newly come back fiom a weaiy day.
We heaid the dooi open, a few huiiied woids, and then quick steps upon
the linoleum. Oui own dooi ew open, and a lady, clad in some daik-colouied
stu, with a black veil, enteied the ioom.
You will excuse my calling so late, she began, and then, suddenly losing hei
self-contiol, she ian foiwaid, thiew hei aims about my wifes neck, and sobbed
upon hei shouldei. Oh, lm in such tiouble' she ciied, l do so want a liule help.
Why, said my wife, pulling up hei veil, it is Kate Whitney. How you
staitled me, Kate' l had not an idea who you weie when you came in.
l didnt know what to do, so l came stiaight to you. Tat was always the
way. lolk who weie in giief came to my wife like biids to a light-house.
lt was veiy sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine and
,e
watei, and sit heie comfoitably and tell us all about it. Oi should you iathei that
l sent James o to bed`
Oh, no, no' l want the doctois advice and help, too. lts about lsa. He has
not been home foi two days. l am so fiightened about him'
lt was not the ist time that she had spoken to us of hei husbands tiouble,
to me as a doctoi, to my wife as an old fiiend and school companion. We soothed
and comfoited hei by such woids as we could nd. Did she know wheie hei
husband was` Was it possible that we could biing him back to hei`
lt seems that it was. She had the suiest infoimation that of late he had,
when the t was on him, made use of an opium den in the faithest east of the
City. Hitheito his oigies had always been conned to one day, and he had come
back, twitching and shaueied, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon
him eight-and-foity houis, and he lay theie, doubtless among the diegs of the
docks, bieathing in the poison oi sleeping o the eects. Teie he was to be
found, she was suie of it, at the Bai of Gold, in Uppei Swandam Lane. But what
was she to do` How could she, a young and timid woman, make hei way into
such a place and pluck hei husband out fiom among the iuans who suiiounded
him`
Teie was the case, and of couise theie was but one way out of it. Might
l not escoit hei to this place` And then, as a second thought, why should she
come at all` l was lsa Whitneys medical advisei, and as such l had inuence
ovei him. l could manage it beuei if l weie alone. l piomised hei on my woid
that l would send him home in a cab within two houis if he weie indeed at the
addiess which she had given me. And so in ten minutes l had lef my aimchaii
and cheeiy siuing-ioom behind me, and was speeding eastwaid in a hansom on a
stiange eiiand, as it seemed to me at the time, though the futuie only could show
how stiange it was to be.
But theie was no gieat diculty in the ist stage of my adventuie. Uppei
Swandam Lane is a vile alley luiking behind the high whaives which line the
noith side of the iivei to the east of London Biidge. Between a slop-shop and a
gin-shop, appioached by a steep ight of steps leading down to a black gap like
the mouth of a cave, l found the den of which l was in seaich. Oideiing my cab to
wait, l passed down the steps, woin hollow in the centie by the ceaseless tiead of
diunken feet, and by the light of a ickeiing oil-lamp above the dooi l found the
latch and made my way into a long, low ioom, thick and heavy with the biown
opium smoke, and teiiaced with wooden beiths, like the foiecastle of an emigiant
ship.
Tiough the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying in
,,
stiange fantastic poses, bowed shouldeis, bent knees, heads thiown back, and
chins pointing upwaid, with heie and theie a daik, lack-lustie eye tuined upon
the newcomei. Out of the black shadows theie glimmeied liule ied ciicles of light,
now biight, now faint, as the buining poison waxed oi waned in the bowls of the
metal pipes. Te most lay silent, but some muueied to themselves, and otheis
talked togethei in a stiange, low, monotonous voice, theii conveisation coming
in gushes, and then suddenly tailing o into silence, each mumbling out his own
thoughts and paying liule heed to the woids of his neighboui. At the faithei end
was a small biaziei of buining chaicoal, beside which on a thiee-legged wooden
stool theie sat a tall, thin old man, with his jaw iesting upon his two sts, and his
elbows upon his knees, staiing into the ie.
As l enteied, a sallow Malay auendant had huiiied up with a pipe foi me
and a supply of the diug, beckoning me to an empty beith.
Tank you. l have not come to stay, said l. Teie is a fiiend of mine heie,
Mi. lsa Whitney, and l wish to speak with him.
Teie was a movement and an exclamation fiom my iight, and peeiing
thiough the gloom, l saw Whitney, pale, haggaid, and unkempt, staiing out at
me.
My God' lts Watson, said he. He was in a pitiable state of ieaction, with
eveiy neive in a twiuei. l say, Watson, what oclock is it`
Neaily eleven.
Of what day`
Of liiday, June 1,th.
Good heavens' l thought it was Wednesday. lt is Wednesday. What dyou
want to fiighten a chap foi` He sank his face onto his aims and began to sob in
a high tieble key.
l tell you that it is liiday, man. Youi wife has been waiting this two days
foi you. You should be ashamed of youiself'
So l am. But youve got mixed, Watson, foi l have only been heie a few
houis, thiee pipes, foui pipesl foiget how many. But lll go home with you. l
wouldnt fiighten Katepooi liule Kate. Give me youi hand' Have you a cab`
Yes, l have one waiting.
Ten l shall go in it. But l must owe something. lind what l owe, Watson.
l am all o coloui. l can do nothing foi myself.
l walked down the naiiow passage between the double iow of sleepeis,
holding my bieath to keep out the vile, stupefying fumes of the diug, and looking
about foi the managei. As l passed the tall man who sat by the biaziei l felt a
sudden pluck at my skiit, and a low voice whispeied, Walk past me, and then
,s
look back at me. Te woids fell quite distinctly upon my eai. l glanced down.
Tey could only have come fiom the old man at my side, and yet he sat now as
absoibed as evei, veiy thin, veiy wiinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling
down fiom between his knees, as though it had diopped in sheei lassitude fiom
his ngeis. l took two steps foiwaid and looked back. lt took all my self-contiol to
pievent me fiom bieaking out into a ciy of astonishment. He had tuined his back
so that none could see him but l. His foim had lled out, his wiinkles weie gone,
the dull eyes had iegained theii ie, and theie, siuing by the ie and giinning at
my suipiise, was none othei than Sheilock Holmes. He made a slight motion to
me to appioach him, and instantly, as he tuined his face half iound to the company
once moie, subsided into a doddeiing, loose-lipped senility.
Holmes' l whispeied, what on eaith aie you doing in this den`
As low as you can, he answeied, l have excellent eais. lf you would have
the gieat kindness to get iid of that souish fiiend of youis l should be exceedingly
glad to have a liule talk with you.
l have a cab outside.
Ten piay send him home in it. You may safely tiust him, foi he appeais
to be too limp to get into any mischief. l should iecommend you also to send a
note by the cabman to youi wife to say that you have thiown in youi lot with me.
lf you will wait outside, l shall be with you in ve minutes.
lt was dicult to iefuse any of Sheilock Holmes iequests, foi they weie
always so exceedingly denite, and put foiwaid with such a quiet aii of masteiy.
l felt, howevei, that when Whitney was once conned in the cab my mission was
piactically accomplished, and foi the iest, l could not wish anything beuei than to
be associated with my fiiend in one of those singulai adventuies which weie the
noimal condition of his existence. ln a few minutes l had wiiuen my note, paid
Whitneys bill, led him out to the cab, and seen him diiven thiough the daikness.
ln a veiy shoit time a deciepit guie had emeiged fiom the opium den, and l
was walking down the stieet with Sheilock Holmes. loi two stieets he shued
along with a bent back and an unceitain foot. Ten, glancing quickly iound, he
stiaightened himself out and buist into a heaity t of laughtei.
l suppose, Watson, said he, that you imagine that l have added opium-
smoking to cocaine injections, and all the othei liule weaknesses on which you
have favouied me with youi medical views.
l was ceitainly suipiised to nd you theie.
But not moie so than l to nd you.
l came to nd a fiiend.
And l to nd an enemy.
,,
An enemy`
Yes, one of my natuial enemies, oi, shall l say, my natuial piey. Biiey,
Watson, l am in the midst of a veiy iemaikable inquiiy, and l have hoped to
nd a clue in the incoheient iamblings of these sots, as l have done befoie now.
Had l been iecognised in that den my life would not have been woith an houis
puichase, foi l have used it befoie now foi my own puiposes, and the iascally
Lascai who iuns it has swoin to have vengeance upon me. Teie is a tiap-dooi at
the back of that building, neai the coinei of Pauls Whaif, which could tell some
stiange tales of what has passed thiough it upon the moonless nights.
What' You do not mean bodies`
Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be iich men if we had i1ooo foi eveiy pooi
devil who has been done to death in that den. lt is the vilest muidei-tiap on the
whole iiveiside, and l feai that Neville St. Claii has enteied it nevei to leave it
moie. But oui tiap should be heie. He put his two foiengeis between his teeth
and whistled shiillya signal which was answeied by a similai whistle fiom the
distance, followed shoitly by the iaule of wheels and the clink of hoises hoofs.
Now, Watson, said Holmes, as a tall dog-cait dashed up thiough the gloom,
thiowing out two golden tunnels of yellow light fiom its side lanteins. Youll
come with me, wont you`
lf l can be of use.
Oh, a tiusty comiade is always of use, and a chioniclei still moie so. My
ioom at Te Cedais is a double-bedded one.
Te Cedais`
Yes, that is Mi. St. Claiis house. l am staying theie while l conduct the
inquiiy.
Wheie is it, then`
Neai Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile diive befoie us.
But l am all in the daik.
Of couise you aie. Youll know all about it piesently. Jump up heie. All
iight, John, we shall not need you. Heies half a ciown. Look out foi me to-
moiiow, about eleven. Give hei hei head. So long, then'
He icked the hoise with his whip, and we dashed away thiough the end-
less succession of sombie and deseited stieets, which widened giadually, until we
weie ying acioss a bioad balustiaded biidge, with the muiky iivei owing slug-
gishly beneath us. Beyond lay anothei dull wildeiness of biicks and moitai, its
silence bioken only by the heavy, iegulai footfall of the policeman, oi the songs
and shouts of some belated paity of ievelleis. A dull wiack was diifing slowly
acioss the sky, and a stai oi two twinkled dimly heie and theie thiough the iifs
1oo
of the clouds. Holmes diove in silence, with his head sunk upon his bieast, and
the aii of a man who is lost in thought, while l sat beside him, cuiious to leain
what this new quest might be which seemed to tax his poweis so soiely, and yet
afiaid to bieak in upon the cuiient of his thoughts. We had diiven seveial miles,
and weie beginning to get to the fiinge of the belt of subuiban villas, when he
shook himself, shiugged his shouldeis, and lit up his pipe with the aii of a man
who has satised himself that he is acting foi the best.
You have a giand gif of silence, Watson, said he. lt makes you quite
invaluable as a companion. Pon my woid, it is a gieat thing foi me to have
someone to talk to, foi my own thoughts aie not ovei-pleasant. l was wondeiing
what l should say to this deai liule woman to-night when she meets me at the
dooi.
You foiget that l know nothing about it.
l shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case befoie we get to Lee.
lt seems absuidly simple, and yet, somehow l can get nothing to go upon. Teies
plenty of thiead, no doubt, but l cant get the end of it into my hand. Now, lll
state the case cleaily and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a spaik
wheie all is daik to me.
Pioceed, then.
Some yeais agoto be denite, in May, 1sstheie came to Lee a gentle-
man, Neville St. Claii by name, who appeaied to have plenty of money. He took
a laige villa, laid out the giounds veiy nicely, and lived geneially in good style.
By degiees he made fiiends in the neighbouihood, and in 1ss, he maiiied the
daughtei of a local biewei, by whom he now has two childien. He had no occu-
pation, but was inteiested in seveial companies and went into town as a iule in
the moining, ietuining by the 1 fiom Cannon Stieet eveiy night. Mi. St. Claii
is now thiity-seven yeais of age, is a man of tempeiate habits, a good husband,
a veiy aectionate fathei, and a man who is populai with all who know him. l
may add that his whole debts at the piesent moment, as fai as we have been able
to asceitain, amount to iss 1o*s*., while he has i::o standing to his ciedit in the
Capital and Counties Bank. Teie is no ieason, theiefoie, to think that money
tioubles have been weighing upon his mind.
Last Monday Mi. Neville St. Claii went into town iathei eailiei than usual,
iemaiking befoie he staited that he had two impoitant commissions to peifoim,
and that he would biing his liule boy home a box of biicks. Now, by the meiest
chance, his wife ieceived a telegiam upon this same Monday, veiy shoitly afei
his depaituie, to the eect that a small paicel of consideiable value which she
had been expecting was waiting foi hei at the oces of the Abeideen Shipping
1o1
Company. Now, if you aie well up in youi London, you will know that the oce
of the company is in liesno Stieet, which bianches out of Uppei Swandam Lane,
wheie you found me to-night. Mis. St. Claii had hei lunch, staited foi the City,
did some shopping, pioceeded to the companys oce, got hei packet, and found
heiself at exactly walking thiough Swandam Lane on hei way back to the
station. Have you followed me so fai`
lt is veiy cleai.
lf you iemembei, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mis. St. Claii
walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, as she did not like the
neighbouihood in which she found heiself. While she was walking in this way
down Swandam Lane, she suddenly heaid an ejaculation oi ciy, and was stiuck
cold to see hei husband looking down at hei and, as it seemed to hei, beckoning
to hei fiom a second-ooi window. Te window was open, and she distinctly
saw his face, which she desciibes as being teiiibly agitated. He waved his hands
fiantically to hei, and then vanished fiom the window so suddenly that it seemed
to hei that he had been plucked back by some iiiesistible foice fiom behind. One
singulai point which stiuck hei quick feminine eye was that although he woie
some daik coat, such as he had staited to town in, he had on neithei collai noi
necktie.
Convinced that something was amiss with him, she iushed down the
stepsfoi the house was none othei than the opium den in which you found me
to-nightand iunning thiough the fiont ioom she auempted to ascend the staiis
which led to the ist ooi. At the foot of the staiis, howevei, she met this Las-
cai scoundiel of whom l have spoken, who thiust hei back and, aided by a Dane,
who acts as assistant theie, pushed hei out into the stieet. lilled with the most
maddening doubts and feais, she iushed down the lane and, by iaie good-foitune,
met in liesno Stieet a numbei of constables with an inspectoi, all on theii way to
theii beat. Te inspectoi and two men accompanied hei back, and in spite of the
continued iesistance of the piopiietoi, they made theii way to the ioom in which
Mi. St. Claii had last been seen. Teie was no sign of him theie. ln fact, in the
whole of that ooi theie was no one to be found save a ciippled wietch of hideous
aspect, who, it seems, made his home theie. Both he and the Lascai stoutly swoie
that no one else had been in the fiont ioom duiing the afeinoon. So deteimined
was theii denial that the inspectoi was staggeied, and had almost come to believe
that Mis. St. Claii had been deluded when, with a ciy, she spiang at a small deal
box which lay upon the table and toie the lid fiom it. Out theie fell a cascade of
childiens biicks. lt was the toy which he had piomised to biing home.
Tis discoveiy, and the evident confusion which the ciipple showed, made
1o:
the inspectoi iealise that the mauei was seiious. Te iooms weie caiefully exam-
ined, and iesults all pointed to an abominable ciime. Te fiont ioom was plainly
fuinished as a siuing-ioom and led into a small bedioom, which looked out upon
the back of one of the whaives. Between the whaif and the bedioom window is
a naiiow stiip, which is diy at low tide but is coveied at high tide with at least
foui and a half feet of watei. Te bedioom window was a bioad one and opened
fiom below. On examination tiaces of blood weie to be seen upon the windowsill,
and seveial scaueied diops weie visible upon the wooden ooi of the bedioom.
Tiust away behind a cuitain in the fiont ioom weie all the clothes of Mi. Neville
St. Claii, with the exception of his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his
watchall weie theie. Teie weie no signs of violence upon any of these gai-
ments, and theie weie no othei tiaces of Mi. Neville St. Claii. Out of the window
he must appaiently have gone foi no othei exit could be discoveied, and the omi-
nous bloodstains upon the sill gave liule piomise that he could save himself by
swimming, foi the tide was at its veiy highest at the moment of the tiagedy.
And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately implicated in the
mauei. Te Lascai was known to be a man of the vilest antecedents, but as, by
Mis. St. Claiis stoiy, he was known to have been at the foot of the staii within
a veiy few seconds of hei husbands appeaiance at the window, he could haidly
have been moie than an accessoiy to the ciime. His defence was one of absolute
ignoiance, and he piotested that he had no knowledge as to the doings of Hugh
Boone, his lodgei, and that he could not account in any way foi the piesence of
the missing gentlemans clothes.
So much foi the Lascai managei. Now foi the sinistei ciipple who lives
upon the second ooi of the opium den, and who was ceitainly the last human
being whose eyes iested upon Neville St. Claii. His name is Hugh Boone, and his
hideous face is one which is familiai to eveiy man who goes much to the City.
He is a piofessional beggai, though in oidei to avoid the police iegulations he
pietends to a small tiade in wax vestas. Some liule distance down Tieadneedle
Stieet, upon the lef-hand side, theie is, as you may have iemaiked, a small angle
in the wall. Heie it is that this cieatuie takes his daily seat, cioss-legged with his
tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he is a piteous spectacle a small iain of
chaiity descends into the gieasy leathei cap which lies upon the pavement beside
him. l have watched the fellow moie than once befoie evei l thought of making
his piofessional acquaintance, and l have been suipiised at the haivest which he
has ieaped in a shoit time. His appeaiance, you see, is so iemaikable that no one
can pass himwithout obseiving him. Ashock of oiange haii, a pale face disguied
by a hoiiible scai, which, by its contiaction, has tuined up the outei edge of his
1o
uppei lip, a bulldog chin, and a paii of veiy penetiating daik eyes, which piesent a
singulai contiast to the coloui of his haii, all maik himout fiomamid the common
ciowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, foi he is evei ieady with a ieply
to any piece of cha which may be thiown at him by the passeis-by. Tis is the
man whom we now leain to have been the lodgei at the opium den, and to have
been the last man to see the gentleman of whom we aie in quest.
But a ciipple' said l. What could he have done single-handed against a
man in the piime of life`
He is a ciipple in the sense that he walks with a limp, but in othei iespects
he appeais to be a poweiful and well-nuituied man. Suiely youi medical expeii-
ence would tell you, Watson, that weakness in one limb is ofen compensated foi
by exceptional stiength in the otheis.
Piay continue youi naiiative.
Mis. St. Claii had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the window,
and she was escoited home in a cab by the police, as hei piesence could be of
no help to them in theii investigations. lnspectoi Baiton, who had chaige of
the case, made a veiy caieful examination of the piemises, but without nding
anything which thiew any light upon the mauei. One mistake had been made in
not aiiesting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes duiing which
he might have communicated with his fiiend the Lascai, but this fault was soon
iemedied, and he was seized and seaiched, without anything being found which
could inciiminate him. Teie weie, it is tiue, some blood-stains upon his iight
shiit-sleeve, but he pointed to his iing-ngei, which had been cut neai the nail,
and explained that the bleeding came fiom theie, adding that he had been to the
window not long befoie, and that the stains which had been obseived theie came
doubtless fiom the same souice. He denied stienuously having evei seen Mi.
Neville St. Claii and swoie that the piesence of the clothes in his ioom was as
much a mysteiy to him as to the police. As to Mis. St. Claiis asseition that she
had actually seen hei husband at the window, he declaied that she must have been
eithei mad oi dieaming. He was iemoved, loudly piotesting, to the police-station,
while the inspectoi iemained upon the piemises in the hope that the ebbing tide
might aoid some fiesh clue.
And it did, though they haidly found upon the mud-bank what they had
feaied to nd. lt was Neville St. Claiis coat, and not Neville St. Claii, which lay
uncoveied as the tide ieceded. And what do you think they found in the pockets`
l cannot imagine.
No, l dont think you would guess. Eveiy pocket stued with pennies and
half-pennies:1 pennies and :,o half-pennies. lt was no wondei that it had not
1o
been swept away by the tide. But a human body is a dieient mauei. Teie is a
eice eddy between the whaif and the house. lt seemed likely enough that the
weighted coat had iemained when the stiipped body had been sucked away into
the iivei.
But l undeistand that all the othei clothes weie found in the ioom. Would
the body be diessed in a coat alone`
No, sii, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose that this
man Boone had thiust Neville St. Claii thiough the window, theie is no human
eye which could have seen the deed. What would he do then` lt would of couise
instantly stiike him that he must get iid of the tell-tale gaiments. He would seize
the coat, then, and be in the act of thiowing it out, when it would occui to him
that it would swim and not sink. He has liule time, foi he has heaid the scue
downstaiis when the wife tiied to foice hei way up, and peihaps he has alieady
heaid fiomhis Lascai confedeiate that the police aie huiiying up the stieet. Teie
is not an instant to be lost. He iushes to some seciet hoaid, wheie he has accu-
mulated the fiuits of his beggaiy, and he stus all the coins upon which he can
lay his hands into the pockets to make suie of the coats sinking. He thiows it
out, and would have done the same with the othei gaiments had not he heaid the
iush of steps below, and only just had time to close the window when the police
appeaied.
lt ceitainly sounds feasible.
Well, we will take it as a woiking hypothesis foi want of a beuei. Boone, as
l have told you, was aiiested and taken to the station, but it could not be shown
that theie had evei befoie been anything against him. He had foi yeais been
known as a piofessional beggai, but his life appeaied to have been a veiy quiet and
innocent one. Teie the mauei stands at piesent, and the questions which have
to be solvedwhat Neville St. Claii was doing in the opium den, what happened
to him when theie, wheie is he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his
disappeaianceaie all as fai fiom a solution as evei. l confess that l cannot iecall
any case within my expeiience which looked at the ist glance so simple and yet
which piesented such diculties.
While Sheilock Holmes had been detailing this singulai seiies of events, we
had been whiiling thiough the outskiits of the gieat town until the last stiaggling
houses had been lef behind, and we iauled along with a countiy hedge upon
eithei side of us. Just as he nished, howevei, we diove thiough two scaueied
villages, wheie a few lights still glimmeied in the windows.
We aie on the outskiits of Lee, said my companion. We have touched
on thiee English counties in oui shoit diive, staiting in Middlesex, passing ovei
1o
an angle of Suiiey, and ending in Kent. See that light among the tiees` Tat is
Te Cedais, and beside that lamp sits a woman whose anxious eais have alieady,
l have liule doubt, caught the clink of oui hoises feet.
But why aie you not conducting the case fiom Bakei Stieet` l asked.
Because theie aie many inquiiies which must be made out heie. Mis. St.
Claii has most kindly put two iooms at my disposal, and you may iest assuied
that she will have nothing but a welcome foi my fiiend and colleague. l hate to
meet hei, Watson, when l have no news of hei husband. Heie we aie. Whoa,
theie, whoa'
We had pulled up in fiont of a laige villa which stood within its own
giounds. A stable-boy had iun out to the hoises head, and spiinging down, l fol-
lowed Holmes up the small, winding giavel-diive which led to the house. As we
appioached, the dooi ew open, and a liule blonde woman stood in the opening,
clad in some soit of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of uy pink chion at
hei neck and wiists. She stood with hei guie outlined against the ood of light,
one hand upon the dooi, one half-iaised in hei eageiness, hei body slightly bent,
hei head and face piotiuded, with eagei eyes and paited lips, a standing question.
Well` she ciied, well` And then, seeing that theie weie two of us, she
gave a ciy of hope which sank into a gioan as she saw that my companion shook
his head and shiugged his shouldeis.
No good news`
None.
No bad`
No.
Tank God foi that. But come in. You must be weaiy, foi you have had a
long day.
Tis is my fiiend, Di. Watson. He has been of most vital use to me in
seveial of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it possible foi me to biing him
out and associate him with this investigation.
l am delighted to see you, said she, piessing my hand waimly. You will,
l am suie, foigive anything that may be wanting in oui aiiangements, when you
considei the blow which has come so suddenly upon us.
My deai madam, said l, l am an old campaignei, and if l weie not l can
veiy well see that no apology is needed. lf l can be of any assistance, eithei to
you oi to my fiiend heie, l shall be indeed happy.
Now, Mi. Sheilock Holmes, said the lady as we enteied a well-lit dining-
ioom, upon the table of which a cold suppei had been laid out, l should veiy
much like to ask you one oi two plain questions, to which l beg that you will give
1oe
a plain answei.
Ceitainly, madam.
Do not tiouble about my feelings. l amnot hysteiical, noi given to fainting.
l simply wish to heai youi ieal, ieal opinion.
Upon what point`
ln youi heait of heaits, do you think that Neville is alive`
Sheilock Holmes seemed to be embaiiassed by the question. liankly,
now' she iepeated, standing upon the iug and looking keenly down at him as
he leaned back in a basket-chaii.
liankly, then, madam, l do not.
You think that he is dead`
l do.
Muideied`
l dont say that. Peihaps.
And on what day did he meet his death`
On Monday.
Ten peihaps, Mi. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how it is
that l have ieceived a leuei fiom him to-day.
Sheilock Holmes spiang out of his chaii as if he had been galvanised.
What' he ioaied.
Yes, to-day. She stood smiling, holding up a liule slip of papei in the aii.
May l see it`
Ceitainly.
He snatched it fiom hei in his eageiness, and smoothing it out upon the
table he diew ovei the lamp and examined it intently. l had lef my chaii and
was gazing at it ovei his shouldei. Te envelope was a veiy coaise one and was
stamped with the Giavesend postmaik and with the date of that veiy day, oi
iathei of the day befoie, foi it was consideiably afei midnight.
Coaise wiiting, muimuied Holmes. Suiely this is not youi husbands
wiiting, madam.
No, but the enclosuie is.
l peiceive also that whoevei addiessed the envelope had to go and inquiie
as to the addiess.
How can you tell that`
Te name, you see, is in peifectly black ink, which has diied itself. Te iest
is of the gieyish coloui, which shows that blouing-papei has been used. lf it had
been wiiuen stiaight o, and then bloued, none would be of a deep black shade.
Tis man has wiiuen the name, and theie has then been a pause befoie he wiote
1o,
the addiess, which can only mean that he was not familiai with it. lt is, of couise,
a tiie, but theie is nothing so impoitant as tiies. Let us now see the leuei. Ha'
theie has been an enclosuie heie'
Yes, theie was a iing. His signet-iing.
And you aie suie that this is youi husbands hand`
One of his hands.
One`
His hand when he wiote huiiiedly. lt is veiy unlike his usual wiiting, and
yet l know it well.
Deaiest do not be fiightened. All will come well. Teie is a huge eiioi
which it may take some liule time to iectify. Wait in patience. Nrviiir. Wiiuen
in pencil upon the y-leaf of a book, octavo size, no watei-maik. Hum' Posted
to-day in Giavesend by a man with a diity thumb. Ha' And the ap has been
gummed, if l am not veiy much in eiioi, by a peison who had been chewing
tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is youi husbands hand, madam`
None. Neville wiote those woids.
And they weie posted to-day at Giavesend. Well, Mis. St. Claii, the clouds
lighten, though l should not ventuie to say that the dangei is ovei.
But he must be alive, Mi. Holmes.
Unless this is a clevei foigeiy to put us on the wiong scent. Te iing, afei
all, pioves nothing. lt may have been taken fiom him.
No, no, it is, it is his veiy own wiiting'
Veiy well. lt may, howevei, have been wiiuen on Monday and only posted
to-day.
Tat is possible.
lf so, much may have happened between.
Oh, you must not discouiage me, Mi. Holmes. l know that all is well with
him. Teie is so keen a sympathy between us that l should know if evil came
upon him. On the veiy day that l saw him last he cut himself in the bedioom, and
yet l in the dining-ioom iushed upstaiis instantly with the utmost ceitainty that
something had happened. Do you think that l would iespond to such a tiie and
yet be ignoiant of his death`
l have seen too much not to know that the impiession of a woman may
be moie valuable than the conclusion of an analytical ieasonei. And in this leuei
you ceitainly have a veiy stiong piece of evidence to coiioboiate youi view. But
if youi husband is alive and able to wiite leueis, why should he iemain away fiom
you`
l cannot imagine. lt is unthinkable.
1os
And on Monday he made no iemaiks befoie leaving you`
No.
And you weie suipiised to see him in Swandam Lane`
Veiy much so.
Was the window open`
Yes.
Ten he might have called to you`
He might.
He only, as l undeistand, gave an inaiticulate ciy`
Yes.
A call foi help, you thought`
Yes. He waved his hands.
But it might have been a ciy of suipiise. Astonishment at the unexpected
sight of you might cause him to thiow up his hands`
lt is possible.
And you thought he was pulled back`
He disappeaied so suddenly.
He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the ioom`
No, but this hoiiible man confessed to having been theie, and the Lascai
was at the foot of the staiis.
Qite so. Youi husband, as fai as you could see, had his oidinaiy clothes
on`
But without his collai oi tie. l distinctly saw his baie thioat.
Had he evei spoken of Swandam Lane`
Nevei.
Had he evei showed any signs of having taken opium`
Nevei.
Tank you, Mis. St. Claii. Tose aie the piincipal points about which l
wished to be absolutely cleai. We shall now have a liule suppei and then ietiie,
foi we may have a veiy busy day to-moiiow.
A laige and comfoitable double-bedded ioom had been placed at oui dis-
posal, and l was quickly between the sheets, foi l was weaiy afei my night of
adventuie. Sheilock Holmes was a man, howevei, who, when he had an unsolved
pioblem upon his mind, would go foi days, and even foi a week, without iest,
tuining it ovei, ieaiianging his facts, looking at it fiom eveiy point of view until
he had eithei fathomed it oi convinced himself that his data weie insucient. lt
was soon evident to me that he was now piepaiing foi an all-night siuing. He
took o his coat and waistcoat, put on a laige blue diessing-gown, and then wan-
1o,
deied about the ioom collecting pillows fiom his bed and cushions fiom the sofa
and aimchaiis. With these he constiucted a soit of Eastein divan, upon which he
peiched himself cioss-legged, with an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches
laid out in fiont of him. ln the dim light of the lamp l saw him siuing theie, an
old biiai pipe between his lips, his eyes xed vacantly upon the coinei of the ceil-
ing, the blue smoke cuiling up fiom him, silent, motionless, with the light shining
upon his stiong-set aquiline featuies. So he sat as l diopped o to sleep, and so
he sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and l found the summei
sun shining into the apaitment. Te pipe was still between his lips, the smoke
still cuiled upwaid, and the ioom was full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing
iemained of the heap of shag which l had seen upon the pievious night.
Awake, Watson` he asked.
Yes.
Game foi a moining diive`
Ceitainly.
Ten diess. No one is stiiiing yet, but l know wheie the stable-boy sleeps,
and we shall soon have the tiap out. He chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes
twinkled, and he seemed a dieient man to the sombie thinkei of the pievious
night.
As l diessed l glanced at my watch. lt was no wondei that no one was
stiiiing. lt was twenty-ve minutes past foui. l had haidly nished when Holmes
ietuined with the news that the boy was puuing in the hoise.
l want to test a liule theoiy of mine, said he, pulling on his boots. l think,
Watson, that you aie now standing in the piesence of one of the most absolute
fools in Euiope. l deseive to be kicked fiom heie to Chaiing Cioss. But l think l
have the key of the aaii now.
And wheie is it` l asked, smiling.
ln the bathioom, he answeied. Oh, yes, l am not joking, he continued,
seeing my look of inciedulity. l have just been theie, and l have taken it out, and
l have got it in this Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whethei it
will not t the lock.
We made oui way downstaiis as quietly as possible, and out into the biight
moining sunshine. ln the ioad stood oui hoise and tiap, with the half-clad stable-
boy waiting at the head. We both spiang in, and away we dashed down the
London Road. A few countiy caits weie stiiiing, beaiing in vegetables to the
metiopolis, but the lines of villas on eithei side weie as silent and lifeless as some
city in a dieam.
lt has been in some points a singulai case, said Holmes, icking the hoise
11o
on into a gallop. l confess that l have been as blind as a mole, but it is beuei to
leain wisdom late than nevei to leain it at all.
ln town the eailiest iiseis weie just beginning to look sleepily fiom theii
windows as we diove thiough the stieets of the Suiiey side. Passing down the
Wateiloo Biidge Road we ciossed ovei the iivei, and dashing up Wellington Stieet
wheeled shaiply to the iight and found ouiselves in Bow Stieet. Sheilock Holmes
was well known to the foice, and the two constables at the dooi saluted him. One
of them held the hoises head while the othei led us in.
Who is on duty` asked Holmes.
lnspectoi Biadstieet, sii.
Ah, Biadstieet, how aie you` A tall, stout ocial had come down the
stone-agged passage, in a peaked cap and fiogged jacket. l wish to have a quiet
woid with you, Biadstieet. Ceitainly, Mi. Holmes. Step into my ioom heie. lt
was a small, oce-like ioom, with a huge ledgei upon the table, and a telephone
piojecting fiom the wall. Te inspectoi sat down at his desk.
What can l do foi you, Mi. Holmes`
l called about that beggaiman, Boonethe one who was chaiged with be-
ing conceined in the disappeaiance of Mi. Neville St. Claii, of Lee.
Yes. He was biought up and iemanded foi fuithei inquiiies.
So l heaid. You have him heie`
ln the cells.
ls he quiet`
Oh, he gives no tiouble. But he is a diity scoundiel.
Diity`
Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his face is as black
as a tinkeis. Well, when once his case has been seuled, he will have a iegulai
piison bath, and l think, if you saw him, you would agiee with me that he needed
it.
l should like to see him veiy much.
Would you` Tat is easily done. Come this way. You can leave youi bag.
No, l think that lll take it.
Veiy good. Come this way, if you please. He led us down a passage, opened
a baiied dooi, passed down a winding staii, and biought us to a whitewashed
coiiidoi with a line of doois on each side.
Te thiid on the iight is his, said the inspectoi. Heie it is' He quietly
shot back a panel in the uppei pait of the dooi and glanced thiough.
He is asleep, said he. You can see him veiy well.
We both put oui eyes to the giating. Te piisonei lay with his face towaids
111
us, in a veiy deep sleep, bieathing slowly and heavily. He was a middle-sized man,
coaisely clad as became his calling, with a colouied shiit piotiuding thiough the
ient in his taueied coat. He was, as the inspectoi had said, extiemely diity, but
the giime which coveied his face could not conceal its iepulsive ugliness. A bioad
wheal fiom an old scai ian iight acioss it fiom eye to chin, and by its contiac-
tion had tuined up one side of the uppei lip, so that thiee teeth weie exposed in
a peipetual snail. A shock of veiy biight ied haii giew low ovei his eyes and
foiehead.
Hes a beauty, isnt he` said the inspectoi.
He ceitainly needs a wash, iemaiked Holmes. l had an idea that he might,
and l took the libeity of biinging the tools with me. He opened the Gladstone bag
as he spoke, and took out, to my astonishment, a veiy laige bath-sponge.
He' he' You aie a funny one, chuckled the inspectoi.
Now, if you will have the gieat goodness to open that dooi veiy quietly,
we will soon make him cut a much moie iespectable guie.
Well, l dont know why not, said the inspectoi. He doesnt look a ciedit
to the Bow Stieet cells, does he` He slipped his key into the lock, and we all veiy
quietly enteied the cell. Te sleepei half tuined, and then seuled down once moie
into a deep slumbei. Holmes stooped to the watei-jug, moistened his sponge, and
then iubbed it twice vigoiously acioss and down the piisoneis face.
Let me intioduce you, he shouted, to Mi. Neville St. Claii, of Lee, in the
county of Kent.
Nevei in my life have l seen such a sight. Te mans face peeled o undei
the sponge like the baik fiom a tiee. Gone was the coaise biown tint' Gone, too,
was the hoiiid scai which had seamed it acioss, and the twisted lip which had
given the iepulsive sneei to the face' A twitch biought away the tangled ied haii,
and theie, siuing up in his bed, was a pale, sad-faced, iened-looking man, black-
haiied and smooth-skinned, iubbing his eyes and staiing about him with sleepy
bewildeiment. Ten suddenly iealising the exposuie, he bioke into a scieam and
thiew himself down with his face to the pillow.
Gieat heavens' ciied the inspectoi, it is, indeed, the missing man. l know
him fiom the photogiaph.
Te piisonei tuined with the ieckless aii of a man who abandons himself to
his destiny. Be it so, said he. And piay what am l chaiged with`
With making away with Mi. Neville St. Oh, come, you cant be chaiged
with that unless they make a case of auempted suicide of it, said the inspectoi
with a giin. Well, l have been twenty-seven yeais in the foice, but this ieally
takes the cake.
11:
lf l am Mi. Neville St. Claii, then it is obvious that no ciime has been
commiued, and that, theiefoie, l am illegally detained.
No ciime, but a veiy gieat eiioi has been commiued, said Holmes. You
would have done beuei to have tiusted youi wife.
lt was not the wife, it was the childien, gioaned the piisonei. God help
me, l would not have them ashamed of theii fathei. My God' What an exposuie'
What can l do`
Sheilock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and paued him kindly
on the shouldei.
lf you leave it to a couit of law to cleai the mauei up, said he, of couise
you can haidly avoid publicity. On the othei hand, if you convince the police
authoiities that theie is no possible case against you, l do not know that theie
is any ieason that the details should nd theii way into the papeis. lnspectoi
Biadstieet would, l am suie, make notes upon anything which you might tell us
and submit it to the piopei authoiities. Te case would then nevei go into couit
at all.
God bless you' ciied the piisonei passionately. l would have enduied
impiisonment, ay, even execution, iathei than have lef my miseiable seciet as a
family blot to my childien.
You aie the ist who have evei heaid my stoiy. My fathei was a school-
mastei in Chesteield, wheie l ieceived an excellent education. l tiavelled in
my youth, took to the stage, and nally became a iepoitei on an evening papei
in London. One day my editoi wished to have a seiies of aiticles upon begging
in the metiopolis, and l volunteeied to supply them. Teie was the point fiom
which all my adventuies staited. lt was only by tiying begging as an amateui
that l could get the facts upon which to base my aiticles. When an actoi l had, of
couise, leained all the seciets of making up, and had been famous in the gieen-
ioom foi my skill. l took advantage now of my auainments. l painted my face,
and to make myself as pitiable as possible l made a good scai and xed one side
of my lip in a twist by the aid of a small slip of esh-colouied plastei. Ten with a
ied head of haii, and an appiopiiate diess, l took my station in the business pait
of the city, ostensibly as a match-sellei but ieally as a beggai. loi seven houis l
plied my tiade, and when l ietuined home in the evening l found to my suipiise
that l had ieceived no less than :e*s*. *d*.
l wiote my aiticles and thought liule moie of the mauei until, some time
latei, l backed a bill foi a fiiend and had a wiit seived upon me foi i:. l was at
my wits end wheie to get the money, but a sudden idea came to me. l begged a
foitnights giace fiom the cieditoi, asked foi a holiday fiom my employeis, and
11
spent the time in begging in the City undei my disguise. ln ten days l had the
money and had paid the debt.
Well, you can imagine how haid it was to seule down to aiduous woik
at i: a week when l knew that l could eain as much in a day by smeaiing my
face with a liule paint, laying my cap on the giound, and siuing still. lt was a
long ght between my piide and the money, but the dollais won at last, and l
thiew up iepoiting and sat day afei day in the coinei which l had ist chosen,
inspiiing pity by my ghastly face and lling my pockets with coppeis. Only one
man knew my seciet. He was the keepei of a low den in which l used to lodge in
Swandam Lane, wheie l could eveiy moining emeige as a squalid beggai and in
the evenings tiansfoim myself into a well-diessed man about town. Tis fellow, a
Lascai, was well paid by me foi his iooms, so that l knew that my seciet was safe
in his possession.
Well, veiy soon l found that l was saving consideiable sums of money. l do
not mean that any beggai in the stieets of London could eain i,oo a yeaiwhich
is less than my aveiage takingsbut l had exceptional advantages in my powei
of making up, and also in a facility of iepaitee, which impioved by piactice and
made me quite a iecognised chaiactei in the City. All day a stieam of pennies,
vaiied by silvei, pouied in upon me, and it was a veiy bad day in which l failed
to take i:.
As l giew iichei l giew moie ambitious, took a house in the countiy, and
eventually maiiied, without anyone having a suspicion as to my ieal occupation.
My deai wife knew that l had business in the City. She liule knew what.
Last Monday l had nished foi the day and was diessing in my ioom above
the opium den when l looked out of my window and saw, to my hoiioi and as-
tonishment, that my wife was standing in the stieet, with hei eyes xed full upon
me. l gave a ciy of suipiise, thiew up my aims to covei my face, and, iushing
to my condant, the Lascai, entieated him to pievent anyone fiom coming up to
me. l heaid hei voice downstaiis, but l knew that she could not ascend. Swifly
l thiew o my clothes, pulled on those of a beggai, and put on my pigments and
wig. Even a wifes eyes could not pieice so complete a disguise. But then it oc-
cuiied to me that theie might be a seaich in the ioom, and that the clothes might
betiay me. l thiew open the window, ieopening by my violence a small cut which
l had inicted upon myself in the bedioom that moining. Ten l seized my coat,
which was weighted by the coppeis which l had just tiansfeiied to it fiom the
leathei bag in which l caiiied my takings. l huiled it out of the window, and
it disappeaied into the Tames. Te othei clothes would have followed, but at
that moment theie was a iush of constables up the staii, and a few minutes afei l
11
found, iathei, l confess, to my ielief, that instead of being identied as Mi. Neville
St. Claii, l was aiiested as his muideiei.
l do not know that theie is anything else foi me to explain. l was detei-
mined to pieseive my disguise as long as possible, and hence my piefeience foi a
diity face. Knowing that my wife would be teiiibly anxious, l slipped o my iing
and conded it to the Lascai at a moment when no constable was watching me,
togethei with a huiiied sciawl, telling hei that she had no cause to feai.
Tat note only ieached hei yesteiday, said Holmes.
Good God' What a week she must have spent'
Te police have watched this Lascai, said lnspectoi Biadstieet, and l can
quite undeistand that he might nd it dicult to post a leuei unobseived. Piob-
ably he handed it to some sailoi customei of his, who foigot all about it foi some
days.
Tat was it, said Holmes, nodding appiovingly, l have no doubt of it. But
have you nevei been piosecuted foi begging`
Many times, but what was a ne to me`
lt must stop heie, howevei, said Biadstieet. lf the police aie to hush this
thing up, theie must be no moie of Hugh Boone.
l have swoin it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take.
ln that case l think that it is piobable that no fuithei steps may be taken.
But if you aie found again, then all must come out. l am suie, Mi. Holmes, that
we aie veiy much indebted to you foi having cleaied the mauei up. l wish l knew
how you ieach youi iesults.
l ieached this one, said my fiiend, by siuing upon ve pillows and con-
suming an ounce of shag. l think, Watson, that if we diive to Bakei Stieet we shall
just be in time foi bieakfast.
Te Adventure of the Blue
Carbuncle
l had called upon my fiiend Sheilock Holmes upon the second moining afei
Chiistmas, with the intention of wishing him the compliments of the season. He
was lounging upon the sofa in a puiple diessing-gown, a pipe-iack within his
ieach upon the iight, and a pile of ciumpled moining papeis, evidently newly
studied, neai at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chaii, and on the angle
of the back hung a veiy seedy and disieputable haid-felt hat, much the woise foi
weai, and ciacked in seveial places. Alens and a foiceps lying upon the seat of the
chaii suggested that the hat had been suspended in this mannei foi the puipose
of examination.
You aie engaged, said l, peihaps l inteiiupt you.
Not at all. l am glad to have a fiiend with whom l can discuss my iesults.
Te mauei is a peifectly tiivial onehe jeiked his thumb in the diiection of the
old hatbut theie aie points in connection with it which aie not entiiely devoid
of inteiest and even of instiuction.
l seated myself in his aimchaii and waimed my hands befoie his ciackling
ie, foi a shaip fiost had set in, and the windows weie thick with the ice ciystals.
l suppose, l iemaiked, that, homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly stoiy
linked on to itthat it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of some
mysteiy and the punishment of some ciime.
No, no. No ciime, said Sheilock Holmes, laughing. Only one of those
whimsical liule incidents which will happen when you have foui million human
beings all jostling each othei within the space of a few squaie miles. Amid the ac-
tion and ieaction of so dense a swaim of humanity, eveiy possible combination of
events may be expected to take place, and many a liule pioblem will be piesented
which may be stiiking and bizaiie without being ciiminal. We have alieady had
11e
expeiience of such.
So much so, l iemaiked, that of the last six cases which l have added to
my notes, thiee have been entiiely fiee of any legal ciime.
Piecisely. You allude to my auempt to iecovei the liene Adlei papeis, to
the singulai case of Miss Maiy Sutheiland, and to the adventuie of the man with
the twisted lip. Well, l have no doubt that this small mauei will fall into the same
innocent categoiy. You know Peteison, the commissionaiie`
Yes.
lt is to him that this tiophy belongs.
lt is his hat.
No, no, he found it. lts ownei is unknown. l beg that you will look upon
it not as a baueied billycock but as an intellectual pioblem. And, ist, as to how
it came heie. lt aiiived upon Chiistmas moining, in company with a good fat
goose, which is, l have no doubt, ioasting at this moment in fiont of Peteisons
ie. Te facts aie these about foui oclock on Chiistmas moining, Peteison, who,
as you know, is a veiy honest fellow, was ietuining fiom some small jollication
and was making his way homewaid down Touenham Couit Road. ln fiont of him
he saw, in the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight staggei, and caiiying a
white goose slung ovei his shouldei. As he ieached the coinei of Goodge Stieet, a
iow bioke out between this stiangei and a liule knot of ioughs. One of the lauei
knocked o the mans hat, on which he iaised his stick to defend himself and,
swinging it ovei his head, smashed the shop window behind him. Peteison had
iushed foiwaid to piotect the stiangei fiom his assailants, but the man, shocked
at having bioken the window, and seeing an ocial-looking peison in unifoim
iushing towaids him, diopped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid
the labyiinth of small stieets which lie at the back of Touenham Couit Road. Te
ioughs had also ed at the appeaiance of Peteison, so that he was lefin possession
of the eld of baule, and also of the spoils of victoiy in the shape of this baueied
hat and a most unimpeachable Chiistmas goose.
Which suiely he iestoied to theii ownei`
My deai fellow, theie lies the pioblem. lt is tiue that loi Mis. Heniy
Bakei was piinted upon a small caid which was tied to the biids lef leg, and it
is also tiue that the initials H. B. aie legible upon the lining of this hat, but as
theie aie some thousands of Bakeis, and some hundieds of Heniy Bakeis in this
city of ouis, it is not easy to iestoie lost piopeity to any one of them.
What, then, did Peteison do`
He biought iound both hat and goose to me on Chiistmas moining, know-
ing that even the smallest pioblems aie of inteiest to me. Te goose we ietained
11,
until this moining, when theie weie signs that, in spite of the slight fiost, it would
be well that it should be eaten without unnecessaiy delay. lts ndei has caiiied
it o, theiefoie, to full the ultimate destiny of a goose, while l continue to ietain
the hat of the unknown gentleman who lost his Chiistmas dinnei.
Did he not adveitise`
No.
Ten, what clue could you have as to his identity`
Only as much as we can deduce.
liom his hat`
Piecisely.
But you aie joking. What can you gathei fiom this old baueied felt`
Heie is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gathei youiself as
to the individuality of the man who has woin this aiticle`
l took the taueied object in my hands and tuined it ovei iathei iuefully.
lt was a veiy oidinaiy black hat of the usual iound shape, haid and much the
woise foi weai. Te lining had been of ied silk, but was a good deal discolouied.
Teie was no makeis name, but, as Holmes had iemaiked, the initials H. B.
weie sciawled upon one side. lt was pieiced in the biim foi a hat-secuiei, but the
elastic was missing. loi the iest, it was ciacked, exceedingly dusty, and spoued
in seveial places, although theie seemed to have been some auempt to hide the
discolouied patches by smeaiing them with ink.
l can see nothing, said l, handing it back to my fiiend.
On the contiaiy, Watson, you can see eveiything. You fail, howevei, to
ieason fiom what you see. You aie too timid in diawing youi infeiences.
Ten, piay tell me what it is that you can infei fiom this hat`
He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiai intiospective fashion which
was chaiacteiistic of him. lt is peihaps less suggestive than it might have been,
he iemaiked, and yet theie aie a few infeiences which aie veiy distinct, and
a few otheis which iepiesent at least a stiong balance of piobability. Tat the
man was highly intellectual is of couise obvious upon the face of it, and also that
he was faiily well-to-do within the last thiee yeais, although he has now fallen
upon evil days. He had foiesight, but has less now than foimeily, pointing to a
moial ietiogiession, which, when taken with the decline of his foitunes, seems to
indicate some evil inuence, piobably diink, at woik upon him. Tis may account
also foi the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love him.
My deai Holmes'
He has, howevei, ietained some degiee of self-iespect, he continued, dis-
iegaiding my iemonstiance. He is a man who leads a sedentaiy life, goes out
11s
liule, is out of tiaining entiiely, is middle-aged, has giizzled haii which he has
had cut within the last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cieam. Tese
aie the moie patent facts which aie to be deduced fiom his hat. Also, by the way,
that it is extiemely impiobable that he has gas laid on in his house.
You aie ceitainly joking, Holmes.
Not in the least. ls it possible that even now, when l give you these iesults,
you aie unable to see how they aie auained`
l have no doubt that l am veiy stupid, but l must confess that l am unable
to follow you. loi example, how did you deduce that this man was intellectual`
loi answei Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. lt came iight ovei the
foiehead and seuled upon the biidge of his nose. lt is a question of cubic capac-
ity, said he, a man with so laige a biain must have something in it.
Te decline of his foitunes, then`
Tis hat is thiee yeais old. Tese at biims cuiled at the edge came in then.
lt is a hat of the veiy best quality. Look at the band of iibbed silk and the excellent
lining. lf this man could aoid to buy so expensive a hat thiee yeais ago, and has
had no hat since, then he has assuiedly gone down in the woild.
Well, that is cleai enough, ceitainly. But how about the foiesight and the
moial ietiogiession`
Sheilock Holmes laughed. Heie is the foiesight, said he puuing his ngei
upon the liule disc and loop of the hat-secuiei. Tey aie nevei sold upon hats. lf
this man oideied one, it is a sign of a ceitain amount of foiesight, since he went
out of his way to take this piecaution against the wind. But since we see that he
has bioken the elastic and has not tioubled to ieplace it, it is obvious that he has
less foiesight now than foimeily, which is a distinct pioof of a weakening natuie.
On the othei hand, he has endeavouied to conceal some of these stains upon the
felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not entiiely lost his
self-iespect.
Youi ieasoning is ceitainly plausible.
Te fuithei points, that he is middle-aged, that his haii is giizzled, that it
has been iecently cut, and that he uses lime-cieam, aie all to be gatheied fiom
a close examination of the lowei pait of the lining. Te lens discloses a laige
numbei of haii-ends, clean cut by the scissois of the baibei. Tey all appeai to be
adhesive, and theie is a distinct odoui of lime-cieam. Tis dust, you will obseive,
is not the giiuy, giey dust of the stieet but the uy biown dust of the house,
showing that it has been hung up indoois most of the time, while the maiks of
moistuie upon the inside aie pioof positive that the weaiei peispiied veiy fieely,
and could theiefoie, haidly be in the best of tiaining.
11,
But his wifeyou said that she had ceased to love him.
Tis hat has not been biushed foi weeks. When l see you, my deai Watson,
with a weeks accumulation of dust upon youi hat, and when youi wife allows
you to go out in such a state, l shall feai that you also have been unfoitunate
enough to lose youi wifes aection.
But he might be a bacheloi.
Nay, he was biinging home the goose as a peace-oeiing to his wife. Re-
membei the caid upon the biids leg.
You have an answei to eveiything. But how on eaith do you deduce that
the gas is not laid on in his house`
One tallowstain, oi even two, might come by chance, but when l see no less
than ve, l think that theie can be liule doubt that the individual must be biought
into fiequent contact with buining tallowwalks upstaiis at night piobably with
his hat in one hand and a guueiing candle in the othei. Anyhow, he nevei got
tallow-stains fiom a gas-jet. Aie you satised`
Well, it is veiy ingenious, said l, laughing, but since, as you said just now,
theie has been no ciime commiued, and no haim done save the loss of a goose,
all this seems to be iathei a waste of eneigy.
Sheilock Holmes had opened his mouth to ieply, when the dooi ew open,
and Peteison, the commissionaiie, iushed into the apaitment with ushed cheeks
and the face of a man who is dazed with astonishment.
Te goose, Mi. Holmes' Te goose, sii' he gasped.
Eh` What of it, then` Has it ietuined to life and apped o thiough the
kitchen window` Holmes twisted himself iound upon the sofa to get a faiiei view
of the mans excited face.
See heie, sii' See what my wife found in its ciop' He held out his hand
and displayed upon the centie of the palm a biilliantly scintillating blue stone,
iathei smallei than a bean in size, but of such puiity and iadiance that it twinkled
like an electiic point in the daik hollow of his hand.
Sheilock Holmes sat up with a whistle. By Jove, Peteison' said he, this is
tieasuie tiove indeed. l suppose you know what you have got`
Adiamond, sii` Apiecious stone. lt cuts into glass as though it weie puuy.
lts moie than a piecious stone. lt is the piecious stone.
Not the Countess of Moicais blue caibuncle' l ejaculated.
Piecisely so. l ought to know its size and shape, seeing that l have iead the
adveitisement about it in e Times eveiy day lately. lt is absolutely unique, and
its value can only be conjectuied, but the iewaid oeied of i1ooo is ceitainly not
within a twentieth pait of the maiket piice.
1:o
A thousand pounds' Gieat Loid of meicy' Te commissionaiie plumped
down into a chaii and staied fiom one to the othei of us.
Tat is the iewaid, and l have ieason to know that theie aie sentimental
consideiations in the backgiound which would induce the Countess to pait with
half hei foitune if she could but iecovei the gem.
lt was lost, if l iemembei aiight, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan, l iemaiked.
Piecisely so, on Decembei ::nd, just ve days ago. John Hoinei, a plumbei,
was accused of having abstiacted it fiom the ladys jewel-case. Te evidence
against him was so stiong that the case has been iefeiied to the Assizes. l have
some account of the mauei heie, l believe. He iummaged amid his newspapeis,
glancing ovei the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, doubled it ovei, and
iead the following paiagiaph
Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbeiy. John Hoinei, :e, plumbei, was biought
up upon the chaige of having upon the ::nd inst., abstiacted fiom the jewel-case
of the Countess of Moicai the valuable gem known as the blue caibuncle. James
Rydei, uppei-auendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the eect that he had
shown Hoinei up to the diessing-ioom of the Countess of Moicai upon the day
of the iobbeiy in oidei that he might soldei the second bai of the giate, which
was loose. He had iemained with Hoinei some liule time, but had nally been
called away. On ietuining, he found that Hoinei had disappeaied, that the buieau
had been foiced open, and that the small moiocco casket in which, as it afeiwaids
tianspiied, the Countess was accustomed to keep hei jewel, was lying empty upon
the diessing-table. Rydei instantly gave the alaim, and Hoinei was aiiested the
same evening, but the stone could not be found eithei upon his peison oi in his
iooms. Catheiine Cusack, maid to the Countess, deposed to having heaid Rydeis
ciy of dismay on discoveiing the iobbeiy, and to having iushed into the ioom,
wheie she found maueis as desciibed by the last witness. lnspectoi Biadstieet, B
division, gave evidence as to the aiiest of Hoinei, who stiuggled fiantically, and
piotested his innocence in the stiongest teims. Evidence of a pievious conviction
foi iobbeiy having been given against the piisonei, the magistiate iefused to deal
summaiily with the oence, but iefeiied it to the Assizes. Hoinei, who had shown
signs of intense emotion duiing the pioceedings, fainted away at the conclusion
and was caiiied out of couit.
Hum' So much foi the police-couit, said Holmes thoughtfully, tossing
aside the papei. Te question foi us nowto solve is the sequence of events leading
fioma iied jewel-case at one end to the ciop of a goose in TouenhamCouit Road
at the othei. You see, Watson, oui liule deductions have suddenly assumed a much
moie impoitant and less innocent aspect. Heie is the stone, the stone came fiom
1:1
the goose, and the goose came fiom Mi. Heniy Bakei, the gentleman with the bad
hat and all the othei chaiacteiistics with which l have boied you. So nowwe must
set ouiselves veiy seiiously to nding this gentleman and asceitaining what pait
he has played in this liule mysteiy. To do this, we must tiy the simplest means
ist, and these lie undoubtedly in an adveitisement in all the evening papeis. lf
this fail, l shall have iecouise to othei methods.
What will you say`
Give me a pencil and that slip of papei. Now, then lound at the coinei of
Goodge Stieet, a goose and a black felt hat. Mi. Heniy Bakei can have the same
by applying at eo this evening at ::1B, Bakei Stieet. Tat is cleai and concise.
Veiy. But will he see it`
Well, he is suie to keep an eye on the papeis, since, to a pooi man, the
loss was a heavy one. He was cleaily so scaied by his mischance in bieaking the
windowand by the appioach of Peteison that he thought of nothing but ight, but
since then he must have biueily iegieued the impulse which caused him to diop
his biid. Ten, again, the intioduction of his name will cause him to see it, foi
eveiyone who knows him will diiect his auention to it. Heie you aie, Peteison,
iun down to the adveitising agency and have this put in the evening papeis.
ln which, sii`
Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. Jamess, Evening News, Standard, Eo,
and any otheis that occui to you.
Veiy well, sii. And this stone`
Ah, yes, l shall keep the stone. Tank you. And, l say, Peteison, just buy a
goose on youi way back and leave it heie with me, foi we must have one to give
to this gentleman in place of the one which youi family is now devouiing.
When the commissionaiie had gone, Holmes took up the stone and held it
against the light. lts a bonny thing, said he. Just see how it glints and spaikles.
Of couise it is a nucleus and focus of ciime. Eveiy good stone is. Tey aie the
devils pet baits. ln the laigei and oldei jewels eveiy facet may stand foi a bloody
deed. Tis stone is not yet twenty yeais old. lt was found in the banks of the Amoy
Rivei in southein China and is iemaikable in having eveiy chaiacteiistic of the
caibuncle, save that it is blue in shade instead of iuby ied. ln spite of its youth, it
has alieady a sinistei histoiy. Teie have been two muideis, a vitiiol-thiowing, a
suicide, and seveial iobbeiies biought about foi the sake of this foity-giain weight
of ciystallised chaicoal. Who would think that so pieuy a toy would be a puiveyoi
to the gallows and the piison` lll lock it up in my stiong box now and diop a line
to the Countess to say that we have it.
Do you think that this man Hoinei is innocent`
1::
l cannot tell.
Well, then, do you imagine that this othei one, Heniy Bakei, had anything
to do with the mauei`
lt is, l think, much moie likely that Heniy Bakei is an absolutely innocent
man, who had no idea that the biid which he was caiiying was of consideiably
moie value than if it weie made of solid gold. Tat, howevei, l shall deteimine by
a veiy simple test if we have an answei to oui adveitisement.
And you can do nothing until then`
Nothing.
ln that case l shall continue my piofessional iound. But l shall come back
in the evening at the houi you have mentioned, foi l should like to see the solution
of so tangled a business.
Veiy glad to see you. l dine at seven. Teie is a woodcock, l believe. By
the way, in view of iecent occuiiences, peihaps l ought to ask Mis. Hudson to
examine its ciop.
l had been delayed at a case, and it was a liule afei half-past six when l
found myself in Bakei Stieet once moie. As l appioached the house l saw a tall
man in a Scotch bonnet with a coat which was buuoned up to his chin waiting
outside in the biight semiciicle which was thiown fiom the fanlight. Just as l
aiiived the dooi was opened, and we weie shown up togethei to Holmes ioom.
Mi. Heniy Bakei, l believe, said he, iising fiom his aimchaii and gieeting
his visitoi with the easy aii of geniality which he could so ieadily assume. Piay
take this chaii by the ie, Mi. Bakei. lt is a cold night, and l obseive that youi
ciiculation is moie adapted foi summei than foi wintei. Ah, Watson, you have
just come at the iight time. ls that youi hat, Mi. Bakei`
Yes, sii, that is undoubtedly my hat.
He was a laige man with iounded shouldeis, a massive head, and a bioad,
intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beaid of giizzled biown. Atouch of ied
in nose and cheeks, with a slight tiemoi of his extended hand, iecalled Holmes
suimise as to his habits. His iusty black fiock-coat was buuoned iight up in fiont,
with the collai tuined up, and his lank wiists piotiuded fiom his sleeves without
a sign of cu oi shiit. He spoke in a slow staccato fashion, choosing his woids
with caie, and gave the impiession geneially of a man of leaining and leueis who
had had ill-usage at the hands of foitune.
We have ietained these things foi some days, said Holmes, because we
expected to see an adveitisement fiom you giving youi addiess. l am at a loss to
know now why you did not adveitise.
Oui visitoi gave a iathei shamefaced laugh. Shillings have not been so
1:
plentiful with me as they once weie, he iemaiked. l had no doubt that the gang
of ioughs who assaulted me had caiiied o both my hat and the biid. l did not
caie to spend moie money in a hopeless auempt at iecoveiing them.
Veiy natuially. By the way, about the biid, we weie compelled to eat it.
To eat it' Oui visitoi half iose fiom his chaii in his excitement.
Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. But l
piesume that this othei goose upon the sideboaid, which is about the same weight
and peifectly fiesh, will answei youi puipose equally well`
Oh, ceitainly, ceitainly, answeied Mi. Bakei with a sigh of ielief.
Of couise, we still have the featheis, legs, ciop, and so on of youi own biid,
so if you wish
Te man buist into a heaity laugh. Tey might be useful to me as ielics
of my adventuie, said he, but beyond that l can haidly see what use the disjecta
membra of my late acquaintance aie going to be to me. No, sii, l think that, with
youi peimission, l will conne my auentions to the excellent biid which l peiceive
upon the sideboaid.
Sheilock Holmes glanced shaiply acioss at me with a slight shiug of his
shouldeis.
Teie is youi hat, then, and theie youi biid, said he. By the way, would it
boie you to tell me wheie you got the othei one fiom` l am somewhat of a fowl
fanciei, and l have seldom seen a beuei giown goose.
Ceitainly, sii, said Bakei, who had iisen and tucked his newly gained piop-
eity undei his aim. Teie aie a few of us who fiequent the Alpha lnn, neai the
Museumwe aie to be found in the Museum itself duiing the day, you undei-
stand. Tis yeai oui good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by
which, on consideiation of some few pence eveiy week, we weie each to ieceive
a biid at Chiistmas. My pence weie duly paid, and the iest is familiai to you. l
am much indebted to you, sii, foi a Scotch bonnet is ued neithei to my yeais noi
my giavity. With a comical pomposity of mannei he bowed solemnly to both of
us and stiode o upon his way.
So much foi Mi. Heniy Bakei, said Holmes when he had closed the dooi
behind him. lt is quite ceitain that he knows nothing whatevei about the mauei.
Aie you hungiy, Watson`
Not paiticulaily.
Ten l suggest that we tuin oui dinnei into a suppei and follow up this
clue while it is still hot.
By all means.
lt was a biuei night, so we diew on oui ulsteis and wiapped ciavats about
1:
oui thioats. Outside, the stais weie shining coldly in a cloudless sky, and the
bieath of the passeis-by blew out into smoke like so many pistol shots. Oui foot-
falls iang out ciisply and loudly as we swung thiough the doctois quaitei, Wim-
pole Stieet, Hailey Stieet, and so thiough Wigmoie Stieet into Oxfoid Stieet. ln
a quaitei of an houi we weie in Bloomsbuiy at the Alpha lnn, which is a small
public-house at the coinei of one of the stieets which iuns down into Holboin.
Holmes pushed open the dooi of the piivate bai and oideied two glasses of beei
fiom the iuddy-faced, white-apioned landloid.
Youi beei should be excellent if it is as good as youi geese, said he.
My geese' Te man seemed suipiised.
Yes. l was speaking only half an houi ago to Mi. Heniy Bakei, who was a
membei of youi goose club.
Ah' yes, l see. But you see, sii, thems not our geese.
lndeed' Whose, then`
Well, l got the two dozen fiom a salesman in Covent Gaiden.
lndeed` l know some of them. Which was it`
Bieckiniidge is his name.
Ah' l dont know him. Well, heies youi good health landloid, and pios-
peiity to youi house. Good-night.
Nowfoi Mi. Bieckiniidge, he continued, buuoning up his coat as we came
out into the fiosty aii. Remembei, Watson that though we have so homely a
thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we have at the othei a man who will
ceitainly get seven yeais penal seivitude unless we can establish his innocence.
lt is possible that oui inquiiy may but conim his guilt, but, in any case, we have
a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, and which a singulai
chance has placed in oui hands. Let us follow it out to the biuei end. laces to the
south, then, and quick maich'
We passed acioss Holboin, down Endell Stieet, and so thiough a zigzag
of slums to Covent Gaiden Maiket. One of the laigest stalls boie the name of
Bieckiniidge upon it, and the piopiietoi a hoisey-looking man, with a shaip face
and tiim side-whiskeis was helping a boy to put up the shuueis.
Good-evening. lts a cold night, said Holmes.
Te salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my companion.
Sold out of geese, l see, continued Holmes, pointing at the baie slabs of
maible.
Let you have ve hundied to-moiiow moining.
Tats no good.
Well, theie aie some on the stall with the gas-aie.
1:
Ah, but l was iecommended to you.
Who by`
Te landloid of the Alpha.
Oh, yes, l sent him a couple of dozen.
line biids they weie, too. Now wheie did you get them fiom`
To my suipiise the question piovoked a buist of angei fiom the salesman.
Now, then, mistei, said he, with his head cocked and his aims akimbo,
what aie you diiving at` Lets have it stiaight, now.
lt is stiaight enough. l should like to know who sold you the geese which
you supplied to the Alpha.
Well then, l shant tell you. So now'
Oh, it is a mauei of no impoitance, but l dont know why you should be
so waim ovei such a tiie.
Waim' Youd be as waim, maybe, if you weie as pesteied as l am. When
l pay good money foi a good aiticle theie should be an end of the business, but
its Wheie aie the geese` and Who did you sell the geese to` and What will
you take foi the geese` One would think they weie the only geese in the woild,
to heai the fuss that is made ovei them.
Well, l have no connection with any othei people who have been making
inquiiies, said Holmes caielessly. lf you wont tell us the bet is o, that is all.
But lm always ieady to back my opinion on a mauei of fowls, and l have a vei
on it that the biid l ate is countiy bied.
Well, then, youve lost youi vei, foi its town bied, snapped the salesman.
lts nothing of the kind.
l say it is.
l dont believe it.
Dyou think you know moie about fowls than l, who have handled them
evei since l was a nippei` l tell you, all those biids that went to the Alpha weie
town bied.
Youll nevei peisuade me to believe that.
Will you bet, then`
lts meiely taking youi money, foi l know that l am iight. But lll have a
soveieign on with you, just to teach you not to be obstinate.
Te salesman chuckled giimly. Biing me the books, Bill, said he.
Te small boy biought iound a small thin volume and a gieat gieasy-backed
one, laying them out togethei beneath the hanging lamp.
Now then, Mi. Cocksuie, said the salesman, l thought that l was out of
geese, but befoie l nish youll nd that theie is still one lef in my shop. You see
1:e
this liule book`
Well`
Tats the list of the folk fiom whom l buy. Dyou see` Well, then, heie
on this page aie the countiy folk, and the numbeis afei theii names aie wheie
theii accounts aie in the big ledgei. Now, then' You see this othei page in ied
ink` Well, that is a list of my town supplieis. Now, look at that thiid name. Just
iead it out to me.
Mis. Oakshou, 11,, Biixton Road:,, iead Holmes.
Qite so. Now tuin that up in the ledgei.
Holmes tuined to the page indicated. Heie you aie, Mis. Oakshou, 11,,
Biixton Road, egg and poultiy suppliei.
Now, then, whats the last entiy`
Decembei ::nd. Twenty-foui geese at ,*s*. e*d*.
Qite so. Teie you aie. And undeineath`
Sold to Mi. Windigate of the Alpha, at 1:*s*.
What have you to say now`
Sheilock Holmes looked deeply chagiined. He diew a soveieign fiom his
pocket and thiewit down upon the slab, tuining away with the aii of a man whose
disgust is too deep foi woids. A few yaids o he stopped undei a lamp-post and
laughed in the heaity, noiseless fashion which was peculiai to him.
When you see a man with whiskeis of that cut and the Pink un piotiuding
out of his pocket, you can always diaw him by a bet, said he. l daiesay that if
l had put i1oo down in fiont of him, that man would not have given me such
complete infoimation as was diawn fiom him by the idea that he was doing me
on a wagei. Well, Watson, we aie, l fancy, neaiing the end of oui quest, and the
only point which iemains to be deteimined is whethei we should go on to this
Mis. Oakshou to-night, oi whethei we should ieseive it foi to-moiiow. lt is cleai
fiom what that suily fellow said that theie aie otheis besides ouiselves who aie
anxious about the mauei, and l should
His iemaiks weie suddenly cut shoit by a loud hubbub which bioke out
fiom the stall which we had just lef. Tuining iound we saw a liule iat-faced
fellow standing in the centie of the ciicle of yellow light which was thiown by
the swinging lamp, while Bieckiniidge, the salesman, fiamed in the dooi of his
stall, was shaking his sts eicely at the ciinging guie.
lve had enough of you and youi geese, he shouted. l wish you weie all
at the devil togethei. lf you come pesteiing me any moie with youi silly talk lll
set the dog at you. You biing Mis. Oakshou heie and lll answei hei, but what
have you to do with it` Did l buy the geese o you`
1:,
No, but one of them was mine all the same, whined the liule man.
Well, then, ask Mis. Oakshou foi it.
She told me to ask you.
Well, you can ask the King of Pioosia, foi all l caie. lve had enough of it.
Get out of this' He iushed eicely foiwaid, and the inquiiei iued away into the
daikness.
Ha' this may save us a visit to Biixton Road, whispeied Holmes. Come
with me, and we will see what is to be made of this fellow. Stiiding thiough the
scaueied knots of people who lounged iound the aiing stalls, my companion
speedily oveitook the liule man and touched him upon the shouldei. He spiang
iound, and l could see in the gas-light that eveiy vestige of coloui had been diiven
fiom his face.
Who aie you, then` What do you want` he asked in a quaveiing voice.
You will excuse me, said Holmes blandly, but l could not help oveiheaiing
the questions which you put to the salesman just now. l think that l could be of
assistance to you.
You` Who aie you` How could you know anything of the mauei`
My name is Sheilock Holmes. lt is my business to know what othei people
dont know.
But you can know nothing of this`
Excuse me, l know eveiything of it. You aie endeavouiing to tiace some
geese which weie sold by Mis. Oakshou, of Biixton Road, to a salesman named
Bieckiniidge, by him in tuin to Mi. Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his
club, of which Mi. Heniy Bakei is a membei.
Oh, sii, you aie the veiy man whom l have longed to meet, ciied the liule
fellow with outstietched hands and quiveiing ngeis. l can haidly explain to
you how inteiested l am in this mauei.
Sheilock Holmes hailed a foui-wheelei which was passing. ln that case we
had beuei discuss it in a cosy ioom iathei than in this wind-swept maiket-place,
said he. But piay tell me, befoie we go faithei, who it is that l have the pleasuie
of assisting.
Te man hesitated foi an instant. My name is John Robinson, he answeied
with a sidelong glance.
No, no, the ieal name, said Holmes sweetly. lt is always awkwaid doing
business with an alias.
A ush spiang to the white cheeks of the stiangei. Well then, said he, my
ieal name is James Rydei.
Piecisely so. Head auendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Piay step into
1:s
the cab, and l shall soon be able to tell you eveiything which you would wish to
know.
Te liule man stood glancing fiom one to the othei of us with half-
fiightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not suie whethei he is on the veige
of a windfall oi of a catastiophe. Ten he stepped into the cab, and in half an houi
we weie back in the siuing-ioom at Bakei Stieet. Nothing had been said duiing
oui diive, but the high, thin bieathing of oui new companion, and the claspings
and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the neivous tension within him.
Heie we aie' said Holmes cheeiily as we led into the ioom. Te ie
looks veiy seasonable in this weathei. You look cold, Mi. Rydei. Piay take the
basket-chaii. l will just put on my slippeis befoie we seule this liule mauei of
youis. Now, then' You want to know what became of those geese`
Yes, sii.
Oi iathei, l fancy, of that goose. lt was one biid, l imagine in which you
weie inteiestedwhite, with a black bai acioss the tail.
Rydei quiveied with emotion. Oh, sii, he ciied, can you tell me wheie it
went to`
lt came heie.
Heie`
Yes, and a most iemaikable biid it pioved. l dont wondei that you should
take an inteiest in it. lt laid an egg afei it was deadthe bonniest, biightest liule
blue egg that evei was seen. l have it heie in my museum.
Oui visitoi staggeied to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece with his iight
hand. Holmes unlocked his stiong-box and held up the blue caibuncle, which
shone out like a stai, with a cold, biilliant, many-pointed iadiance. Rydei stood
glaiing with a diawn face, unceitain whethei to claim oi to disown it.
Te games up, Rydei, said Holmes quietly. Hold up, man, oi youll be
into the ie' Give him an aim back into his chaii, Watson. Hes not got blood
enough to go in foi felony with impunity. Give him a dash of biandy. So' Now
he looks a liule moie human. What a shiimp it is, to be suie'
loi a moment he had staggeied and neaily fallen, but the biandy biought
a tinge of coloui into his cheeks, and he sat staiing with fiightened eyes at his
accusei.
l have almost eveiy link in my hands, and all the pioofs which l could
possibly need, so theie is liule which you need tell me. Still, that liule may as
well be cleaied up to make the case complete. You had heaid, Rydei, of this blue
stone of the Countess of Moicais`
lt was Catheiine Cusack who told me of it, said he in a ciackling voice.
1:,
l seehei ladyships waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of sudden wealth
so easily acquiied was too much foi you, as it has been foi beuei men befoie you,
but you weie not veiy sciupulous in the means you used. lt seems to me, Rydei,
that theie is the making of a veiy pieuy villain in you. You knew that this man
Hoinei, the plumbei, had been conceined in some such mauei befoie, and that
suspicion would iest the moie ieadily upon him. What did you do, then` You
made some small job in my ladys ioomyou and youi confedeiate Cusackand
you managed that he should be the man sent foi. Ten, when he had lef, you
iied the jewel-case, iaised the alaim, and had this unfoitunate man aiiested.
You then
Rydei thiew himself down suddenly upon the iug and clutched at my com-
panions knees. loi Gods sake, have meicy' he shiieked. Tink of my fathei'
Of my mothei' lt would bieak theii heaits. l nevei went wiong befoie' l nevei
will again. l sweai it. lll sweai it on a Bible. Oh, dont biing it into couit' loi
Chiists sake, dont'
Get back into youi chaii' said Holmes steinly. lt is veiy well to ciinge
and ciawl now, but you thought liule enough of this pooi Hoinei in the dock foi
a ciime of which he knew nothing.
l will y, Mi. Holmes. l will leave the countiy, sii. Ten the chaige against
him will bieak down.
Hum' We will talk about that. And now let us heai a tiue account of the
next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came the goose into the
open maiket` Tell us the tiuth, foi theie lies youi only hope of safety.
Rydei passed his tongue ovei his paiched lips. l will tell you it just as it
happened, sii, said he. When Hoinei had been aiiested, it seemed to me that it
would be best foi me to get away with the stone at once, foi l did not know at
what moment the police might not take it into theii heads to seaich me and my
ioom. Teie was no place about the hotel wheie it would be safe. l went out,
as if on some commission, and l made foi my sisteis house. She had maiiied a
man named Oakshou, and lived in Biixton Road, wheie she fauened fowls foi the
maiket. All the way theie eveiy man l met seemed to me to be a policeman oi a
detective, and, foi all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouiing down my
face befoie l came to the Biixton Road. My sistei asked me what was the mauei,
and why l was so pale, but l told hei that l had been upset by the jewel iobbeiy at
the hotel. Ten l went into the back yaid and smoked a pipe and wondeied what
it would be best to do.
l had a fiiend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and has just been
seiving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met me, and fell into talk about
1o
the ways of thieves, and how they could get iid of what they stole. l knew that
he would be tiue to me, foi l knew one oi two things about him, so l made up my
mind to go iight on to Kilbuin, wheie he lived, and take him into my condence.
He would show me how to tuin the stone into money. But how to get to him in
safety` l thought of the agonies l had gone thiough in coming fiom the hotel. l
might at any moment be seized and seaiched, and theie would be the stone in my
waistcoat pocket. l was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at the
geese which weie waddling about iound my feet, and suddenly an idea came into
my head which showed me how l could beat the best detective that evei lived.
My sistei had told me some weeks befoie that l might have the pick of hei
geese foi a Chiistmas piesent, and l knew that she was always as good as hei
woid. l would take my goose now, and in it l would caiiy my stone to Kilbuin.
Teie was a liule shed in the yaid, and behind this l diove one of the biidsa ne
big one, white, with a baiied tail. l caught it, and piying its bill open, l thiust the
stone down its thioat as fai as my ngei could ieach. Te biid gave a gulp, and l
felt the stone pass along its gullet and down into its ciop. But the cieatuie apped
and stiuggled, and out came my sistei to know what was the mauei. As l tuined
to speak to hei the biute bioke loose and uueied o among the otheis.
Whatevei weie you doing with that biid, Jem` says she.
Well, said l, you said youd give me one foi Chiistmas, and l was feeling
which was the fauest.
Oh, says she, weve set youis aside foi youJems biid, we call it. lts the
big white one ovei yondei. Teies twenty-six of them, which makes one foi you,
and one foi us, and two dozen foi the maiket.
Tank you, Maggie, says l, but if it is all the same to you, ld iathei have
that one l was handling just now.
Te othei is a good thiee pound heaviei, said she, and we fauened it
expiessly foi you.
Nevei mind. lll have the othei, and lll take it now, said l.
Oh, just as you like, said she, a liule hued. Which is it you want, then`
Tat white one with the baiied tail, iight in the middle of the ock.
Oh, veiy well. Kill it and take it with you.
Well, l did what she said, Mi. Holmes, and l caiiied the biid all the way to
Kilbuin. l told my pal what l had done, foi 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 heait tuined to watei, foi theie was no sign of the stone, and l knew
that some teiiible mistake had occuiied. l lef the biid, iushed back to my sisteis,
and huiiied into the back yaid. Teie was not a biid to be seen theie.
11
Wheie aie they all, Maggie` l ciied.
Gone to the dealeis, Jem.
Which dealeis`
Bieckiniidge, of Covent Gaiden.
But was theie anothei with a baiied tail` l asked, the same as the one l
chose`
Yes, Jem, theie weie two baiied-tailed ones, and l could nevei tell them
apait.
Well, then, of couise l sawit all, and l ian o as haid as my feet would caiiy
me to this man Bieckiniidge, but he had sold the lot at once, and not one woid
would he tell me as to wheie they had gone. You heaid him youiselves to-night.
Well, he has always answeied me like that. My sistei thinks that l am going mad.
Sometimes l think that l am myself. And nowand now l am myself a bianded
thief, without evei having touched the wealth foi which l sold my chaiactei. God
help me' God help me' He buist into convulsive sobbing, with his face buiied in
his hands.
Teie was a long silence, bioken only by his heavy bieathing and by the
measuied tapping of Sheilock Holmes ngei-tips upon the edge of the table. Ten
my fiiend iose and thiew open the dooi.
Get out' said he.
What, sii' Oh, Heaven bless you'
No moie woids. Get out'
And no moie woids weie needed. Teie was a iush, a clauei upon the staiis,
the bang of a dooi, and the ciisp iaule of iunning footfalls fiom the stieet.
Afei all, Watson, said Holmes, ieaching up his hand foi his clay pipe,
l am not ietained by the police to supply theii deciencies. lf Hoinei weie in
dangei it would be anothei thing, but this fellow will not appeai against him,
and the case must collapse. l suppose that l am commuting a felony, but it is just
possible that l am saving a soul. Tis fellow will not go wiong again, he is too
teiiibly fiightened. Send him to gaol now, and you make him a gaol-biid foi life.
Besides, it is the season of foigiveness. Chance has put in oui way a most singulai
and whimsical pioblem, and its solution is its own iewaid. lf you will have the
goodness to touch the bell, Doctoi, we will begin anothei investigation, in which,
also a biid will be the chief featuie.
Te Adventure of the SpeHled
Band
On glancing ovei my notes of the seventy odd cases in which l have duiing the
last eight yeais studied the methods of my fiiend Sheilock Holmes, l nd many
tiagic, some comic, a laige numbei meiely stiange, but none commonplace, foi,
woiking as he did iathei foi the love of his ait than foi the acquiiement of wealth,
he iefused to associate himself with any investigation which did not tend towaids
the unusual, and even the fantastic. Of all these vaiied cases, howevei, l cannot
iecall any which piesented moie singulai featuies than that which was associated
with the well-known Suiiey family of the Roylous of Stoke Moian. Te events
in question occuiied in the eaily days of my association with Holmes, when we
weie shaiing iooms as bachelois in Bakei Stieet. lt is possible that l might have
placed them upon iecoid befoie, but a piomise of seciecy was made at the time,
fiom which l have only been fieed duiing the last month by the untimely death of
the lady to whom the pledge was given. lt is peihaps as well that the facts should
now come to light, foi l have ieasons to know that theie aie widespiead iumouis
as to the death of Di. Giimesby Roylou which tend to make the mauei even moie
teiiible than the tiuth.
lt was eaily in Apiil in the yeai s that l woke one moining to nd Sheilock
Holmes standing, fully diessed, by the side of my bed. He was a late iisei, as a iule,
and as the clock on the mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quaitei-past
seven, l blinked up at him in some suipiise, and peihaps just a liule iesentment,
foi l was myself iegulai in my habits.
Veiy soiiy to knock you up, Watson, said he, but its the common lot this
moining. Mis. Hudson has been knocked up, she ietoited upon me, and l on you.
What is it, thena ie`
No, a client. lt seems that a young lady has aiiived in a consideiable state
1
of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She is waiting nowin the siuing-ioom.
Now, when young ladies wandei about the metiopolis at this houi of the moining,
and knock sleepy people up out of theii beds, l piesume that it is something veiy
piessing which they have to communicate. Should it piove to be an inteiesting
case, you would, l am suie, wish to follow it fiom the outset. l thought, at any
iate, that l should call you and give you the chance.
My deai fellow, l would not miss it foi anything.
l had no keenei pleasuie than in following Holmes in his piofessional in-
vestigations, and in admiiing the iapid deductions, as swif as intuitions, and yet
always founded on a logical basis with which he uniavelled the pioblems which
weie submiued to him. l iapidly thiew on my clothes and was ieady in a few
minutes to accompany my fiiend down to the siuing-ioom. A lady diessed in
black and heavily veiled, who had been siuing in the window, iose as we enteied.
Good-moining, madam, said Holmes cheeiily. My name is Sheilock
Holmes. Tis is my intimate fiiend and associate, Di. Watson, befoie whom you
can speak as fieely as befoie myself. Ha' l am glad to see that Mis. Hudson has
had the good sense to light the ie. Piay diaw up to it, and l shall oidei you a
cup of hot coee, foi l obseive that you aie shiveiing.
lt is not cold which makes me shivei, said the woman in a lowvoice, chang-
ing hei seat as iequested.
What, then`
lt is feai, Mi. Holmes. lt is teiioi. She iaised hei veil as she spoke, and we
could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, hei face all diawn
and giey, with iestless fiightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Hei
featuies and guie weie those of a woman of thiity, but hei haii was shot with
piematuie giey, and hei expiession was weaiy and haggaid. Sheilock Holmes
ian hei ovei with one of his quick, all-compiehensive glances.
You must not feai, said he soothingly, bending foiwaid and pauing hei
foieaim. We shall soon set maueis iight, l have no doubt. You have come in by
tiain this moining, l see.
You know me, then`
No, but l obseive the second half of a ietuin ticket in the palm of youi lef
glove. You must have staited eaily, and yet you had a good diive in a dog-cait,
along heavy ioads, befoie you ieached the station.
Te lady gave a violent stait and staied in bewildeiment at my companion.
Teie is no mysteiy, my deai madam, said he, smiling. Te lef aim of
youi jacket is spaueied with mud in no less than seven places. Te maiks aie
peifectly fiesh. Teie is no vehicle save a dog-cait which thiows up mud in that
1
way, and then only when you sit on the lef-hand side of the diivei.
Whatevei youi ieasons may be, you aie peifectly coiiect, said she. l
staited fiom home befoie six, ieached Leatheihead at twenty past, and came in
by the ist tiain to Wateiloo. Sii, l can stand this stiain no longei, l shall go mad
if it continues. l have no one to tuin tonone, save only one, who caies foi me,
and he, pooi fellow, can be of liule aid. l have heaid of you, Mi. Holmes, l have
heaid of you fiom Mis. laiintosh, whom you helped in the houi of hei soie need.
lt was fiom hei that l had youi addiess. Oh, sii, do you not think that you could
help me, too, and at least thiow a liule light thiough the dense daikness which
suiiounds me` At piesent it is out of my powei to iewaid you foi youi seivices,
but in a month oi six weeks l shall be maiiied, with the contiol of my own income,
and then at least you shall not nd me ungiateful.
Holmes tuined to his desk and, unlocking it, diew out a small case-book,
which he consulted.
laiintosh, said he. Ah yes, l iecall the case, it was conceined with an
opal tiaia. l think it was befoie youi time, Watson. l can only say, madam, that l
shall be happy to devote the same caie to youi case as l did to that of youi fiiend.
As to iewaid, my piofession is its own iewaid, but you aie at libeity to defiay
whatevei expenses l may be put to, at the time which suits you best. And now l
beg that you will lay befoie us eveiything that may help us in foiming an opinion
upon the mauei.
Alas' ieplied oui visitoi, the veiy hoiioi of my situation lies in the fact
that my feais aie so vague, and my suspicions depend so entiiely upon small
points, which might seem tiivial to anothei, that even he to whom of all otheis l
have a iight to look foi help and advice looks upon all that l tell him about it as
the fancies of a neivous woman. He does not say so, but l can iead it fiom his
soothing answeis and aveited eyes. But l have heaid, Mi. Holmes, that you can
see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heait. You may advise me
how to walk amid the dangeis which encompass me.
l am all auention, madam.
My name is Helen Stonei, and l am living with my stepfathei, who is the
last suivivoi of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the Roylous of Stoke
Moian, on the westein boidei of Suiiey.
Holmes nodded his head. Te name is familiai to me, said he.
Te family was at one time among the iichest in England, and the estates
extended ovei the boideis into Beikshiie in the noith, and Hampshiie in the west.
ln the last centuiy, howevei, foui successive heiis weie of a dissolute and wasteful
disposition, and the family iuin was eventually completed by a gamblei in the
1e
days of the Regency. Nothing was lef save a few acies of giound, and the two-
hundied-yeai-old house, which is itself ciushed undei a heavy moitgage. Te last
squiie diagged out his existence theie, living the hoiiible life of an aiistociatic
paupei, but his only son, my stepfathei, seeing that he must adapt himself to the
new conditions, obtained an advance fiom a ielative, which enabled him to take a
medical degiee and went out to Calcuua, wheie, by his piofessional skill and his
foice of chaiactei, he established a laige piactice. ln a t of angei, howevei, caused
by some iobbeiies which had been peipetiated in the house, he beat his native
butlei to death and naiiowly escaped a capital sentence. As it was, he sueied
a long teim of impiisonment and afeiwaids ietuined to England a moiose and
disappointed man.
When Di. Roylou was in lndia he maiiied my mothei, Mis. Stonei, the
young widow of Majoi-Geneial Stonei, of the Bengal Aitilleiy. My sistei Julia
and l weie twins, and we weie only two yeais old at the time of my motheis ie-
maiiiage. She had a consideiable sum of moneynot less than i1ooo a yeaiand
this she bequeathed to Di. Roylou entiiely while we iesided with him, with a
piovision that a ceitain annual sumshould be allowed to each of us in the event of
oui maiiiage. Shoitly afei oui ietuin to England my mothei diedshe was killed
eight yeais ago in a iailway accident neai Ciewe. Di. Roylou then abandoned his
auempts to establish himself in piactice in London and took us to live with him in
the old ancestial house at Stoke Moian. Te money which my mothei had lef was
enough foi all oui wants, and theie seemed to be no obstacle to oui happiness.
But a teiiible change came ovei oui stepfathei about this time. lnstead
of making fiiends and exchanging visits with oui neighbouis, who had at ist
been oveijoyed to see a Roylou of Stoke Moian back in the old family seat, he
shut himself up in his house and seldom came out save to indulge in feiocious
quaiiels with whoevei might cioss his path. Violence of tempei appioaching to
mania has been heieditaiy in the men of the family, and in my stepfatheis case
it had, l believe, been intensied by his long iesidence in the tiopics. A seiies of
disgiaceful biawls took place, two of which ended in the police-couit, until at last
he became the teiioi of the village, and the folks would y at his appioach, foi he
is a man of immense stiength, and absolutely uncontiollable in his angei.
Last week he huiled the local blacksmith ovei a paiapet into a stieam, and
it was only by paying ovei all the money which l could gathei togethei that l was
able to aveit anothei public exposuie. He had no fiiends at all save the wandeiing
gipsies, and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few acies
of biamble-coveied land which iepiesent the family estate, and would accept in
ietuin the hospitality of theii tents, wandeiing away with them sometimes foi
1,
weeks on end. He has a passion also foi lndian animals, which aie sent ovei to
himby a coiiespondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which
wandei fieely ovei his giounds and aie feaied by the villageis almost as much as
theii mastei.
You can imagine fiom what l say that my pooi sistei Julia and l had no
gieat pleasuie in oui lives. No seivant would stay with us, and foi a long time we
did all the woik of the house. She was but thiity at the time of hei death, and yet
hei haii had alieady begun to whiten, even as mine has.
Youi sistei is dead, then`
She died just two yeais ago, and it is of hei death that l wish to speak to
you. You can undeistand that, living the life which l have desciibed, we weie
liule likely to see anyone of oui own age and position. We had, howevei, an aunt,
my motheis maiden sistei, Miss Honoiia Westphail, who lives neai Haiiow, and
we weie occasionally allowed to pay shoit visits at this ladys house. Julia went
theie at Chiistmas two yeais ago, and met theie a half-pay majoi of maiines, to
whom she became engaged. My stepfathei leained of the engagement when my
sistei ietuined and oeied no objection to the maiiiage, but within a foitnight of
the day which had been xed foi the wedding, the teiiible event occuiied which
has depiived me of my only companion.
Sheilock Holmes had been leaning back in his chaii with his eyes closed and
his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his lids now and glanced acioss at
his visitoi.
Piay be piecise as to details, said he.
lt is easy foi me to be so, foi eveiy event of that dieadful time is seaied
into my memoiy. Te manoi-house is, as l have alieady said, veiy old, and only
one wing is now inhabited. Te bediooms in this wing aie on the giound ooi,
the siuing-iooms being in the cential block of the buildings. Of these bediooms
the ist is Di. Roylous, the second my sisteis, and the thiid my own. Teie is
no communication between them, but they all open out into the same coiiidoi.
Do l make myself plain`
Peifectly so.
Te windows of the thiee iooms open out upon the lawn. Tat fatal night
Di. Roylou had gone to his ioom eaily, though we knew that he had not ietiied
to iest, foi my sistei was tioubled by the smell of the stiong lndian cigais which
it was his custom to smoke. She lef hei ioom, theiefoie, and came into mine,
wheie she sat foi some time, chauing about hei appioaching wedding. At eleven
oclock she iose to leave me, but she paused at the dooi and looked back.
Tell me, Helen, said she, have you evei heaid anyone whistle in the dead
1s
of the night`
Nevei, said l.
l suppose that you could not possibly whistle, youiself, in youi sleep`
Ceitainly not. But why`
Because duiing the last fewnights l have always, about thiee in the moin-
ing, heaid a low, cleai whistle. l am a light sleepei, and it has awakened me. l
cannot tell wheie it came fiompeihaps fiom the next ioom, peihaps fiom the
lawn. l thought that l would just ask you whethei you had heaid it.
No, l have not. lt must be those wietched gipsies in the plantation.
Veiy likely. And yet if it weie on the lawn, l wondei that you did not heai
it also.
Ah, but l sleep moie heavily than you.
Well, it is of no gieat consequence, at any iate. She smiled back at me,
closed my dooi, and a few moments latei l heaid hei key tuin in the lock.
lndeed, said Holmes. Was it youi custom always to lock youiselves in at
night`
Always.
And why`
l think that l mentioned to you that the doctoi kept a cheetah and a baboon.
We had no feeling of secuiity unless oui doois weie locked.
Qite so. Piay pioceed with youi statement.
l could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending misfoitune im-
piessed me. My sistei and l, you will iecollect, weie twins, and you know how
subtle aie the links which bind two souls which aie so closely allied. lt was a
wild night. Te wind was howling outside, and the iain was beating and splash-
ing against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, theie buist
foith the wild scieam of a teiiied woman. l knew that it was my sisteis voice.
l spiang fiom my bed, wiapped a shawl iound me, and iushed into the coiiidoi.
As l opened my dooi l seemed to heai a low whistle, such as my sistei desciibed,
and a few moments latei a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen. As l
ian down the passage, my sisteis dooi was unlocked, and ievolved slowly upon
its hinges. l staied at it hoiioi-stiicken, not knowing what was about to issue
fiom it. By the light of the coiiidoi-lamp l saw my sistei appeai at the open-
ing, hei face blanched with teiioi, hei hands gioping foi help, hei whole guie
swaying to and fio like that of a diunkaid. l ian to hei and thiew my aims iound
hei, but at that moment hei knees seemed to give way and she fell to the giound.
She wiithed as one who is in teiiible pain, and hei limbs weie dieadfully con-
vulsed. At ist l thought that she had not iecognised me, but as l bent ovei hei
1,
she suddenly shiieked out in a voice which l shall nevei foiget, Oh, my God'
Helen' lt was the band' Te speckled band' Teie was something else which
she would fain have said, and she stabbed with hei ngei into the aii in the di-
iection of the doctois ioom, but a fiesh convulsion seized hei and choked hei
woids. l iushed out, calling loudly foi my stepfathei, and l met him hastening
fiom his ioom in his diessing-gown. When he ieached my sisteis side she was
unconscious, and though he pouied biandy down hei thioat and sent foi medical
aid fiom the village, all eoits weie in vain, foi she slowly sank and died without
having iecoveied hei consciousness. Such was the dieadful end of my beloved
sistei.
One moment, said Holmes, aie you suie about this whistle and metallic
sound` Could you sweai to it`
Tat was what the county coionei asked me at the inquiiy. lt is my stiong
impiession that l heaid it, and yet, among the ciash of the gale and the cieaking
of an old house, l may possibly have been deceived.
Was youi sistei diessed`
No, she was in hei night-diess. ln hei iight hand was found the chaiied
stump of a match, and in hei lef a match-box.
Showing that she had stiuck a light and looked about hei when the alaim
took place. Tat is impoitant. And what conclusions did the coionei come to`
He investigated the case with gieat caie, foi Di. Roylous conduct had
long been notoiious in the county, but he was unable to nd any satisfactoiy
cause of death. My evidence showed that the dooi had been fastened upon the
innei side, and the windows weie blocked by old-fashioned shuueis with bioad
iion bais, which weie secuied eveiy night. Te walls weie caiefully sounded,
and weie shown to be quite solid all iound, and the ooiing was also thoioughly
examined, with the same iesult. Te chimney is wide, but is baiied up by foui
laige staples. lt is ceitain, theiefoie, that my sistei was quite alone when she met
hei end. Besides, theie weie no maiks of any violence upon hei.
How about poison`
Te doctois examined hei foi it, but without success.
What do you think that this unfoitunate lady died of, then`
lt is my belief that she died of puie feai and neivous shock, though what
it was that fiightened hei l cannot imagine.
Weie theie gipsies in the plantation at the time`
Yes, theie aie neaily always some theie.
Ah, and what did you gathei fiom this allusion to a banda speckled
band`
1o
Sometimes l have thought that it was meiely the wild talk of deliiium,
sometimes that it may have iefeiied to some band of people, peihaps to these
veiy gipsies in the plantation. l do not know whethei the spoued handkeichiefs
which so many of them weai ovei theii heads might have suggested the stiange
adjective which she used.
Holmes shook his head like a man who is fai fiom being satised.
Tese aie veiy deep wateis, said he, piay go on with youi naiiative.
Two yeais have passed since then, and my life has been until lately loneliei
than evei. A month ago, howevei, a deai fiiend, whom l have known foi many
yeais, has done me the honoui to ask my hand in maiiiage. His name is Ai-
mitagePeicy Aimitagethe second son of Mi. Aimitage, of Ciane Watei, neai
Reading. My stepfathei has oeied no opposition to the match, and we aie to be
maiiied in the couise of the spiing. Two days ago some iepaiis weie staited in
the west wing of the building, and my bedioom wall has been pieiced, so that l
have had to move into the chambei in which my sistei died, and to sleep in the
veiy bed in which she slept. lmagine, then, my thiill of teiioi when last night, as
l lay awake, thinking ovei hei teiiible fate, l suddenly heaid in the silence of the
night the low whistle which had been the heiald of hei own death. l spiang up
and lit the lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the ioom. l was too shaken to go
to bed again, howevei, so l diessed, and as soon as it was daylight l slipped down,
got a dog-cait at the Ciown lnn, which is opposite, and diove to Leatheihead,
fiom whence l have come on this moining with the one object of seeing you and
asking youi advice.
You have done wisely, said my fiiend. But have you told me all`
Yes, all.
Miss Roylou, you have not. You aie scieening youi stepfathei.
Why, what do you mean`
loi answei Holmes pushed back the fiill of black lace which fiinged the
hand that lay upon oui visitois knee. live liule livid spots, the maiks of foui
ngeis and a thumb, weie piinted upon the white wiist.
You have been ciuelly used, said Holmes.
Te lady colouied deeply and coveied ovei hei injuied wiist. He is a haid
man, she said, and peihaps he haidly knows his own stiength.
Teie was a long silence, duiing which Holmes leaned his chin upon his
hands and staied into the ciackling ie.
Tis is a veiy deep business, he said at last. Teie aie a thousand details
which l should desiie to know befoie l decide upon oui couise of action. Yet we
have not a moment to lose. lf we weie to come to Stoke Moian to-day, would it be
11
possible foi us to see ovei these iooms without the knowledge of youi stepfathei`
As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some most im-
poitant business. lt is piobable that he will be away all day, and that theie would
be nothing to distuib you. We have a housekeepei now, but she is old and foolish,
and l could easily get hei out of the way.
Excellent. You aie not aveise to this tiip, Watson`
By no means.
Ten we shall both come. What aie you going to do youisell`
l have one oi two things which l would wish to do now that l am in town.
But l shall ietuin by the twelve oclock tiain, so as to be theie in time foi youi
coming.
And you may expect us eaily in the afeinoon. l have myself some small
business maueis to auend to. Will you not wait and bieakfast`
No, l must go. My heait is lightened alieady since l have conded my tiou-
ble to you. l shall look foiwaid to seeing you again this afeinoon. She diopped
hei thick black veil ovei hei face and glided fiom the ioom.
And what do you think of it all, Watson` asked Sheilock Holmes, leaning
back in his chaii.
lt seems to me to be a most daik and sinistei business.
Daik enough and sinistei enough.
Yet if the lady is coiiect in saying that the ooiing and walls aie sound,
and that the dooi, window, and chimney aie impassable, then hei sistei must
have been undoubtedly alone when she met hei mysteiious end.
What becomes, then, of these noctuinal whistles, and what of the veiy
peculiai woids of the dying woman`
l cannot think.
When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the piesence of a band of
gipsies who aie on intimate teims with this old doctoi, the fact that we have eveiy
ieason to believe that the doctoi has an inteiest in pieventing his stepdaughteis
maiiiage, the dying allusion to a band, and, nally, the fact that Miss Helen Stonei
heaid a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those metal bais
that secuied the shuueis falling back into its place, l think that theie is good
giound to think that the mysteiy may be cleaied along those lines.
But what, then, did the gipsies do`
l cannot imagine.
l see many objections to any such theoiy.
And so do l. lt is piecisely foi that ieason that we aie going to Stoke Moian
this day. l want to see whethei the objections aie fatal, oi if they may be explained
1:
away. But what in the name of the devil'
Te ejaculation had been diawn fiom my companion by the fact that oui
dooi had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had fiamed himself in
the apeituie. His costume was a peculiai mixtuie of the piofessional and of the
agiicultuial, having a black top-hat, a long fiock-coat, and a paii of high gaiteis,
with a hunting-ciop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his hat actually
biushed the cioss bai of the dooiway, and his bieadth seemed to span it acioss
fiom side to side. A laige face, seaied with a thousand wiinkles, buined yellow
with the sun, and maiked with eveiy evil passion, was tuined fiom one to the
othei of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, eshless nose,
gave him somewhat the iesemblance to a eice old biid of piey.
Which of you is Holmes` asked this appaiition.
My name, sii, but you have the advantage of me, said my companion qui-
etly.
l am Di. Giimesby Roylou, of Stoke Moian.
lndeed, Doctoi, said Holmes blandly. Piay take a seat.
l will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughtei has been heie. l have tiaced
hei. What has she been saying to you`
lt is a liule cold foi the time of the yeai, said Holmes.
What has she been saying to you` scieamed the old man fuiiously.
But l have heaid that the ciocuses piomise well, continued my companion
impeituibably.
Ha' You put me o, do you` said oui new visitoi, taking a step foiwaid
and shaking his hunting-ciop. l know you, you scoundiel' l have heaid of you
befoie. You aie Holmes, the meddlei.
My fiiend smiled.
Holmes, the busybody'
His smile bioadened.
Holmes, the Scotland Yaid Jack-in-oce'
Holmes chuckled heaitily. Youi conveisation is most enteitaining, said he.
When you go out close the dooi, foi theie is a decided diaught.
l will go when l have said my say. Dont you daie to meddle with my
aaiis. l know that Miss Stonei has been heie. l tiaced hei' l am a dangeious
man to fall foul of' See heie. He stepped swifly foiwaid, seized the pokei, and
bent it into a cuive with his huge biown hands.
See that you keep youiself out of my giip, he snailed, and huiling the
twisted pokei into the ieplace he stiode out of the ioom.
He seems a veiy amiable peison, said Holmes, laughing. l am not quite
1
so bulky, but if he had iemained l might have shown him that my giip was not
much moie feeble than his own. As he spoke he picked up the steel pokei and,
with a sudden eoit, stiaightened it out again.
lancy his having the insolence to confound me with the ocial detective
foice' Tis incident gives zest to oui investigation, howevei, and l only tiust that
oui liule fiiend will not suei fiom hei impiudence in allowing this biute to tiace
hei. And now, Watson, we shall oidei bieakfast, and afeiwaids l shall walk down
to Doctois Commons, wheie l hope to get some data which may help us in this
mauei.
lt was neaily one oclock when Sheilock Holmes ietuined fiom his excui-
sion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue papei, sciawled ovei with notes and
guies.
l have seen the will of the deceased wife, said he. To deteimine its exact
meaning l have been obliged to woik out the piesent piices of the investments
with which it is conceined. Te total income, which at the time of the wifes
death was liule shoit of i11oo, is now, thiough the fall in agiicultuial piices, not
moie than i,o. Each daughtei can claim an income of i:o, in case of maiiiage.
lt is evident, theiefoie, that if both giils had maiiied, this beauty would have
had a meie piuance, while even one of them would ciipple him to a veiy seiious
extent. My moinings woik has not been wasted, since it has pioved that he has
the veiy stiongest motives foi standing in the way of anything of the soit. And
now, Watson, this is too seiious foi dawdling, especially as the old man is awaie
that we aie inteiesting ouiselves in his aaiis, so if you aie ieady, we shall call
a cab and diive to Wateiloo. l should be veiy much obliged if you would slip
youi ievolvei into youi pocket. An Eleys No. : is an excellent aigument with
gentlemen who can twist steel pokeis into knots. Tat and a tooth-biush aie, l
think, all that we need.
At Wateiloo we weie foitunate in catching a tiain foi Leatheihead, wheie
we hiied a tiap at the station inn and diove foi foui oi ve miles thiough the
lovely Suiiey lanes. lt was a peifect day, with a biight sun and a few eecy clouds
in the heavens. Te tiees and wayside hedges weie just thiowing out theii ist
gieen shoots, and the aii was full of the pleasant smell of the moist eaith. To me
at least theie was a stiange contiast between the sweet piomise of the spiing and
this sinistei quest upon which we weie engaged. My companion sat in the fiont
of the tiap, his aims folded, his hat pulled down ovei his eyes, and his chin sunk
upon his bieast, buiied in the deepest thought. Suddenly, howevei, he staited,
tapped me on the shouldei, and pointed ovei the meadows.
Look theie' said he.
1
A heavily timbeied paik stietched up in a gentle slope, thickening into a
giove at the highest point. liom amid the bianches theie juued out the giey
gables and high ioof-tiee of a veiy old mansion.
Stoke Moian` said he.
Yes, sii, that be the house of Di. Giimesby Roylou, iemaiked the diivei.
Teie is some building going on theie, said Holmes, that is wheie we aie
going.
Teies the village, said the diivei, pointing to a clustei of ioofs some dis-
tance to the lef, but if you want to get to the house, youll nd it shoitei to get
ovei this stile, and so by the foot-path ovei the elds. Teie it is, wheie the lady
is walking.
And the lady, l fancy, is Miss Stonei, obseived Holmes, shading his eyes.
Yes, l think we had beuei do as you suggest.
We got o, paid oui faie, and the tiap iauled back on its way to Leatheihead.
l thought it as well, said Holmes as we climbed the stile, that this fellow
should think we had come heie as aichitects, oi on some denite business. lt may
stop his gossip. Good-afeinoon, Miss Stonei. You see that we have been as good
as oui woid.
Oui client of the moining had huiiied foiwaid to meet us with a face which
spoke hei joy. l have been waiting so eageily foi you, she ciied, shaking hands
with us waimly. All has tuined out splendidly. Di. Roylou has gone to town,
and it is unlikely that he will be back befoie evening.
We have had the pleasuie of making the doctois acquaintance, said
Holmes, and in a few woids he sketched out what had occuiied. Miss Stonei
tuined white to the lips as she listened.
Good heavens' she ciied, he has followed me, then.
So it appeais.
He is so cunning that l nevei know when l am safe fiom him. What will
he say when he ietuins`
He must guaid himself, foi he may nd that theie is someone moie cunning
than himself upon his tiack. You must lock youiself up fiom him to-night. lf he
is violent, we shall take you away to youi aunts at Haiiow. Now, we must make
the best use of oui time, so kindly take us at once to the iooms which we aie to
examine.
Te building was of giey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high cential poition
and two cuiving wings, like the claws of a ciab, thiown out on each side. ln one
of these wings the windows weie bioken and blocked with wooden boaids, while
the ioof was paitly caved in, a pictuie of iuin. Te cential poition was in liule
1
beuei iepaii, but the iight-hand block was compaiatively modein, and the blinds
in the windows, with the blue smoke cuiling up fiom the chimneys, showed that
this was wheie the family iesided. Some scaolding had been eiected against
the end wall, and the stone-woik had been bioken into, but theie weie no signs of
any woikmen at the moment of oui visit. Holmes walked slowly up and down the
ill-tiimmed lawn and examined with deep auention the outsides of the windows.
Tis, l take it, belongs to the ioomin which you used to sleep, the centie one
to youi sisteis, and the one next to the main building to Di. Roylous chambei`
Exactly so. But l am now sleeping in the middle one.
Pending the alteiations, as l undeistand. By the way, theie does not seem
to be any veiy piessing need foi iepaiis at that end wall.
Teie weie none. l believe that it was an excuse to move me fiom my
ioom.
Ah' that is suggestive. Now, on the othei side of this naiiow wing iuns the
coiiidoi fiom which these thiee iooms open. Teie aie windows in it, of couise`
Yes, but veiy small ones. Too naiiow foi anyone to pass thiough.
As you both locked youi doois at night, youi iooms weie unappioachable
fiom that side. Now, would you have the kindness to go into youi ioom and bai
youi shuueis`
Miss Stonei did so, and Holmes, afei a caieful examination thiough the
open window, endeavouied in eveiy way to foice the shuuei open, but without
success. Teie was no slit thiough which a knife could be passed to iaise the bai.
Ten with his lens he tested the hinges, but they weie of solid iion, built imly
into the massive masoniy. Hum' said he, sciatching his chin in some peiplexity,
my theoiy ceitainly piesents some diculties. No one could pass these shuueis
if they weie bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside thiows any light upon the
mauei.
A small side dooi led into the whitewashed coiiidoi fiom which the thiee
bediooms opened. Holmes iefused to examine the thiid chambei, so we passed
at once to the second, that in which Miss Stonei was now sleeping, and in which
hei sistei had met with hei fate. lt was a homely liule ioom, with a low ceiling
and a gaping ieplace, afei the fashion of old countiy-houses. A biown chest of
diaweis stood in one coinei, a naiiow white-counteipaned bed in anothei, and a
diessing-table on the lef-hand side of the window. Tese aiticles, with two small
wickei-woik chaiis, made up all the fuinituie in the ioom save foi a squaie of
Wilton caipet in the centie. Te boaids iound and the panelling of the walls weie
of biown, woim-eaten oak, so old and discolouied that it may have dated fiom
the oiiginal building of the house. Holmes diew one of the chaiis into a coinei
1e
and sat silent, while his eyes tiavelled iound and iound and up and down, taking
in eveiy detail of the apaitment.
Wheie does that bell communicate with` he asked at last pointing to a
thick bell-iope which hung down beside the bed, the tassel actually lying upon
the pillow.
lt goes to the housekeepeis ioom.
lt looks newei than the othei things`
Yes, it was only put theie a couple of yeais ago.
Youi sistei asked foi it, l suppose`
No, l nevei heaid of hei using it. We used always to get what we wanted
foi ouiselves.
lndeed, it seemed unnecessaiy to put so nice a bell-pull theie. You will
excuse me foi a few minutes while l satisfy myself as to this ooi. He thiew
himself down upon his face with his lens in his hand and ciawled swifly backwaid
and foiwaid, examining minutely the ciacks between the boaids. Ten he did
the same with the wood-woik with which the chambei was panelled. linally he
walked ovei to the bed and spent some time in staiing at it and in iunning his eye
up and down the wall. linally he took the bell-iope in his hand and gave it a biisk
tug.
Why, its a dummy, said he.
Wont it iing`
No, it is not even auached to a wiie. Tis is veiy inteiesting. You can
see now that it is fastened to a hook just above wheie the liule opening foi the
ventilatoi is.
How veiy absuid' l nevei noticed that befoie.
Veiy stiange' muueied Holmes, pulling at the iope. Teie aie one oi two
veiy singulai points about this ioom. loi example, what a fool a buildei must be
to open a ventilatoi into anothei ioom, when, with the same tiouble, he might
have communicated with the outside aii'
Tat is also quite modein, said the lady.
Done about the same time as the bell-iope` iemaiked Holmes.
Yes, theie weie seveial liule changes caiiied out about that time.
Tey seemto have been of a most inteiesting chaiacteidummy bell-iopes,
and ventilatois which do not ventilate. With youi peimission, Miss Stonei, we
shall now caiiy oui ieseaiches into the innei apaitment.
Di. Giimesby Roylous chambei was laigei than that of his step-daughtei,
but was as plainly fuinished. A camp-bed, a small wooden shelf full of books,
mostly of a technical chaiactei, an aimchaii beside the bed, a plain wooden chaii
1,
against the wall, a iound table, and a laige iion safe weie the piincipal things
which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly iound and examined each and all of
them with the keenest inteiest.
Whats in heie` he asked, tapping the safe.
My stepfatheis business papeis.
Oh' you have seen inside, then`
Only once, some yeais ago. l iemembei that it was full of papeis.
Teie isnt a cat in it, foi example`
No. What a stiange idea'
Well, look at this' He took up a small saucei of milk which stood on the
top of it.
No, we dont keep a cat. But theie is a cheetah and a baboon.
Ah, yes, of couise' Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a saucei of milk
does not go veiy fai in satisfying its wants, l daiesay. Teie is one point which
l should wish to deteimine. He squaued down in fiont of the wooden chaii and
examined the seat of it with the gieatest auention.
Tank you. Tat is quite seuled, said he, iising and puuing his lens in his
pocket. Hullo' Heie is something inteiesting'
Te object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on one
coinei of the bed. Te lash, howevei, was cuiled upon itself and tied so as to
make a loop of whipcoid.
What do you make of that, Watson`
lts a common enough lash. But l dont know why it should be tied.
Tat is not quite so common, is it` Ah, me' its a wicked woild, and when
a clevei man tuins his biains to ciime it is the woist of all. l think that l have seen
enough now, Miss Stonei, and with youi peimission we shall walk out upon the
lawn.
l had nevei seen my fiiends face so giim oi his biow so daik as it was when
we tuined fiom the scene of this investigation. We had walked seveial times up
and down the lawn, neithei Miss Stonei noi myself liking to bieak in upon his
thoughts befoie he ioused himself fiom his ieveiie.
lt is veiy essential, Miss Stonei, said he, that you should absolutely follow
my advice in eveiy iespect.
l shall most ceitainly do so.
Te mauei is too seiious foi any hesitation. Youi life may depend upon
youi compliance.
l assuie you that l am in youi hands.
ln the ist place, both my fiiend and l must spend the night in youi ioom.
1s
Both Miss Stonei and l gazed at him in astonishment.
Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. l believe that that is the village inn ovei
theie`
Yes, that is the Ciown.
Veiy good. Youi windows would be visible fiom theie`
Ceitainly.
You must conne youiself to youi ioom, on pietence of a headache, when
youi stepfathei comes back. Ten when you heai him ietiie foi the night, you
must open the shuueis of youi window, undo the hasp, put youi lamp theie as a
signal to us, and then withdiaw quietly with eveiything which you aie likely to
want into the ioom which you used to occupy. l have no doubt that, in spite of
the iepaiis, you could manage theie foi one night.
Oh, yes, easily.
Te iest you will leave in oui hands.
But what will you do`
We shall spend the night in youi ioom, and we shall investigate the cause
of this noise which has distuibed you.
l believe, Mi. Holmes, that you have alieady made up youi mind, said Miss
Stonei, laying hei hand upon my companions sleeve.
Peihaps l have.
Ten, foi pitys sake, tell me what was the cause of my sisteis death.
l should piefei to have cleaiei pioofs befoie l speak.
You can at least tell me whethei my own thought is coiiect, and if she died
fiom some sudden fiight.
No, l do not think so. l think that theie was piobably some moie tangible
cause. And now, Miss Stonei, we must leave you foi if Di. Roylou ietuined and
saw us oui jouiney would be in vain. Good-bye, and be biave, foi if you will do
what l have told you, you may iest assuied that we shall soon diive away the
dangeis that thieaten you.
Sheilock Holmes and l had no diculty in engaging a bedioom and siuing-
ioom at the Ciown lnn. Tey weie on the uppei ooi, and fiom oui window we
could command a view of the avenue gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke
Moian Manoi House. At dusk we saw Di. Giimesby Roylou diive past, his huge
foim looming up beside the liule guie of the lad who diove him. Te boy had
some slight diculty in undoing the heavy iion gates, and we heaid the hoaise
ioai of the doctois voice and saw the fuiy with which he shook his clinched sts
at him. Te tiap diove on, and a few minutes latei we saw a sudden light spiing
up among the tiees as the lamp was lit in one of the siuing-iooms.
1,
Do you know, Watson, said Holmes as we sat togethei in the gatheiing
daikness, l have ieally some sciuples as to taking you to-night. Teie is a distinct
element of dangei.
Can l be of assistance`
Youi piesence might be invaluable.
Ten l shall ceitainly come.
lt is veiy kind of you.
You speak of dangei. You have evidently seen moie in these iooms than
was visible to me.
No, but l fancy that l may have deduced a liule moie. l imagine that you
saw all that l did.
l saw nothing iemaikable save the bell-iope, and what puipose that could
answei l confess is moie than l can imagine.
You saw the ventilatoi, too`
Yes, but l do not think that it is such a veiy unusual thing to have a small
opening between two iooms. lt was so small that a iat could haidly pass thiough.
l knew that we should nd a ventilatoi befoie evei we came to Stoke
Moian.
My deai Holmes'
Oh, yes, l did. You iemembei in hei statement she said that hei sistei could
smell Di. Roylous cigai. Now, of couise that suggested at once that theie must
be a communication between the two iooms. lt could only be a small one, oi it
would have been iemaiked upon at the coioneis inquiiy. l deduced a ventilatoi.
But what haim can theie be in that`
Well, theie is at least a cuiious coincidence of dates. A ventilatoi is made,
a coid is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does not that stiike you`
l cannot as yet see any connection.
Did you obseive anything veiy peculiai about that bed`
No.
lt was clamped to the ooi. Did you evei see a bed fastened like that be-
foie`
l cannot say that l have.
Te lady could not move hei bed. lt must always be in the same ielative
position to the ventilatoi and to the iopeoi so we may call it, since it was cleaily
nevei meant foi a bell-pull.
Holmes, l ciied, l seem to see dimly what you aie hinting at. We aie only
just in time to pievent some subtle and hoiiible ciime.
Subtle enough and hoiiible enough. When a doctoi does go wiong he is the
1o
ist of ciiminals. He has neive and he has knowledge. Palmei and Piitchaid weie
among the heads of theii piofession. Tis man stiikes even deepei, but l think,
Watson, that we shall be able to stiike deepei still. But we shall have hoiiois
enough befoie the night is ovei, foi goodness sake let us have a quiet pipe and
tuin oui minds foi a few houis to something moie cheeiful.
About nine oclock the light among the tiees was extinguished, and all was
daik in the diiection of the Manoi House. Two houis passed slowly away, and
then, suddenly, just at the stioke of eleven, a single biight light shone out iight in
fiont of us.
Tat is oui signal, said Holmes, spiinging to his feet, it comes fiom the
middle window.
As we passed out he exchanged a few woids with the landloid, explaining
that we weie going on a late visit to an acquaintance, and that it was possible that
we might spend the night theie. A moment latei we weie out on the daik ioad,
a chill wind blowing in oui faces, and one yellow light twinkling in fiont of us
thiough the gloom to guide us on oui sombie eiiand.
Teie was liule diculty in enteiing the giounds, foi uniepaiied bieaches
gaped in the old paik wall. Making oui way among the tiees, we ieached the
lawn, ciossed it, and weie about to entei thiough the window when out fiom a
clump of lauiel bushes theie daited what seemed to be a hideous and distoited
child, who thiew itself upon the giass with wiithing limbs and then ian swifly
acioss the lawn into the daikness.
My God' l whispeied, did you see it`
Holmes was foi the moment as staitled as l. His hand closed like a vice upon
my wiist in his agitation. Ten he bioke into a low laugh and put his lips to my
eai.
lt is a nice household, he muimuied. Tat is the baboon.
l had foigouen the stiange pets which the doctoi aected. Teie was a
cheetah, too, peihaps we might nd it upon oui shouldeis at any moment. l
confess that l felt easiei in my mind when, afei following Holmes example and
slipping o my shoes, l found myself inside the bedioom. My companion noise-
lessly closed the shuueis, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes iound
the ioom. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Ten cieeping up to me and
making a tiumpet of his hand, he whispeied into my eai again so gently that it
was all that l could do to distinguish the woids
Te least sound would be fatal to oui plans.
l nodded to show that l had heaid.
We must sit without light. He would see it thiough the ventilatoi.
11
l nodded again.
Do not go asleep, youi veiy life may depend upon it. Have youi pistol
ieady in case we should need it. l will sit on the side of the bed, and you in that
chaii.
l took out my ievolvei and laid it on the coinei of the table.
Holmes had biought 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. Ten he
tuined down the lamp, and we weie lef in daikness.
How shall l evei foiget that dieadful vigil` l could not heai a sound, not
even the diawing of a bieath, and yet l knew that my companion sat open-eyed,
within a fewfeet of me, in the same state of neivous tension in which l was myself.
Te shuueis cut o the least iay of light, and we waited in absolute daikness.
liom outside came the occasional ciy of a night-biid, and once at oui veiy
window a long diawn catlike whine, which told us that the cheetah was indeed at
libeity. lai away we could heai the deep tones of the paiish clock, which boomed
out eveiy quaitei of an houi. How long they seemed, those quaiteis' Twelve
stiuck, and one and two and thiee, and still we sat waiting silently foi whatevei
might befall.
Suddenly theie was the momentaiy gleam of a light up in the diiection
of the ventilatoi, which vanished immediately, but was succeeded by a stiong
smell of buining oil and heated metal. Someone in the next ioom had lit a daik-
lantein. l heaid a gentle sound of movement, and then all was silent once moie,
though the smell giew stiongei. loi half an houi l sat with stiaining eais. Ten
suddenly anothei sound became audiblea veiy gentle, soothing sound, like that
of a small jet of steam escaping continually fiom a keule. Te instant that we
heaid it, Holmes spiang fiom the bed, stiuck a match, and lashed fuiiously with
his cane at the bell-pull.
You see it, Watson` he yelled. You see it`
But l saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes stiuck the light l heaid a
low, cleai whistle, but the sudden glaie ashing into my weaiy eyes made it im-
possible foi me to tell what it was at which my fiiend lashed so savagely. l could,
howevei, see that his face was deadly pale and lled with hoiioi and loathing.
He had ceased to stiike and was gazing up at the ventilatoi when suddenly theie
bioke fiom the silence of the night the most hoiiible ciy to which l have evei
listened. lt swelled up loudei and loudei, a hoaise yell of pain and feai and angei
all mingled in the one dieadful shiiek. Tey say that away down in the village,
and even in the distant paisonage, that ciy iaised the sleepeis fiom theii beds. lt
stiuck cold to oui heaits, and l stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the
1:
last echoes of it had died away into the silence fiom which it iose.
What can it mean` l gasped.
lt means that it is all ovei, Holmes answeied. And peihaps, afei all, it is
foi the best. Take youi pistol, and we will entei Di. Roylous ioom.
With a giave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the coiiidoi. Twice
he stiuck at the chambei dooi without any ieply fiom within. Ten he tuined the
handle and enteied, l at his heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand.
lt was a singulai sight which met oui eyes. On the table stood a daik-
lantein with the shuuei half open, thiowing a biilliant beamof light upon the iion
safe, the dooi of which was ajai. Beside this table, on the wooden chaii, sat Di.
Giimesby Roylou clad in a long giey diessing-gown, his baie ankles piotiuding
beneath, and his feet thiust into ied heelless Tuikish slippeis. Acioss his lap lay
the shoit stock with the long lash which we had noticed duiing the day. His chin
was cocked upwaid and his eyes weie xed in a dieadful, iigid staie at the coinei
of the ceiling. Round his biow he had a peculiai yellow band, with biownish
speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly iound his head. As we enteied he
made neithei sound noi motion.
Te band' the speckled band' whispeied Holmes.
l took a step foiwaid. ln an instant his stiange headgeai began to move,
and theie ieaied itself fiom among his haii the squat diamond-shaped head and
pued neck of a loathsome seipent.
lt is a swamp addei' ciied Holmes, the deadliest snake in lndia. He has
died within ten seconds of being biuen. Violence does, in tiuth, iecoil upon the
violent, and the schemei falls into the pit which he digs foi anothei. Let us thiust
this cieatuie back into its den, and we can then iemove Miss Stonei to some place
of sheltei and let the county police know what has happened.
As he spoke he diew the dog-whip swifly fiom the dead mans lap, and
thiowing the noose iound the ieptiles neck he diew it fiom its hoiiid peich and,
caiiying it at aims length, thiew it into the iion safe, which he closed upon it.
Such aie the tiue facts of the death of Di. Giimesby Roylou, of Stoke Moian.
lt is not necessaiy that l should piolong a naiiative which has alieady iun to too
gieat a length by telling how we bioke the sad news to the teiiied giil, how we
conveyed hei by the moining tiain to the caie of hei good aunt at Haiiow, of how
the slow piocess of ocial inquiiy came to the conclusion that the doctoi met his
fate while indiscieetly playing with a dangeious pet. Te liule which l had yet to
leain of the case was told me by Sheilock Holmes as we tiavelled back next day.
l had, said he, come to an entiiely eiioneous conclusion which shows,
my deai Watson, how dangeious it always is to ieason fiom insucient data. Te
1
piesence of the gipsies, and the use of the woid band, which was used by the pooi
giil, no doubt, to explain the appeaiance which she had caught a huiiied glimpse
of by the light of hei match, weie sucient to put me upon an entiiely wiong
scent. l can only claim the meiit that l instantly ieconsideied my position when,
howevei, it became cleai to me that whatevei dangei thieatened an occupant of
the ioom could not come eithei fiom the window oi the dooi. My auention was
speedily diawn, as l have alieady iemaiked to you, to this ventilatoi, and to the
bell-iope which hung down to the bed. Te discoveiy that this was a dummy, and
that the bed was clamped to the ooi, instantly gave iise to the suspicion that the
iope was theie as a biidge foi something passing thiough the hole and coming
to the bed. Te idea of a snake instantly occuiied to me, and when l coupled
it with my knowledge that the doctoi was fuinished with a supply of cieatuies
fiom lndia, l felt that l was piobably on the iight tiack. Te idea of using a foim
of poison which could not possibly be discoveied by any chemical test was just
such a one as would occui to a clevei and iuthless man who had had an Eastein
tiaining. Te iapidity with which such a poison would take eect would also,
fiomhis point of view, be an advantage. lt would be a shaip-eyed coionei, indeed,
who could distinguish the two liule daik punctuies which would show wheie the
poison fangs had done theii woik. Ten l thought of the whistle. Of couise he
must iecall the snake befoie the moining light ievealed it to the victim. He had
tiained it, piobably by the use of the milk which we saw, to ietuin to him when
summoned. He would put it thiough this ventilatoi at the houi that he thought
best, with the ceitainty that it would ciawl down the iope and land on the bed. lt
might oi might not bite the occupant, peihaps she might escape eveiy night foi a
week, but soonei oi latei she must fall a victim.
l had come to these conclusions befoie evei l had enteied his ioom. An
inspection of his chaii showed me that he had been in the habit of standing on it,
which of couise would be necessaiy in oidei that he should ieach the ventilatoi.
Te sight of the safe, the saucei of milk, and the loop of whipcoid weie enough
to nally dispel any doubts which may have iemained. Te metallic clang heaid
by Miss Stonei was obviously caused by hei stepfathei hastily closing the dooi
of his safe upon its teiiible occupant. Having once made up my mind, you know
the steps which l took in oidei to put the mauei to the pioof. l heaid the cieatuie
hiss as l have no doubt that you did also, and l instantly lit the light and auacked
it.
With the iesult of diiving it thiough the ventilatoi.
And also with the iesult of causing it to tuin upon its mastei at the othei
side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and ioused its snakish tempei,
1
so that it ew upon the ist peison it saw. ln this way l am no doubt indiiectly
iesponsible foi Di. Giimesby Roylous death, and l cannot say that it is likely to
weigh veiy heavily upon my conscience.
Te Adventure of the
Engineers Tumb
Of all the pioblems which have been submiued to my fiiend, Mi. Sheilock
Holmes, foi solution duiing the yeais of oui intimacy, theie weie only two which
l was the means of intioducing to his noticethat of Mi. Hatheileys thumb, and
that of Colonel Waibuitons madness. Of these the lauei may have aoided a
nei eld foi an acute and oiiginal obseivei, but the othei was so stiange in its
inception and so diamatic in its details that it may be the moie woithy of being
placed upon iecoid, even if it gave my fiiend fewei openings foi those deductive
methods of ieasoning by which he achieved such iemaikable iesults. Te stoiy
has, l believe, been told moie than once in the newspapeis, but, like all such naiia-
tives, its eect is much less stiiking when set foith en bloc in a single half-column
of piint than when the facts slowly evolve befoie youi own eyes, and the mysteiy
cleais giadually away as each new discoveiy fuinishes a step which leads on to
the complete tiuth. At the time the ciicumstances made a deep impiession upon
me, and the lapse of two yeais has haidly seived to weaken the eect.
lt was in the summei of s,, not long afei my maiiiage, that the events
occuiied which l am now about to summaiise. l had ietuined to civil piactice and
had nally abandoned Holmes in his Bakei Stieet iooms, although l continually
visited him and occasionally even peisuaded him to foigo his Bohemian habits so
fai as to come and visit us. My piactice had steadily incieased, and as l happened
to live at no veiy gieat distance fiomPaddington Station, l got a fewpatients fiom
among the ocials. One of these, whom l had cuied of a painful and lingeiing
disease, was nevei weaiy of adveitising my viitues and of endeavouiing to send
me on eveiy sueiei ovei whom he might have any inuence.
One moining, at a liule befoie seven oclock, l was awakened by the maid
tapping at the dooi to announce that two men had come fiom Paddington and
1e
weie waiting in the consulting-ioom. l diessed huiiiedly, foi l knewby expeiience
that iailway cases weie seldom tiivial, and hastened downstaiis. As l descended,
my old ally, the guaid, came out of the ioom and closed the dooi tightly behind
him.
lve got him heie, he whispeied, jeiking his thumb ovei his shouldei, hes
all iight.
What is it, then` l asked, foi his mannei suggested that it was some stiange
cieatuie which he had caged up in my ioom.
lts a new patient, he whispeied. l thought ld biing him iound myself,
then he couldnt slip away. Teie he is, all safe and sound. l must go now, Doctoi,
l have my dooties, just the same as you. And o he went, this tiusty tout, without
even giving me time to thank him.
l enteied my consulting-ioom and found a gentleman seated by the table.
He was quietly diessed in a suit of heathei tweed with a sof cloth cap which he
had laid down upon my books. Round one of his hands he had a handkeichief
wiapped, which was mouled all ovei with bloodstains. He was young, not moie
than ve-and-twenty, l should say, with a stiong, masculine face, but he was
exceedingly pale and gave me the impiession of a man who was sueiing fiom
some stiong agitation, which it took all his stiength of mind to contiol.
l am soiiy to knock you up so eaily, Doctoi, said he, but l have had a
veiy seiious accident duiing the night. l came in by tiain this moining, and on
inquiiing at Paddington as to wheie l might nd a doctoi, a woithy fellow veiy
kindly escoited me heie. l gave the maid a caid, but l see that she has lef it upon
the side-table.
l took it up and glanced at it. Mi. Victoi Hatheiley, hydiaulic engineei,
1eA, Victoiia Stieet (id ooi). Tat was the name, style, and abode of my moin-
ing visitoi. l iegiet that l have kept you waiting, said l, siuing down in my
libiaiy-chaii. You aie fiesh fiom a night jouiney, l undeistand, which is in itself
a monotonous occupation.
Oh, my night could not be called monotonous, said he, and laughed. He
laughed veiy heaitily, with a high, iinging note, leaning back in his chaii and
shaking his sides. All my medical instincts iose up against that laugh.
Stop it' l ciied, pull youiself togethei' and l pouied out some watei fiom
a caiae.
lt was useless, howevei. He was o in one of those hysteiical outbuists
which come upon a stiong natuie when some gieat ciisis is ovei and gone.
Piesently he came to himself once moie, veiy weaiy and pale-looking.
l have been making a fool of myself, he gasped.
1,
Not at all. Diink this. l dashed some biandy into the watei, and the coloui
began to come back to his bloodless cheeks.
Tats beuei' said he. And now, Doctoi, peihaps you would kindly auend
to my thumb, oi iathei to the place wheie my thumb used to be.
He unwound the handkeichief and held out his hand. lt gave even my haid-
ened neives a shuddei to look at it. Teie weie foui piotiuding ngeis and a hoi-
iid ied, spongy suiface wheie the thumb should have been. lt had been hacked
oi toin iight out fiom the ioots.
Good heavens' l ciied, this is a teiiible injuiy. lt must have bled consid-
eiably.
Yes, it did. l fainted when it was done, and l think that l must have been
senseless foi a long time. When l came to l found that it was still bleeding, so
l tied one end of my handkeichief veiy tightly iound the wiist and biaced it up
with a twig.
Excellent' You should have been a suigeon.
lt is a question of hydiaulics, you see, and came within my own piovince.
Tis has been done, said l, examining the wound, by a veiy heavy and
shaip instiument.
A thing like a cleavei, said he.
An accident, l piesume`
By no means.
What' a muideious auack`
Veiy muideious indeed.
You hoiiify me.
l sponged the wound, cleaned it, diessed it, and nally coveied it ovei with
couon wadding and caibolised bandages. He lay back without wincing, though
he bit his lip fiom time to time.
How is that` l asked when l had nished.
Capital' Between youi biandy and youi bandage, l feel a new man. l was
veiy weak, but l have had a good deal to go thiough.
Peihaps you had beuei not speak of the mauei. lt is evidently tiying to
youi neives.
Oh, no, not now. l shall have to tell my tale to the police, but, between
ouiselves, if it weie not foi the convincing evidence of this wound of mine, l
should be suipiised if they believed my statement, foi it is a veiy extiaoidinaiy
one, and l have not much in the way of pioof with which to back it up, and, even if
they believe me, the clues which l can give them aie so vague that it is a question
whethei justice will be done.
1s
Ha' ciied l, if it is anything in the natuie of a pioblemwhich you desiie to
see solved, l should stiongly iecommend you to come to my fiiend, Mi. Sheilock
Holmes, befoie you go to the ocial police.
Oh, l have heaid of that fellow, answeied my visitoi, and l should be veiy
glad if he would take the mauei up, though of couise l must use the ocial police
as well. Would you give me an intioduction to him`
lll do beuei. lll take you iound to him myself.
l should be immensely obliged to you.
Well call a cab and go togethei. We shall just be in time to have a liule
bieakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it`
Yes, l shall not feel easy until l have told my stoiy.
Ten my seivant will call a cab, and l shall be with you in an instant. l
iushed upstaiis, explained the mauei shoitly to my wife, and in ve minutes was
inside a hansom, diiving with my new acquaintance to Bakei Stieet.
Sheilock Holmes was, as l expected, lounging about his siuing-ioom in his
diessing-gown, ieading the agony column of e Times and smoking his befoie-
bieakfast pipe, which was composed of all the plugs and doules lef fiom his
smokes of the day befoie, all caiefully diied and collected on the coinei of the
mantelpiece. He ieceived us in his quietly genial fashion, oideied fiesh iasheis
and eggs, and joined us in a heaity meal. When it was concluded he seuled oui
newacquaintance upon the sofa, placed a pillowbeneath his head, and laid a glass
of biandy and watei within his ieach.
lt is easy to see that youi expeiience has been no common one, Mi. Hathei-
ley, said he. Piay, lie down theie and make youiself absolutely at home. Tell us
what you can, but stop when you aie tiied and keep up youi stiength with a liule
stimulant.
Tank you, said my patient, but l have felt anothei man since the doctoi
bandaged me, and l think that youi bieakfast has completed the cuie. l shall take
up as liule of youi valuable time as possible, so l shall stait at once upon my
peculiai expeiiences.
Holmes sat in his big aimchaii with the weaiy, heavy-lidded expiession
which veiled his keen and eagei natuie, while l sat opposite to him, and we lis-
tened in silence to the stiange stoiy which oui visitoi detailed to us.
You must know, said he, that l am an oiphan and a bacheloi, iesiding
alone in lodgings in London. By piofession l am a hydiaulic engineei, and l have
had consideiable expeiience of my woik duiing the seven yeais that l was appien-
ticed to Vennei & Matheson, the well-known im, of Gieenwich. Two yeais ago,
having seived my time, and having also come into a faii sum of money thiough
1,
my pooi fatheis death, l deteimined to stait in business foi myself and took pio-
fessional chambeis in Victoiia Stieet.
l suppose that eveiyone nds his ist independent stait in business a
dieaiy expeiience. To me it has been exceptionally so. Duiing two yeais l have
had thiee consultations and one small job, and that is absolutely all that my pio-
fession has biought me. My gioss takings amount to i:, 1o*s*. Eveiy day, fiom
nine in the moining until foui in the afeinoon, l waited in my liule den, until at
last my heait began to sink, and l came to believe that l should nevei have any
piactice at all.
Yesteiday, howevei, just as l was thinking of leaving the oce, my cleik en-
teied to say theie was a gentleman waiting who wished to see me upon business.
He biought up a caid, too, with the name of Colonel Lysandei Staik engiaved
upon it. Close at his heels came the colonel himself, a man iathei ovei the middle
size, but of an exceeding thinness. l do not think that l have evei seen so thin
a man. His whole face shaipened away into nose and chin, and the skin of his
cheeks was diawn quite tense ovei his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation
seemed to be his natuial habit, and due to no disease, foi his eye was biight, his
step biisk, and his beaiing assuied. He was plainly but neatly diessed, and his
age, l should judge, would be neaiei foity than thiity.
Mi. Hatheiley` said he, with something of a Geiman accent. You have
been iecommended to me, Mi. Hatheiley, as being a man who is not only pio-
cient in his piofession but is also discieet and capable of pieseiving a seciet.
l bowed, feeling as aueied as any young man would at such an addiess.
May l ask who it was who gave me so good a chaiactei`
Well, peihaps it is beuei that l should not tell you that just at this moment.
l have it fiom the same souice that you aie both an oiphan and a bacheloi and
aie iesiding alone in London.
Tat is quite coiiect, l answeied, but you will excuse me if l say that l
cannot see how all this beais upon my piofessional qualications. l undeistand
that it was on a piofessional mauei that you wished to speak to me`
Undoubtedly so. But you will nd that all l say is ieally to the point.
l have a piofessional commission foi you, but absolute seciecy is quite essen-
tialabsolute seciecy, you undeistand, and of couise we may expect that moie
fiom a man who is alone than fiom one who lives in the bosom of his family.
lf l piomise to keep a seciet, said l, you may absolutely depend upon my
doing so.
He looked veiy haid at me as l spoke, and it seemed to me that l had nevei
seen so suspicious and questioning an eye.
1eo
Do you piomise, then` said he at last.
Yes, l piomise.
Absolute and complete silence befoie, duiing, and afei` No iefeience to
the mauei at all, eithei in woid oi wiiting`
l have alieady given you my woid.
Veiy good. He suddenly spiang up, and daiting like lightning acioss the
ioom he ung open the dooi. Te passage outside was empty.
Tats all iight, said he, coming back. l know that cleiks aie sometimes
cuiious as to theii masteis aaiis. Nowwe can talk in safety. He diewup his chaii
veiy close to mine and began to staie at me again with the same questioning and
thoughtful look.
A feeling of iepulsion, and of something akin to feai had begun to iise
within me at the stiange antics of this eshless man. Even my diead of losing a
client could not iestiain me fiom showing my impatience.
l beg that you will state youi business, sii, said l, my time is of value.
Heaven foigive me foi that last sentence, but the woids came to my lips.
How would fy guineas foi a nights woik suit you` he asked.
Most admiiably.
l say a nights woik, but an houis would be neaiei the maik. l simply
want youi opinion about a hydiaulic stamping machine which has got out of
geai. lf you show us what is wiong we shall soon set it iight ouiselves. What do
you think of such a commission as that`
Te woik appeais to be light and the pay municent.
Piecisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last tiain.
Wheie to`
To Eyfoid, in Beikshiie. lt is a liule place neai the boideis of Oxfoidshiie,
and within seven miles of Reading. Teie is a tiain fiom Paddington which would
biing you theie at about 111.
Veiy good.
l shall come down in a caiiiage to meet you.
Teie is a diive, then`
Yes, oui liule place is quite out in the countiy. lt is a good seven miles
fiom Eyfoid Station.
Ten we can haidly get theie befoie midnight. l suppose theie would be
no chance of a tiain back. l should be compelled to stop the night.
Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.
Tat is veiy awkwaid. Could l not come at some moie convenient houi`
We have judged it best that you should come late. lt is to iecompense you
1e1
foi any inconvenience that we aie paying to you, a young and unknown man, a
fee which would buy an opinion fiom the veiy heads of youi piofession. Still, of
couise, if you would like to diaw out of the business, theie is plenty of time to do
so.
l thought of the fy guineas, and of how veiy useful they would be to me.
Not at all, said l, l shall be veiy happy to accommodate myself to youi wishes. l
should like, howevei, to undeistand a liule moie cleaily what it is that you wish
me to do.
Qite so. lt is veiy natuial that the pledge of seciecy which we have
exacted fiom you should have aioused youi cuiiosity. l have no wish to commit
you to anything without youi having it all laid befoie you. l suppose that we aie
absolutely safe fiom eavesdioppeis`
Entiiely.
Ten the mauei stands thus. You aie piobably awaie that fulleis-eaith is
a valuable pioduct, and that it is only found in one oi two places in England`
l have heaid so.
Some liule time ago l bought a small placea veiy small placewithin
ten miles of Reading. l was foitunate enough to discovei that theie was a deposit
of fulleis-eaith in one of my elds. On examining it, howevei, l found that this
deposit was a compaiatively small one, and that it foimed a link between two veiy
much laigei ones upon the iight and lefboth of them, howevei, in the giounds
of my neighbouis. Tese good people weie absolutely ignoiant that theii land
contained that which was quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Natuially, it was to my
inteiest to buy theii land befoie they discoveied its tiue value, but unfoitunately
l had no capital by which l could do this. l took a few of my fiiends into the seciet,
howevei, and they suggested that we should quietly and secietly woik oui own
liule deposit and that in this way we should eain the money which would enable
us to buy the neighbouiing elds. Tis we have now been doing foi some time,
and in oidei to help us in oui opeiations we eiected a hydiaulic piess. Tis piess,
as l have alieady explained, has got out of oidei, and we wish youi advice upon
the subject. We guaid oui seciet veiy jealously, howevei, and if it once became
known that we had hydiaulic engineeis coming to oui liule house, it would soon
iouse inquiiy, and then, if the facts came out, it would be good-bye to any chance
of geuing these elds and caiiying out oui plans. Tat is why l have made you
piomise me that you will not tell a human being that you aie going to Eyfoid
to-night. l hope that l make it all plain`
l quite follow you, said l. Te only point which l could not quite undei-
stand was what use you could make of a hydiaulic piess in excavating fulleis-
1e:
eaith, which, as l undeistand, is dug out like giavel fiom a pit.
Ah' said he caielessly, we have oui own piocess. We compiess the eaith
into biicks, so as to iemove them without ievealing what they aie. But that is a
meie detail. l have taken you fully into my condence now, Mi. Hatheiley, and l
have shown you how l tiust you. He iose as he spoke. l shall expect you, then,
at Eyfoid at 111.
l shall ceitainly be theie.
And not a woid to a soul. He looked at me with a last long, questioning
gaze, and then, piessing my hand in a cold, dank giasp, he huiiied fiom the ioom.
Well, when l came to think it all ovei in cool blood l was veiy much aston-
ished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission which had been intiusted
to me. On the one hand, of couise, l was glad, foi the fee was at least tenfold what
l should have asked had l set a piice upon my own seivices, and it was possible
that this oidei might lead to othei ones. On the othei hand, the face and mannei
of my pation had made an unpleasant impiession upon me, and l could not think
that his explanation of the fulleis-eaith was sucient to explain the necessity
foi my coming at midnight, and his extieme anxiety lest l should tell anyone of
my eiiand. Howevei, l thiew all feais to the winds, ate a heaity suppei, diove
to Paddington, and staited o, having obeyed to the leuei the injunction as to
holding my tongue.
At Reading l had to change not only my caiiiage but my station. Howevei,
l was in time foi the last tiain to Eyfoid, and l ieached the liule dim-lit station
afei eleven oclock. l was the only passengei who got out theie, and theie was
no one upon the platfoim save a single sleepy poitei with a lantein. As l passed
out thiough the wicket gate, howevei, l found my acquaintance of the moining
waiting in the shadow upon the othei side. Without a woid he giasped my aim
and huiiied me into a caiiiage, the dooi of which was standing open. He diew
up the windows on eithei side, tapped on the wood-woik, and away we went as
fast as the hoise could go.
One hoise` inteijected Holmes.
Yes, only one.
Did you obseive the coloui`
Yes, l saw it by the side-lights when l was stepping into the caiiiage. lt was
a chestnut.
Tiied-looking oi fiesh`
Oh, fiesh and glossy.
Tank you. l am soiiy to have inteiiupted you. Piay continue youi most
inteiesting statement.
1e
Away we went then, and we diove foi at least an houi. Colonel Lysandei
Staik had said that it was only seven miles, but l should think, fiom the iate that
we seemed to go, and fiom the time that we took, that it must have been neaiei
twelve. He sat at my side in silence all the time, and l was awaie, moie than once
when l glanced in his diiection, that he was looking at me with gieat intensity.
Te countiy ioads seem to be not veiy good in that pait of the woild, foi we
luiched and jolted teiiibly. l tiied to look out of the windows to see something of
wheie we weie, but they weie made of fiosted glass, and l could make out nothing
save the occasional biight blui of a passing light. Now and then l hazaided some
iemaik to bieak the monotony of the jouiney, but the colonel answeied only in
monosyllables, and the conveisation soon agged. At last, howevei, the bumping
of the ioad was exchanged foi the ciisp smoothness of a giavel-diive, and the
caiiiage came to a stand. Colonel Lysandei Staik spiang out, and, as l followed
afei him, pulled me swifly into a poich which gaped in fiont of us. We stepped,
as it weie, iight out of the caiiiage and into the hall, so that l failed to catch the
most eeting glance of the fiont of the house. Te instant that l had ciossed the
thieshold the dooi slammed heavily behind us, and l heaid faintly the iaule of
the wheels as the caiiiage diove away.
lt was pitch daik inside the house, and the colonel fumbled about looking
foi matches and muueiing undei his bieath. Suddenly a dooi opened at the othei
end of the passage, and a long, golden bai of light shot out in oui diiection. lt
giew bioadei, and a woman appeaied with a lamp in hei hand, which she held
above hei head, pushing hei face foiwaid and peeiing at us. l could see that she
was pieuy, and fiom the gloss with which the light shone upon hei daik diess
l knew that it was a iich mateiial. She spoke a few woids in a foieign tongue
in a tone as though asking a question, and when my companion answeied in a
giu monosyllable she gave such a stait that the lamp neaily fell fiom hei hand.
Colonel Staik went up to hei, whispeied something in hei eai, and then, pushing
hei back into the ioom fiom whence she had come, he walked towaids me again
with the lamp in his hand.
Peihaps you will have the kindness to wait in this ioomfoi a fewminutes,
said he, thiowing open anothei dooi. lt was a quiet, liule, plainly fuinished ioom,
with a iound table in the centie, on which seveial Geiman books weie scaueied.
Colonel Staik laid down the lamp on the top of a haimonium beside the dooi. l
shall not keep you waiting an instant, said he, and vanished into the daikness.
l glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my ignoiance of
Geiman l could see that two of them weie tieatises on science, the otheis be-
ing volumes of poetiy. Ten l walked acioss to the window, hoping that l might
1e
catch some glimpse of the countiy-side, but an oak shuuei, heavily baiied, was
folded acioss it. lt was a wondeifully silent house. Teie was an old clock tick-
ing loudly somewheie in the passage, but otheiwise eveiything was deadly still.
A vague feeling of uneasiness began to steal ovei me. Who weie these Geiman
people, and what weie they doing living in this stiange, out-of-the-way place`
And wheie was the place` l was ten miles oi so fiom Eyfoid, that was all l knew,
but whethei noith, south, east, oi west l had no idea. loi that mauei, Reading,
and possibly othei laige towns, weie within that iadius, so the place might not
be so secluded, afei all. Yet it was quite ceitain, fiom the absolute stillness, that
we weie in the countiy. l paced up and down the ioom, humming a tune undei
my bieath to keep up my spiiits and feeling that l was thoioughly eaining my
fy-guinea fee.
Suddenly, without any pieliminaiy sound in the midst of the uuei stillness,
the dooi of my ioom swung slowly open. Te woman was standing in the apei-
tuie, the daikness of the hall behind hei, the yellow light fiom my lamp beating
upon hei eagei and beautiful face. l could see at a glance that she was sick with
feai, and the sight sent a chill to my own heait. She held up one shaking ngei
to wain me to be silent, and she shot a few whispeied woids of bioken English at
me, hei eyes glancing back, like those of a fiightened hoise, into the gloombehind
hei.
l would go, said she, tiying haid, as it seemed to me, to speak calmly, l
would go. l should not stay heie. Teie is no good foi you to do.
But, madam, said l, l have not yet done what l came foi. l cannot possibly
leave until l have seen the machine.
lt is not woith youi while to wait, she went on. You can pass thiough
the dooi, no one hindeis. And then, seeing that l smiled and shook my head, she
suddenly thiew aside hei constiaint and made a step foiwaid, with hei hands
wiung togethei. loi the love of Heaven' she whispeied, get away fiom heie
befoie it is too late'
But l am somewhat headstiong by natuie, and the moie ieady to engage in
an aaii when theie is some obstacle in the way. l thought of my fy-guinea fee,
of my weaiisome jouiney, and of the unpleasant night which seemed to be befoie
me. Was it all to go foi nothing` Why should l slink away without having caiiied
out my commission, and without the payment which was my due` Tis woman
might, foi all l knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout beaiing, theiefoie, though
hei mannei had shaken me moie than l caied to confess, l still shook my head
and declaied my intention of iemaining wheie l was. She was about to ienew
hei entieaties when a dooi slammed oveihead, and the sound of seveial footsteps
1e
was heaid upon the staiis. She listened foi an instant, thiew up hei hands with a
despaiiing gestuie, and vanished as suddenly and as noiselessly as she had come.
Te newcomeis weie Colonel Lysandei Staik and a shoit thick man with a
chinchilla beaid giowing out of the cieases of his double chin, who was intioduced
to me as Mi. leiguson.
Tis is my secietaiy and managei, said the colonel. By the way, l was
undei the impiession that l lef this dooi shut just now. l feai that you have felt
the diaught.
On the contiaiy, said l, l opened the dooi myself because l felt the ioom
to be a liule close.
He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. Peihaps we had beuei pioceed
to business, then, said he. Mi. leiguson and l will take you up to see the machine.
l had beuei put my hat on, l suppose.
Oh, no, it is in the house.
What, you dig fulleis-eaith in the house`
No, no. Tis is only wheie we compiess it. But nevei mind that. All we
wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us know what is wiong with
it.
We went upstaiis togethei, the colonel ist with the lamp, the fat managei
and l behind him. lt was a labyiinth of an old house, with coiiidois, passages,
naiiow winding staiicases, and liule low doois, the thiesholds of which weie
hollowed out by the geneiations who had ciossed them. Teie weie no caipets
and no signs of any fuinituie above the giound ooi, while the plastei was peeling
o the walls, and the damp was bieaking thiough in gieen, unhealthy blotches.
l tiied to put on as unconceined an aii as possible, but l had not foigouen the
wainings of the lady, even though l disiegaided them, and l kept a keen eye upon
my two companions. leiguson appeaied to be a moiose and silent man, but l
could see fiom the liule that he said that he was at least a fellow-countiyman.
Colonel Lysandei Staik stopped at last befoie a low dooi, which he un-
locked. Within was a small, squaie ioom, in which the thiee of us could haidly
get at one time. leiguson iemained outside, and the colonel usheied me in.
We aie now, said he, actually within the hydiaulic piess, and it would be
a paiticulaily unpleasant thing foi us if anyone weie to tuin it on. Te ceiling of
this small chambei is ieally the end of the descending piston, and it comes down
with the foice of many tons upon this metal ooi. Teie aie small lateial columns
of watei outside which ieceive the foice, and which tiansmit and multiply it in
the mannei which is familiai to you. Te machine goes ieadily enough, but theie
is some stiness in the woiking of it, and it has lost a liule of its foice. Peihaps
1ee
you will have the goodness to look it ovei and to show us how we can set it iight.
l took the lamp fiom him, and l examined the machine veiy thoioughly. lt
was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of exeicising enoimous piessuie. When l
passed outside, howevei, and piessed down the leveis which contiolled it, l knew
at once by the whishing sound that theie was a slight leakage, which allowed a
ieguigitation of watei thiough one of the side cylindeis. An examination showed
that one of the india-iubbei bands which was iound the head of a diiving-iod had
shiunk so as not quite to ll the socket along which it woiked. Tis was cleaily the
cause of the loss of powei, and l pointed it out to my companions, who followed
my iemaiks veiy caiefully and asked seveial piactical questions as to how they
should pioceed to set it iight. When l had made it cleai to them, l ietuined to
the main chambei of the machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own
cuiiosity. lt was obvious at a glance that the stoiy of the fulleis-eaith was the
meiest fabiication, foi it would be absuid to suppose that so poweiful an engine
could be designed foi so inadequate a puipose. Te walls weie of wood, but the
ooi consisted of a laige iion tiough, and when l came to examine it l could see a
ciust of metallic deposit all ovei it. l had stooped and was sciaping at this to see
exactly what it was when l heaid a muueied exclamation in Geiman and saw the
cadaveious face of the colonel looking down at me.
What aie you doing theie` he asked.
l felt angiy at having been tiicked by so elaboiate a stoiy as that which he
had told me. l was admiiing youi fulleis-eaith, said l, l think that l should be
beuei able to advise you as to youi machine if l knew what the exact puipose was
foi which it was used.
Te instant that l uueied the woids l iegieued the iashness of my speech.
His face set haid, and a baleful light spiang up in his giey eyes.
Veiy well, said he, you shall know all about the machine. He took a step
backwaid, slammed the liule dooi, and tuined the key in the lock. l iushed to-
waids it and pulled at the handle, but it was quite secuie, and did not give in the
least to my kicks and shoves. Hullo' l yelled. Hullo' Colonel' Let me out'
And then suddenly in the silence l heaid a sound which sent my heait into
my mouth. lt was the clank of the leveis and the swish of the leaking cylindei.
He had set the engine at woik. Te lamp still stood upon the ooi wheie l had
placed it when examining the tiough. By its light l saw that the black ceiling was
coming down upon me, slowly, jeikily, but, as none knew beuei than myself, with
a foice which must within a minute giind me to a shapeless pulp. l thiew myself,
scieaming, against the dooi, and diagged with my nails at the lock. l imploied the
colonel to let me out, but the iemoiseless clanking of the leveis diowned my ciies.
1e,
Te ceiling was only a foot oi two above my head, and with my hand upiaised l
could feel its haid, iough suiface. Ten it ashed thiough my mind that the pain
of my death would depend veiy much upon the position in which l met it. lf l
lay on my face the weight would come upon my spine, and l shuddeied to think
of that dieadful snap. Easiei the othei way, peihaps, and yet, had l the neive to
lie and look up at that deadly black shadow waveiing down upon me` Alieady l
was unable to stand eiect, when my eye caught something which biought a gush
of hope back to my heait.
l have said that though the ooi and ceiling weie of iion, the walls weie
of wood. As l gave a last huiiied glance aiound, l saw a thin line of yellow light
between two of the boaids, which bioadened and bioadened as a small panel was
pushed backwaid. loi an instant l could haidly believe that heie was indeed a
dooi which led away fiom death. Te next instant l thiew myself thiough, and
lay half-fainting upon the othei side. Te panel had closed again behind me, but
the ciash of the lamp, and a few moments afeiwaids the clang of the two slabs
of metal, told me how naiiow had been my escape.
l was iecalled to myself by a fiantic plucking at my wiist, and l found
myself lying upon the stone ooi of a naiiow coiiidoi, while a woman bent ovei
me and tugged at me with hei lef hand, while she held a candle in hei iight. lt
was the same good fiiend whose waining l had so foolishly iejected.
Come' come' she ciied bieathlessly. Tey will be heie in a moment.
Tey will see that you aie not theie. Oh, do not waste the so-piecious time, but
come'
Tis time, at least, l did not scoin hei advice. l staggeied to my feet and ian
with hei along the coiiidoi and down a winding staii. Te lauei led to anothei
bioad passage, and just as we ieached it we heaid the sound of iunning feet and
the shouting of two voices, one answeiing the othei fiom the ooi on which we
weie and fiom the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about hei like one
who is at hei wits end. Ten she thiew open a dooi which led into a bedioom,
thiough the window of which the moon was shining biightly.
lt is youi only chance, said she. lt is high, but it may be that you can
jump it.
As she spoke a light spiang into view at the fuithei end of the passage, and
l saw the lean guie of Colonel Lysandei Staik iushing foiwaid with a lantein
in one hand and a weapon like a butcheis cleavei in the othei. l iushed acioss
the bedioom, ung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and
wholesome the gaiden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be moie than
thiity feet down. l clambeied out upon the sill, but l hesitated to jump until l
1es
should have heaid what passed between my savioui and the iuan who puisued
me. lf she weie ill-used, then at any iisks l was deteimined to go back to hei
assistance. Te thought had haidly ashed thiough my mind befoie he was at the
dooi, pushing his way past hei, but she thiew hei aims iound him and tiied to
hold him back.
liitz' liitz' she ciied in English, iemembei youi piomise afei the last
time. You said it should not be again. He will be silent' Oh, he will be silent'
You aie mad, Elise' he shouted, stiuggling to bieak away fiom hei. You
will be the iuin of us. He has seen too much. Let me pass, l say' He dashed hei
to one side, and, iushing to the window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. l had
let myself go, and was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. l was
conscious of a dull pain, my giip loosened, and l fell into the gaiden below.
l was shaken but not huit by the fall, so l picked myself up and iushed o
among the bushes as haid as l could iun, foi l undeistood that l was fai fiombeing
out of dangei yet. Suddenly, howevei, as l ian, a deadly dizziness and sickness
came ovei me. l glanced down at my hand, which was thiobbing painfully, and
then, foi the ist time, saw that my thumb had been cut o and that the blood
was pouiing fiom my wound. l endeavouied to tie my handkeichief iound it, but
theie came a sudden buzzing in my eais, and next moment l fell in a dead faint
among the iose-bushes.
How long l iemained unconscious l cannot tell. lt must have been a veiy
long time, foi the moon had sunk, and a biight moining was bieaking when l
came to myself. My clothes weie all sodden with dew, and my coat-sleeve was
dienched with blood fiom my wounded thumb. Te smaiting of it iecalled in an
instant all the paiticulais of my nights adventuie, and l spiang to my feet with the
feeling that l might haidly yet be safe fiom my puisueis. But to my astonishment,
when l came to look iound me, neithei house noi gaiden weie to be seen. l had
been lying in an angle of the hedge close by the highioad, and just a liule lowei
down was a long building, which pioved, upon my appioaching it, to be the veiy
station at which l had aiiived upon the pievious night. Weie it not foi the ugly
wound upon my hand, all that had passed duiing those dieadful houis might have
been an evil dieam.
Half dazed, l went into the station and asked about the moining tiain.
Teie would be one to Reading in less than an houi. Te same poitei was on
duty, l found, as had been theie when l aiiived. l inquiied of him whethei he
had evei heaid of Colonel Lysandei Staik. Te name was stiange to him. Had he
obseived a caiiiage the night befoie waiting foi me` No, he had not. Was theie
a police-station anywheie neai` Teie was one about thiee miles o.
1e,
lt was too fai foi me to go, weak and ill as l was. l deteimined to wait until
l got back to town befoie telling my stoiy to the police. lt was a liule past six
when l aiiived, so l went ist to have my wound diessed, and then the doctoi
was kind enough to biing me along heie. l put the case into youi hands and shall
do exactly what you advise.
We both sat in silence foi some liule time afei listening to this extiaoi-
dinaiy naiiative. Ten Sheilock Holmes pulled down fiom the shelf one of the
pondeious commonplace books in which he placed his cuuings.
Heie is an adveitisement which will inteiest you, said he. lt appeaied in
all the papeis about a yeai ago. Listen to this Lost, on the ,th inst., Mi. Jeiemiah
Hayling, aged twenty-six, a hydiaulic engineei. Lef his lodgings at ten oclock
at night, and has not been heaid of since. Was diessed in, etc., etc. Ha' Tat
iepiesents the last time that the colonel needed to have his machine oveihauled,
l fancy.
Good heavens' ciied my patient. Ten that explains what the giil said.
Undoubtedly. lt is quite cleai that the colonel was a cool and despeiate
man, who was absolutely deteimined that nothing should stand in the way of
his liule game, like those out-and-out piiates who will leave no suivivoi fiom a
captuied ship. Well, eveiy moment now is piecious, so if you feel equal to it we
shall go down to Scotland Yaid at once as a pieliminaiy to staiting foi Eyfoid.
Some thiee houis oi so afeiwaids we weie all in the tiain togethei, bound
fiom Reading to the liule Beikshiie village. Teie weie Sheilock Holmes, the
hydiaulic engineei, lnspectoi Biadstieet, of Scotland Yaid, a plain-clothes man,
and myself. Biadstieet had spiead an oidnance map of the county out upon the
seat and was busy with his compasses diawing a ciicle with Eyfoid foi its centie.
Teie you aie, said he. Tat ciicle is diawn at a iadius of ten miles fiom
the village. Te place we want must be somewheie neai that line. You said ten
miles, l think, sii.
lt was an houis good diive.
And you think that they biought you back all that way when you weie
unconscious`
Tey must have done so. l have a confused memoiy, too, of having been
lifed and conveyed somewheie.
What l cannot undeistand, said l, is why they should have spaied you
when they found you lying fainting in the gaiden. Peihaps the villain was sof-
ened by the womans entieaties.
l haidly think that likely. l nevei saw a moie inexoiable face in my life.
Oh, we shall soon cleai up all that, said Biadstieet. Well, l have diawn
1,o
my ciicle, and l only wish l knew at what point upon it the folk that we aie in
seaich of aie to be found.
l think l could lay my ngei on it, said Holmes quietly.
Really, now' ciied the inspectoi, you have foimed youi opinion' Come,
now, we shall see who agiees with you. l say it is south, foi the countiy is moie
deseited theie.
And l say east, said my patient.
l am foi west, iemaiked the plain-clothes man. Teie aie seveial quiet
liule villages up theie.
And l am foi noith, said l, because theie aie no hills theie, and oui fiiend
says that he did not notice the caiiiage go up any.
Come, ciied the inspectoi, laughing, its a veiy pieuy diveisity of opinion.
We have boxed the compass among us. Who do you give youi casting vote to`
You aie all wiong.
But we cant all be.
Oh, yes, you can. Tis is my point. He placed his ngei in the centie of
the ciicle. Tis is wheie we shall nd them.
But the twelve-mile diive` gasped Hatheiley.
Six out and six back. Nothing simplei. You say youiself that the hoise was
fiesh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that if it had gone twelve miles
ovei heavy ioads`
lndeed, it is a likely iuse enough, obseived Biadstieet thoughtfully. Of
couise theie can be no doubt as to the natuie of this gang.
None at all, said Holmes. Tey aie coineis on a laige scale, and have used
the machine to foim the amalgam which has taken the place of silvei.
We have known foi some time that a clevei gang was at woik, said the
inspectoi. Tey have been tuining out half-ciowns by the thousand. We even
tiaced them as fai as Reading, but could get no faithei, foi they had coveied theii
tiaces in a way that showed that they weie veiy old hands. But now, thanks to
this lucky chance, l think that we have got them iight enough.
But the inspectoi was mistaken, foi those ciiminals weie not destined to
fall into the hands of justice. As we iolled into Eyfoid Station we saw a gigantic
column of smoke which stieamed up fiom behind a small clump of tiees in the
neighbouihood and hung like an immense ostiich feathei ovei the landscape.
Ahouse on ie` asked Biadstieet as the tiain steamed o again on its way.
Yes, sii' said the station-mastei.
When did it bieak out`
l heai that it was duiing the night, sii, but it has got woise, and the whole
1,1
place is in a blaze.
Whose house is it`
Di. Becheis.
Tell me, bioke in the engineei, is Di. Bechei a Geiman, veiy thin, with a
long, shaip nose`
Te station-mastei laughed heaitily. No, sii, Di. Bechei is an Englishman,
and theie isnt a man in the paiish who has a beuei-lined waistcoat. But he has
a gentleman staying with him, a patient, as l undeistand, who is a foieignei, and
he looks as if a liule good Beikshiie beef would do him no haim.
Te station-mastei had not nished his speech befoie we weie all hastening
in the diiection of the ie. Te ioad topped a low hill, and theie was a gieat
widespiead whitewashed building in fiont of us, spouting ie at eveiy chink and
window, while in the gaiden in fiont thiee ie-engines weie vainly stiiving to
keep the ames undei.
Tats it' ciied Hatheiley, in intense excitement. Teie is the giavel-diive,
and theie aie the iose-bushes wheie l lay. Tat second window is the one that l
jumped fiom.
Well, at least, said Holmes, you have had youi ievenge upon them. Teie
can be no question that it was youi oil-lamp which, when it was ciushed in the
piess, set ie to the wooden walls, though no doubt they weie too excited in
the chase afei you to obseive it at the time. Now keep youi eyes open in this
ciowd foi youi fiiends of last night, though l veiy much feai that they aie a good
hundied miles o by now.
And Holmes feais came to be iealised, foi fiom that day to this no woid
has evei been heaid eithei of the beautiful woman, the sinistei Geiman, oi the
moiose Englishman. Eaily that moining a peasant had met a cait containing sev-
eial people and some veiy bulky boxes diiving iapidly in the diiection of Reading,
but theie all tiaces of the fugitives disappeaied, and even Holmes ingenuity failed
evei to discovei the least clue as to theii wheieabouts.
Te iemen had been much peituibed at the stiange aiiangements which
they had found within, and still moie so by discoveiing a newly seveied human
thumb upon a window-sill of the second ooi. About sunset, howevei, theii ef-
foits weie at last successful, and they subdued the ames, but not befoie the ioof
had fallen in, and the whole place been ieduced to such absolute iuin that, save
some twisted cylindeis and iion piping, not a tiace iemained of the machineiy
which had cost oui unfoitunate acquaintance so deaily. Laige masses of nickel
and of tin weie discoveied stoied in an out-house, but no coins weie to be found,
which may have explained the piesence of those bulky boxes which have been
1,:
alieady iefeiied to.
How oui hydiaulic engineei had been conveyed fiom the gaiden to the
spot wheie he iecoveied his senses might have iemained foievei a mysteiy weie
it not foi the sof mould, which told us a veiy plain tale. He had evidently been
caiiied down by two peisons, one of whom had iemaikably small feet and the
othei unusually laige ones. On the whole, it was most piobable that the silent
Englishman, being less bold oi less muideious than his companion, had assisted
the woman to beai the unconscious man out of the way of dangei.
Well, said oui engineei iuefully as we took oui seats to ietuin once moie
to London, it has been a pieuy business foi me' l have lost my thumb and l have
lost a fy-guinea fee, and what have l gained`
Expeiience, said Holmes, laughing. lndiiectly it may be of value, you
know, you have only to put it into woids to gain the ieputation of being excellent
company foi the iemaindei of youi existence.
Te Adventure of the Noble
BaHelor
Te Loid St. Simon maiiiage, and its cuiious teimination, have long ceased to be
a subject of inteiest in those exalted ciicles in which the unfoitunate biidegioom
moves. liesh scandals have eclipsed it, and theii moie piquant details have diawn
the gossips away fiom this foui-yeai-old diama. As l have ieason to believe,
howevei, that the full facts have nevei been ievealed to the geneial public, and as
my fiiend Sheilock Holmes had a consideiable shaie in cleaiing the mauei up, l
feel that no memoii of him would be complete without some liule sketch of this
iemaikable episode.
lt was a fewweeks befoie my own maiiiage, duiing the days when l was still
shaiing iooms with Holmes in Bakei Stieet, that he came home fioman afeinoon
stioll to nd a leuei on the table waiting foi him. l had iemained indoois all day,
foi the weathei had taken a sudden tuin to iain, with high autumnal winds, and
the Jezail bullet which l had biought back in one of my limbs as a ielic of my
Afghan campaign thiobbed with dull peisistence. With my body in one easy-chaii
and my legs upon anothei, l had suiiounded myself with a cloud of newspapeis
until at last, satuiated with the news of the day, l tossed them all aside and lay
listless, watching the huge ciest and monogiam upon the envelope upon the table
and wondeiing lazily who my fiiends noble coiiespondent could be.
Heie is a veiy fashionable epistle, l iemaiked as he enteied. Youi moining
leueis, if l iemembei iight, weie fiom a sh-mongei and a tide-waitei.
Yes, my coiiespondence has ceitainly the chaim of vaiiety, he answeied,
smiling, and the humblei aie usually the moie inteiesting. Tis looks like one of
those unwelcome social summonses which call upon a man eithei to be boied oi
to lie.
He bioke the seal and glanced ovei the contents.
1,
Oh, come, it may piove to be something of inteiest, afei all.
Not social, then`
No, distinctly piofessional.
And fiom a noble client`
One of the highest in England.
My deai fellow, l congiatulate you.
l assuie you, Watson, without aectation, that the status of my client is
a mauei of less moment to me than the inteiest of his case. lt is just possible,
howevei, that that also may not be wanting in this new investigation. You have
been ieading the papeis diligently of late, have you not`
lt looks like it, said l iuefully, pointing to a huge bundle in the coinei. l
have had nothing else to do.
lt is foitunate, foi you will peihaps be able to post me up. l iead nothing
except the ciiminal news and the agony column. Te lauei is always instiuctive.
But if you have followed iecent events so closely you must have iead about Loid
St. Simon and his wedding`
Oh, yes, with the deepest inteiest.
Tat is well. Te leuei which l hold in my hand is fiom Loid St. Simon. l
will iead it to you, and in ietuin you must tuin ovei these papeis and let me have
whatevei beais upon the mauei. Tis is what he says
Mv Dr~v Mv. Surviocx Hoixrs Loid Backwatei tells me that
l may place implicit ieliance upon youi judgment and discietion. l
have deteimined, theiefoie, to call upon you and to consult you in
iefeience to the veiy painful event which has occuiied in connection
with my wedding. Mi. Lestiade, of Scotland Yaid, is acting alieady
in the mauei, but he assuies me that he sees no objection to youi co-
opeiation, and that he even thinks that it might be of some assistance.
l will call at foui oclock in the afeinoon, and, should you have any
othei engagement at that time, l hope that you will postpone it, as
this mauei is of paiamount impoitance. Youis faithfully,
St. Simon.
lt is dated fiom Giosvenoi Mansions, wiiuen with a quill pen, and the noble loid
has had the misfoitune to get a smeai of ink upon the outei side of his iight liule
ngei, iemaiked Holmes as he folded up the epistle.
He says foui oclock. lt is thiee now. He will be heie in an houi.
Ten l have just time, with youi assistance, to get cleai upon the subject.
Tuin ovei those papeis and aiiange the extiacts in theii oidei of time, while l
1,
take a glance as to who oui client is. He picked a ied-coveied volume fiom a line
of books of iefeience beside the mantelpiece. Heie he is, said he, siuing down
and auening it out upon his knee. Loid Robeit Walsingham de Veie St. Si-
mon, second son of the Duke of Balmoial. Hum' Aims Azuie, thiee caltiops in
chief ovei a fess sable. Boin in 1se. Hes foity-one yeais of age, which is matuie
foi maiiiage. Was Undei-Secietaiy foi the colonies in a late administiation. Te
Duke, his fathei, was at one time Secietaiy foi loieign Aaiis. Tey inheiit Plan-
tagenet blood by diiect descent, and Tudoi on the dista side. Ha' Well, theie is
nothing veiy instiuctive in all this. l think that l must tuin to you Watson, foi
something moie solid.
l have veiy liule diculty in nding what l want, said l, foi the facts aie
quite iecent, and the mauei stiuck me as iemaikable. l feaied to iefei them to
you, howevei, as l knew that you had an inquiiy on hand and that you disliked
the intiusion of othei maueis.
Oh, you mean the liule pioblem of the Giosvenoi Squaie fuinituie van.
Tat is quite cleaied up nowthough, indeed, it was obvious fiom the ist. Piay
give me the iesults of youi newspapei selections.
Heie is the ist notice which l can nd. lt is in the peisonal column of
the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks back A maiiiage has been
aiianged, it says, and will, if iumoui is coiiect, veiy shoitly take place, between
Loid Robeit St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoial, and Miss Hauy Doian,
the only daughtei of Aloysius Doian. Esq., of San liancisco, Cal., U.S.A. Tat is
all.
Teise and to the point, iemaiked Holmes, stietching his long, thin legs
towaids the ie.
Teie was a paiagiaph amplifying this in one of the society papeis of the
same week. Ah, heie it is Teie will soon be a call foi piotection in the mai-
iiage maiket, foi the piesent fiee-tiade piinciple appeais to tell heavily against
oui home pioduct. One by one the management of the noble houses of Gieat
Biitain is passing into the hands of oui faii cousins fiom acioss the Atlantic. An
impoitant addition has been made duiing the last week to the list of the piizes
which have been boine away by these chaiming invadeis. Loid St. Simon, who
has shown himself foi ovei twenty yeais pioof against the liule gods aiiows, has
now denitely announced his appioaching maiiiage with Miss Hauy Doian, the
fascinating daughtei of a Califoinia millionaiie. Miss Doian, whose giaceful g-
uie and stiiking face auiacted much auention at the Westbuiy House festivities,
is an only child, and it is cuiiently iepoited that hei dowiy will iun to considei-
ably ovei the six guies, with expectancies foi the futuie. As it is an open seciet
1,e
that the Duke of Balmoial has been compelled to sell his pictuies within the last
few yeais, and as Loid St. Simon has no piopeity of his own save the small estate
of Biichmooi, it is obvious that the Califoinian heiiess is not the only gainei by
an alliance which will enable hei to make the easy and common tiansition fiom
a Republican lady to a Biitish peeiess.
Anything else` asked Holmes, yawning.
Oh, yes, plenty. Ten theie is anothei note in the Morning Post to say that
the maiiiage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it would be at St. Geoiges,
Hanovei Squaie, that only half a dozen intimate fiiends would be invited, and that
the paity would ietuin to the fuinished house at Lancastei Gate which has been
taken by Mi. Aloysius Doian. Two days lateithat is, on Wednesday lasttheie is
a cuit announcement that the wedding had taken place, and that the honeymoon
would be passed at Loid Backwateis place, neai Peteiseld. Tose aie all the
notices which appeaied befoie the disappeaiance of the biide.
Befoie the what` asked Holmes with a stait.
Te vanishing of the lady.
When did she vanish, then`
At the wedding bieakfast.
lndeed. Tis is moie inteiesting than it piomised to be, quite diamatic, in
fact.
Yes, it stiuck me as being a liule out of the common.
Tey ofen vanish befoie the ceiemony, and occasionally duiing the hon-
eymoon, but l cannot call to mind anything quite so piompt as this. Piay let me
have the details.
l wain you that they aie veiy incomplete.
Peihaps we may make them less so.
Such as they aie, they aie set foith in a single aiticle of a moining papei
of yesteiday, which l will iead to you. lt is headed, Singulai Occuiience at a
lashionable Wedding
Te family of Loid Robeit St. Simon has been thiown into the gieatest
consteination by the stiange and painful episodes which have taken place in con-
nection with his wedding. Te ceiemony, as shoitly announced in the papeis of
yesteiday, occuiied on the pievious moining, but it is only now that it has been
possible to conim the stiange iumouis which have been so peisistently oat-
ing about. ln spite of the auempts of the fiiends to hush the mauei up, so much
public auention has now been diawn to it that no good puipose can be seived by
aecting to disiegaid what is a common subject foi conveisation.
Te ceiemony, which was peifoimed at St. Geoiges, Hanovei Squaie,
1,,
was a veiy quiet one, no one being piesent save the fathei of the biide, Mi. Aloy-
sius Doian, the Duchess of Balmoial, Loid Backwatei, Loid Eustace and Lady
Claia St. Simon (the youngei biothei and sistei of the biidegioom), and Lady
Alicia Whiuington. Te whole paity pioceeded afeiwaids to the house of Mi.
Aloysius Doian, at Lancastei Gate, wheie bieakfast had been piepaied. lt ap-
peais that some liule tiouble was caused by a woman, whose name has not been
asceitained, who endeavouied to foice hei way into the house afei the biidal
paity, alleging that she had some claim upon Loid St. Simon. lt was only afei a
painful and piolonged scene that she was ejected by the butlei and the footman.
Te biide, who had foitunately enteied the house befoie this unpleasant inteiiup-
tion, had sat down to bieakfast with the iest, when she complained of a sudden
indisposition and ietiied to hei ioom. Hei piolonged absence having caused some
comment, hei fathei followed hei, but leained fiom hei maid that she had only
come up to hei chambei foi an instant, caught up an ulstei and bonnet, and hui-
iied down to the passage. One of the footmen declaied that he had seen a lady
leave the house thus appaielled, but had iefused to ciedit that it was his mistiess,
believing hei to be with the company. On asceitaining that his daughtei had dis-
appeaied, Mi. Aloysius Doian, in conjunction with the biidegioom, instantly put
themselves in communication with the police, and veiy eneigetic inquiiies aie be-
ing made, which will piobably iesult in a speedy cleaiing up of this veiy singulai
business. Up to a late houi last night, howevei, nothing had tianspiied as to the
wheieabouts of the missing lady. Teie aie iumouis of foul play in the mauei,
and it is said that the police have caused the aiiest of the woman who had caused
the oiiginal distuibance, in the belief that, fiom jealousy oi some othei motive,
she may have been conceined in the stiange disappeaiance of the biide.
And is that all`
Only one liule item in anothei of the moining papeis, but it is a suggestive
one.
And it is
Tat Miss lloia Millai, the lady who had caused the distuibance, has actu-
ally been aiiested. lt appeais that she was foimeily a danseuse at the Allegio, and
that she has known the biidegioom foi some yeais. Teie aie no fuithei paitic-
ulais, and the whole case is in youi hands nowso fai as it has been set foith in
the public piess.
And an exceedingly inteiesting case it appeais to be. l would not have
missed it foi woilds. But theie is a iing at the bell, Watson, and as the clock
makes it a few minutes afei foui, l have no doubt that this will piove to be oui
noble client. Do not dieam of going, Watson, foi l veiy much piefei having a
1,s
witness, if only as a check to my own memoiy.
Loid Robeit St. Simon, announced oui page-boy, thiowing open the dooi.
A gentleman enteied, with a pleasant, cultuied face, high-nosed and pale, with
something peihaps of petulance about the mouth, and with the steady, well-
opened eye of a man whose pleasant lot it had evei been to command and to
be obeyed. His mannei was biisk, and yet his geneial appeaiance gave an undue
impiession of age, foi he had a slight foiwaid stoop and a liule bend of the knees
as he walked. His haii, too, as he swept o his veiy cuily-biimmed hat, was giiz-
zled iound the edges and thin upon the top. As to his diess, it was caieful to the
veige of foppishness, with high collai, black fiock-coat, white waistcoat, yellow
gloves, patent-leathei shoes, and light-colouied gaiteis. He advanced slowly into
the ioom, tuining his head fiom lef to iight, and swinging in his iight hand the
coid which held his golden eyeglasses.
Good-day, Loid St. Simon, said Holmes, iising and bowing. Piay take the
basket-chaii. Tis is my fiiend and colleague, Di. Watson. Diaw up a liule to the
ie, and we will talk this mauei ovei.
A most painful mauei to me, as you can most ieadily imagine, Mi. Holmes.
l have been cut to the quick. l undeistand that you have alieady managed seveial
delicate cases of this soit, sii, though l piesume that they weie haidly fiom the
same class of society.
No, l am descending.
l beg paidon.
My last client of the soit was a king.
Oh, ieally' l had no idea. And which king`
Te King of Scandinavia.
What' Had he lost his wife`
You can undeistand, said Holmes suavely, that l extend to the aaiis of
my othei clients the same seciecy which l piomise to you in youis.
Of couise' Veiy iight' veiy iight' lm suie l beg paidon. As to my own
case, l am ieady to give you any infoimation which may assist you in foiming an
opinion.
Tank you. l have alieady leained all that is in the public piints, nothing
moie. l piesume that l may take it as coiiectthis aiticle, foi example, as to the
disappeaiance of the biide.
Loid St. Simon glanced ovei it. Yes, it is coiiect, as fai as it goes.
But it needs a gieat deal of supplementing befoie anyone could oei an
opinion. l think that l may aiiive at my facts most diiectly by questioning you.
Piay do so.
1,,
When did you ist meet Miss Hauy Doian`
ln San liancisco, a yeai ago.
You weie tiavelling in the States`
Yes.
Did you become engaged then`
No.
But you weie on a fiiendly footing`
l was amused by hei society, and she could see that l was amused.
Hei fathei is veiy iich`
He is said to be the iichest man on the Pacic slope.
And how did he make his money`
ln mining. He had nothing a few yeais ago. Ten he stiuck gold, invested
it, and came up by leaps and bounds.
Now, what is youi own impiession as to the young ladysyoui wifes
chaiactei`
Te nobleman swung his glasses a liule fastei and staied down into the ie.
You see, Mi. Holmes, said he, my wife was twenty befoie hei fathei became a
iich man. Duiing that time she ian fiee in a mining camp and wandeied thiough
woods oi mountains, so that hei education has come fiomNatuie iathei than fiom
the schoolmastei. She is what we call in England a tomboy, with a stiong natuie,
wild and fiee, unfeueied by any soit of tiaditions. She is impetuousvolcanic, l
was about to say. She is swif in making up hei mind and feailess in caiiying out
hei iesolutions. On the othei hand, l would not have given hei the name which l
have the honoui to beaihe gave a liule stately coughhad l not thought hei to
be at bouom a noble woman. l believe that she is capable of heioic self-saciice
and that anything dishonouiable would be iepugnant to hei.
Have you hei photogiaph`
l biought this with me. He opened a locket and showed us the full face of
a veiy lovely woman. lt was not a photogiaph but an ivoiy miniatuie, and the
aitist had biought out the full eect of the lustious black haii, the laige daik eyes,
and the exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and eainestly at it. Ten he closed
the locket and handed it back to Loid St. Simon.
Te young lady came to London, then, and you ienewed youi acquain-
tance`
Yes, hei fathei biought hei ovei foi this last London season. l met hei
seveial times, became engaged to hei, and have now maiiied hei.
She biought, l undeistand, a consideiable dowiy`
A faii dowiy. Not moie than is usual in my family.
1so
And this, of couise, iemains to you, since the maiiiage is a fait accompli`
l ieally have made no inquiiies on the subject.
Veiy natuially not. Did you see Miss Doian on the day befoie the wed-
ding`
Yes.
Was she in good spiiits`
Nevei beuei. She kept talking of what we should do in oui futuie lives.
lndeed' Tat is veiy inteiesting. And on the moining of the wedding`
She was as biight as possibleat least until afei the ceiemony.
And did you obseive any change in hei then`
Well, to tell the tiuth, l saw then the ist signs that l had evei seen that
hei tempei was just a liule shaip. Te incident howevei, was too tiivial to ielate
and can have no possible beaiing upon the case.
Piay let us have it, foi all that.
Oh, it is childish. She diopped hei bouquet as we went towaids the vestiy.
She was passing the fiont pew at the time, and it fell ovei into the pew. Teie was
a moments delay, but the gentleman in the pew handed it up to hei again, and it
did not appeai to be the woise foi the fall. Yet when l spoke to hei of the mauei,
she answeied me abiuptly, and in the caiiiage, on oui way home, she seemed
absuidly agitated ovei this tiiing cause.
lndeed' You say that theie was a gentleman in the pew. Some of the geneial
public weie piesent, then`
Oh, yes. lt is impossible to exclude them when the chuich is open.
Tis gentleman was not one of youi wifes fiiends`
No, no, l call him a gentleman by couitesy, but he was quite a common-
looking peison. l haidly noticed his appeaiance. But ieally l think that we aie
wandeiing iathei fai fiom the point.
Lady St. Simon, then, ietuined fiomthe wedding in a less cheeiful fiame of
mind than she had gone to it. What did she do on ie-enteiing hei fatheis house`
l saw hei in conveisation with hei maid.
And who is hei maid`
Alice is hei name. She is an Ameiican and came fiom Califoinia with hei.
A condential seivant`
A liule too much so. lt seemed to me that hei mistiess allowed hei to
take gieat libeities. Still, of couise, in Ameiica they look upon these things in a
dieient way.
How long did she speak to this Alice`
Oh, a few minutes. l had something else to think of.
1s1
You did not oveiheai what they said`
Lady St. Simon said something about jumping a claim. She was accus-
tomed to use slang of the kind. l have no idea what she meant.
Ameiican slang is veiy expiessive sometimes. And what did youi wife do
when she nished speaking to hei maid`
She walked into the bieakfast-ioom.
On youi aim`
No, alone. She was veiy independent in liule maueis like that. Ten, afei
we had sat down foi ten minutes oi so, she iose huiiiedly, muueied some woids
of apology, and lef the ioom. She nevei came back.
But this maid, Alice, as l undeistand, deposes that she went to hei ioom,
coveied hei biides diess with a long ulstei, put on a bonnet, and went out.
Qite so. And she was afeiwaids seen walking into Hyde Paik in company
with lloia Millai, a woman who is now in custody, and who had alieady made a
distuibance at Mi. Doians house that moining.
Ah, yes. l should like a few paiticulais as to this young lady, and youi
ielations to hei.
Loid St. Simon shiugged his shouldeis and iaised his eyebiows. We have
been on a fiiendly footing foi some yeaisl may say on a very fiiendly footing.
She used to be at the Allegio. l have not tieated hei ungeneiously, and she had no
just cause of complaint against me, but you know what women aie, Mi. Holmes.
lloia was a deai liule thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and devotedly auached to
me. She wiote me dieadful leueis when she heaid that l was about to be maiiied,
and, to tell the tiuth, the ieason why l had the maiiiage celebiated so quietly was
that l feaied lest theie might be a scandal in the chuich. She came to Mi. Doians
dooi just afei we ietuined, and she endeavouied to push hei way in, uueiing
veiy abusive expiessions towaids my wife, and even thieatening hei, but l had
foieseen the possibility of something of the soit, and l had two police fellows
theie in piivate clothes, who soon pushed hei out again. She was quiet when she
saw that theie was no good in making a iow.
Did youi wife heai all this`
No, thank goodness, she did not.
And she was seen walking with this veiy woman afeiwaids`
Yes. Tat is what Mi. Lestiade, of Scotland Yaid, looks upon as so seiious.
lt is thought that lloia decoyed my wife out and laid some teiiible tiap foi hei.
Well, it is a possible supposition.
You think so, too`
l did not say a piobable one. But you do not youiself look upon this as
1s:
likely`
l do not think lloia would huit a y.
Still, jealousy is a stiange tiansfoimei of chaiacteis. Piay what is youi
own theoiy as to what took place`
Well, ieally, l came to seek a theoiy, not to piopound one. l have given you
all the facts. Since you ask me, howevei, l may say that it has occuiied to me as
possible that the excitement of this aaii, the consciousness that she had made so
immense a social stiide, had the eect of causing some liule neivous distuibance
in my wife.
ln shoit, that she had become suddenly deianged`
Well, ieally, when l considei that she has tuined hei backl will not say
upon me, but upon so much that many have aspiied to without successl can
haidly explain it in any othei fashion.
Well, ceitainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis, said Holmes, smiling.
And now, Loid St. Simon, l think that l have neaily all my data. May l ask
whethei you weie seated at the bieakfast-table so that you could see out of the
window`
We could see the othei side of the ioad and the Paik.
Qite so. Ten l do not think that l need to detain you longei. l shall
communicate with you.
Should you be foitunate enough to solve this pioblem, said oui client,
iising.
l have solved it.
Eh` What was that`
l say that l have solved it.
Wheie, then, is my wife`
Tat is a detail which l shall speedily supply.
Loid St. Simon shook his head. l am afiaid that it will take wisei heads
than youis oi mine, he iemaiked, and bowing in a stately, old-fashioned mannei
he depaited.
lt is veiy good of Loid St. Simon to honoui my head by puuing it on a level
with his own, said Sheilock Holmes, laughing. l think that l shall have a whisky
and soda and a cigai afei all this cioss-questioning. l had foimed my conclusions
as to the case befoie oui client came into the ioom.
My deai Holmes'
l have notes of seveial similai cases, though none, as l iemaiked befoie,
which weie quite as piompt. My whole examination seived to tuin my conjectuie
into a ceitainty. Ciicumstantial evidence is occasionally veiy convincing, as when
1s
you nd a tiout in the milk, to quote Toieaus example.
But l have heaid all that you have heaid.
Without, howevei, the knowledge of pie-existing cases which seives me so
well. Teie was a paiallel instance in Abeideen some yeais back, and something
on veiy much the same lines at Munich the yeai afei the lianco-Piussian Wai. lt
is one of these casesbut, hullo, heie is Lestiade' Good-afeinoon, Lestiade' You
will nd an extia tumblei upon the sideboaid, and theie aie cigais in the box.
Te ocial detective was auiied in a pea-jacket and ciavat, which gave him
a decidedly nautical appeaiance, and he caiiied a black canvas bag in his hand.
With a shoit gieeting he seated himself and lit the cigai which had been oeied
to him.
Whats up, then` asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. You look dis-
satised.
And l feel dissatised. lt is this infeinal St. Simon maiiiage case. l can
make neithei head noi tail of the business.
Really' You suipiise me.
Who evei heaid of such a mixed aaii` Eveiy clue seems to slip thiough
my ngeis. l have been at woik upon it all day.
And veiy wet it seems to have made you, said Holmes laying his hand
upon the aim of the pea-jacket.
Yes, l have been diagging the Seipentine.
ln heavens name, what foi`
ln seaich of the body of Lady St. Simon.
Sheilock Holmes leaned back in his chaii and laughed heaitily.
Have you diagged the basin of Tiafalgai Squaie fountain` he asked.
Why` What do you mean`
Because you have just as good a chance of nding this lady in the one as
in the othei.
Lestiade shot an angiy glance at my companion. l suppose you know all
about it, he snailed.
Well, l have only just heaid the facts, but my mind is made up.
Oh, indeed' Ten you think that the Seipentine plays no pait in the mat-
tei`
l think it veiy unlikely.
Ten peihaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found this in it` He
opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the ooi a wedding-diess of wateied
silk, a paii of white satin shoes and a biides wieath and veil, all discolouied and
soaked in watei. Teie, said he, puuing a new wedding-iing upon the top of the
1s
pile. Teie is a liule nut foi you to ciack, Mastei Holmes.
Oh, indeed' said my fiiend, blowing blue iings into the aii. You diagged
them fiom the Seipentine`
No. Tey weie found oating neai the maigin by a paik-keepei. Tey have
been identied as hei clothes, and it seemed to me that if the clothes weie theie
the body would not be fai o.
By the same biilliant ieasoning, eveiy mans body is to be found in the
neighbouihood of his waidiobe. And piay what did you hope to aiiive at thiough
this`
At some evidence implicating lloia Millai in the disappeaiance.
l am afiaid that you will nd it dicult.
Aie you, indeed, now` ciied Lestiade with some biueiness. l am afiaid,
Holmes, that you aie not veiy piactical with youi deductions and youi infeiences.
You have made two blundeis in as many minutes. Tis diess does implicate Miss
lloia Millai.
And how`
ln the diess is a pocket. ln the pocket is a caid-case. ln the caid-case is
a note. And heie is the veiy note. He slapped it down upon the table in fiont
of him. Listen to this You will see me when all is ieady. Come at once. l. H.
M. Now my theoiy all along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away
by lloia Millai, and that she, with confedeiates, no doubt, was iesponsible foi
hei disappeaiance. Heie, signed with hei initials, is the veiy note which was no
doubt quietly slipped into hei hand at the dooi and which luied hei within theii
ieach.
Veiy good, Lestiade, said Holmes, laughing. You ieally aie veiy ne in-
deed. Let me see it. He took up the papei in a listless way, but his auention
instantly became iiveted, and he gave a liule ciy of satisfaction. Tis is indeed
impoitant, said he.
Ha' you nd it so`
Extiemely so. l congiatulate you waimly.
Lestiade iose in his tiiumph and bent his head to look. Why, he shiieked,
youie looking at the wiong side'
On the contiaiy, this is the iight side.
Te iight side` Youie mad' Heie is the note wiiuen in pencil ovei heie.
And ovei heie is what appeais to be the fiagment of a hotel bill, which
inteiests me deeply.
Teies nothing in it. l looked at it befoie, said Lestiade. Oct. th, iooms
s*s*., bieakfast :*s*. e*d*., cocktail 1*s*., lunch :*s*. e*d*., glass sheiiy, s*d*. l see
1s
nothing in that.
Veiy likely not. lt is most impoitant, all the same. As to the note, it is
impoitant also, oi at least the initials aie, so l congiatulate you again.
lve wasted time enough, said Lestiade, iising. l believe in haid woik
and not in siuing by the ie spinning ne theoiies. Good-day, Mi. Holmes, and
we shall see which gets to the bouom of the mauei ist. He gatheied up the
gaiments, thiust them into the bag, and made foi the dooi.
Just one hint to you, Lestiade, diawled Holmes befoie his iival vanished,
l will tell you the tiue solution of the mauei. Lady St. Simon is a myth. Teie is
not, and theie nevei has been, any such peison.
Lestiade looked sadly at my companion. Ten he tuined to me, tapped his
foiehead thiee times, shook his head solemnly, and huiiied away.
He had haidly shut the dooi behind him when Holmes iose to put on his
oveicoat. Teie is something in what the fellow says about outdooi woik, he
iemaiked, so l think, Watson, that l must leave you to youi papeis foi a liule.
lt was afei ve oclock when Sheilock Holmes lef me, but l had no time to
be lonely, foi within an houi theie aiiived a confectioneis man with a veiy laige
at box. Tis he unpacked with the help of a youth whom he had biought with
him, and piesently, to my veiy gieat astonishment, a quite epicuiean liule cold
suppei began to be laid out upon oui humble lodging-house mahogany. Teie
weie a couple of biace of cold woodcock, a pheasant, a pt de foie gras pie with a
gioup of ancient and cobwebby boules. Having laid out all these luxuiies, my two
visitois vanished away, like the genii of the Aiabian Nights, with no explanation
save that the things had been paid foi and weie oideied to this addiess.
Just befoie nine oclock Sheilock Holmes stepped biiskly into the ioom. His
featuies weie giavely set, but theie was a light in his eye which made me think
that he had not been disappointed in his conclusions.
Tey have laid the suppei, then, he said, iubbing his hands.
You seem to expect company. Tey have laid foi ve.
Yes, l fancy we may have some company diopping in, said he. l am sui-
piised that Loid St. Simon has not alieady aiiived. Ha' l fancy that l heai his
step now upon the staiis.
lt was indeed oui visitoi of the afeinoon who came bustling in, dangling
his glasses moie vigoiously than evei, and with a veiy peituibed expiession upon
his aiistociatic featuies.
My messengei ieached you, then` asked Holmes.
Yes, and l confess that the contents staitled me beyond measuie. Have you
good authoiity foi what you say`
1se
Te best possible.
Loid St. Simon sank into a chaii and passed his hand ovei his foiehead.
What will the Duke say, he muimuied, when he heais that one of the
family has been subjected to such humiliation`
lt is the puiest accident. l cannot allow that theie is any humiliation.
Ah, you look on these things fiom anothei standpoint.
l fail to see that anyone is to blame. l can haidly see how the lady could
have acted otheiwise, though hei abiupt method of doing it was undoubtedly to
be iegieued. Having no mothei, she had no one to advise hei at such a ciisis.
lt was a slight, sii, a public slight, said Loid St. Simon, tapping his ngeis
upon the table.
You must make allowance foi this pooi giil, placed in so unpiecedented a
position.
l will make no allowance. l am veiy angiy indeed, and l have been shame-
fully used.
l think that l heaid a iing, said Holmes. Yes, theie aie steps on the landing.
lf l cannot peisuade you to take a lenient view of the mauei, Loid St. Simon, l
have biought an advocate heie who may be moie successful. He opened the dooi
and usheied in a lady and gentleman. Loid St. Simon, said he allow me to
intioduce you to Mi. and Mis. liancis Hay Moulton. Te lady, l think, you have
alieady met.
At the sight of these newcomeis oui client had spiung fiom his seat and
stood veiy eiect, with his eyes cast down and his hand thiust into the bieast
of his fiock-coat, a pictuie of oended dignity. Te lady had taken a quick step
foiwaid and had held out hei hand to him, but he still iefused to iaise his eyes.
lt was as well foi his iesolution, peihaps, foi hei pleading face was one which it
was haid to iesist.
Youie angiy, Robeit, said she. Well, l guess you have eveiy cause to be.
Piay make no apology to me, said Loid St. Simon biueily.
Oh, yes, l know that l have tieated you ieal bad and that l should have
spoken to you befoie l went, but l was kind of iauled, and fiom the time when l
sawliank heie again l just didnt knowwhat l was doing oi saying. l only wondei
l didnt fall down and do a faint iight theie befoie the altai.
Peihaps, Mis. Moulton, you would like my fiiend and me to leave the ioom
while you explain this mauei`
lf l may give an opinion, iemaiked the stiange gentleman, weve had just
a liule too much seciecy ovei this business alieady. loi my pait, l should like all
Euiope and Ameiica to heai the iights of it. He was a small, wiiy, sunbuint man,
1s,
clean-shaven, with a shaip face and aleit mannei.
Ten lll tell oui stoiy iight away, said the lady. liank heie and l met in
s, in McQiies camp, neai the Rockies, wheie Pa was woiking a claim. We weie
engaged to each othei, liank and l, but then one day fathei stiuck a iich pocket
and made a pile, while pooi liank heie had a claim that peteied out and came to
nothing. Te iichei Pa giew the pooiei was liank, so at last Pa wouldnt heai
of oui engagement lasting any longei, and he took me away to liisco. liank
wouldnt thiow up his hand, though, so he followed me theie, and he saw me
without Pa knowing anything about it. lt would only have made him mad to
know, so we just xed it all up foi ouiselves. liank said that he would go and
make his pile, too, and nevei come back to claim me until he had as much as
Pa. So then l piomised to wait foi him to the end of time and pledged myself
not to maiiy anyone else while he lived. Why shouldnt we be maiiied iight
away, then, said he, and then l will feel suie of you, and l wont claim to be youi
husband until l come back` Well, we talked it ovei, and he had xed it all up so
nicely, with a cleigyman all ieady in waiting, that we just did it iight theie, and
then liank went o to seek his foitune, and l went back to Pa.
Te next l heaid of liank was that he was in Montana, and then he went
piospecting in Aiizona, and then l heaid of him fiom New Mexico. Afei that
came a long newspapei stoiy about how a mineis camp had been auacked by
Apache lndians, and theie was my lianks name among the killed. l fainted dead
away, and l was veiy sick foi months afei. Pa thought l had a decline and took
me to half the doctois in liisco. Not a woid of news came foi a yeai and moie,
so that l nevei doubted that liank was ieally dead. Ten Loid St. Simon came to
liisco, and we came to London, and a maiiiage was aiianged, and Pa was veiy
pleased, but l felt all the time that no man on this eaith would evei take the place
in my heait that had been given to my pooi liank.
Still, if l had maiiied Loid St. Simon, of couise ld have done my duty by
him. We cant command oui love, but we can oui actions. l went to the altai
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 l felt when, just as l came to the altai iails, l glanced
back and saw liank standing and looking at me out of the ist pew. l thought it
was his ghost at ist, but when l looked again theie he was still, with a kind of
question in his eyes, as if to ask me whethei l weie glad oi soiiy to see him. l
wondei l didnt diop. l know that eveiything was tuining iound, and the woids
of the cleigyman weie just like the buzz of a bee in my eai. l didnt know what
to do. Should l stop the seivice and make a scene in the chuich` l glanced at him
again, and he seemed to know what l was thinking, foi he iaised his ngei to his
1ss
lips to tell me to be still. Ten l saw him sciibble on a piece of papei, and l knew
that he was wiiting me a note. As l passed his pew on the way out l diopped my
bouquet ovei to him, and he slipped the note into my hand when he ietuined me
the oweis. lt was only a line asking me to join him when he made the sign to
me to do so. Of couise l nevei doubted foi a moment that my ist duty was now
to him, and l deteimined to do just whatevei he might diiect.
When l got back l told my maid, who had known him in Califoinia, and
had always been his fiiend. l oideied hei to say nothing, but to get a few things
packed and my ulstei ieady. l know l ought to have spoken to Loid St. Simon,
but it was dieadful haid befoie his mothei and all those gieat people. l just made
up my mind to iun away and explain afeiwaids. l hadnt been at the table ten
minutes befoie l saw liank out of the window at the othei side of the ioad. He
beckoned to me and then began walking into the Paik. l slipped out, put on my
things, and followed him. Some woman came talking something oi othei about
Loid St. Simon to meseemed to me fiom the liule l heaid as if he had a liule
seciet of his own befoie maiiiage alsobut l managed to get away fiom hei and
soon oveitook liank. We got into a cab togethei, and away we diove to some
lodgings he had taken in Goidon Squaie, and that was my tiue wedding afei
all those yeais of waiting. liank had been a piisonei among the Apaches, had
escaped, came on to liisco, found that l had given him up foi dead and had gone
to England, followed me theie, and had come upon me at last on the veiy moining
of my second wedding.
l saw it in a papei, explained the Ameiican. lt gave the name and the
chuich but not wheie the lady lived.
Ten we had a talk as to what we should do, and liank was all foi openness,
but l was so ashamed of it all that l felt as if l should like to vanish away and nevei
see any of them againjust sending a line to Pa, peihaps, to show him that l was
alive. lt was awful to me to think of all those loids and ladies siuing iound that
bieakfast-table and waiting foi me to come back. So liank took my wedding-
clothes and things and made a bundle of them, so that l should not be tiaced, and
diopped them away somewheie wheie no one could nd them. lt is likely that
we should have gone on to Paiis to-moiiow, only that this good gentleman, Mi.
Holmes, came iound to us this evening, though how he found us is moie than l
can think, and he showed us veiy cleaily and kindly that l was wiong and that
liank was iight, and that we should be puuing ouiselves in the wiong if we weie
so seciet. Ten he oeied to give us a chance of talking to Loid St. Simon alone,
and so we came iight away iound to his iooms at once. Now, Robeit, you have
heaid it all, and l am veiy soiiy if l have given you pain, and l hope that you do
1s,
not think veiy meanly of me.
Loid St. Simon had by no means ielaxed his iigid auitude, but had listened
with a fiowning biow and a compiessed lip to this long naiiative.
Excuse me, he said, but it is not my custom to discuss my most intimate
peisonal aaiis in this public mannei.
Ten you wont foigive me` You wont shake hands befoie l go`
Oh, ceitainly, if it would give you any pleasuie. He put out his hand and
coldly giasped that which she extended to him.
l had hoped, suggested Holmes, that you would have joined us in a
fiiendly suppei.
l think that theie you ask a liule too much, iesponded his Loidship. l may
be foiced to acquiesce in these iecent developments, but l can haidly be expected
to make meiiy ovei them. l think that with youi peimission l will now wish you
all a veiy good-night. He included us all in a sweeping bow and stalked out of
the ioom.
Ten l tiust that you at least will honoui me with youi company, said
Sheilock Holmes. lt is always a joy to meet an Ameiican, Mi. Moulton, foi l
am one of those who believe that the folly of a monaich and the blundeiing of
a ministei in fai-gone yeais will not pievent oui childien fiom being some day
citizens of the same woild-wide countiy undei a ag which shall be a quaiteiing
of the Union Jack with the Stais and Stiipes.
Te case has been an inteiesting one, iemaiked Holmes when oui visitois
had lef us, because it seives to show veiy cleaily how simple the explanation
may be of an aaii which at ist sight seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing
could be moie natuial than the sequence of events as naiiated by this lady, and
nothing stiangei than the iesult when viewed, foi instance, by Mi. Lestiade of
Scotland Yaid.
You weie not youiself at fault at all, then`
liom the ist, two facts weie veiy obvious to me, the one that the lady
had been quite willing to undeigo the wedding ceiemony, the othei that she had
iepented of it within a few minutes of ietuining home. Obviously something had
occuiied duiing the moining, then, to cause hei to change hei mind. What could
that something be` She could not have spoken to anyone when she was out, foi
she had been in the company of the biidegioom. Had she seen someone, then` lf
she had, it must be someone fiom Ameiica because she had spent so shoit a time
in this countiy that she could haidly have allowed anyone to acquiie so deep an
inuence ovei hei that the meie sight of him would induce hei to change hei
plans so completely. You see we have alieady aiiived, by a piocess of exclusion,
1,o
at the idea that she might have seen an Ameiican. Ten who could this Ameiican
be, and why should he possess so much inuence ovei hei` lt might be a lovei,
it might be a husband. Hei young womanhood had, l knew, been spent in iough
scenes and undei stiange conditions. So fai l had got befoie l evei heaid Loid
St. Simons naiiative. When he told us of a man in a pew, of the change in the
biides mannei, of so tianspaient a device foi obtaining a note as the diopping
of a bouquet, of hei iesoit to hei condential maid, and of hei veiy signicant
allusion to claim-jumpingwhich in mineis pailance means taking possession
of that which anothei peison has a piioi claim tothe whole situation became
absolutely cleai. She had gone o with a man, and the man was eithei a lovei oi
was a pievious husbandthe chances being in favoui of the lauei.
And how in the woild did you nd them`
lt might have been dicult, but fiiend Lestiade held infoimation in his
hands the value of which he did not himself know. Te initials weie, of couise, of
the highest impoitance, but moie valuable still was it to know that within a week
he had seuled his bill at one of the most select London hotels.
How did you deduce the select`
By the select piices. Eight shillings foi a bed and eightpence foi a glass
of sheiiy pointed to one of the most expensive hotels. Teie aie not many in
London which chaige at that iate. ln the second one which l visited in Noithum-
beiland Avenue, l leained by an inspection of the book that liancis H. Moulton,
an Ameiican gentleman, had lef only the day befoie, and on looking ovei the
entiies against him, l came upon the veiy items which l had seen in the duplicate
bill. His leueis weie to be foiwaided to ::e Goidon Squaie, so thithei l tiavelled,
and being foitunate enough to nd the loving couple at home, l ventuied to give
them some pateinal advice and to point out to them that it would be beuei in
eveiy way that they should make theii position a liule cleaiei both to the geneial
public and to Loid St. Simon in paiticulai. l invited them to meet him heie, and,
as you see, l made him keep the appointment.
But with no veiy good iesult, l iemaiked. His conduct was ceitainly not
veiy giacious.
Ah, Watson, said Holmes, smiling, peihaps you would not be veiy gia-
cious eithei, if, afei all the tiouble of wooing and wedding, you found youiself
depiived in an instant of wife and of foitune. l think that we may judge Loid St.
Simon veiy meicifully and thank oui stais that we aie nevei likely to nd oui-
selves in the same position. Diaw youi chaii up and hand me my violin, foi the
only pioblem we have still to solve is how to while away these bleak autumnal
evenings.
Te Adventure of the Beryl
Coronet
Holmes, said l as l stood one moining in oui bow-window looking down the
stieet, heie is a madman coming along. lt seems iathei sad that his ielatives
should allow him to come out alone.
My fiiend iose lazily fiom his aimchaii and stood with his hands in the
pockets of his diessing-gown, looking ovei my shouldei. lt was a biight, ciisp
lebiuaiy moining, and the snow of the day befoie still lay deep upon the giound,
shimmeiing biightly in the wintiy sun. Down the centie of Bakei Stieet it had
been ploughed into a biown ciumbly band by the tiac, but at eithei side and
on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as when it fell. Te
giey pavement had been cleaned and sciaped, but was still dangeiously slippeiy,
so that theie weie fewei passengeis than usual. lndeed, fiom the diiection of
the Metiopolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman whose
eccentiic conduct had diawn my auention.
He was a man of about fy, tall, poitly, and imposing, with a massive,
stiongly maiked face and a commanding guie. He was diessed in a sombie yet
iich style, in black fiock-coat, shining hat, neat biown gaiteis, and well-cut peail-
giey tiouseis. Yet his actions weie in absuid contiast to the dignity of his diess
and featuies, foi he was iunning haid, with occasional liule spiings, such as a
weaiy man gives who is liule accustomed to set any tax upon his legs. As he ian
he jeiked his hands up and down, waggled his head, and wiithed his face into the
most extiaoidinaiy contoitions.
What on eaith can be the mauei with him` l asked. He is looking up at
the numbeis of the houses.
l believe that he is coming heie, said Holmes, iubbing his hands.
Heie`
1,:
Yes, l iathei think he is coming to consult me piofessionally. l think that l
iecognise the symptoms. Ha' did l not tell you` As he spoke, the man, pung
and blowing, iushed at oui dooi and pulled at oui bell until the whole house
iesounded with the clanging.
A few moments latei he was in oui ioom, still pung, still gesticulating,
but with so xed a look of giief and despaii in his eyes that oui smiles weie
tuined in an instant to hoiioi and pity. loi a while he could not get his woids
out, but swayed his body and plucked at his haii like one who has been diiven
to the extieme limits of his ieason. Ten, suddenly spiinging to his feet, he beat
his head against the wall with such foice that we both iushed upon him and toie
him away to the centie of the ioom. Sheilock Holmes pushed him down into the
easy-chaii and, siuing beside him, paued his hand and chaued with him in the
easy, soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ.
You have come to me to tell youi stoiy, have you not` said he. You aie
fatigued with youi haste. Piay wait until you have iecoveied youiself, and then l
shall be most happy to look into any liule pioblem which you may submit to me.
Te man sat foi a minute oi moie with a heaving chest, ghting against his
emotion. Ten he passed his handkeichief ovei his biow, set his lips tight, and
tuined his face towaids us.
No doubt you think me mad` said he.
l see that you have had some gieat tiouble, iesponded Holmes.
God knows l have'a tiouble which is enough to unseat my ieason, so
sudden and so teiiible is it. Public disgiace l might have faced, although l am a
man whose chaiactei has nevei yet boine a stain. Piivate aiction also is the lot
of eveiy man, but the two coming togethei, and in so fiightful a foim, have been
enough to shake my veiy soul. Besides, it is not l alone. Te veiy noblest in the
land may suei unless some way be found out of this hoiiible aaii.
Piay compose youiself, sii, said Holmes, and let me have a cleai account
of who you aie and what it is that has befallen you.
My name, answeied oui visitoi, is piobably familiai to youi eais. l am
Alexandei Holdei, of the banking im of Holdei & Stevenson, of Tieadneedle
Stieet.
Te name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senioi paitnei
in the second laigest piivate banking concein in the City of London. What could
have happened, then, to biing one of the foiemost citizens of London to this most
pitiable pass` We waited, all cuiiosity, until with anothei eoit he biaced himself
to tell his stoiy.
l feel that time is of value, said he, that is why l hastened heie when the
1,
police inspectoi suggested that l should secuie youi co-opeiation. l came to Bakei
Stieet by the Undeigiound and huiiied fiom theie on foot, foi the cabs go slowly
thiough this snow. Tat is why l was so out of bieath, foi l am a man who takes
veiy liule exeicise. l feel beuei now, and l will put the facts befoie you as shoitly
and yet as cleaily as l can.
lt is, of couise, well known to you that in a successful banking business
as much depends upon oui being able to nd iemuneiative investments foi oui
funds as upon oui incieasing oui connection and the numbei of oui depositois.
One of oui most luciative means of laying out money is in the shape of loans,
wheie the secuiity is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this diiection
duiing the last few yeais, and theie aie many noble families to whom we have
advanced laige sums upon the secuiity of theii pictuies, libiaiies, oi plate.
Yesteiday moining l was seated in my oce at the bank when a caid was
biought in to me by one of the cleiks. l staited when l sawthe name, foi it was that
of none othei thanwell, peihaps even to you l had beuei say no moie than that
it was a name which is a household woid all ovei the eaithone of the highest,
noblest, most exalted names in England. l was oveiwhelmed by the honoui and
auempted, when he enteied, to say so, but he plunged at once into business with
the aii of a man who wishes to huiiy quickly thiough a disagieeable task.
Mi. Holdei, said he, l have been infoimed that you aie in the habit of
advancing money.
Te im does so when the secuiity is good. l answeied.
lt is absolutely essential to me, said he, that l should have io,ooo at once.
l could, of couise, boiiow so tiiing a sum ten times ovei fiom my fiiends, but l
much piefei to make it a mauei of business and to caiiy out that business myself.
ln my position you can ieadily undeistand that it is unwise to place ones self
undei obligations.
loi how long, may l ask, do you want this sum` l asked.
Next Monday l have a laige sum due to me, and l shall then most ceitainly
iepay what you advance, with whatevei inteiest you think it iight to chaige. But
it is veiy essential to me that the money should be paid at once.
l should be happy to advance it without fuithei pailey fiom my own pii-
vate puise, said l, weie it not that the stiain would be iathei moie than it could
beai. lf, on the othei hand, l am to do it in the name of the im, then in justice
to my paitnei l must insist that, even in youi case, eveiy businesslike piecaution
should be taken.
l should much piefei to have it so, said he, iaising up a squaie, black
moiocco case which he had laid beside his chaii. You have doubtless heaid of the
1,
Beiyl Coionet`
One of the most piecious public possessions of the empiie, said l.
Piecisely. He opened the case, and theie, imbedded in sof, esh-colouied
velvet, lay the magnicent piece of jewelleiy which he had named. Teie aie
thiity-nine enoimous beiyls, said he, and the piice of the gold chasing is incal-
culable. Te lowest estimate would put the woith of the coionet at double the
sum which l have asked. l am piepaied to leave it with you as my secuiity.
l took the piecious case into my hands and looked in some peiplexity fiom
it to my illustiious client.
You doubt its value` he asked.
Not at all. l only doubt
Te piopiiety of my leaving it. You may set youi mind at iest about that.
l should not dieam of doing so weie it not absolutely ceitain that l should be able
in foui days to ieclaim it. lt is a puie mauei of foim. ls the secuiity sucient`
Ample.
You undeistand, Mi. Holdei, that l am giving you a stiong pioof of the
condence which l have in you, founded upon all that l have heaid of you. l iely
upon you not only to be discieet and to iefiain fiom all gossip upon the mauei
but, above all, to pieseive this coionet with eveiy possible piecaution because
l need not say that a gieat public scandal would be caused if any haim weie to
befall it. Any injuiy to it would be almost as seiious as its complete loss, foi theie
aie no beiyls in the woild to match these, and it would be impossible to ieplace
them. l leave it with you, howevei, with eveiy condence, and l shall call foi it in
peison on Monday moining.
Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, l said no moie but, calling
foi my cashiei, l oideied him to pay ovei fy i1ooo notes. When l was alone
once moie, howevei, with the piecious case lying upon the table in fiont of me, l
could not but think with some misgivings of the immense iesponsibility which it
entailed upon me. Teie could be no doubt that, as it was a national possession,
a hoiiible scandal would ensue if any misfoitune should occui to it. l alieady
iegieued having evei consented to take chaige of it. Howevei, it was too late to
altei the mauei now, so l locked it up in my piivate safe and tuined once moie to
my woik.
When evening came l felt that it would be an impiudence to leave so pie-
cious a thing in the oce behind me. Bankeis safes had been foiced befoie now,
and why should not mine be` lf so, how teiiible would be the position in which
l should nd myself' l deteimined, theiefoie, that foi the next few days l would
always caiiy the case backwaid and foiwaid with me, so that it might nevei be
1,
ieally out of my ieach. With this intention, l called a cab and diove out to my
house at Stieatham, caiiying the jewel with me. l did not bieathe fieely until l
had taken it upstaiis and locked it in the buieau of my diessing-ioom.
And now a woid as to my household, Mi. Holmes, foi l wish you to thoi-
oughly undeistand the situation. My gioom and my page sleep out of the house,
and may be set aside altogethei. l have thiee maid-seivants who have been with
me a numbei of yeais and whose absolute ieliability is quite above suspicion.
Anothei, Lucy Paii, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my seivice a few
months. She came with an excellent chaiactei, howevei, and has always given
me satisfaction. She is a veiy pieuy giil and has auiacted admiieis who have oc-
casionally hung about the place. Tat is the only diawback which we have found
to hei, but we believe hei to be a thoioughly good giil in eveiy way.
So much foi the seivants. My family itself is so small that it will not take
me long to desciibe it. l am a widowei and have an only son, Aithui. He has been
a disappointment to me, Mi. Holmesa giievous disappointment. l have no doubt
that l am myself to blame. People tell me that l have spoiled him. Veiy likely l
have. When my deai wife died l felt that he was all l had to love. l could not beai
to see the smile fade even foi a moment fiom his face. l have nevei denied him
a wish. Peihaps it would have been beuei foi both of us had l been steinei, but l
meant it foi the best.
lt was natuially my intention that he should succeed me in my business,
but he was not of a business tuin. He was wild, waywaid, and, to speak the tiuth,
l could not tiust him in the handling of laige sums of money. When he was young
he became a membei of an aiistociatic club, and theie, having chaiming manneis,
he was soon the intimate of a numbei of men with long puises and expensive
habits. He leained to play heavily at caids and to squandei money on the tuif,
until he had again and again to come to me and imploie me to give himan advance
upon his allowance, that he might seule his debts of honoui. He tiied moie than
once to bieak away fiom the dangeious company which he was keeping, but each
time the inuence of his fiiend, Sii Geoige Buinwell, was enough to diaw him
back again.
And, indeed, l could not wondei that such a man as Sii Geoige Buinwell
should gain an inuence ovei him, foi he has fiequently biought himto my house,
and l have found myself that l could haidly iesist the fascination of his mannei. He
is oldei than Aithui, a man of the woild to his ngei-tips, one who had been ev-
eiywheie, seen eveiything, a biilliant talkei, and a man of gieat peisonal beauty.
Yet when l think of him in cold blood, fai away fiom the glamoui of his piesence,
l am convinced fiom his cynical speech and the look which l have caught in his
1,e
eyes that he is one who should be deeply distiusted. So l think, and so, too, thinks
my liule Maiy, who has a womans quick insight into chaiactei.
And now theie is only she to be desciibed. She is my niece, but when my
biothei died ve yeais ago and lef hei alone in the woild l adopted hei, and have
looked upon hei evei since as my daughtei. She is a sunbeamin my housesweet,
loving, beautiful, a wondeiful managei and housekeepei, yet as tendei and quiet
and gentle as a woman could be. She is my iight hand. l do not know what l could
do without hei. ln only one mauei has she evei gone against my wishes. Twice
my boy has asked hei to maiiy him, foi he loves hei devotedly, but each time she
has iefused him. l think that if anyone could have diawn him into the iight path
it would have been she, and that his maiiiage might have changed his whole life,
but now, alas' it is too latefoievei too late'
Now, Mi. Holmes, you know the people who live undei my ioof, and l
shall continue with my miseiable stoiy.
When we weie taking coee in the diawing-ioom that night afei dinnei,
l told Aithui and Maiy my expeiience, and of the piecious tieasuie which we
had undei oui ioof, suppiessing only the name of my client. Lucy Paii, who had
biought in the coee, had, l am suie, lef the ioom, but l cannot sweai that the
dooi was closed. Maiy and Aithui weie much inteiested and wished to see the
famous coionet, but l thought it beuei not to distuib it.
Wheie have you put it` asked Aithui.
ln my own buieau.
Well, l hope to goodness the house wont be buigled duiing the night.
said he.
lt is locked up, l answeied.
Oh, any old key will t that buieau. When l was a youngstei l have opened
it myself with the key of the box-ioom cupboaid.
He ofen had a wild way of talking, so that l thought liule of what he said.
He followed me to my ioom, howevei, that night with a veiy giave face.
Look heie, dad, said he with his eyes cast down, can you let me have
i:oo`
No, l cannot' l answeied shaiply. l have been fai too geneious with you
in money maueis.
You have been veiy kind, said he, but l must have this money, oi else l
can nevei show my face inside the club again.
And a veiy good thing, too' l ciied.
Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonouied man, said he. l
could not beai the disgiace. l must iaise the money in some way, and if you will
1,,
not let me have it, then l must tiy othei means.
l was veiy angiy, foi this was the thiid demand duiing the month. You
shall not have a faithing fiom me, l ciied, on which he bowed and lef the ioom
without anothei woid.
When he was gone l unlocked my buieau, made suie that my tieasuie was
safe, and locked it again. Ten l staited to go iound the house to see that all
was secuiea duty which l usually leave to Maiy but which l thought it well to
peifoim myself that night. As l came down the staiis l saw Maiy heiself at the
side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as l appioached.
Tell me, dad, said she, looking, l thought, a liule distuibed, did you give
Lucy, the maid, leave to go out to-night`
Ceitainly not.
She came in just now by the back dooi. l have no doubt that she has only
been to the side gate to see someone, but l think that it is haidly safe and should
be stopped.
You must speak to hei in the moining, oi l will if you piefei it. Aie you
suie that eveiything is fastened`
Qite suie, dad.
Ten, good-night. l kissed hei and went up to my bedioom again, wheie
l was soon asleep.
l am endeavouiing to tell you eveiything, Mi. Holmes, which may have
any beaiing upon the case, but l beg that you will question me upon any point
which l do not make cleai.
On the contiaiy, youi statement is singulaily lucid.
l come to a pait of my stoiy now in which l should wish to be paiticulaily
so. l amnot a veiy heavy sleepei, and the anxiety in my mind tended, no doubt, to
make me even less so than usual. About two in the moining, then, l was awakened
by some sound in the house. lt had ceased eie l was wide awake, but it had lef
an impiession behind it as though a window had gently closed somewheie. l lay
listening with all my eais. Suddenly, to my hoiioi, theie was a distinct sound of
footsteps moving sofly in the next ioom. l slipped out of bed, all palpitating with
feai, and peeped iound the coinei of my diessing-ioom dooi.
Aithui' l scieamed, you villain' you thief' How daie you touch that
coionet`
Te gas was half up, as l had lef it, and my unhappy boy, diessed only in
his shiit and tiouseis, was standing beside the light, holding the coionet in his
hands. He appeaied to be wienching at it, oi bending it with all his stiength. At
my ciy he diopped it fiom his giasp and tuined as pale as death. l snatched it
1,s
up and examined it. One of the gold coineis, with thiee of the beiyls in it, was
missing.
You blackguaid' l shouted, beside myself with iage. You have destioyed
it' You have dishonouied me foievei' Wheie aie the jewels which you have
stolen`
Stolen' he ciied.
Yes, thief' l ioaied, shaking him by the shouldei.
Teie aie none missing. Teie cannot be any missing, said he.
Teie aie thiee missing. And you know wheie they aie. Must l call you a
liai as well as a thiel` Did l not see you tiying to teai o anothei piece`
You have called me names enough, said he, l will not stand it any longei.
l shall not say anothei woid about this business, since you have chosen to insult
me. l will leave youi house in the moining and make my own way in the woild.
You shall leave it in the hands of the police' l ciied half-mad with giief
and iage. l shall have this mauei piobed to the bouom.
You shall leain nothing fiom me, said he with a passion such as l should
not have thought was in his natuie. lf you choose to call the police, let the police
nd what they can.
By this time the whole house was astii, foi l had iaised my voice in my
angei. Maiy was the ist to iush into my ioom, and, at the sight of the coionet and
of Aithuis face, she iead the whole stoiy and, with a scieam, fell down senseless
on the giound. l sent the house-maid foi the police and put the investigation
into theii hands at once. When the inspectoi and a constable enteied the house,
Aithui, who had stood sullenly with his aims folded, asked me whethei it was
my intention to chaige him with thef. l answeied that it had ceased to be a
piivate mauei, but had become a public one, since the iuined coionet was national
piopeity. l was deteimined that the law should have its way in eveiything.
At least, said he, you will not have me aiiested at once. lt would be to
youi advantage as well as mine if l might leave the house foi ve minutes.
Tat you may get away, oi peihaps that you may conceal what you have
stolen, said l. And then, iealising the dieadful position in which l was placed, l
imploied him to iemembei that not only my honoui but that of one who was fai
gieatei than l was at stake, and that he thieatened to iaise a scandal which would
convulse the nation. He might aveit it all if he would but tell me what he had
done with the thiee missing stones.
You may as well face the mauei, said l, you have been caught in the act,
and no confession could make youi guilt moie heinous. lf you but make such
iepaiation as is in youi powei, by telling us wheie the beiyls aie, all shall be
1,,
foigiven and foigouen.
Keep youi foigiveness foi those who ask foi it, he answeied, tuining away
fiom me with a sneei. l saw that he was too haidened foi any woids of mine to
inuence him. Teie was but one way foi it. l called in the inspectoi and gave
him into custody. A seaich was made at once not only of his peison but of his
ioom and of eveiy poition of the house wheie he could possibly have concealed
the gems, but no tiace of them could be found, noi would the wietched boy open
his mouth foi all oui peisuasions and oui thieats. Tis moining he was iemoved
to a cell, and l, afei going thiough all the police foimalities, have huiiied iound
to you to imploie you to use youi skill in uniavelling the mauei. Te police have
openly confessed that they can at piesent make nothing of it. You may go to any
expense which you think necessaiy. l have alieady oeied a iewaid of i1ooo. My
God, what shall l do' l have lost my honoui, my gems, and my son in one night.
Oh, what shall l do'
He put a hand on eithei side of his head and iocked himself to and fio,
dioning to himself like a child whose giief has got beyond woids.
Sheilock Holmes sat silent foi some few minutes, with his biows kniued
and his eyes xed upon the ie.
Do you ieceive much company` he asked.
None save my paitnei with his family and an occasional fiiend of Aithuis.
Sii Geoige Buinwell has been seveial times lately. No one else, l think.
Do you go out much in society`
Aithui does. Maiy and l stay at home. We neithei of us caie foi it.
Tat is unusual in a young giil.
She is of a quiet natuie. Besides, she is not so veiy young. She is foui-and-
twenty.
Tis mauei, fiom what you say, seems to have been a shock to hei also.
Teiiible' She is even moie aected than l.
You have neithei of you any doubt as to youi sons guilt`
How can we have when l saw him with my own eyes with the coionet in
his hands.
l haidly considei that a conclusive pioof. Was the iemaindei of the coionet
at all injuied`
Yes, it was twisted.
Do you not think, then, that he might have been tiying to stiaighten it`
God bless you' You aie doing what you can foi him and foi me. But it is
too heavy a task. What was he doing theie at all` lf his puipose weie innocent,
why did he not say so`
:oo
Piecisely. And if it weie guilty, why did he not invent a lie` His silence
appeais to me to cut both ways. Teie aie seveial singulai points about the case.
What did the police think of the noise which awoke you fiom youi sleep`
Tey consideied that it might be caused by Aithuis closing his bedioom
dooi.
A likely stoiy' As if a man bent on felony would slam his dooi so as to
wake a household. What did they say, then, of the disappeaiance of these gems`
Tey aie still sounding the planking and piobing the fuinituie in the hope
of nding them.
Have they thought of looking outside the house`
Yes, they have shown extiaoidinaiy eneigy. Te whole gaiden has alieady
been minutely examined.
Now, my deai sii, said Holmes, is it not obvious to you now that this
mauei ieally stiikes veiy much deepei than eithei you oi the police weie at ist
inclined to think` lt appeaied to you to be a simple case, to me it seems exceed-
ingly complex. Considei what is involved by youi theoiy. You suppose that youi
son came down fiom his bed, went, at gieat iisk, to youi diessing-ioom, opened
youi buieau, took out youi coionet, bioke o by main foice a small poition of it,
went o to some othei place, concealed thiee gems out of the thiity-nine, with
such skill that nobody can nd them, and then ietuined with the othei thiity-
six into the ioom in which he exposed himself to the gieatest dangei of being
discoveied. l ask you now, is such a theoiy tenable`
But what othei is theie` ciied the bankei with a gestuie of despaii. lf his
motives weie innocent, why does he not explain them`
lt is oui task to nd that out, ieplied Holmes, so now, if you please, Mi.
Holdei, we will set o foi Stieatham togethei, and devote an houi to glancing a
liule moie closely into details.
My fiiend insisted upon my accompanying them in theii expedition, which
l was eagei enough to do, foi my cuiiosity and sympathy weie deeply stiiied by
the stoiy to which we had listened. l confess that the guilt of the bankeis son
appeaied to me to be as obvious as it did to his unhappy fathei, but still l had such
faith in Holmes judgment that l felt that theie must be some giounds foi hope as
long as he was dissatised with the accepted explanation. He haidly spoke a woid
the whole way out to the southein subuib, but sat with his chin upon his bieast
and his hat diawn ovei his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Oui client appeaied
to have taken fiesh heait at the liule glimpse of hope which had been piesented
to him, and he even bioke into a desultoiy chat with me ovei his business aaiis.
A shoit iailway jouiney and a shoitei walk biought us to laiibank, the modest
:o1
iesidence of the gieat nanciei.
laiibank was a good-sized squaie house of white stone, standing back a
liule fiom the ioad. A double caiiiage-sweep, with a snow-clad lawn, stietched
down in fiont to two laige iion gates which closed the entiance. On the iight
side was a small wooden thicket, which led into a naiiow path between two neat
hedges stietching fiom the ioad to the kitchen dooi, and foiming the tiadesmens
entiance. On the lef ian a lane which led to the stables, and was not itself within
the giounds at all, being a public, though liule used, thoioughfaie. Holmes lef
us standing at the dooi and walked slowly all iound the house, acioss the fiont,
down the tiadesmens path, and so iound by the gaiden behind into the stable
lane. So long was he that Mi. Holdei and l went into the dining-ioom and waited
by the ie until he should ietuin. We weie siuing theie in silence when the dooi
opened and a young lady came in. She was iathei above the middle height, slim,
with daik haii and eyes, which seemed the daikei against the absolute palloi of
hei skin. l do not think that l have evei seen such deadly paleness in a womans
face. Hei lips, too, weie bloodless, but hei eyes weie ushed with ciying. As she
swept silently into the ioom she impiessed me with a gieatei sense of giief than
the bankei had done in the moining, and it was the moie stiiking in hei as she was
evidently a woman of stiong chaiactei, with immense capacity foi self-iestiaint.
Disiegaiding my piesence, she went stiaight to hei uncle and passed hei hand
ovei his head with a sweet womanly caiess.
You have given oideis that Aithui should be libeiated, have you not, dad`
she asked.
No, no, my giil, the mauei must be piobed to the bouom.
But l am so suie that he is innocent. You know what womans instincts
aie. l know that he has done no haim and that you will be soiiy foi having acted
so haishly.
Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent`
Who knows` Peihaps because he was so angiy that you should suspect
him.
Howcould l help suspecting him, when l actually sawhimwith the coionet
in his hand`
Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take my woid foi
it that he is innocent. Let the mauei diop and say no moie. lt is so dieadful to
think of oui deai Aithui in piison'
l shall nevei let it diop until the gems aie foundnevei, Maiy' Youi aec-
tion foi Aithui blinds you as to the awful consequences to me. lai fiom hushing
the thing up, l have biought a gentleman down fiom London to inquiie moie
:o:
deeply into it.
Tis gentleman` she asked, facing iound to me.
No, his fiiend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is iound in the stable
lane now.
Te stable lane` She iaised hei daik eyebiows. What can he hope to nd
theie` Ah' this, l suppose, is he. l tiust, sii, that you will succeed in pioving,
what l feel suie is the tiuth, that my cousin Aithui is innocent of this ciime.
l fully shaie youi opinion, and l tiust, with you, that we may piove it,
ietuined Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the snow fiom his shoes. l
believe l have the honoui of addiessing Miss Maiy Holdei. Might l ask you a
question oi two`
Piay do, sii, if it may help to cleai this hoiiible aaii up.
You heaid nothing youiself last night`
Nothing, until my uncle heie began to speak loudly. l heaid that, and l
came down.
You shut up the windows and doois the night befoie. Did you fasten all
the windows`
Yes.
Weie they all fastened this moining`
Yes.
You have a maid who has a sweetheait` l think that you iemaiked to youi
uncle last night that she had been out to see him`
Yes, and she was the giil who waited in the diawing-ioom, and who may
have heaid uncles iemaiks about the coionet.
l see. You infei that she may have gone out to tell hei sweetheait, and that
the two may have planned the iobbeiy.
But what is the good of all these vague theoiies, ciied the bankei impa-
tiently, when l have told you that l saw Aithui with the coionet in his hands`
Wait a liule, Mi. Holdei. We must come back to that. About this giil, Miss
Holdei. You saw hei ietuin by the kitchen dooi, l piesume`
Yes, when l went to see if the dooi was fastened foi the night l met hei
slipping in. l saw the man, too, in the gloom.
Do you know him`
Oh, yes' he is the gieen-giocei who biings oui vegetables iound. His name
is liancis Piospei.
He stood, said Holmes, to the lef of the dooithat is to say, faithei up
the path than is necessaiy to ieach the dooi`
Yes, he did.
:o
And he is a man with a wooden leg`
Something like feai spiang up in the young ladys expiessive black eyes.
Why, you aie like a magician, said she. How do you know that` She smiled,
but theie was no answeiing smile in Holmes thin, eagei face.
l should be veiy glad now to go upstaiis, said he. l shall piobably wish
to go ovei the outside of the house again. Peihaps l had beuei take a look at the
lowei windows befoie l go up.
He walked swifly iound fiom one to the othei, pausing only at the laige
one which looked fiom the hall onto the stable lane. Tis he opened and made a
veiy caieful examination of the sill with his poweiful magnifying lens. Now we
shall go upstaiis, said he at last.
Te bankeis diessing-ioom was a plainly fuinished liule chambei, with a
giey caipet, a laige buieau, and a long miiioi. Holmes went to the buieau ist
and looked haid at the lock.
Which key was used to open it` he asked.
Tat which my son himself indicatedthat of the cupboaid of the lumbei-
ioom.
Have you it heie`
Tat is it on the diessing-table.
Sheilock Holmes took it up and opened the buieau.
lt is a noiseless lock, said he. lt is no wondei that it did not wake you.
Tis case, l piesume, contains the coionet. We must have a look at it. He opened
the case, and taking out the diadem he laid it upon the table. lt was a magnicent
specimen of the jewelleis ait, and the thiity-six stones weie the nest that l have
evei seen. At one side of the coionet was a ciacked edge, wheie a coinei holding
thiee gems had been toin away.
Now, Mi. Holdei, said Holmes, heie is the coinei which coiiesponds to
that which has been so unfoitunately lost. Might l beg that you will bieak it o.
Te bankei iecoiled in hoiioi. l should not dieam of tiying, said he.
Ten l will. Holmes suddenly bent his stiength upon it, but without iesult.
l feel it give a liule, said he, but, though l amexceptionally stiong in the ngeis,
it would take me all my time to bieak it. An oidinaiy man could not do it. Now,
what do you think would happen if l did bieak it, Mi. Holdei` Teie would be a
noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this happened within a few yaids
of youi bed and that you heaid nothing of it`
l do not know what to think. lt is all daik to me.
But peihaps it may giow lightei as we go. What do you think, Miss
Holdei`
:o
l confess that l still shaie my uncles peiplexity.
Youi son had no shoes oi slippeis on when you saw him`
He had nothing on save only his tiouseis and shiit.
Tank you. We have ceitainly been favouied with extiaoidinaiy luck dui-
ing this inquiiy, and it will be entiiely oui own fault if we do not succeed in
cleaiing the mauei up. With youi peimission, Mi. Holdei, l shall now continue
my investigations outside.
He went alone, at his own iequest, foi he explained that any unnecessaiy
footmaiks might make his task moie dicult. loi an houi oi moie he was at woik,
ietuining at last with his feet heavy with snow and his featuies as insciutable as
evei.
l think that l have seen now all that theie is to see, Mi. Holdei, said he, l
can seive you best by ietuining to my iooms.
But the gems, Mi. Holmes. Wheie aie they`
l cannot tell.
Te bankei wiung his hands. l shall nevei see them again' he ciied. And
my son` You give me hopes`
My opinion is in no way alteied.
Ten, foi Gods sake, what was this daik business which was acted in my
house last night`
lf you can call upon me at my Bakei Stieet iooms to-moiiow moining
between nine and ten l shall be happy to do what l can to make it cleaiei. l
undeistand that you give me carte blane to act foi you, piovided only that l get
back the gems, and that you place no limit on the sum l may diaw.
l would give my foitune to have them back.
Veiy good. l shall look into the mauei between this and then. Good-bye,
it is just possible that l may have to come ovei heie again befoie evening.
lt was obvious to me that my companions mind was now made up about
the case, although what his conclusions weie was moie than l could even dimly
imagine. Seveial times duiing oui homewaid jouiney l endeavouied to sound him
upon the point, but he always glided away to some othei topic, until at last l gave
it ovei in despaii. lt was not yet thiee when we found ouiselves in oui iooms once
moie. He huiiied to his chambei and was down again in a few minutes diessed as
a common loafei. With his collai tuined up, his shiny, seedy coat, his ied ciavat,
and his woin boots, he was a peifect sample of the class.
l think that this should do, said he, glancing into the glass above the ie-
place. l only wish that you could come with me, Watson, but l feai that it wont
do. l may be on the tiail in this mauei, oi l may be following a will-o-the-wisp,
:o
but l shall soon know which it is. l hope that l may be back in a few houis. He
cut a slice of beef fiom the joint upon the sideboaid, sandwiched it between two
iounds of biead, and thiusting this iude meal into his pocket he staited o upon
his expedition.
l had just nished my tea when he ietuined, evidently in excellent spiiits,
swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his hand. He chucked it down into a coinei
and helped himself to a cup of tea.
l only looked in as l passed, said he. l am going iight on.
Wheie to`
Oh, to the othei side of the West End. lt may be some time befoie l get
back. Dont wait up foi me in case l should be late.
How aie you geuing on`
Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. l have been out to Stieatham since l
saw you last, but l did not call at the house. lt is a veiy sweet liule pioblem, and l
would not have missed it foi a good deal. Howevei, l must not sit gossiping heie,
but must get these disieputable clothes o and ietuin to my highly iespectable
self.
l could see by his mannei that he had stiongei ieasons foi satisfaction than
his woids alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, and theie was even a touch of
coloui upon his sallow cheeks. He hastened upstaiis, and a few minutes latei l
heaid the slam of the hall dooi, which told me that he was o once moie upon his
congenial hunt.
l waited until midnight, but theie was no sign of his ietuin, so l ietiied to
my ioom. lt was no uncommon thing foi him to be away foi days and nights on
end when he was hot upon a scent, so that his lateness caused me no suipiise. l
do not know at what houi he came in, but when l came down to bieakfast in the
moining theie he was with a cup of coee in one hand and the papei in the othei,
as fiesh and tiim as possible.
You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson, said he, but you ie-
membei that oui client has iathei an eaily appointment this moining.
Why, it is afei nine now, l answeied. l should not be suipiised if that
weie he. l thought l heaid a iing.
lt was, indeed, oui fiiend the nanciei. l was shocked by the change which
had come ovei him, foi his face which was natuially of a bioad and massive mould,
was nowpinched and fallen in, while his haii seemed to me at least a shade whitei.
He enteied with a weaiiness and lethaigy which was even moie painful than his
violence of the moining befoie, and he diopped heavily into the aimchaii which
l pushed foiwaid foi him.
:oe
l do not know what l have done to be so seveiely tiied, said he. Only two
days ago l was a happy and piospeious man, without a caie in the woild. Now l
am lef to a lonely and dishonouied age. One soiiow comes close upon the heels
of anothei. My niece, Maiy, has deseited me.
Deseited you`
Yes. Hei bed this moining had not been slept in, hei ioom was empty, and
a note foi me lay upon the hall table. l had said to hei last night, in soiiow and
not in angei, that if she had maiiied my boy all might have been well with him.
Peihaps it was thoughtless of me to say so. lt is to that iemaik that she iefeis in
this note
Mv Dr~vrs1 UNcir l feel that l have biought tiouble upon you,
and that if l had acted dieiently this teiiible misfoitune might nevei
have occuiied. l cannot, with this thought in my mind, evei again be
happy undei youi ioof, and l feel that l must leave you foievei. Do
not woiiy about my futuie, foi that is piovided foi, and, above all,
do not seaich foi me, foi it will be fiuitless laboui and an ill-seivice
to me. ln life oi in death, l am evei youi loving
Maiy.
What could she mean by that note, Mi. Holmes` Do you think it points to
suicide`
No, no, nothing of the kind. lt is peihaps the best possible solution. l tiust,
Mi. Holdei, that you aie neaiing the end of youi tioubles.
Ha' You say so' You have heaid something, Mi. Holmes, you have leained
something' Wheie aie the gems`
You would not think i1ooo apiece an excessive sum foi them`
l would pay ten.
Tat would be unnecessaiy. Tiee thousand will covei the mauei. And
theie is a liule iewaid, l fancy. Have you youi check-book` Heie is a pen. Beuei
make it out foi iooo.
With a dazed face the bankei made out the iequiied check. Holmes walked
ovei to his desk, took out a liule tiiangulai piece of gold with thiee gems in it,
and thiew it down upon the table.
With a shiiek of joy oui client clutched it up.
You have it' he gasped. l am saved' l am saved'
Te ieaction of joy was as passionate as his giief had been, and he hugged
his iecoveied gems to his bosom.
Teie is one othei thing you owe, Mi. Holdei, said Sheilock Holmes iathei
steinly.
:o,
Owe' He caught up a pen. Name the sum, and l will pay it.
No, the debt is not to me. You owe a veiy humble apology to that noble
lad, youi son, who has caiiied himself in this mauei as l should be pioud to see
my own son do, should l evei chance to have one.
Ten it was not Aithui who took them`
l told you yesteiday, and l iepeat to-day, that it was not.
You aie suie of it' Ten let us huiiy to him at once to let him know that
the tiuth is known.
He knows it alieady. When l had cleaied it all up l had an inteiview with
him, and nding that he would not tell me the stoiy, l told it to him, on which he
had to confess that l was iight and to add the veiy few details which weie not yet
quite cleai to me. Youi news of this moining, howevei, may open his lips.
loi heavens sake, tell me, then, what is this extiaoidinaiy mysteiy'
l will do so, and l will show you the steps by which l ieached it. And let me
say to you, ist, that which it is haidest foi me to say and foi you to heai theie
has been an undeistanding between Sii Geoige Buinwell and youi niece Maiy.
Tey have now ed togethei.
My Maiy` lmpossible'
lt is unfoitunately moie than possible, it is ceitain. Neithei you noi youi
son knew the tiue chaiactei of this man when you admiued him into youi family
ciicle. He is one of the most dangeious men in Englanda iuined gamblei, an
absolutely despeiate villain, a man without heait oi conscience. Youi niece knew
nothing of such men. When he bieathed his vows to hei, as he had done to a
hundied befoie hei, she aueied heiself that she alone had touched his heait.
Te devil knows best what he said, but at least she became his tool and was in the
habit of seeing him neaily eveiy evening.
l cannot, and l will not, believe it' ciied the bankei with an ashen face.
l will tell you, then, what occuiied in youi house last night. Youi niece,
when you had, as she thought, gone to youi ioom, slipped down and talked to
hei lovei thiough the window which leads into the stable lane. His footmaiks
had piessed iight thiough the snow, so long had he stood theie. She told him of
the coionet. His wicked lust foi gold kindled at the news, and he bent hei to his
will. l have no doubt that she loved you, but theie aie women in whom the love
of a lovei extinguishes all othei loves, and l think that she must have been one.
She had haidly listened to his instiuctions when she saw you coming downstaiis,
on which she closed the window iapidly and told you about one of the seivants
escapade with hei wooden-legged lovei, which was all peifectly tiue.
Youi boy, Aithui, went to bed afei his inteiview with you but he slept
:os
badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. ln the middle of the night
he heaid a sof tiead pass his dooi, so he iose and, looking out, was suipiised to
see his cousin walking veiy stealthily along the passage until she disappeaied
into youi diessing-ioom. Petiied with astonishment, the lad slipped on some
clothes and waited theie in the daik to see what would come of this stiange aaii.
Piesently she emeiged fiom the ioom again, and in the light of the passage-lamp
youi son saw that she caiiied the piecious coionet in hei hands. She passed down
the staiis, and he, thiilling with hoiioi, ian along and slipped behind the cuitain
neai youi dooi, whence he could see what passed in the hall beneath. He saw hei
stealthily open the window, hand out the coionet to someone in the gloom, and
then closing it once moie huiiy back to hei ioom, passing quite close to wheie
he stood hid behind the cuitain.
As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action without a
hoiiible exposuie of the woman whom he loved. But the instant that she was
gone he iealised how ciushing a misfoitune this would be foi you, and how all-
impoitant it was to set it iight. He iushed down, just as he was, in his baie feet,
opened the window, spiang out into the snow, and ian down the lane, wheie he
could see a daik guie in the moonlight. Sii Geoige Buinwell tiied to get away,
but Aithui caught him, and theie was a stiuggle between them, youi lad tugging
at one side of the coionet, and his opponent at the othei. ln the scue, youi son
stiuck Sii Geoige and cut him ovei the eye. Ten something suddenly snapped,
and youi son, nding that he had the coionet in his hands, iushed back, closed the
window, ascended to youi ioom, and had just obseived that the coionet had been
twisted in the stiuggle and was endeavouiing to stiaighten it when you appeaied
upon the scene.
ls it possible` gasped the bankei.
You then ioused his angei by calling him names at a moment when he felt
that he had deseived youi waimest thanks. He could not explain the tiue state
of aaiis without betiaying one who ceitainly deseived liule enough consideia-
tion at his hands. He took the moie chivalious view, howevei, and pieseived hei
seciet.
And that was why she shiieked and fainted when she saw the coionet,
ciied Mi. Holdei. Oh, my God' what a blind fool l have been' And his asking to
be allowed to go out foi ve minutes' Te deai fellow wanted to see if the missing
piece weie at the scene of the stiuggle. How ciuelly l have misjudged him'
When l aiiived at the house, continued Holmes, l at once went veiy caie-
fully iound it to obseive if theie weie any tiaces in the snow which might help
me. l knew that none had fallen since the evening befoie, and also that theie had
:o,
been a stiong fiost to pieseive impiessions. l passed along the tiadesmens path,
but found it all tiampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, howevei, at
the fai side of the kitchen dooi, a woman had stood and talked with a man, whose
iound impiessions on one side showed that he had a wooden leg. l could even tell
that they had been distuibed, foi the woman had iun back swifly to the dooi, as
was shown by the deep toe and light heel maiks, while Wooden-leg had waited a
liule, and then had gone away. l thought at the time that this might be the maid
and hei sweetheait, of whom you had alieady spoken to me, and inquiiy showed
it was so. l passed iound the gaiden without seeing anything moie than iandom
tiacks, which l took to be the police, but when l got into the stable lane a veiy
long and complex stoiy was wiiuen in the snow in fiont of me.
Teie was a double line of tiacks of a booted man, and a second double
line which l saw with delight belonged to a man with naked feet. l was at once
convinced fiom what you had told me that the lauei was youi son. Te ist had
walked both ways, but the othei had iun swifly, and as his tiead was maiked in
places ovei the depiession of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed afei
the othei. l followed them up and found they led to the hall window, wheie Boots
had woin all the snow away while waiting. Ten l walked to the othei end, which
was a hundied yaids oi moie down the lane. l saw wheie Boots had faced iound,
wheie the snow was cut up as though theie had been a stiuggle, and, nally,
wheie a few diops of blood had fallen, to show me that l was not mistaken. Boots
had then iun down the lane, and anothei liule smudge of blood showed that it
was he who had been huit. When he came to the highioad at the othei end, l
found that the pavement had been cleaied, so theie was an end to that clue.
On enteiing the house, howevei, l examined, as you iemembei, the sill and
fiamewoik of the hall window with my lens, and l could at once see that someone
had passed out. l could distinguish the outline of an instep wheie the wet foot had
been placed in coming in. l was then beginning to be able to foim an opinion as to
what had occuiied. A man had waited outside the window, someone had biought
the gems, the deed had been oveiseen by youi son, he had puisued the thief, had
stiuggled with him, they had each tugged at the coionet, theii united stiength
causing injuiies which neithei alone could have eected. He had ietuined with
the piize, but had lef a fiagment in the giasp of his opponent. So fai l was cleai.
Te question nowwas, who was the man and who was it biought himthe coionet`
lt is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible,
whatevei iemains, howevei impiobable, must be the tiuth. Now, l knew that it
was not you who had biought it down, so theie only iemained youi niece and
the maids. But if it weie the maids, why should youi son allow himself to be
:1o
accused in theii place` Teie could be no possible ieason. As he loved his cousin,
howevei, theie was an excellent explanation why he should ietain hei secietthe
moie so as the seciet was a disgiaceful one. When l iemembeied that you had
seen hei at that window, and how she had fainted on seeing the coionet again,
my conjectuie became a ceitainty.
And who could it be who was hei confedeiate` A lovei evidently, foi who
else could outweigh the love and giatitude which she must feel to you` l knew
that you went out liule, and that youi ciicle of fiiends was a veiy limited one. But
among them was Sii Geoige Buinwell. l had heaid of him befoie as being a man
of evil ieputation among women. lt must have been he who woie those boots
and ietained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Aithui had discoveied
him, he might still auei himself that he was safe, foi the lad could not say a woid
without compiomising his own family.
Well, youi own good sense will suggest what measuies l took next. l went
in the shape of a loafei to Sii Geoiges house, managed to pick up an acquaintance
with his valet, leained that his mastei had cut his head the night befoie, and,
nally, at the expense of six shillings, made all suie by buying a paii of his cast-
o shoes. With these l jouineyed down to Stieatham and saw that they exactly
ued the tiacks.
l saw an ill-diessed vagabond in the lane yesteiday evening, said Mi.
Holdei.
Piecisely. lt was l. l found that l had my man, so l came home and changed
my clothes. lt was a delicate pait which l had to play then, foi l saw that a piose-
cution must be avoided to aveit scandal, and l knew that so astute a villain would
see that oui hands weie tied in the mauei. l went and saw him. At ist, of couise,
he denied eveiything. But when l gave him eveiy paiticulai that had occuiied,
he tiied to blustei and took down a life-pieseivei fiom the wall. l knew my man,
howevei, and l clapped a pistol to his head befoie he could stiike. Ten he became
a liule moie ieasonable. l told him that we would give him a piice foi the stones
he heldi1ooo apiece. Tat biought out the ist signs of giief that he had shown.
Why, dash it all' said he, lve let them go at six hundied foi the thiee' l soon
managed to get the addiess of the ieceivei who had them, on piomising him that
theie would be no piosecution. O l set to him, and afei much chaeiing l got
oui stones at i1ooo apiece. Ten l looked in upon youi son, told him that all was
iight, and eventually got to my bed about two oclock, afei what l may call a
ieally haid days woik.
A day which has saved England fiom a gieat public scandal, said the
bankei, iising. Sii, l cannot nd woids to thank you, but you shall not nd me
:11
ungiateful foi what you have done. Youi skill has indeed exceeded all that l have
heaid of it. And now l must y to my deai boy to apologise to him foi the wiong
which l have done him. As to what you tell me of pooi Maiy, it goes to my veiy
heait. Not even youi skill can infoim me wheie she is now.
l think that we may safely say, ietuined Holmes, that she is wheievei Sii
Geoige Buinwell is. lt is equally ceitain, too, that whatevei hei sins aie, they will
soon ieceive a moie than sucient punishment.
Te Adventure of the Copper
BeeHes
To the man who loves ait foi its own sake, iemaiked Sheilock Holmes, tossing
aside the adveitisement sheet of the Daily Telegraph, it is fiequently in its least
impoitant and lowliest manifestations that the keenest pleasuie is to be deiived.
lt is pleasant to me to obseive, Watson, that you have so fai giasped this tiuth that
in these liule iecoids of oui cases which you have been good enough to diaw up,
and, l am bound to say, occasionally to embellish, you have given piominence not
so much to the many causes clbres and sensational tiials in which l have guied
but iathei to those incidents which may have been tiivial in themselves, but which
have given ioom foi those faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which l
have made my special piovince.
And yet, said l, smiling, l cannot quite hold myself absolved fiom the
chaige of sensationalism which has been uiged against my iecoids.
You have eiied, peihaps, he obseived, taking up a glowing cindei with
the tongs and lighting with it the long cheiiy-wood pipe which was wont to ie-
place his clay when he was in a disputatious iathei than a meditative moodyou
have eiied peihaps in auempting to put coloui and life into each of youi state-
ments instead of conning youiself to the task of placing upon iecoid that seveie
ieasoning fiom cause to eect which is ieally the only notable featuie about the
thing.
lt seems to me that l have done you full justice in the mauei, l iemaiked
with some coldness, foi l was iepelled by the egotism which l had moie than once
obseived to be a stiong factoi in my fiiends singulai chaiactei.
No, it is not selshness oi conceit, said he, answeiing, as was his wont, my
thoughts iathei than my woids. lf l claim full justice foi my ait, it is because it
is an impeisonal thinga thing beyond myself. Ciime is common. Logic is iaie.
:1
Teiefoie it is upon the logic iathei than upon the ciime that you should dwell.
You have degiaded what should have been a couise of lectuies into a seiies of
tales.
lt was a cold moining of the eaily spiing, and we sat afei bieakfast on eithei
side of a cheeiy ie in the old ioom at Bakei Stieet. A thick fog iolled down
between the lines of dun-colouied houses, and the opposing windows loomed
like daik, shapeless bluis thiough the heavy yellow wieaths. Oui gas was lit
and shone on the white cloth and glimmei of china and metal, foi the table had
not been cleaied yet. Sheilock Holmes had been silent all the moining, dipping
continuously into the adveitisement columns of a succession of papeis until at
last, having appaiently given up his seaich, he had emeiged in no veiy sweet
tempei to lectuie me upon my liteiaiy shoitcomings.
At the same time, he iemaiked afei a pause, duiing which he had sat
pung at his long pipe and gazing down into the ie, you can haidly be open
to a chaige of sensationalism, foi out of these cases which you have been so kind
as to inteiest youiself in, a faii piopoition do not tieat of ciime, in its legal sense,
at all. Te small mauei in which l endeavouied to help the King of Bohemia, the
singulai expeiience of Miss Maiy Sutheiland, the pioblem connected with the
man with the twisted lip, and the incident of the noble bacheloi, weie all maueis
which aie outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, l feai that
you may have boideied on the tiivial.
Te end may have been so, l answeied, but the methods l hold to have
been novel and of inteiest.
Pshaw, my deai fellow, what do the public, the gieat unobseivant public,
who could haidly tell a weavei by his tooth oi a compositoi by his lef thumb, caie
about the nei shades of analysis and deduction' But, indeed, if you aie tiivial,
l cannot blame you, foi the days of the gieat cases aie past. Man, oi at least
ciiminal man, has lost all enteipiise and oiiginality. As to my own liule piactice,
it seems to be degeneiating into an agency foi iecoveiing lost lead pencils and
giving advice to young ladies fiom boaiding-schools. l think that l have touched
bouom at last, howevei. Tis note l had this moining maiks my zeio-point, l
fancy. Read it' He tossed a ciumpled leuei acioss to me.
lt was dated fiom Montague Place upon the pieceding evening, and ian
thus
Dr~v Mv. Hoixrs l amveiy anxious to consult you as to whethei
l should oi should not accept a situation which has been oeied to
me as goveiness. l shall call at half-past ten to-moiiow if l do not
inconvenience you. Youis faithfully,
:1
Violet Huntei.
Do you know the young lady` l asked.
Not l.
lt is half-past ten now.
Yes, and l have no doubt that is hei iing.
lt may tuin out to be of moie inteiest than you think. You iemembei that
the aaii of the blue caibuncle, which appeaied to be a meie whim at ist, devel-
oped into a seiious investigation. lt may be so in this case, also.
Well, let us hope so. But oui doubts will veiy soon be solved, foi heie,
unless l am much mistaken, is the peison in question.
As he spoke the dooi opened and a young lady enteied the ioom. She was
plainly but neatly diessed, with a biight, quick face, fieckled like a ploveis egg,
and with the biisk mannei of a woman who has had hei own way to make in the
woild.
You will excuse my tioubling you, l am suie, said she, as my companion
iose to gieet hei, but l have had a veiy stiange expeiience, and as l have no
paients oi ielations of any soit fiom whom l could ask advice, l thought that
peihaps you would be kind enough to tell me what l should do.
Piay take a seat, Miss Huntei. l shall be happy to do anything that l can to
seive you.
l could see that Holmes was favouiably impiessed by the mannei and speech
of his new client. He looked hei ovei in his seaiching fashion, and then composed
himself, with his lids diooping and his ngei-tips togethei, to listen to hei stoiy.
l have been a goveiness foi ve yeais, said she, in the family of Colonel
Spence Munio, but two months ago the colonel ieceived an appointment at Hal-
ifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his childien ovei to Ameiica with him, so that l
found myself without a situation. l adveitised, and l answeied adveitisements,
but without success. At last the liule money which l had saved began to iun
shoit, and l was at my wits end as to what l should do.
Teie is a well-known agency foi goveinesses in the West End called West-
aways, and theie l used to call about once a week in oidei to see whethei anything
had tuined up which might suit me. Westaway was the name of the foundei of
the business, but it is ieally managed by Miss Stopei. She sits in hei own liule
oce, and the ladies who aie seeking employment wait in an anteioom, and aie
then shown in one by one, when she consults hei ledgeis and sees whethei she
has anything which would suit them.
Well, when l called last week l was shown into the liule oce as usual, but
l found that Miss Stopei was not alone. A piodigiously stout man with a veiy
:1e
smiling face and a gieat heavy chin which iolled down in fold upon fold ovei his
thioat sat at hei elbow with a paii of glasses on his nose, looking veiy eainestly at
the ladies who enteied. As l came in he gave quite a jump in his chaii and tuined
quickly to Miss Stopei.
Tat will do, said he, l could not ask foi anything beuei. Capital' capital'
He seemed quite enthusiastic and iubbed his hands togethei in the most genial
fashion. He was such a comfoitable-looking man that it was quite a pleasuie to
look at him.
You aie looking foi a situation, miss` he asked.
Yes, sii.
As goveiness`
Yes, sii.
And what salaiy do you ask`
l had i a month in my last place with Colonel Spence Munio.
Oh, tut, tut' sweatingiank sweating' he ciied, thiowing his fat hands
out into the aii like a man who is in a boiling passion. How could anyone oei
so pitiful a sum to a lady with such auiactions and accomplishments`
My accomplishments, sii, may be less than you imagine, said l. A liule
liench, a liule Geiman, music, and diawing
Tut, tut' he ciied. Tis is all quite beside the question. Te point is, have
you oi have you not the beaiing and depoitment of a lady` Teie it is in a nutshell.
lf you have not, you aie not ued foi the ieaiing of a child who may some day
play a consideiable pait in the histoiy of the countiy. But if you have why, then,
how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to accept anything undei the
thiee guies` Youi salaiy with me, madam, would commence at i1oo a yeai.
You may imagine, Mi. Holmes, that to me, destitute as l was, such an oei
seemed almost too good to be tiue. Te gentleman, howevei, seeing peihaps the
look of inciedulity upon my face, opened a pocket-book and took out a note.
lt is also my custom, said he, smiling in the most pleasant fashion until
his eyes weie just two liule shining slits amid the white cieases of his face, to
advance to my young ladies half theii salaiy befoiehand, so that they may meet
any liule expenses of theii jouiney and theii waidiobe.
lt seemed to me that l had nevei met so fascinating and so thoughtful a man.
As l was alieady in debt to my tiadesmen, the advance was a gieat convenience,
and yet theie was something unnatuial about the whole tiansaction which made
me wish to know a liule moie befoie l quite commiued myself.
May l ask wheie you live, sii` said l.
Hampshiie. Chaiming iuial place. Te Coppei Beeches, ve miles on the
:1,
fai side of Winchestei. lt is the most lovely countiy, my deai young lady, and the
deaiest old countiy-house.
And my duties, sii` l should be glad to know what they would be.
One childone deai liule iompei just six yeais old. Oh, if you could see
him killing cockioaches with a slippei' Smack' smack' smack' Tiee gone befoie
you could wink' He leaned back in his chaii and laughed his eyes into his head
again.
l was a liule staitled at the natuie of the childs amusement, but the fatheis
laughtei made me think that peihaps he was joking.
My sole duties, then, l asked, aie to take chaige of a single child`
No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my deai young lady, he ciied. Youi
duty would be, as l am suie youi good sense would suggest, to obey any liule
commands my wife might give, piovided always that they weie such commands
as a lady might with piopiiety obey. You see no diculty, heh`
l should be happy to make myself useful.
Qite so. ln diess now, foi example. We aie faddy people, you
knowfaddy but kind-heaited. lf you weie asked to weai any diess which we
might give you, you would not object to oui liule whim. Heh`
No, said l, consideiably astonished at his woids.
Oi to sit heie, oi sit theie, that would not be oensive to you`
Oh, no.
Oi to cut youi haii quite shoit befoie you come to us`
l could haidly believe my eais. As you may obseive, Mi. Holmes, my
haii is somewhat luxuiiant, and of a iathei peculiai tint of chestnut. lt has been
consideied aitistic. l could not dieam of saciicing it in this omand fashion.
l am afiaid that that is quite impossible, said l. He had been watching me
eageily out of his small eyes, and l could see a shadow pass ovei his face as l
spoke.
l amafiaid that it is quite essential, said he. lt is a liule fancy of my wifes,
and ladies fancies, you know, madam, ladies fancies must be consulted. And so
you wont cut youi haii`
No, sii, l ieally could not, l answeied imly.
Ah, veiy well, then that quite seules the mauei. lt is a pity, because in
othei iespects you would ieally have done veiy nicely. ln that case, Miss Stopei,
l had best inspect a few moie of youi young ladies.
Te manageiess had sat all this while busy with hei papeis without a woid
to eithei of us, but she glanced at me now with so much annoyance upon hei face
that l could not help suspecting that she had lost a handsome commission thiough
:1s
my iefusal.
Do you desiie youi name to be kept upon the books` she asked.
lf you please, Miss Stopei.
Well, ieally, it seems iathei useless, since you iefuse the most excellent
oeis in this fashion, said she shaiply. You can haidly expect us to exeit ouiselves
to nd anothei such opening foi you. Good-day to you, Miss Huntei. She stiuck
a gong upon the table, and l was shown out by the page.
Well, Mi. Holmes, when l got back to my lodgings and found liule enough
in the cupboaid, and two oi thiee bills upon the table, l began to ask myself
whethei l had not done a veiy foolish thing. Afei all, if these people had stiange
fads and expected obedience on the most extiaoidinaiy maueis, they weie at least
ieady to pay foi theii eccentiicity. Veiy few goveinesses in England aie geuing
i1oo a yeai. Besides, what use was my haii to me` Many people aie impioved
by weaiing it shoit and peihaps l should be among the numbei. Next day l was
inclined to think that l had made a mistake, and by the day afei l was suie of it.
l had almost oveicome my piide so fai as to go back to the agency and inquiie
whethei the place was still open when l ieceived this leuei fiom the gentleman
himself. l have it heie and l will iead it to you
Te Coppei Beeches, neai Winchestei.
Dr~v Miss HUN1rv Miss Stopei has veiy kindly given me
youi addiess, and l wiite fiom heie to ask you whethei you have
ieconsideied youi decision. My wife is veiy anxious that you should
come, foi she has been much auiacted by my desciiption of you. We
aie willing to give io a quaitei, oi i1:o a yeai, so as to iecompense
you foi any liule inconvenience which oui fads may cause you. Tey
aie not veiy exacting, afei all. My wife is fond of a paiticulai shade of
electiic blue and would like you to weai such a diess indoois in the
moining. You need not, howevei, go to the expense of puichasing
one, as we have one belonging to my deai daughtei Alice (now in
Philadelphia), which would, l should think, t you veiy well. Ten, as
to siuing heie oi theie, oi amusing youiself in any mannei indicated,
that need cause you no inconvenience. As iegaids youi haii, it is no
doubt a pity, especially as l could not help iemaiking its beauty duiing
oui shoit inteiview, but l am afiaid that l must iemain im upon this
point, and l only hope that the incieased salaiy may iecompense you
foi the loss. Youi duties, as fai as the child is conceined, aie veiy
light. Now do tiy to come, and l shall meet you with the dog-cait at
Winchestei. Let me know youi tiain. Youis faithfully,
:1,
Jephio Rucastle.
Tat is the leuei which l have just ieceived, Mi. Holmes, and my mind is made up
that l will accept it. l thought, howevei, that befoie taking the nal step l should
like to submit the whole mauei to youi consideiation.
Well, Miss Huntei, if youi mind is made up, that seules the question, said
Holmes, smiling.
But you would not advise me to iefuse`
l confess that it is not the situation which l should like to see a sistei of
mine apply foi.
What is the meaning of it all, Mi. Holmes`
Ah, l have no data. l cannot tell. Peihaps you have youiself foimed some
opinion`
Well, theie seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mi. Rucastle
seemed to be a veiy kind, good-natuied man. ls it not possible that his wife is a
lunatic, that he desiies to keep the mauei quiet foi feai she should be taken to
an asylum, and that he humouis hei fancies in eveiy way in oidei to pievent an
outbieak`
Tat is a possible solutionin fact, as maueis stand, it is the most piobable
one. But in any case it does not seem to be a nice household foi a young lady.
But the money, Mi. Holmes, the money'
Well, yes, of couise the pay is goodtoo good. Tat is what makes me
uneasy. Why should they give you i1:o a yeai, when they could have theii pick
foi io` Teie must be some stiong ieason behind.
l thought that if l told you the ciicumstances you would undeistand afei-
waids if l wanted youi help. l should feel so much stiongei if l felt that you weie
at the back of me.
Oh, you may caiiy that feeling away with you. l assuie you that youi liule
pioblem piomises to be the most inteiesting which has come my way foi some
months. Teie is something distinctly novel about some of the featuies. lf you
should nd youiself in doubt oi in dangei
Dangei' What dangei do you foiesee`
Holmes shook his head giavely. lt would cease to be a dangei if we could
dene it, said he. But at any time, day oi night, a telegiamwould biing me down
to youi help.
Tat is enough. She iose biiskly fiom hei chaii with the anxiety all swept
fiom hei face. l shall go down to Hampshiie quite easy in my mind now. l
shall wiite to Mi. Rucastle at once, saciice my pooi haii to-night, and stait foi
Winchestei to-moiiow. With a few giateful woids to Holmes she bade us both
::o
good-night and bustled o upon hei way.
At least, said l as we heaid hei quick, im steps descending the staiis, she
seems to be a young lady who is veiy well able to take caie of heiself.
And she would need to be, said Holmes giavely. l am much mistaken if
we do not heai fiom hei befoie many days aie past.
lt was not veiy long befoie my fiiends piediction was fullled. A foitnight
went by, duiing which l fiequently found my thoughts tuining in hei diiection
and wondeiing what stiange side-alley of human expeiience this lonely woman
had stiayed into. Te unusual salaiy, the cuiious conditions, the light duties,
all pointed to something abnoimal, though whethei a fad oi a plot, oi whethei
the man weie a philanthiopist oi a villain, it was quite beyond my poweis to
deteimine. As to Holmes, l obseived that he sat fiequently foi half an houi on
end, with kniued biows and an abstiacted aii, but he swept the mauei away with
a wave of his hand when l mentioned it. Data' data' data' he ciied impatiently.
l cant make biicks without clay. And yet he would always wind up by muueiing
that no sistei of his should evei have accepted such a situation.
Te telegiamwhich we eventually ieceived came late one night just as l was
thinking of tuining in and Holmes was seuling down to one of those all-night
chemical ieseaiches which he fiequently indulged in, when l would leave him
stooping ovei a ietoit and a test-tube at night and nd him in the same position
when l came down to bieakfast in the moining. He opened the yellow envelope,
and then, glancing at the message, thiew it acioss to me.
Just look up the tiains in Biadshaw, said he, and tuined back to his chem-
ical studies.
Te summons was a biief and uigent one.
Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchestei at midday to-
moiiow, it said. Do come' l am at my wits end.
Huntei.
Will you come with me` asked Holmes, glancing up.
l should wish to.
Just look it up, then.
Teie is a tiain at half-past nine, said l, glancing ovei my Biadshaw. lt is
due at Winchestei at 11o.
Tat will do veiy nicely. Ten peihaps l had beuei postpone my analysis
of the acetones, as we may need to be at oui best in the moining.
By eleven oclock the next day we weie well upon oui way to the old English
capital. Holmes had been buiied in the moining papeis all the way down, but afei
::1
we had passed the Hampshiie boidei he thiew them down and began to admiie
the sceneiy. lt was an ideal spiing day, a light blue sky, ecked with liule eecy
white clouds diifing acioss fiom west to east. Te sun was shining veiy biightly,
and yet theie was an exhilaiating nip in the aii, which set an edge to a mans
eneigy. All ovei the countiyside, away to the iolling hills aiound Aldeishot, the
liule ied and giey ioofs of the faim-steadings peeped out fiom amid the light
gieen of the new foliage.
Aie they not fiesh and beautiful` l ciied with all the enthusiasm of a man
fiesh fiom the fogs of Bakei Stieet.
But Holmes shook his head giavely.
Do you know, Watson, said he, that it is one of the cuises of a mind
with a tuin like mine that l must look at eveiything with iefeience to my own
special subject. You look at these scaueied houses, and you aie impiessed by
theii beauty. l look at them, and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling
of theii isolation and of the impunity with which ciime may be commiued theie.
Good heavens' l ciied. Who would associate ciime with these deai old
homesteads`
Tey always ll me with a ceitain hoiioi. lt is my belief, Watson, founded
upon my expeiience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not piesent a
moie dieadful iecoid of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countiyside.
You hoiiify me'
But the ieason is veiy obvious. Te piessuie of public opinion can do in the
town what the law cannot accomplish. Teie is no lane so vile that the scieam
of a toituied child, oi the thud of a diunkaids blow, does not beget sympathy
and indignation among the neighbouis, and then the whole machineiy of justice
is evei so close that a woid of complaint can set it going, and theie is but a step
between the ciime and the dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in its own
elds, lled foi the most pait with pooi ignoiant folk who know liule of the law.
Tink of the deeds of hellish ciuelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on,
yeai in, yeai out, in such places, and none the wisei. Had this lady who appeals
to us foi help gone to live in Winchestei, l should nevei have had a feai foi hei.
lt is the ve miles of countiy which makes the dangei. Still, it is cleai that she is
not peisonally thieatened.
No. lf she can come to Winchestei to meet us she can get away.
Qite so. She has hei fieedom.
What can be the mauei, then` Can you suggest no explanation`
l have devised seven sepaiate explanations, each of which would covei the
facts as fai as we knowthem. But which of these is coiiect can only be deteimined
:::
by the fiesh infoimation which we shall no doubt nd waiting foi us. Well, theie
is the towei of the cathedial, and we shall soon leain all that Miss Huntei has to
tell.
Te Black Swan is an inn of iepute in the High Stieet, at no distance fiom
the station, and theie we found the young lady waiting foi us. She had engaged
a siuing-ioom, and oui lunch awaited us upon the table.
l am so delighted that you have come, she said eainestly. lt is so veiy
kind of you both, but indeed l do not know what l should do. Youi advice will be
altogethei invaluable to me.
Piay tell us what has happened to you.
l will do so, and l must be quick, foi l have piomised Mi. Rucastle to be
back befoie thiee. l got his leave to come into town this moining, though he liule
knew foi what puipose.
Let us have eveiything in its due oidei. Holmes thiust his long thin legs
out towaids the ie and composed himself to listen.
ln the ist place, l may say that l have met, on the whole, with no actual
ill-tieatment fiom Mi. and Mis. Rucastle. lt is only faii to them to say that. But l
cannot undeistand them, and l am not easy in my mind about them.
What can you not undeistand`
Teii ieasons foi theii conduct. But you shall have it all just as it occuiied.
When l came down, Mi. Rucastle met me heie and diove me in his dog-cait to
the Coppei Beeches. lt is, as he said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful
in itself, foi it is a laige squaie block of a house, whitewashed, but all stained and
stieaked with damp and bad weathei. Teie aie giounds iound it, woods on thiee
sides, and on the fouith a eld which slopes down to the Southampton highioad,
which cuives past about a hundied yaids fiom the fiont dooi. Tis giound in
fiont belongs to the house, but the woods all iound aie pait of Loid Southeitons
pieseives. A clump of coppei beeches immediately in fiont of the hall dooi has
given its name to the place.
l was diiven ovei by my employei, who was as amiable as evei, and was
intioduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. Teie was no tiuth,
Mi. Holmes, in the conjectuie which seemed to us to be piobable in youi iooms
at Bakei Stieet. Mis. Rucastle is not mad. l found hei to be a silent, pale-faced
woman, much youngei than hei husband, not moie than thiity, l should think,
while he can haidly be less than foity-ve. liom theii conveisation l have gath-
eied that they have been maiiied about seven yeais, that he was a widowei, and
that his only child by the ist wife was the daughtei who has gone to Philadel-
phia. Mi. Rucastle told me in piivate that the ieason why she had lef them was
::
that she had an unieasoning aveision to hei stepmothei. As the daughtei could
not have been less than twenty, l can quite imagine that hei position must have
been uncomfoitable with hei fatheis young wife.
Mis. Rucastle seemed to me to be colouiless in mind as well as in featuie.
She impiessed me neithei favouiably noi the ieveise. She was a nonentity. lt
was easy to see that she was passionately devoted both to hei husband and to hei
liule son. Hei light giey eyes wandeied continually fiom one to the othei, noting
eveiy liule want and foiestalling it if possible. He was kind to hei also in his blu,
boisteious fashion, and on the whole they seemed to be a happy couple. And yet
she had some seciet soiiow, this woman. She would ofen be lost in deep thought,
with the saddest look upon hei face. Moie than once l have suipiised hei in teais.
l have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of hei child which weighed
upon hei mind, foi l have nevei met so uueily spoiled and so ill-natuied a liule
cieatuie. He is small foi his age, with a head which is quite dispiopoitionately
laige. His whole life appeais to be spent in an alteination between savage ts of
passion and gloomy inteivals of sulking. Giving pain to any cieatuie weakei than
himself seems to be his one idea of amusement, and he shows quite iemaikable
talent in planning the captuie of mice, liule biids, and insects. But l would iathei
not talk about the cieatuie, Mi. Holmes, and, indeed, he has liule to do with my
stoiy.
l am glad of all details, iemaiked my fiiend, whethei they seem to you to
be ielevant oi not.
l shall tiy not to miss anything of impoitance. Te one unpleasant thing
about the house, which stiuck me at once, was the appeaiance and conduct of the
seivants. Teie aie only two, a man and his wife. Tollei, foi that is his name, is
a iough, uncouth man, with giizzled haii and whiskeis, and a peipetual smell of
diink. Twice since l have been with them he has been quite diunk, and yet Mi.
Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. His wife is a veiy tall and stiong woman
with a soui face, as silent as Mis. Rucastle and much less amiable. Tey aie a
most unpleasant couple, but foitunately l spend most of my time in the nuiseiy
and my own ioom, which aie next to each othei in one coinei of the building.
loi two days afei my aiiival at the Coppei Beeches my life was veiy quiet,
on the thiid, Mis. Rucastle came down just afei bieakfast and whispeied some-
thing to hei husband.
Oh, yes, said he, tuining to me, we aie veiy much obliged to you, Miss
Huntei, foi falling in with oui whims so fai as to cut youi haii. l assuie you that
it has not detiacted in the tiniest iota fiom youi appeaiance. We shall now see
how the electiic-blue diess will become you. You will nd it laid out upon the
::
bed in youi ioom, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should both be
extiemely obliged.
Te diess which l found waiting foi me was of a peculiai shade of blue. lt
was of excellent mateiial, a soit of beige, but it boie unmistakable signs of having
been woin befoie. lt could not have been a beuei t if l had been measuied
foi it. Both Mi. and Mis. Rucastle expiessed a delight at the look of it, which
seemed quite exaggeiated in its vehemence. Tey weie waiting foi me in the
diawing-ioom, which is a veiy laige ioom, stietching along the entiie fiont of
the house, with thiee long windows ieaching down to the ooi. A chaii had been
placed close to the cential window, with its back tuined towaids it. ln this l was
asked to sit, and then Mi. Rucastle, walking up and down on the othei side of the
ioom, began to tell me a seiies of the funniest stoiies that l have evei listened to.
You cannot imagine how comical he was, and l laughed until l was quite weaiy.
Mis. Rucastle, howevei, who has evidently no sense of humoui, nevei so much
as smiled, but sat with hei hands in hei lap, and a sad, anxious look upon hei
face. Afei an houi oi so, Mi. Rucastle suddenly iemaiked that it was time to
commence the duties of the day, and that l might change my diess and go to liule
Edwaid in the nuiseiy.
Two days latei this same peifoimance was gone thiough undei exactly
similai ciicumstances. Again l changed my diess, again l sat in the window, and
again l laughed veiy heaitily at the funny stoiies of which my employei had an
immense rpertoire, and which he told inimitably. Ten he handed me a yellow-
backed novel, and moving my chaii a liule sideways, that my own shadow might
not fall upon the page, he begged me to iead aloud to him. l iead foi about ten
minutes, beginning in the heait of a chaptei, and then suddenly, in the middle of
a sentence, he oideied me to cease and to change my diess.
You can easily imagine, Mi. Holmes, how cuiious l became as to what the
meaning of this extiaoidinaiy peifoimance could possibly be. Tey weie always
veiy caieful, l obseived, to tuin my face away fiom the window, so that l became
consumed with the desiie to see what was going on behind my back. At ist it
seemed to be impossible, but l soon devised a means. My hand-miiioi had been
bioken, so a happy thought seized me, and l concealed a piece of the glass in
my handkeichief. On the next occasion, in the midst of my laughtei, l put my
handkeichief up to my eyes, and was able with a liule management to see all that
theie was behind me. l confess that l was disappointed. Teie was nothing. At
least that was my ist impiession. At the second glance, howevei, l peiceived that
theie was a man standing in the Southampton Road, a small beaided man in a giey
suit, who seemed to be looking in my diiection. Te ioad is an impoitant highway,
::
and theie aie usually people theie. Tis man, howevei, was leaning against the
iailings which boideied oui eld and was looking eainestly up. l loweied my
handkeichief and glanced at Mis. Rucastle to nd hei eyes xed upon me with a
most seaiching gaze. She said nothing, but l am convinced that she had divined
that l had a miiioi in my hand and had seen what was behind me. She iose at
once.
Jephio, said she, theie is an impeitinent fellow upon the ioad theie who
staies up at Miss Huntei.
No fiiend of youis, Miss Huntei` he asked.
No, l know no one in these paits.
Deai me' How veiy impeitinent' Kindly tuin iound and motion to him
to go away.
Suiely it would be beuei to take no notice.
No, no, we should have him loiteiing heie always. Kindly tuin iound and
wave him away like that.
l did as l was told, and at the same instant Mis. Rucastle diew down the
blind. Tat was a week ago, and fiomthat time l have not sat again in the window,
noi have l woin the blue diess, noi seen the man in the ioad.
Piay continue, said Holmes. Youi naiiative piomises to be a most intei-
esting one.
You will nd it iathei disconnected, l feai, and theie may piove to be liule
ielation between the dieient incidents of which l speak. On the veiy ist day
that l was at the Coppei Beeches, Mi. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which
stands neai the kitchen dooi. As we appioached it l heaid the shaip iauling of a
chain, and the sound as of a laige animal moving about.
Look in heie' said Mi. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two planks.
ls he not a beauty`
l looked thiough and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a vague
guie huddled up in the daikness.
Dont be fiightened, said my employei, laughing at the stait which l had
given. lts only Cailo, my masti. l call himmine, but ieally old Tollei, my gioom,
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 mustaid. Tollei lets himloose eveiy
night, and God help the tiespassei whom he lays his fangs upon. loi goodness
sake dont you evei on any pietext set youi foot ovei the thieshold at night, foi
its as much as youi life is woith.
Te waining was no idle one, foi two nights latei l happened to look out
of my bedioom window about two oclock in the moining. lt was a beautiful
::e
moonlight night, and the lawn in fiont of the house was silveied ovei and almost
as biight as day. l was standing, iapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when l
was awaie that something was moving undei the shadow of the coppei beeches.
As it emeiged into the moonshine l sawwhat it was. lt was a giant dog, as laige as
a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging jowl, black muzzle, and huge piojecting bones.
lt walked slowly acioss the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the othei
side. Tat dieadful sentinel sent a chill to my heait which l do not think that any
buiglai could have done.
And now l have a veiy stiange expeiience to tell you. l had, as you know,
cut o my haii in London, and l had placed it in a gieat coil at the bouom of
my tiunk. One evening, afei the child was in bed, l began to amuse myself by
examining the fuinituie of my ioom and by ieaiianging my own liule things.
Teie was an old chest of diaweis in the ioom, the two uppei ones empty and
open, the lowei one locked. l had lled the ist two with my linen, and as l had
still much to pack away l was natuially annoyed at not having the use of the
thiid diawei. lt stiuck me that it might have been fastened by a meie oveisight,
so l took out my bunch of keys and tiied to open it. Te veiy ist key ued to
peifection, and l diew the diawei open. Teie was only one thing in it, but l am
suie that you would nevei guess what it was. lt was my coil of haii.
l took it up and examined it. lt was of the same peculiai tint, and the same
thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing obtiuded itself upon me. How
could my haii have been locked in the diawei` With tiembling hands l undid my
tiunk, tuined out the contents, and diew fiom the bouom my own haii. l laid
the two tiesses togethei, and l assuie you that they weie identical. Was it not
extiaoidinaiy` Puzzle as l would, l could make nothing at all of what it meant.
l ietuined the stiange haii to the diawei, and l said nothing of the mauei to the
Rucastles as l felt that l had put myself in the wiong by opening a diawei which
they had locked.
l am natuially obseivant, as you may have iemaiked, Mi. Holmes, and l
soon had a pieuy good plan of the whole house in my head. Teie was one wing,
howevei, which appeaied not to be inhabited at all. Adooi which faced that which
led into the quaiteis of the Tolleis opened into this suite, but it was invaiiably
locked. One day, howevei, as l ascended the staii, l met Mi. Rucastle coming out
thiough this dooi, his keys in his hand, and a look on his face which made him
a veiy dieient peison to the iound, jovial man to whom l was accustomed. His
cheeks weie ied, his biow was all ciinkled with angei, and the veins stood out at
his temples with passion. He locked the dooi and huiiied past me without a woid
oi a look.
::,
Tis aioused my cuiiosity, so when l went out foi a walk in the giounds
with my chaige, l stiolled iound to the side fiom which l could see the windows
of this pait of the house. Teie weie foui of them in a iow, thiee of which weie
simply diity, while the fouith was shuueied up. Tey weie evidently all deseited.
As l stiolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mi. Rucastle came out
to me, looking as meiiy and jovial as evei.
Ah' said he, you must not think me iude if l passed you without a woid,
my deai young lady. l was pieoccupied with business maueis.
l assuied him that l was not oended. By the way, said l, you seem to
have quite a suite of spaie iooms up theie, and one of them has the shuueis up.
He looked suipiised and, as it seemed to me, a liule staitled at my iemaik.
Photogiaphy is one of my hobbies, said he. l have made my daik ioom
up theie. But, deai me' what an obseivant young lady we have come upon. Who
would have believed it` Who would have evei believed it` He spoke in a jesting
tone, but theie was no jest in his eyes as he looked at me. l iead suspicion theie
and annoyance, but no jest.
Well, Mi. Holmes, fiomthe moment that l undeistood that theie was some-
thing about that suite of iooms which l was not to know, l was all on ie to go
ovei them. lt was not meie cuiiosity, though l have my shaie of that. lt was moie
a feeling of dutya feeling that some good might come fiom my penetiating to
this place. Tey talk of womans instinct, peihaps it was womans instinct which
gave me that feeling. At any iate, it was theie, and l was keenly on the lookout
foi any chance to pass the foibidden dooi.
lt was only yesteiday that the chance came. l may tell you that, besides Mi.
Rucastle, both Tollei and his wife nd something to do in these deseited iooms,
and l once saw him caiiying a laige black linen bag with him thiough the dooi.
Recently he has been diinking haid, and yesteiday evening he was veiy diunk,
and when l came upstaiis theie was the key in the dooi. l have no doubt at all that
he had lef it theie. Mi. and Mis. Rucastle weie both downstaiis, and the child
was with them, so that l had an admiiable oppoitunity. l tuined the key gently in
the lock, opened the dooi, and slipped thiough.
Teie was a liule passage in fiont of me, unpapeied and uncaipeted, which
tuined at a iight angle at the faithei end. Round this coinei weie thiee doois
in a line, the ist and thiid of which weie open. Tey each led into an empty
ioom, dusty and cheeiless, with two windows in the one and one in the othei, so
thick with diit that the evening light glimmeied dimly thiough them. Te centie
dooi was closed, and acioss the outside of it had been fastened one of the bioad
bais of an iion bed, padlocked at one end to a iing in the wall, and fastened at
::s
the othei with stout coid. Te dooi itself was locked as well, and the key was
not theie. Tis baiiicaded dooi coiiesponded cleaily with the shuueied window
outside, and yet l could see by the glimmei fiom beneath it that the ioom was
not in daikness. Evidently theie was a skylight which let in light fiom above.
As l stood in the passage gazing at the sinistei dooi and wondeiing what seciet it
might veil, l suddenly heaid the sound of steps within the ioomand sawa shadow
pass backwaid and foiwaid against the liule slit of dimlight which shone out fiom
undei the dooi. Amad, unieasoning teiioi iose up in me at the sight, Mi. Holmes.
My oveistiung neives failed me suddenly, and l tuined and ianian as though
some dieadful hand weie behind me clutching at the skiit of my diess. l iushed
down the passage, thiough the dooi, and stiaight into the aims of Mi. Rucastle,
who was waiting outside.
So, said he, smiling, it was you, then. l thought that it must be when l
saw the dooi open.
Oh, l am so fiightened' l panted.
My deai young lady' my deai young lady'you cannot think how ca-
iessing and soothing his mannei wasand what has fiightened you, my deai
young lady`
But his voice was just a liule too coaxing. He oveidid it. l was keenly on
my guaid against him.
l was foolish enough to go into the empty wing, l answeied. But it is so
lonely and eeiie in this dim light that l was fiightened and ian out again. Oh, it
is so dieadfully still in theie'
Only that` said he, looking at me keenly.
Why, what did you think` l asked.
Why do you think that l lock this dooi`
l am suie that l do not know.
lt is to keep people out who have no business theie. Do you see` He was
still smiling in the most amiable mannei.
l am suie if l had known
Well, then, you knownow. And if you evei put youi foot ovei that thiesh-
old againheie in an instant the smile haidened into a giin of iage, and he glaied
down at me with the face of a demonlll thiow you to the masti.
l was so teiiied that l do not know what l did. l suppose that l must have
iushed past him into my ioom. l iemembei nothing until l found myself lying on
my bed tiembling all ovei. Ten l thought of you, Mi. Holmes. l could not live
theie longei without some advice. l was fiightened of the house, of the man, of
the woman, of the seivants, even of the child. Tey weie all hoiiible to me. lf l
::,
could only biing you down all would be well. Of couise l might have ed fiom
the house, but my cuiiosity was almost as stiong as my feais. My mind was soon
made up. l would send you a wiie. l put on my hat and cloak, went down to
the oce, which is about half a mile fiom the house, and then ietuined, feeling
veiy much easiei. A hoiiible doubt came into my mind as l appioached the dooi
lest the dog might be loose, but l iemembeied that Tollei had diunk himself into
a state of insensibility that evening, and l knew that he was the only one in the
household who had any inuence with the savage cieatuie, oi who would ventuie
to set him fiee. l slipped in in safety and lay awake half the night in my joy at the
thought of seeing you. l had no diculty in geuing leave to come into Winchestei
this moining, but l must be back befoie thiee oclock, foi Mi. and Mis. Rucastle
aie going on a visit, and will be away all the evening, so that l must look afei the
child. Now l have told you all my adventuies, Mi. Holmes, and l should be veiy
glad if you could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what l should do.
Holmes and l had listened spellbound to this extiaoidinaiy stoiy. My fiiend
iose now and paced up and down the ioom, his hands in his pockets, and an
expiession of the most piofound giavity upon his face.
ls Tollei still diunk` he asked.
Yes. l heaid his wife tell Mis. Rucastle that she could do nothing with him.
Tat is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night`
Yes.
ls theie a cellai with a good stiong lock`
Yes, the wine-cellai.
You seem to me to have acted all thiough this mauei like a veiy biave and
sensible giil, Miss Huntei. Do you think that you could peifoim one moie feat` l
should not ask it of you if l did not think you a quite exceptional woman.
l will tiy. What is it`
We shall be at the Coppei Beeches by seven oclock, my fiiend and l. Te
Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Tollei will, we hope, be incapable. Teie
only iemains Mis. Tollei, who might give the alaim. lf you could send hei into
the cellai on some eiiand, and then tuin the key upon hei, you would facilitate
maueis immensely.
l will do it.
Excellent' We shall then look thoioughly into the aaii. Of couise theie is
only one feasible explanation. You have been biought theie to peisonate some-
one, and the ieal peison is impiisoned in this chambei. Tat is obvious. As to
who this piisonei is, l have no doubt that it is the daughtei, Miss Alice Rucastle,
if l iemembei iight, who was said to have gone to Ameiica. You weie chosen,
:o
doubtless, as iesembling hei in height, guie, and the coloui of youi haii. Heis
had been cut o, veiy possibly in some illness thiough which she has passed, and
so, of couise, youis had to be saciiced also. By a cuiious chance you came upon
hei tiesses. Te man in the ioad was undoubtedly some fiiend of heispossibly
hei ancand no doubt, as you woie the giils diess and weie so like hei, he was
convinced fiom youi laughtei, whenevei he saw you, and afeiwaids fiom youi
gestuie, that Miss Rucastle was peifectly happy, and that she no longei desiied
his auentions. Te dog is let loose at night to pievent him fiom endeavouiing to
communicate with hei. So much is faiily cleai. Te most seiious point in the case
is the disposition of the child.
What on eaith has that to do with it` l ejaculated.
My deai Watson, you as a medical man aie continually gaining light as
to the tendencies of a child by the study of the paients. Dont you see that the
conveise is equally valid. l have fiequently gained my ist ieal insight into the
chaiactei of paients by studying theii childien. Tis childs disposition is ab-
noimally ciuel, meiely foi ciueltys sake, and whethei he deiives this fiom his
smiling fathei, as l should suspect, oi fiom his mothei, it bodes evil foi the pooi
giil who is in theii powei.
l am suie that you aie iight, Mi. Holmes, ciied oui client. A thousand
things come back to me which make me ceitain that you have hit it. Oh, let us
lose not an instant in biinging help to this pooi cieatuie.
We must be ciicumspect, foi we aie dealing with a veiy cunning man. We
can do nothing until seven oclock. At that houi we shall be with you, and it will
not be long befoie we solve the mysteiy.
We weie as good as oui woid, foi it was just seven when we ieached the
Coppei Beeches, having put up oui tiap at a wayside public-house. Te gioup of
tiees, with theii daik leaves shining like buinished metal in the light of the seuing
sun, weie sucient to maik the house even had Miss Huntei not been standing
smiling on the dooi-step.
Have you managed it` asked Holmes.
A loud thudding noise came fiom somewheie downstaiis. Tat is Mis.
Tollei in the cellai, said she. Hei husband lies snoiing on the kitchen iug. Heie
aie his keys, which aie the duplicates of Mi. Rucastles.
You have done well indeed' ciied Holmes with enthusiasm. Nowlead the
way, and we shall soon see the end of this black business.
We passed up the staii, unlocked the dooi, followed on down a passage,
and found ouiselves in fiont of the baiiicade which Miss Huntei had desciibed.
Holmes cut the coid and iemoved the tiansveise bai. Ten he tiied the vaiious
:1
keys in the lock, but without success. No sound came fiom within, and at the
silence Holmes face clouded ovei.
l tiust that we aie not too late, said he. l think, Miss Huntei, that we had
beuei go in without you. Now, Watson, put youi shouldei to it, and we shall see
whethei we cannot make oui way in.
lt was an old iickety dooi and gave at once befoie oui united stiength. To-
gethei we iushed into the ioom. lt was empty. Teie was no fuinituie save a liule
pallet bed, a small table, and a basketful of linen. Te skylight above was open,
and the piisonei gone.
Teie has been some villainy heie, said Holmes, this beauty has guessed
Miss Hunteis intentions and has caiiied his victim o.
But how`
Tiough the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it. He swung
himself up onto the ioof. Ah, yes, he ciied, heies the end of a long light laddei
against the eaves. Tat is how he did it.
But it is impossible, said Miss Huntei, the laddei was not theie when the
Rucastles went away.
He has come back and done it. l tell you that he is a clevei and dangeious
man. l should not be veiy much suipiised if this weie he whose step l heai now
upon the staii. l think, Watson, that it would be as well foi you to have youi pistol
ieady.
Te woids weie haidly out of his mouth befoie a man appeaied at the dooi
of the ioom, a veiy fat and buily man, with a heavy stick in his hand. Miss Huntei
scieamed and shiunk against the wall at the sight of him, but Sheilock Holmes
spiang foiwaid and confionted him.
You villain' said he, wheies youi daughtei`
Te fat man cast his eyes iound, and then up at the open skylight.
lt is foi me to ask you that, he shiieked, you thieves' Spies and thieves'
l have caught you, have l` You aie in my powei. lll seive you' He tuined and
claueied down the staiis as haid as he could go.
Hes gone foi the dog' ciied Miss Huntei.
l have my ievolvei, said l.
Beuei close the fiont dooi, ciied Holmes, and we all iushed down the staiis
togethei. We had haidly ieached the hall when we heaid the baying of a hound,
and then a scieamof agony, with a hoiiible woiiying sound which it was dieadful
to listen to. An eldeily man with a ied face and shaking limbs came staggeiing
out at a side dooi.
My God' he ciied. Someone has loosed the dog. lts not been fed foi two
::
days. Qick, quick, oi itll be too late'
Holmes and l iushed out and iound the angle of the house, with Tollei hui-
iying behind us. Teie was the huge famished biute, its black muzzle buiied in
Rucastles thioat, while he wiithed and scieamed upon the giound. Running up,
l blew its biains out, and it fell ovei with its keen white teeth still meeting in the
gieat cieases of his neck. With much laboui we sepaiated them and caiiied him,
living but hoiiibly mangled, into the house. We laid him upon the diawing-ioom
sofa, and having dispatched the sobeied Tollei to beai the news to his wife, l did
what l could to ielieve his pain. We weie all assembled iound him when the dooi
opened, and a tall, gaunt woman enteied the ioom.
Mis. Tollei' ciied Miss Huntei.
Yes, miss. Mi. Rucastle let me out when he came back befoie he went up
to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didnt let me know what you weie planning, foi
l would have told you that youi pains weie wasted.
Ha' said Holmes, looking keenly at hei. lt is cleai that Mis. Tollei knows
moie about this mauei than anyone else.
Yes, sii, l do, and l am ieady enough to tell what l know.
Ten, piay, sit down, and let us heai it foi theie aie seveial points on which
l must confess that l am still in the daik.
l will soon make it cleai to you, said she, and ld have done so befoie
now if l could ha got out fiom the cellai. lf theies police-couit business ovei
this, youll iemembei that l was the one that stood youi fiiend, and that l was
Miss Alices fiiend too.
She was nevei happy at home, Miss Alice wasnt, fiom the time that hei
fathei maiiied again. She was slighted like and had no say in anything, but it
nevei ieally became bad foi hei until afei she met Mi. lowlei at a fiiends house.
As well as l could leain, Miss Alice had iights of hei own by will, but she was
so quiet and patient, she was, that she nevei said a woid about them but just lef
eveiything in Mi. Rucastles hands. He knew he was safe with hei, but when
theie was a chance of a husband coming foiwaid, who would ask foi all that the
law would give him, then hei fathei thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted
hei to sign a papei, so that whethei she maiiied oi not, he could use hei money.
When she wouldnt do it, he kept on woiiying hei until she got biain-fevei, and
foi six weeks was at deaths dooi. Ten she got beuei at last, all woin to a shadow,
and with hei beautiful haii cut o, but that didnt make no change in hei young
man, and he stuck to hei as tiue as man could be.
Ah, said Holmes, l think that what you have been good enough to tell us
makes the mauei faiily cleai, and that l can deduce all that iemains. Mi. Rucastle
:
then, l piesume, took to this system of impiisonment`
Yes, sii.
And biought Miss Huntei down fiom London in oidei to get iid of the
disagieeable peisistence of Mi. lowlei.
Tat was it, sii.
But Mi. lowlei being a peiseveiing man, as a good seaman should be,
blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by ceitain aiguments, metal-
lic oi otheiwise, in convincing you that youi inteiests weie the same as his.
Mi. lowlei was a veiy kind-spoken, fiee-handed gentleman, said Mis.
Tollei seienely.
And in this way he managed that youi good man should have no want of
diink, and that a laddei should be ieady at the moment when youi mastei had
gone out.
You have it, sii, just as it happened.
l am suie we owe you an apology, Mis. Tollei, said Holmes, foi you have
ceitainly cleaied up eveiything which puzzled us. And heie comes the coun-
tiy suigeon and Mis. Rucastle, so l think, Watson, that we had best escoit Miss
Huntei back to Winchestei, as it seems to me that oui locus standi now is iathei
a questionable one.
And thus was solved the mysteiy of the sinistei house with the coppei
beeches in fiont of the dooi. Mi. Rucastle suivived, but was always a bioken
man, kept alive solely thiough the caie of his devoted wife. Tey still live with
theii old seivants, who piobably knowso much of Rucastles past life that he nds
it dicult to pait fiom them. Mi. lowlei and Miss Rucastle weie maiiied, by spe-
cial license, in Southampton the day afei theii ight, and he is now the holdei of
a goveinment appointment in the island of Mauiitius. As to Miss Violet Huntei,
my fiiend Holmes, iathei to my disappointment, manifested no fuithei inteiest
in hei when once she had ceased to be the centie of one of his pioblems, and she
is now the head of a piivate school at Walsall, wheie l believe that she has met
with consideiable success.
*** END Ol THlS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES Ol
SHERLOCK HOLMES ***
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