Libro 2
Libro 2
Libro 2
Gift of
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THE GENTLEMAN IN THE PEW HANDED IT UP TO HER
[Page 238
ADVENTURES
OF
SHERLOCK HOLMES
BY
A. CONAN DOYLE
AUTHOR OF "MICAH CLARKE" ETC.
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
Copyright, 1892, by Harper & Brothers.
"
"THE GENTLEMAN IN THE PEW HANDED IT UP TO HER Frontispiece
A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA
I
j
^Sj^
^^O have
Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I
quently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room."
"Frequently."
" How often .?"
down once more and passing his hand over his high, white
forehead, "you can understand that I am not accustomed to
doing such business in my own person. Yet the matter was
so delicate that I could not confide it to an agent without
putting myself in his power. I have come incognito from
Prague for the purpose of consulting you."
" Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once
more.
" The facts are briefly these : Some five years ago, during
a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the
A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA II
operatic stage —
ha! Living in London quite so! Your —
Majesty, as I understand, became entangled with this young
person, wrote her some compromising letters, and is now desir-
"Because she has said that she would send it on the day
when the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be
next Monday."
"Oh, then, we have three days yet," said Holmes, with a
yawn. " That is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters
of importance to look into just at present. Your Majesty will,
of course, stay in London for the present?"
"Certainly. You will find me at the Langham, under the
name of the Count Von Kramm."
"Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we
progress."
" Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety."
" Then, as to money ?"
J^
"You have carte blanche
" Absolutely ?"
" I tell
you that I would give one of the provinces of my
kingdom to have that photograph."
" And for present expenses ?"
The king took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his
cloak and laid it on the table.
II
sat down beside the fire, however, with the intention of await-
ing him, however long he might be. was already deeply
I
interested in his inquiry, for, though was surrounded by
it
again until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the
chair.
"What is it?"
"It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess
how I employed my morning, or what I ended by doing."
" I can't imagine. suppose that you have been watching
I
at the back, but built out in front right up to the road, two
stories. Chubb lock to the door. Large sitting-room on the
right side, well furnished, with longwindows almost to the
floor,and those preposterous English window fasteners which
a child could open. Behind there was nothing remarkable,
save that the passage window could be reached from the top
of the coach-house. I walked round it and examined it closely
from every point of view, but without noting anything else of
interest.
" I then lounged down the street, and found, as I expected,
that there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall
of the garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down
toned, and his tie under his ear, while all the tags of his
harness were sticking out of the buckles. It hadn't pulled up
before she shot out of the hall door and into it. I only caught
a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely woman,
with a face that a man might die for.
"
' The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, *
and half a
sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.'
"This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just
balancing whether I should run for it, or whether I should
perch behind her landau, when a cab came through the street.
but the others were there before us. The cab and the landau
with their steaming horses were in front of the door when I
arrived. I paid the man and hurried into the church. There
was not a soul there save the two whom I had followed and a
surpliced clergyman, who seemed to be expostulating with
them. They were all three standing in a knot in front of the
altar. I lounged up the side aisle like any other idler who has
me on the one side and the lady on the other, while the
clergyman beamed on me in front. It was the most prepos-
terous position in which I ever found myself in my life, and it
was the thought of it that started me laughing just now. It
seems that there had been some informality about their license,
that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them without
a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance saved
the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in
search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I
mean to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occa-
sion."
" This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I ;
" and
what then ?"
creased by the two guardsmen, who took sides with one of the
loungers, and by the scissors - grinder, who was equally hot
upon the other side. A blow was struck, and in an instant
the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was the centre
of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who struck
savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes
dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he
reached her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with
the blood running freely down his face. At his fall the
guardsmen took to their heels in one direction and the loung-
ers in the other, while a number of better dressed people,
who had watched the scufile without taking part in it, crowded
in to help the lady and to attend to the injured man. Irene
Adler, as I will still call her, had hurried up the steps but ;
she stood at the top with her superb figure outlined against
the lights of the hall, looking back into the street.
" Is the poor gentleman much hurt ?" she asked.
" He is dead," cried several voices.
" No, no, there's life in him !" shouted another. " But he'll
" Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red
paint in the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down,
clapped my hand to my face, and became a piteous spectacle.
It is an old trick."
" That also I could fathom."
"Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in.
What else could she do ? And into her sitting-room, which
was the very room which I suspected. It lay between that
King to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us.
We will be shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady,
but it is probable that when she comes she may find neither
us nor the photograph. It might be a satisfaction to His
Majesty to regain it with his own hands."
" And when will you call ?"
" At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we
shall have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this
marriage may mean a complete change in her life and habits.
I must wire to the King without delay."
Ill
" Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future an-
noyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love
your Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no
reason why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan."
" It is true. And yet —
Well I wish she had been of
!
She left this morning with her husband by the 5.15 train from
Charing Cross for the Continent."
" What !" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with
chagrin and surprise. " Do you mean that she has left Eng-
land ?"
"We He
pushed past the servant and rushed
shall see."
into the drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The
furniturewas scattered about in every direction, with disman-
tled shelves and open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly
ransacked them before her flight. Holmes rushed at the
bell-pull, tore back a small sliding shutter, and, plunging in his
A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA 27
not tell you how quick and resolute she was ? Would she not
have made an admirable queen ? Is it not a pity that she
was not on my level ?"
" From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to
be on a very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes,
coldly. " I am sorry that I have not been able to bring your
Majesty's business to a more successful conclusion."
" On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King ;
" noth-
ing could be more successful. I know that her word is invi-
HAD
called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,
one day in the autumn of last year, and found him
in deep conversation with a very stout, florid-faced,
elderly gentleman, with fiery red hair. With an
apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw, when
Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the
door behind me.
" You could not possibly have come at a better time, my
dear Watson," he said, cordially.
"I was afraid that you were engaged."
" So I am. Very much so."
" Then I can wait in the next room."
" Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my
partner and helper in many of my most successful cases, and
I have no doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in
yours also."
The stout gentleman half-rose from his chair and gave a
bob of greeting, with a quick, little, questioning glance from
his small, fat-encircled eyes.
" Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his arm-chair
the paper flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at
the man, and endeavored, after the fashion of my companion,
to read the indications which might be presented by his dress
or appearance.
I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our
visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace
British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather
taggy gray shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black
frock-coat, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with
a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal
dangling down as an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded
brown overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair
beside him. Altogether, look as I would, there was nothing
remarkable about the man save his blazing red head, and the
expression of extreme chagrin and discontent upon his feat-
ures.
Sherlock Holmes's quick eye took in my occupation, and he
shook his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning
glances. " Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time
done manual labor, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason,
that he has been in China, and that he has done a consid-
erable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else."
right wrist could only have been done in China. I have made
a small study of tattoo marks, and have even contributed to
the literature of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes'
scales of a delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in
addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain,
the matter becomes even more simple."
Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. " Well, I never !" said
he. " I thought at first that you had done something clever,
but I see that there was nothing in it, after all."
" I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, " that I make a
mistake in explaining. *
Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you
know, and my poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer
shipwreck if I am so candid. Can you not find the advertise-
ment, Mr. Wilson ?"
" Yes, I have got it now," he answered, with his thick, red
finger planted half-way down the column. " Here it is. This
is what began it all. You just read it for yourself, sir."
" What on earth does this mean ?" I ejaculated, after I had
twice read over the extraordinary announcement.
Holmes chuckled, and wriggled in his chair, as was his
habit when in high spirits. " It is a little off the beaten
THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 33
track, isn't it ?" said he. " And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go
at scratch, and tell us all about yourself, your household, and
the effect which this advertisement had upon your fortunes.
You will first make a note, doctor, of the paper and the
date."
" It is The Morning Chronicle, of April 27, 1890. Just two
months ago."
" Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson ?"
" Well,it is just as I have been telling 3'ou, Mr. Sherlock
have a job to pay him, but that he is willing to come for half
wages, so as to learn the business."
"What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock
Holmes.
"His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth,
either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter
assistant, Mr. Holmes ; and I know very well that he could
better himself, and earn twice what I am able to give him.
But, after all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his
head ?"
" *
I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed
man.'
"'Why that.?' I asks.
" '
Why,' says he, '
here's another vacancy on the League of
the Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any
man who gets it, and I understand that there are more vacan-
cies than there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits'
end what to do with the money. If my hair would only change
color, here's a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.'
" 'Why, what is it, then ?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I
slight, and it need not interfere very much with one's other
occupations.'
you can easily think that that made me prick up my
" Well,
ears, for the business has not been over-good for some years,
and an extra couple of hundred would have been very handy.
•"Tell me all about it,' said I.
THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 35
red, or dark red, or anything but real bright, blazing, fiery red.
Now, you cared to apply, Mr. Wilson, you would just walk in
if
self out of the way for the sake of a few hundred pounds.'
" Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves,
which led to the office. There was a double stream upon the
stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back dejected ;
" *
It would be injustice to hestitate,' said he. '
You will,
self one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble
" '
Is to copy out the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." There
is the first volume of it in that press. You must find your
" '
Certainly,' I answered.
and let me congratu-
" 'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson,
seemed altogether past belief that any one could make such
a will, or that they would pay such a sum for doing anything
so simple as copying out the '
Encyclopaedia Britannica.'
Vincent Spaulding did what he could to cheer me up, but by
bedtime had reasoned myself out of the whole thing.
I
would drop in from time to time to see that all was right with
me. At two o'clock he bade me good-day, complimented me
upon the amount that I had written, and locked the door of
the office after me.
*'
This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday
the manager and planked down four golden sov-
came in
ereigns for my It was the same next week, and
week's work.
the same the week after. Every morning I was there at ten,
and every afternoon I left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan
Ross took to coming in only once of a morning, and then, af-
ter a time, he did not come in at all. Still, of course, I never
dared to leave the room for an instant, for I was not sure
when he might come, and the billet was such a good one,
and suited me so well, that I would not risk the loss of it.
" Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written
Dissolved.
October 9, 1890."
where."
" No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair
from which he had half risen. " I really wouldn't miss your
" '
What, the red-headed man ?'
thought as much," said he. " Have you ever observed that
his ears are pierced for earrings ?"
" Yes, sir. He told me that a gypsy had done it for him
when he was a lad."
" Hum !" said Holn^s, sinking back in deep thought. " He
is still with you ?" ^^
" Oh yes, sir I have only just left him."
;
" And has your business been attended to in your absence ?"
"
Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to
do of a morning."
" That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you
an opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two.
To-day is Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may
come to a conclusion."
"Well, Watson," said Holmes, when our visitor had left us,
" what do you make of it all ?"
THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE 43
in time to the music, while his gently smiling face and his lan-
guid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those of Holmes, the sleuth-
come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning power would
rise to the level of intuition, until those who were unacquaint-
ed with methods would look askance at him as on a man
his
whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I
saw him that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St.
James's Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming upon
those whom he had set himself to hunt down.
" You want to go home," no doubt, doctor," he remarked,
as we emerged.
"Yes, it would be as well."
"And I have some business to do which will take some
hours. This business at Coburg Square is serious."
" Why serious ?"
**A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every
reason to believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-
force."
"Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the
strajiger, with deference. " Still, I confess that I miss my
rubber. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty
years that I have not had my rubber."
"I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you
will play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done
yet, and that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr.
Merryweather, the stake willbe some ^30,000 and for you, ;
Jones, it will be the man upon whom you wish to lay your
hands."
"John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's
a young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his
profession,and I would rather have my bracelets on him than
on any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young
John Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he him-
self has been to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning
as his fingers, and though we meet signs of him at every turn,
we never know where to find the man himself. He'll crack a
crib in Scotland one week, and be raising money to build an
orphanage in Cornwall the next. I've been on his track for
years, and have never set eyes on him yet."
" I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you
to-night. I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John
Clay, and I agree with you that he is at the head of his pro-
fession. It is past ten, however, and quite time that we start-
ed. If you two will take the first hansom, Watson and I will
follow in the second."
Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the
long drive, and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which
he had heard in the afternoon. We rattled through an end-
less labyrinth of gas-lit streets until we emerged into Farring-
don Street.
" We are close there now," my friend remarked. " This fel-
stick upon the flags which lined the floor. " Why, dear me,
it sounds quite hollow !" he remarked, looking up in surprise.
" I must really ask you to be a little more quiet," said
Holmes, severely. "You have already imperilled the whole
success of our expedition. Might I beg that you would have
the goodness to sit down upon one of those boxes, and not
to interfere ?"
The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a
crate, with a very injured expression upon his face, while
Holmes fell upon his knees upon the floor, and, with the lan-
they can hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is
safely in bed. Then they will not lose a minute, for the
sooner they do their work the longer time they will have for
their escape. We are at present, doctor — as no doubt you
have divined — in the cellar of the city branch of one of the
principal London banks.
Mr. Merryweather is the chairman
and he will explain to you that there are reasons
of directors,
why the more daring criminals of London should take a con-
siderable interest in this cellar at present."
"It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We
have had several warnings that an attempt might be made
upon it."
" Your French gold ?"
door."
" Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must
be silent and wait."
What a time it seemed From comparing notes afterwards
!
peared, and was dark again save the single lurid spark
all
the bags. Great Scott Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing
!
!"
for it
" It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes, blandly. " You have
no chance at all."
" So I see," the other answered, with the utmost coolness.
" I fancy that my pal is all right, though I see you have got
his coat-tails."
" There are three men waiting for him at the door," said
Holmes.
''Oh, indeed You seem to have done the thing very
!
" I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands,"
" Had there been women in the house, I should have sus-
pected a mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the
question. The man's business was a small one, and there
was nothing in his house which could account for such elabo-
rate preparations, and such an expenditure as they were at.
man of the bank directors, with the result that you have
seen."
" And how could you tell that they would make their at-
tempt to-night ?" I asked.
" Well, when they closed their League offices that was a
sign that they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's pres-
ence — in other words, that they had completed their tunnel.
But it was essential that they should use it soon, as it might
be discovered, or the bullion might be removed. Saturday
would suit them better than any other day, as it would give
them two days for their escape. For all these reasons I ex-
pected them to come to-night."
" You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed, in unfeigned
admiration. " It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings
true."
"It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas!
I already feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one
long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence.
These little problems help me to do so."
" And you are a benefactor of the race," said I.
A CASE OF IDENTITY
realism pushed to its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it
"And have you any on hand just now?" I asked, with in-
terest.
" Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature
of interest. They are important, you understand, without be-
ing interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in un-
important matters that there is a field for the observation,
and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the
charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be
the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a
rule, is the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intri-
am much mistaken."
He had risen from and was standing between the
his chair,
parted blinds, gazing down Lon-
into the dull, neutral-tinted
don street. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pave-
ment opposite there stood a large woman with a heavy fur
boa round her neck, and a large curling red feather in a broad-
brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquettish Duchess -of-
Devonshire fashion over her ear. From under this great
panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our
windows, while her body oscillated backward and forward,
and her fingers fidgetted with her glove buttons. Suddenly,
with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves the bank, she
hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp clang of the
bell.
" I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throw-
ing his cigarette into the fire. " Oscillation upon the pavement
"Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it
she said, " for it made me angry to see the easy way in which
Mr. Windibank —that is, my father— took it all. He would
not go to the police, and he would not go to you, and so at
6o ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
came he made her sell the business, for he was very superior,
being a traveller in wines. They got ;^47oo for the good-
will and interest, which wasn't near as mucji as father could
have got if he had been alive."
But this time I was set on going, and I would go for what ;
right had he to prevent ? He said the folk were not fit for us
to know, when all father's friends were to be there. And he
said that I had nothing fit to wear, when I had my purple
plush that had never so much as taken out of the drawer.
I
after that father came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel
could not come to the house any more."
"No?"
" Well, you know, father didn't like anything of the sort.
He wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used
to say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle.
Hosmer wrote and said that it would be safer and better not
to see each other until he had gone. We could write in the
mean time, and he used to write every day. I took the let-
ters in in the morning, so there was no need for father to
know."
"Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time.^"
"Oh yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first
walk that we took. Hosmer Mr. Angel was a cashier in— —
an office in Leadenhall Street — and—"
" What office ?"
will just show you how fond he was of me, Mr. Holmes, and
the little things that he would think of."
" It was most suggestive," said Holmes. " It has long been
an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most
important. Can you remember any other little things about
Mr. Hosmer Angel .?"
" Mr.
Hosmer Angel came to the house again, and proposed
that we should marry before father came back. He was in
dreadful earnest, and made me swear, with my hands on the
Testament, that whatever happened I would always be true
to him. Mother said he was quite right to make me swear,
and that it was a sign of his passion. Mother was all in his
favor from the first, and was even fonder of him than I was.
Then, when they talked of marrying within the week, I began
to ask about father but they both said never to mind about
;
father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother said she
would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like that, Mr.
Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as he
was only a few years older than me but ; I didn't want to do
anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where
the company has its French offices, but the letter came back
to me on the very morning of the wedding."
" It missed him, then ?"
" Yes, sir ; for he had started to England just before it ar-
rived."
64 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
'*
Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's,
near King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards
at the St. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom,
but as there were two of us, he put us both into it, and stepped
himself into a four-wheeler, which happened to be the only
other cab in the street. We got to the church first, and when
the four-wheeler drove up we waited for him to step out, but
he never did, and when the cabman got down from the box
and looked, there was no one there ! The cabman said that
he could not imagine what had become of him, for he had
seen him get in with his own eyes. That was last Friday, Mr.
Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything since then
to throw any light upon what became of him."
" It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treat-
handkerchief out of her muff, and began to sob heavily into it.
" I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising
" and I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite re-
sult. Let the weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do
not let your mind dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let
" He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret im-
porters of Fenchurch Street."
"Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly.
You will leave the papers here, and remember the advice
which I have given you. Let the whole incident be a sealed
book, and do not allow it to affect your life."
" You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I
5
66 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
thing of the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea,
however, there were one or two details which were new to me.
But the maiden herself was most instructive."
"You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was
quite invisible to me," I remarked.
Not invisible, but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know
"
ments. Her dress was brown, rather darker than coffee color,
with a little purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her
gloves were grayish, and were worn through at the right fore-
finger. Her boots I didn't observe. She had small, round,
A CASE OF IDENTITY 6/
decorated toe-cap, and the other a plain one. One was but-
toned only in the two lower buttons out of five, and the other
at the first, third, and fifth. Now, when you see that a young
lady, otherwise neatly dressed, has come away from home
with odd boots, half-buttoned, it is no great deduction to say
that she came away in a hurry."
" And what else ?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always
that her right glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not
apparently see that both glove and finger were stained with
violet ink. She had written in a hurry, and dipped her pen
too deep. must have been this morning, or the mark would
It
not remain clear upon the finger. All this is amusing, though
rather elementary, but I must go back to business, Watson.
Would you mind reading me the advertised description of Mr.
Hosmer Angel ?"
I held the little printed slip to the light. " Missing," it
" That will do," said Holmes. " As to the letters," he con-
tinued, glancing over them, "they are very commonplace.
Absolutely no clew in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes
Balzac once. There is one remarkable point, however, which
will no doubt strike you."
" They are type- written," I remarked.
" Not only that, but the signature is type-written. Look at
six o'clock that I found myself free, and was able to spring
into a hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I
might be too late to assist at the denouement of the little mys-
tery. I found Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep,
with his long, thin form curled up in the recesses of his arm-
chair. A formidable array of bottles and test-tubes, with the
pungent cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he
had spent his day in the chemical work which was so dear to
him.
" Well, have you solved it ?" I asked, as I entered.
" Oh, that ! I thought of the salt that, I have been working
upon. There was never any mystery in the matter, though,
as I said yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The
only drawback is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch
the scoundrel."
"Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting
Miss Sutherland ?"
and some wear only on one side. Now, you remark in this
the *
r.' There are fourteen other characteristics, but those
are the more obvious."
"We do all our correspondence with this machine at the
office, and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered,
which purport to come from the missing man. They are all
key in the door. " I let you know, then, that I have caught
him !"
" What where .?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning w^hite to
!
" Oh, —
won't do really it won't," said Holmes, suavely.
it
Holmes had been talking, and he rose from his chair now
with a cold sneer upon his pale face.
" It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, " but if
ration. I knew the firm for which this man worked. Having
taken the printed description, I eliminated everything from it
" If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember
the old Persian saying, There is danger for him who taketh
'
the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion
from a woman.' There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Hor-
ace, and as much knowledge of the world."
BDventure W
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY
" I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list
at present."
" Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have
been looking a little pale lately. I think that the change
would do you good, and you are always so interested in Mr.
Sherlock Holmes's cases."
" I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained
cap.
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 'J'J
have just been looking through all the recent papers in or-
der to master the particulars. It seems, from what I gather,
to be one of those simple cases which are so extremely diffi-
cult."
"The two McCarthys were seen after the time when Will-
iam Crowder, the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Bos-
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 79
*'
A Did you see nothing which aroused your
Juryman :
You cannot
say what it was ?'
No, I had a feeling something was there.' ^
" How far from the body ?'
'
" And how far from the edge of the wood ?'
*
would not be happy until you had been on the scene of the
crime."
" It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes
answered. " It is entirely a question of barometric pressure."
Lestrade looked startled. " I do not quite follow," he
said.
86 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
*'
I think that it is very probable."
" There, now !" she cried, throwing back her head, and
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY §7
never did it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure
that the reason why he would not speak about it to the cor-
oner was because I was concerned in it."
" In what way ?" asked Holmes.
" It is me to hide anything. James and his
no time for
father had many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was
very anxious that there should be a marriage between us.
James and I have always loved each other as brother and sis-
" Yes, have you not heard ? Poor father has never been
strong for years back, but this has broken him down com-
pletely. He has taken to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that
he is a wreck, and that his nervous system is shattered. Mr.
McCarthy was the only man alive who had known dad in the
old days in Victoria."
" Ha ! In Victoria ! That is important."
" Yes, at the mines."
88 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
" Quite so ; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr.
Turner made his money.
" Yes, certainly."
" Thank you. Miss Turner. You have been of material
assistance to me."
" will tell me if you have any news to-morrow.
You No
doubt you will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do,
Mr. Holmes, do tell him that I know him to be innocent."
" I will, Miss Turner."
" I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses
me so if I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your
man's story was absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what
absolutely unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have
occurred between the time when he parted from his father,
and the moment when, drawn back by his screams, he rushed
into the glade? It was something terrible and deadly. What
could it be ? Might not the nature of the injuries reveal
something to my medical instincts ? I rang the bell, and called
for the weekly county paper, which contained a verbatim ac-
count of the inquest. it was stated
In the surgeon's deposition
that the posterior third of bone and the
the left parietal
left half of the occipital bone had been shattered by a heavy
own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from
behind. That was to some extent in favor of the accused, as
when seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father.
Still, it did not go for very much, for the older man might have
turned his back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth
while to call Holmes's attention to it. Then there was the
peculiar dying reference to a rat. What could that mean ? It
could not be delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow
does not commonly become delirious. No, it was more likely
to be an attempt to explain how he met his fate. But what
could it indicate ? I cudgelled my brains to find some pos-
sible explanation. And then the incident of the gray cloth,
seen by young McCarthy. If that were true, the murderer
must have dropped some part of presumably his
his dress,
and must have had the hardihood to
overcoat, in his flight,
return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was
kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a
tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was
I did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much
\
90 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
" The glass still keeps very high," he remarked, as he sat
down. It is of importance that it should not rain before we
are able to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man
should be at his very best and keenest for such nice work as
that, and I did not wish to do it when fagged by a long
journey. I have seen young McCarthy."
"And what did you learn from him .?"
"Nothing."
"
Could he throw no light .?"
"
None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he
knew who had done it, and was screening him or her, but I
am convinced now that he is as puzzled as every one else. He
is not a very quick-witted youth, though comely to look at,
madly, insanely in love with her, but some two years ago,
when he was only a lad, and before he really knew her, for
she had been away five years at a boarding-school, what does
the idiot do but get into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol,
and marry her at a registry office ? No one knows
a word of
the matter, but you can imagine how maddening
must be to it
his hands up into the air when his father, at their last inter-
view, was goading him on to propose to Miss Turner. On the
other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, and his
father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would have
thrown hirti over utterly had he known the truth. It was with
his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in
Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark
that point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil,
that his son had returned. Those are the crucial points upon
which the case depends. And now let us talk about George
Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all minor matters
until to-morrow."
There was no Holmes had foretold, and the morn-
rain, as
ing broke bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade
called for us with the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley
Farm and the Boscombe Pool.
"There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed.
" It is said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life
is despaired of."
" An elderly man, I presume ?" said Holmes.
" About sixty ; but his constitution has been shattered by
his life abroad, and he has been in failing health for some
time. This business has had a very bad effect upon him.
He was an old friend of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great
benefactor to him, for I have learned that he gave him
Hatherley Farm rent free."
" Indeed ! That is interesting," said Holmes.
" Oh yes ! In a hundred other ways he has helped him.
Everybody about here speaks of his kindness to him."
" Really Does it not strike you as a little singular that
!
this McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and
were drawn into two hard, black lines, while his eyes shone
out from beneath them with a steely glitter. His face was
bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips compressed,
and the veins stood out like whip-cord in his long, sinewy
neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust
for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated
upon the matter before him, that a question or remark fell un-
heeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick,
impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his
way along the track which ran through the meadows, and so
by way of the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp,
marshy ground, as is all that district, and there were marks
of many feet, both upon the path and amid the short grass
which bounded it on either side. Sometimes Holmes would
hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and once he made quite a lit-
tle detour into the meadow. Lestrade and I walked behind
him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while I
watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the
conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards
a definite end.
The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of
water some fifty yards across, is boundary be-
situated at the
tween the Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy
Mr. Turner. Above the woods which lined it upon the farther
side we could see the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the
site of the rich land-owner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side
of the Pool thewoods grew very thick, and there was a narrow
belt ofsodden grass twenty paces across between the edge
of the trees and the reeds which lined the lake. Lestrade
showed us the exact spot at which the body had been found,
and, indeed, so moistwas the ground, that I could plainly see
the traces which had been leftby the fall of the stricken man.
To Holmes, as I could see by his eager face and peering eyes,
very many other things were to be read upon the trampled
grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking up a scent,
and then turned upon my companion.
94 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
" What did you go into the Pool for ?" he asked.
" I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some
weapon or other trace. But how on earth —
" Oh, tut, tut ! I have no time ! That left foot of yours
with its inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace
it, and there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it
would all have been had I been here before they came like a
herd of buffalo, and wallowed all over it. Here is where the
party with the lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all
tracks for six or eight feet round the body. But here are
three separate tracks of the same feet." He drew out a lens,
and lay down upon his waterproof to have a better view, talk-
ing all " These are
the time rather to himself than to us.
young McCarthy's Twice he was walking, and once he
feet.
ran swiftly so that the soles are deeply marked, and the heels
hardly visible. That bears out his story. He ran when he
saw his father on the ground. Then here are the father's feet
as he paced up and down. What is this, then ? It is the butt-
end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this ? Ha,
ha What have we here ? Tiptoes tiptoes
! Square, too, ! !
quite unusual boots ! They come, they go, they come again
of course that was for the cloak. Now
where did they come
from ?" He ran up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes
we were well within the edge of the
finding the track until
wood, and under the shadow of a great beech, the largest tree
in the neighborhood. Holmes traced his way to the farther
side of this, and lay down once more upon his face with a lit-
tle cry of satisfaction. For a long time he remained there,
turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering up what
seemed to me to be dust into an envelope, and examining
with his lens not only the ground, but even the bark of the
tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying
among the moss, and this also he carefully examined and re-
tained. Then he followed a pathway through the wood until
he came to the high-road, where all traces were lost.
*'
It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked,
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 95
You may walk to the cab, and I shall be with you presently."
It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab, and
drove back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the
" The grass was growing under had only lain there a
it. It
few days. There was no sign whence it had been
of a place
taken. It corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of
any other weapon."
" And the murderer .?"
" Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears
"just sit down in this chair and let me preach to you for a
little. I don't quite know what to do, and I should value your
" Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son.
The son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. was mere
It
He put his hand over part of the map. " What do you read ?"
he asked.
"ARAT," I read.
"And now ?" He raised his hand.
"BALL ARAT."
"Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of
which his son only caught the last two syllables. He was try-
ing to utter the name of his murderer. So-and-so, of Ballarat."
" It is wonderful !" I exclaimed.
" It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field
down considerably. The possession of a gray garment was a
third point which, granting the son's statement to be correct,
was a certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness
to the definite conception of an Australian from Ballarat with
a gray cloak."
" Certainly."
" And one who was at home in the district, for the Pool
can only be approached by the farm or by the estate, where
strangers could hardly wander."
" Quite so."
" Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination
of the ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that
imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal."
" But how did you gain them ?"
" You know my method. It is founded upon the observ-
ance of trifles."
" His height I know that you might roughly judge from the
length of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their
traces."
7
98 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
" Yes, they were peculiar boots."
" But his lameness ?"
" The impression of his right foot was always less distinct
than his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because
he limped —he was lame."
" But his left-handedness."
" You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as
recorded by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck
from immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side.
Now, how can that be unless it were by a left-handed man ?
He had stood behind that tree during the interview between
the father and son. He had even smoked there. I found the
ash of a cigar, which my special knowledge of tobacco ashes
enabled me to pronounce as an Indian cigar. I have, as you
know, devoted some attention to this, and written a little
truth,"he said. " I shall jot down the facts. You will sign
it,and Watson here can witness it. Then I could produce
your confession at the last extremity to save young McCarthy.
I promise you that I shall not use it unless it is absolutely
needed."
" It's as well," said the old man ;
" it's a question whether
I shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I
should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make
the thing clear to you ; it has been a long time in the acting,
but will not take me long to tell.
bourne, and we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were
six troopers and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emp-
tied four of their saddles at the first volley. Three of our
boys were killed, however, before we got the swag. I put my
pistol to the head of the wagon-driver, who was this very man
McCarthy. I I had shot him then, but
wish to the Lord that
I spared him, though saw his wicked little eyes fixed on my
I
the gold, became wealthy men, and made our way over to
England without being suspected. There I parted from my
THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY lOI
Alice. Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed
to lead me down the right path as nothing else had ever done.
In a word, I turned over a new leaf, and did my best to make
up for the past. All was going well when McCarthy laid his
grip upon me.
"I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met
him in Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot
to his foot.
" Here
' we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm
*
we'll be as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me
and my son, and you can have the keeping of us. If you
don't — it's a fine, law-abiding country is England, and there's
always a policeman within hail'
" Well, down they came
to the West country, there was no
shaking them and there they have lived rent free on my
off,
best land ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no
forgetfulness turn where I -would, there was his cunning,
;
with mine not that I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood
;
which never have been, and probably never will be, entirely
cleared up.
The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of
greater or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among
my headings under this one twelve months I find an account
of the adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur
Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower
vault of a furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the
loss of the British bark Sophy Anderson^ of the singular ad-
ventures of the Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and
THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS I05
out at some future date, but none of them present such singu-
lar features as the strange train of circumstances which I have
now taken up my pen to describe.
It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial
gales had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind
had screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows,
so that even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we
were forced to raise our minds for the instant from the rou-
tine of life, and to recognize the presence of those great ele-
mental forces which shriek at mankind through the bars of
his civilization, like untamed beasts in a cage. As evening
drew in, the storm grew higher and louder, and the wind cried
and sobbed like a child in the chimney. Sherlock Holmes
sat moodily at one side of the fireplace cross - indexing his
records of crime, while I at the other was deep in one of Clark
Russell's fine sea-stories, until the howl of the gale from with-
out seemed to blend with the text, and the splash of the rain
to lengthen out into the long swash of the sea waves. My
wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a few days I was
a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street.
"Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was
surely the bell. Who could come to-night ? Some friend of
yours, perhaps?"
" Except yourself I have none," he answered. " I do not en-
courage visitors."
" A client, then ?"
that I have brought some traces of the storm and rain into
your snug chamber."
" Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. " They
may on the hook, and will be dry presently. You
rest here
have come up from the south-west, I see."
"Yes, from Horsham."
" That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe-
of appeal."
" And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience,
you have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable
chain of events than those which have happened in my own
family."
"You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us
the essential facts from the commencement, and I can after-
such a room.
"One day —
it was in March, 1883 —
a letter with a foreign
stamp lay upon the table in front of the Colonel's plate. It
was not a common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills
THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS I09
" '
What is it, uncle ?' I cried.
" *
Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to
his room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the
envelope, and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap,
justabove the gum, the letter K three times repeated. There
was nothing else save the five dried pips. What could be the
reason of his overpowering terror .? I left the breakfast-table,
and as I ascended the stair I met him coming down with an
old rusty key, which must have belonged to the attic, in one
hand, and a small brass box, like a cash-box, in the other.
"'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them
still,' said he, with an oath. Mary that I shall want a
'
Tell
fire in my room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Hors-
ham lawyer.'
" I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was
asked to step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly,
and in the grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of
burned paper, while the brass box stood open and empty be-
side it. As I glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that
upon the lid were printed the treble K which I had read in the
morning upon the envelope.
" *I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I
leave my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvan-
tages to my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, de-
scend to you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good
edged thing, but I can't say what turn things are going to
take. Kindly sign the paper where Mr. Fordham shows you.'
" I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it
" '
No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such
nonsense.'
" It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very ob-
stinate man. I went about, however, with a heart which was
full of forebodings.
" On the third day after the coming of the letter my father
went from home to visit an Major Freebody,
old friend of his.
who is in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill.
I was glad that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was
farther from danger when he was away from home. In that,
however, I was in error. Upon the second day of his absence
I received a telegram from the Major, imploring me to come
at once. My father had fallen over one of the deep chalk-
pits which abound in the neighborhood, and was lying sense-
less, with a shattered skull. I hurried to him, but he passed
THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS II3
I was wellnigh certain that some foul plot had been woven
round him.
" In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will
ask me why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was
and two years and eight months have elapsed since then.
During that time I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had
begun to hope that this curse had passed away from the family,
and that it had ended with the last generation. I had begun
to take comfort too soon, however; yesterday morning the
blow fell in the very shape in which it had come upon my
father."
The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled en-
velope, and, turning to the table, he shook out upon it five
little dried orange pips.
"This is the envelope," he continued. "The post-mark is
London —eastern division. Within are the very words which
were upon my father's last message K. K. K.' ; and then
:
'
"
'
Put the papers on the sundial'
" What have you done ?" asked Holmes.
" Nothing."
" Nothing ?"
"To tell the truth" —he sank his face into his thin, white
114 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
"Ah!"
" But they listened to my story with a smile. I am con-
vinced that the inspector has formed the opinion that the
letters are all practical jokes, and that the deaths of my re-
lations were really accidents, as the jury stated, and were not
to be connected with the warnings."
Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. " Incredible
I found this single sheet upon the floor of his room, and I am
inclined to think that it may be one of the papers which has,
perhaps, fluttered out from among the others, and in that way
have escaped destruction. Beyond the mention of pips, I do
not see that it helps us much. I think myself that it is a
page from some private diary. The writing is undoubtedly
my uncle's."
Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet
of paper, which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed
been torn from a book. It was headed, " March, 1869," and
beneath were the following enigmatical notices :
You must put this piece of paper which you have shown us
into the brass box which you have described. You must also
put in a note to say that all the other papers were burned by
your uncle, and that this is the only one which remains. You
must assert that in such words as will carry conviction with
them. Having done this, you must at once put the box out
upon the sundial, as directed. Do you understand ?"
" Entirely."
" Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at pres-
ent. I think that we may gain that by means of the law ; but
we have our web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The
first consideration is to remove the pressing danger which
Il6 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
that you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard your-
self too closely."
" I am armed."
.
" That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your
case."
" I shall see you at Horsham, then ?"
the facts which have come to his knowledge ; and this in itself
now, as I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-
attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and
the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library,
wonder that he and his family have some of the more impla-
cable spirits upon their track. You can understand that this
register and diary may implicate some of the first men in the
THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 121
South, and that there may be many who will not sleep easy at
night until it is recovered."
"Then the page we have seen —
" Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right,
'sent the pips to A, B, and C,' —that is, sent the society's
warning to them. Then there are successive entries that A
and B cleared, or left the country, and finally that C was vis-
" No, I shall commence with the city. Just ring the bell,
and the maid will bring up your coffee."
As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table
and glanced my eye over it.It rested upon a heading which
" Well."
" You have a clew ?"
" I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw
shall not long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put
their own devilish trade-mark upon them. It is well thought
of!"
" What do you mean ?"
isters and the files of the old papers, following the future ca-
reer of every vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January
and February in ^S^. There were thirty-six ships of fair ton-
nage which were reported there during those months. Of
these, one, the Zone Star^ instantly attracted my attention,
since, although it was reported as having cleared from Lon-
don, the name is which is given to one of the States of
that
the Union."
"Texas, I think."
"I was not and am not sure which ; but I knew that the
ship must have an American origin."
"What then?"
" I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the
bark Lone Star was there in January, '85, my suspicion became
a certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at
present in the port of London."
"Yes?"
" The Lone Star had arrived here last week. I went down
to the Albert Dock, and found that she had been taken down
the river by the early tide this morning, homeward bound to
Savannah. I wired to Gravesend, and learned that she had
passed some time ago and as the wind is easterly, I have no
;
doubt that she is now past the Goodwins, and not very far
from the Isle of Wight."
" What willyou do, then ?"
" Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates,
are, as I learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship.
The others are Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they
were all three away from the ship last night. I had it from
the stevedore who has been loading their cargo. By the time
that their sailing-ship reaches Savannah the mail-boat will
have carried this letter, and the cable will have informed the
THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 12$
ters " L. S. " carved upon it, and that is all which we shall
ever know of the fate of the Lone Star,
Bdventure IDf
tives. I can see him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping
lids, and pin-point pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck
and ruin of a noble man.
— —
One night it was in June, '89 there came a ring to my
bell, about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and
her needle-work down in her lap and made a little face of dis-
appointment.
" A patient !" "You'll have to go out."
said she.
I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day.
We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then
quick steps upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and
a lady, clad in some dark-colored stuff, with a black veil, en-
tered the room.
" You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then,
suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her
THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP 12/
help."
"Why," my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whit-
said
ney. How
you startled me, Kate I had not an idea who !
It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her
me as a doctor, to my wife as an old
husband's trouble, to
friendand school companion. We soothed and comforted
her by such words as we could find. Did she know where
her husband was ? Was it possible that we could bring him
back to her }
legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old man, with his
jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon his knees,
staring into the fire.
"Nearly eleven."
" Of what day ?"
for myself."
I walked down the narrow passage between the double row
of sleepers, holdingmy breath to keep out the vile, stupefying
fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I
passed the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden
130 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
pluck at my skirt, and a low voice whispered, " Walk past me,
and then look back at me." The words fell quite distinctly
upon my ear. I glanced down. They could only have come
from the old man at my side, and yet he sat now as absorbed
as ever, very thin, very wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe
dangling down from between his knees, as though it had
Whitney's bill, led him out to the cab, and seen him driven
through the darkness. In a very short time a decrepit figure
had emerged from the opium den, and I was walking down
the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two streets he shuffled
along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. Then, glancing
quickly round, he straightened himself out and burst into a
hearty fit of laughter.
" I suppose, Watson," said he, " that you imagine that I
have added opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the
other little weaknesses on which you have favored me with
your medical views."
" I was certainly surprised to find you there."
" But not more so than I to find you."
" I came to find a friend."
And I to find an enemy."
"
" An enemy ?"
and I fear that Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave
it more. But our trap should be here." He put his two fore-
fingers between his teeth and whistled shrilly —a signal which
was answered by a similar whistle from the distance, followed
shortly by the rattle of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs.
132 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
"
Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up
through the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow
light from its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't
you ?"
one."
"'The Cedars?'"
" Yes ; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there
while I conduct the inquiry."
" Where is it, then .?"
" Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before
us."
" But I am all in the dark."
"
Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently.
Jump up here. All right, John we ; shall not need you-
Here's half a crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about
eleven. Give her her head. So long, then !"
with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he is act-
should say to this dear little woman to-night when she meets
me at the door."
" You forget that I know nothing about it."
" I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case be-
fore we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, some-
how, I can get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread,
no doubt, but I end of it into my hand. Now,
can't get the
I'll and concisely to you, Watson, and
state the case clearly
maybe you can see a spark where all is dark to me."
" Proceed, then."
" —
Some years ago to be definite, in May, 1884 there came —
to Lee a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared
to have plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the
grounds very nicely, and lived generally in good style. By
degrees he made friends in the neighborhood, and in 1887 he
married the daughter of a local brewer, by whom he now has
two children. He had no occupation, but was interested in
several companies, and went into town as a rule in the morn-
ing, returning by the 5.14 from Cannon Street every night.
bring his little boy home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest
chance, his wife received a telegram upon this same Monday,
very shortly after his departure, to the effect that a small par-
cel of considerable value which she had been expecting was
waiting for her at the offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Com-
pany. Now, if you are well up in your London, you will
know that the offices of the company is in Fresno Street,
which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where you
found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for
the city, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's of-
and Mrs. St. Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope
of seeing a cab, as she did not like the neighborhood in
which she found herself. While she was walking in this way
down Swandam Lane, she suddenly heard an ejaculation or
cry, and was struck cold to see her husband looking down at
her, and, as it seemed to her, beckoning to her from a second-
floor window. The window was open, and she distinctly saw
his face, which she describes as being terribly agitated. He
waved his hands frantically to her, and then vanished from
the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that he had
been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind.
One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was
that, although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started
—
down the steps for the house was none other than the opium
den in which you found me to-night and, running through —
the front room, she attempted to ascend the stairs which led
to the first floor. At the foot of the stairs, however, she met
this Lascar scoundrel of whom I have spoken, who thrust her
back, and, aided by a Dane, who acts as assistant there.
"at the foot of the stairs she met this LASCAR SCOUNDREL'
THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP I35
pushed her out into the street. Filled with the most mad-
dening doubts and fears, she rushed down the lane, and, by
rare good-fortune, met, in Fresno Street, a number of consta-
bles with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The
inspector and two men accompanied her back, and, in spite of
the continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their
way to the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen.
There was no sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that
floor therewas no one to be found, save a crippled wretch of
hideous aspect, who, it seems, made his home there. Both he
and the Lascar stoutly swore that no one else had been in the
front room during the afternoon. So determined was their
denial that the inspector was staggered, and had almost come
to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had been deluded, when, with a
cry, she sprang at a small deal box which lay upon the table,
and tore the lid from it. Out there fell a cascade of chil-
dren's bricks. It was the toy which he had promised to
bring home.
"This discovery, and the evident confusion which the crip-
ple showed, made the inspector realize that the matter was
serious. The rooms were carefully examined, and results all
pointed to an abominable crime. The front room was plainly
furnished as a sitting-room, and led into a small bedroom,
which looked out upon the back of one of the wharves. Be-
tween the wharf and the bedroom window is a narrow strip,
which is dry at low tide, but is covered at high tide with at
least fourand a half feet of water. The bedroom window was
a broad one, and opened from below. On examination traces
of blood were to be seen upon the window-sill, and several
scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of the bed-
room. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were
all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of
his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch all —
were there. There were no signs of violence upon any of
these garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville
St. Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone,
136 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
ry, he was known to have been at the foot of the stair within
a very few seconds of her husband's appearance at the win-
dow, he could hardly have been more than an accessory to
the crime. His defense was one of absolute ignorance, and
he protested that he had no knowledge as to the doings of
Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he could not account in any
way for the presence of the missing gentleman's clothes.
"So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister
cripple who lives upon the second floor of the opium den,
and who was certainly the last human being whose eyes rested
upon Neville St. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his
hideous face is one which is familiar to every man who goes
much to the city. He is a professional beggar, though, in
order to avoid the police regulations, he pretends to a small
trade in wax vestas. Some little distance down Threadneedle
Street, upon the left-hand side, there is, as you may have re-
to the color of his hair, all mark him out from amid the com-
mon crowd of mendicants, and so, too, does his wit, for he is
pointed to his ring-finger, which had been cut near the nail,
and explained that the bleeding came from there, adding that
he had been to the window not long before, and that the stains
which had been observed there came doubtless from the same
source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. Neville
St. Clair,and swore that the presence of the clothes in his
room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to
Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her hus-
band at the window, he declared that she must have been either
138 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
what they had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat,
and not Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide re-
ceded. And what do you think they found in the pockets ?"
" I cannot imagine."
" No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed
with pennies and half- pennies —421 pennies and 270 half-
pennies. It was no wonder that
had not been swept away
it
likely enough that the weighted coat had remained when the
stripped body had been sucked away into the river."
" But I understand that all the other clothes were found in
"No bad?"
"No."
" Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary,
for you have had a long day."
" This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most
vital use to me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance
has made it possible for me to bring him out and associate
him with this investigation."
" I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand
warmly. " You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be
wanting in our arrangements, when you consider the blow
which has come so suddenly upon us."
" My dear madam," said, I " I am an old campaigner, and
had been laid out, " I should very much like to ask you one
THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP I4I
opinion."
" Upon what point .''"
" In your heart of hearts do you think that Neville is alive ?"
Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the ques-
tion. " Frankly, now !" she repeated, standing upon the rug
and looking keenly down at him as he leaned back in a
basket-chair.
**
Frankly, then, madam, I do not."
" You think that he is dead ?"
" I do."
" Murdered ?"
" Certainly."
out upon the table, he drew over the lamp, and examined it
scent. The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been
taken from him."
" No, no ; it is, it is, it is his very own writing !"
"No."
" And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane ?"
" Very much so."
" Was the window open ?"
" Yes."
" Then he might have called to you ?"
" He might."
" He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry ?"
" Yes."
" A
call for help, you thought ?"
" Yes. He waved his hands."
" But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment
144 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
" No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there,
and the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs."
"Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his
ordinary clothes on ?"
"But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare
throat."
" Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane ?"
" Never."
" Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium ?"
" Never."
" Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points
about which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now
have a little supper and then retire, for we may have a very
busy day to-morrow."
A and comfortable double-bedded room had been
large
placed at our disposal, and
I was quickly between the sheets,
in front of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sit-
ting there, an old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed
vacantly upon the corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curl-
ing up from him, silent, motionless, with the light shining upon
his strong-set aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off
to sleep, and so he sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me
to wake up, and I found the summer sun shining into the
apartment. The pipe was still between his lips, the smoke
still curled upward, and the room was full of a dense tobacco
his boots. " I think, Watson, that you are now standing in
out into the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our
horse and trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the
head. We both sprang in, and away we dashed down the
London Road. A few country carts were stirring, bearing in
"I called about that beggarman, Boone — the one who was
charged with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr.
Neville St. Clair, of Lee."
"Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further in-
quiries."
" So I heard. You have him here .?"
think, if you saw him, you would agree with me that he need-
ed it."
"The third on the right is his," said the inspector. " Here
it is !" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the
door and glanced through.
" He is asleep," said he. " You can see him very well."
We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay
with his face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slow-
ly and heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as
became his calling, with a colored shirt protruding through the
rent in his tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said,
extremely dirty, but the grime which covered his face could
not conceal its repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an
old scar ran right across it from eye to chin, and by its con-
traction had turned up one side of the upper lip, so that
three teeth were exposed in a perpetual snarl. A shock of
very bright red hair grew low over his eyes and forehead.
" He's a beauty, isn't he ?" said the inspector.
" He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. " I had
an idea that he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the
tools with me." He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke,
and took out, to my astonishment, a very large bath-sponge.
148 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
spector.
"Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that
door very quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more re-
spectable figure."
"Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He
doesn't look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he ?" He
slipped his key into the lock, and we very all quietly entered
the cell. The sleeper half turned, and then settled down once
more into a deep slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug,
moistened his sponge, and then rubbed it twice vigorously
across and down the prisoner's face.
" Let me introduce you," he shouted, " to Mr. Neville St.
which had seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had
given the repulsive sneer to the face A twitch brought away !
the tangled red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a
pale, sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-
skinned, rubbing his eyes, and staring about him with sleepy
bewilderment. Then suddenly realizing the exposure, he broke
into a scream, and threw himself down with his face to the
pillow.
" Great heavens !" cried the inspector, " it is, indeed, the
missing man. I know him from the photograph."
The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who
abandons himself to his destiny. " Be it so," said he. " And
detained."
" No crime, but a very great error has been committed,"
said Holmes. " You would have done better to have trusted
your wife."
" It was not the wife, it was the children," groaned the pris-
oner. " God help me, I would not have them ashamed of
their father. My God ! What an exposure What can I !
do?"
Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and
patted him kindly on the shoulder.
" If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up,"
said he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the
other hand, if you convince the police authorities that there is
dren."
"You are the first who have ever heard my story. My
father was a school-master in Chesterfield, where I received
an excellent education. I travelled in my youth, took to the
stage, and finally became a reporter on an evening paper in
London. One day my editor wished to have a series of arti-
cles upon begging in the metropolis, and I volunteered to
supply them. There was the point from which all my advent-
ures started. It was only by trying begging as an amateur
that I could get the facts upon which to base my articles.
When an actor I had, of course, learned all the secrets of
making up,and had been famous in the greenroom for my
skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted
good scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of
a small slip of flesh-colored plaster. Then with a red head of
hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the busi-
est part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller, but really as
a beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I re-
ver, poured in upon me, and it was a very bad day in which I
to some sailor customer of his, who forgot all about it for some
days."
"That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; " I have
no doubt of it. But have you never been prosecuted for
begging ?"
" Many
times but what was a fine to me ?"
;
" It
must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. " If the
police are to hush this thing up, there must be no more of
Hugh Boone."
" I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man
can take."
" In that case I think that it is probable that no further
steps may be taken. But you are found again, then all must
if
come out. I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much in-
debted to you for having cleared the matter up. I wish I
happen when you have four million human beings all jostling
each other within the space of a few square miles. Amid the
action and reaction of so dense a swarm of humanity, every
possible combination of events may be expected to take place,
and many a little problem will be presented which may be
striking and bizarre without being criminal. We have al-
ready had experience of such."
" So much so," I remarked, " that of the last six cases
Well, I have no doubt that this small matter will fall into the
same innocent category. You know Peterson, the commis-
sionaire ?"
" Yes."
" It is to him that this trophy belongs."
" It is his hat."
" No, no ; he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that
you will look upon it, not as a battered billycock, but as an
intellectual problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It
arrived upon Christmas morning, in company with a good fat
goose, which is, I have no doubt, roasting at this moment in
front of Peterson's fire. The facts are these : about four
o'clock on Christmas morning, Peterson, who, as you know,
is a very honest fellow, was returning from some small jolli-
fication, and was making his way homeward down Totten-
ham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in the gaslight, a
tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and carrying a white
ing it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him.
Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 1 55
was tied to the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the in-
itials H. B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat but as
'
;
round shape, hard, and much the worse for wear. The lining
had been of red silk, but was a good deal discolored. There
was no maker's name but, as Holmes had remarked, the
;
initals " H. B." were scrawled upon one side. It was pierced
in the brim for a hat -securer, but the
elastic was missing.
For the was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted
rest, it
yet there are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a
few others which represent at least a strong balance of proba-
bility. That the man was highly intellectual is of course
obvious upon the face of it, and also that he was fairly well-
to-do within the last three years, although he has now fallen
upon evil days. He had foresight, but has less now than for-
merly, pointing to a moral retrogression, which, when taken
with the decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil
influence, probably drink, at work upon him. This may ac-
count also for the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love
him."
!"
" My dear Holmes
"He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect,"
he continued, disregarding my remonstrance. " He is a man
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 1 57
came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of
with ink, which is a sign that he has not entirely lost his self-
respect."
" Your reasoning is certainly plausible."
"The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is
grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses lime-
cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the
lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number
of hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They«
all appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odor of lime-
cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, gray
dust of the street, but the fluffy brown dust of the house,
showing that it has been hung up in-doors most of the time
while the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof posi-
tive that the wearer perspired very freely, and could, there-
fore, hardly be in the best of training."
*'
But his wife — you said that she had ceased to love
him."
" This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see
you, my dear Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust
upon your hat, and when your wife allows you to go out in
such a state, I shall fear that you also have been unfortunate
enough to lose your wife's affection."
" But he might be a bachelor."
" Nay, hewas bringing home the goose as a peace-offering
to his wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg."
" You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do
you deduce that the gas is not laid on in his house ?"
" One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance
but when I see no less than five, I think that there can be
little doubt that the individual must be brought into frequent
" '
Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26,
plumber, was brought up upon the charge of having upon the
22d inst. abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of
Morcar the valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James
Ryder, upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the
effect that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of
the Countess of Morcar upon the day of the robbery, in order
that he might solder the second bar of the grate, which was
loose. He had remained with Horner some little time, but
had finally been called away. On returning, he found that
Horner had disappeared, that the bureau had been forced
open, and that the small morocco casket in which, as it after-
wards transpired, the countess was accustomed to keep her
jewel, was lying empty upon the dressing - table. Ryder in-
stantly gave the alarm, and Horner was arrested the same
evening; but the stone could not be found either upon his
person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to the
countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on
discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room,
where she found matters as described by the last witness.
Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the ar-
goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry Baker, the gentle-
man with the bad hat and all the other characteristics with
which I have bored you. So now we must set ourselves very
seriously to finding this gentleman, and ascertaining what part
he has played in this little mystery. To do this, we must try
the simplest means first, and these lie undoubtedly in an ad-
vertisement in all the evening papers. If this fail, I shall have
recourse to other methods."
" What will you say ?"
" Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then
*
Found at the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt
hat. Mr. Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6.30
this evening at 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise."
" Very. But will he see it ?"
run down to the advertising agency, and have this put in the
evening papers."
" In which, sir ?"
" Oh, in the Globe^ Star, Fall Mall, St. James's, Evening
said he. " Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it
is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They
are the devil's pet baits. In the larger and older jewels every
facet may stand bloody deed. This stone is not yet
for a
twenty years old. was found in the banks of the Amoy
It
" Nothing."
" In that case I shall continue my professional round. But
I shall come back in the evening at the hour you have men-
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 163
chair, and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality
which he could so readily assume. " Pray take this chair by
the fire, Mr. Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that
saulted me had carried off both my hat and the bird. I did
excitement.
" Yes, would have been of no use to any one had we not
it
done so. I presume that this other goose upon the side-
But
board, which is about the same weight and perfectly fresh,
will answer your purpose equally well ?"
" Oh, certainly, certainly ;" answered Mr. Baker, with a sigh
of relief.
''
Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on
of your own bird, so if you wish —
The man burst into a hearty laugh. " They might be use-
ful to me as relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond
that I can hardly see what use the disjecta membra of my late
" Yes. was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry
I
" Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Gar-
den."
" Indeed .? I know some of them. Which was it ?"
" Breckinridge is his name."
l66 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and quick
!"
march
We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so
through a zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One
of the largest stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it,
"Who by.?"
" The landlord of the '
Alpha.'
" Oh, yes ; I sent him a couple of dozen."
" Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them
from?"
To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger
from the salesman.
" Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 167
now."
straight,
" It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold
"
you the geese which you supplied to the '
Alpha.'
" Well, then, I sha'n't tell you. So now !"
the geese ?' and 'Who did you sell the geese to ?' and What will '
you take for the geese ?' One would think they were the only
geese in the world, to hear the fuss that is made over them."
"Well, I have no connection with any other people who
have been making inquiries," said Holmes, carelessly. " If
But I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to
be obstinate."
The salesman chuckled grimly. " Bring me the books.
Bill," said he.
" Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, " I thought
that was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that
I
there one left in my shop. You see this little book .^"
is still
"Well?"
" That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see ?
Well, then, here on this page are the country folk, and the
numbers after their names are where their accounts are in the
big ledger. Now, then You see this other page in red ink ?
!
said that there are others besides ourselves who are anxious
about the matter, and I should
—
His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub
stall which we had just left.
which broke out from the Turn-
ing round we saw a little rat-faced fellow standing in the cen-
tre of the circle of yellow light which was thrown by the
swinging lamp, while Breckinridge the salesman, framed in
the door of his stall, was shaking his fists fiercely at the
cringing figure.
" I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. " I
wish you were all at the devil together. If you come pester-
ing me any more with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you.
You bring Mrs. Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what
have you to do with it ? Did I buy the geese off you ?"
" No but one of them was mine all the same," whined the
;
little man.
Pray step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you
everything which you would wish to know."
The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us
with half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure
whether he on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe.
is
room. " The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 171
look cold, Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just
put on my slippers before we settle this little matter of yours.
Now, then ! You want to know what became of those
geese i*"
"Yes, sir."
" Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I im-
Ryder quivered with emotion. " Oh, sir, he cried," can you
tell me where it went to ?"
" It
came here."
"Here?"
"Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't won-
der that you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after
it —
was dead the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever
was seen. I have it here in my museum."
Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantel-
piece with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box,
and held up the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star,
with a cold, brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood
glaring with a drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to
disown it.
" Get back into your chair !" said Holmes, sternly. " It is
very well to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little
upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went into the
back yard and smoked a pipe, and wondered what it would
be best to do.
"I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad^
and has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day
he had met me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves,
and how they could get rid of what they stole. I knew that
he would be true to me, for I knew one or two things about
him so I made up my mind to go right on to Kilburn, where
;
its crop. But the creature flapped and struggled, and out
came my know what was the matter. As I turned
sister to
to speak to her the brute broke loose and fluttered off among
the others.
"
Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem ?' says she.
'
you, I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.'
" The other is a good three
*
pound heavier,' said she, and '
" '
Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. '
Which is
bird all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done,
for he was a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to.
He laughed until he choked, and we got a knife and opened
the goose. My heart turned to water, for there was no sign
of the stone, and I knew that some terrible mistake had oc-
curred. I left the bird, rushed back to my sister's, and hurried
into the back yard. There was not a bird to be seen there.
" Where are they all, Maggie
' ?' I cried.
"'Which dealer^s?'
" '
Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.'
" '
But was there another with a barred tail V I asked, '
the
same as the one I chose ?'
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE 175
" '
Yes, Jem ; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could
never tell them apart.'
" Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as
my feet would carry me but he had
to this man Breckinridge ;
er for the love of his art than for the acquirement of wealth,
he refused to associate himself with any investigation which
did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic.
Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which
presented more singular features than that which was associ-
ated with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of
Stoke Moran. The events in question occurred in the early
and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that
you are shivering."
"It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman,
in a low voice, changing her seat as requested.
"What, then?"
"It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her
veil as she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a
178 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and gray, with
restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal.
Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but
her hair was shot with premature gray, and her expression
was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with
one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.
" You must not fear," said he, soothingly, bending forward
and patting her forearm. " We shall soon set matters right,
said she. " I started from home before six, reached Leather-
trol of my own income, and then at least you shall not find
me ungrateful."
Holmes turned to his desk, and unlocking it, drew out a
small case-book, which he consulted.
" Farintosh," said he. " Ah yes, I recall the case it was ;
save a few acres of ground, and the two -hundred -year -old
house, which is itself crushed under a heavy mortgage. The
last squire dragged out his existence there, living the horrible
life of an aristocratic pauper but his only son, my step-father,
;
into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money
which I could gather together that I was able to avert another
public exposure. He had no friends at all save the wander-
ing gypsies, and he would give these vagabonds leave to en-
camp upon the few acres of bramble -covered land which
represent the family estate, and would accept in return the
hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them some-
times for weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian
animals, which are sent over to him by a correspondent, and
he has at this moment a cheetah and a^baboon, which wander
freely over his grounds, and are feared by the villagers almost
as much as their master.
"You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister
" ' I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself,
in your sleep ?'
" '
Certainly not. But why ?'
" *
Because during the last few nights I have always, about
three in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light
sleeper, and it where it came
has awakened me. I cannot tell
—
from perhaps from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I
thought that I would just ask you whether you had heard it.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 183
" *
No, I have not. It must be those wretched gypsies in
the plantation.'
"
Very Hkely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder
'
something else which she would fain have said, and she
stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the
the crash of the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may
possibly have been deceived."
" Was your sister dressed ?"
" No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was
found the charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-
box."
"Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her
when the alarm took place. That is important. And what
conclusions did the coroner come to ?"
" He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's
conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was
unable to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence
showed that the door had been fastened upon the inner side,
and the windows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with
broad iron bars, which were secured every night. The walls
were carefully sounded, and were shown to be quite solid all
quite alone when she met her end. Besides, there were no
marks of any violence upon her."
" How about poison ?"
" The doctors examined her for it, but without success."
"What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of,
?'*
then
"It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous
shock, though what it was that frightened her I cannot imag-
ine."
" Were there gypsies in the plantation at the time ?"
" Yes, there are nearly always some there."
" Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band
— a speckled band .''"
" Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk
of delirum, sometimes that it may have referred to some band
of people, perhaps to these very gypsies in the plantation. I
"Yes, all."
" Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your step-
father."
" Why, what do you mean ?"
"By no means."
"Then we shall both come. What are you going to do
yourself?"
" I have one or two things which I would wish to do now
that I am in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock
train, so as to be there in time for your coming."
" And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have
myself some small business matters to attend to. Will you
not wait and breakfast ?"
" No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I
"It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes.
" What has she been saying to you ?" screamed the old man,
furiously.
" But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," contin-
have shown him that my grip was not much more feeble than
his own." As he spoke he picked up the steel poker, and
with a sudden effort straightened it out again.
" Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the
official detective force ! This incident gives zest to our inves-
tigation, however, and I only trust that our little friend will
not suffer from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace
her. And now, Watson, we shall order breakfast, and after-
wards I shall walk down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope
to get some data which may help us in this matter."
have had a mere pittance, while even one of them would crip-
ple him to a very serious extent. My morning's work has not
been wasted, since it has proved that he has the very strongest
motives for standing in the way of anything of the sort. And
now, Watson, this is too serious for dawdling, especially as
the old man is aware that we are interesting ourselves in his
affairs ; so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to
Waterloo. I should be very much obliged if you would slip
" Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," re-
way to Leatherhead.
" I thought it as well," said Holmes, as we climbed the
stile, " that this fellow should think we had come here as
architects, or on some definite business. It may stop his
gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have
been as good as our word."
Our morning had hurried forward to meet us
client of the
with a face which spoke her joy. " I have been waiting so
" He must guard himself, for he may find that there is some
one more cunning than himself upon his track. You must
lock yourself up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall
192 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
through."
" As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were
Holmes,
"Yes, there were several Httle changes carried out about
that time."
" They seem been of a most interesting character
to have
dummy and ventilators which do not ventilate.
bell-ropes,
With your permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our
researches into the inner apartment."
Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his
step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a
small wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical charac-
ter, an arm-chair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against
the wall, a round table, and a large iron safe were the princi-
pal things which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round
and examined each and all of them with the keenest interest.
" What's in here ?" he asked, tapping the safe.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 195
of papers."
" There isn't a cat in it, for example ?"
!"
" No. What a strange idea
" Well, look at this !" He took up a small saucer of milk
which stood on the top of it.
Stoner, and with your permission we shall walk out upon the
lawn."
I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so
dark as it was when we turned from the scene of this investi-
" Very good. Your windows would be visible from there .?"
" Certainly."
" You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a
headache, when your step-father comes back. Then when you
hear him retire for the night, you must open the shutters of
ydur window, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal
to us, and then withdraw quietly with everything which you
are likely to want into the room which you used to occupy.
I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could man-
age there for one night."
" Oh yes, easily."
" The rest you will leave in our hands."
"But what will you do?"
" We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall in-
leave you, for if Dr. Roylott returned and saw us, our journey
would be in vain. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do
what I have told you, you may rest assured that we shall soon
drive away the dangers that threaten you.
Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bed-
room and sitting-room at the " Crown Inn." They were on
the upper floor, and from our window we could command a
view of the avenue gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke
Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby Roy-
lott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little fig-
ure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some slight
difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the
hoarse roar of the doctor's voice, and saw the fury with which
he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a
few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the
trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.
" Do you know, Watson," said Holmes, as we sat together
*'
I cannot as yet see any connection."
"Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed ?"
"No."
"It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed
fastened like that before ?"
over ; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet pipe, and turn
our minds for a few hours to something more cheerful."
About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extin-
guished, and all was dark in the direction of the Manor
House. Two hours passed slowly away, and then, suddenly.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND I99
writhing limbs, and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the
darkness.
" My God !" I whispered ;
" did you see it ?"
Have your pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit
one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for
for whatever might befall.
Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in
the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately,
but was succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heat-
once more, though the smell grew stronger. For half an hour
I sat with straining ears. Then suddenly another sound be-
came audible —a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a
small jet of steam escaping continually from a kettle. The
instant that we heard it, Holmes sprang from the bed, struck
a match, and lashed furiously with his cane at the bell-pull.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 20I
the light I heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare
flashing into my weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell
what it was at which my friend lashed so savagely. I could,
however, see that his face was deadly pale, and filled with
horror and loathing.
He had ceased to strike, and was gazing up at the venti-
lator, when suddenly there broke from the silence of the night
move Miss Stoner to some place of shelter, and let the county
police know what has happened."
As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead
man's lap, and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck, he
drew it from its horrid perch, and carrying it at arm's length,
Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roy-
lott,of Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should pro-
tacked it."
" With the result of driving it through the ventilator."
"And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its
umn of print than when the facts slowly evolve before your
own eyes, and the mystery clears gradually away as each new
discovery furnishes a step which leads on to the complete
truth. At the time the circumstances made a deep impres-
sion upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly served
to weaken the effect.
It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage,
ties, just the same as you." And off he went, this trusty
tout, without even giving me time to thank him.
I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seat-
ed by the table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather
tweed, with a soft cloth cap, which he had laid down upon
my books. Round one of his hands he had a handkerchief
wrapped, which was mottled all over with blood-stains. He
was young, not more than five-and-twenty, I should say, with
a strong, masculine face but he was exceedingly pale, and
;
" By no means." ^
I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally cov-
go through."
" Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evi-
" and I should be very glad if he would take the matter up,
though of course I must use the official police as well. Would
you give me an introduction to him ?"
" I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself."
" I should be immensely obliged to you."
" We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time
to have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it ?"
" Yes ; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story."
" Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you
in an instant." I rushed up-stairs, explained the matter short-
ly to my wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driv-
ing with my new acquaintance to Baker Street.
Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his
sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column
of The Times, and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which
was composed of all the plugs and dottels left from his smokes
of the day before, all carefully dried and collected on the cor-
mon one, Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there
and make yourself absolutely at home. Tell us what you can,
but stop when you are tired, and keep up your strength with
a little stimulant."
"Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another
man since the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your
breakfast has completed the cure. I shall take up as little of
your valuable time as possible, so I shall start at once upon
my peculiar experiences."
Holmes sat in his big arm-chair with the weary, heavy-lid-
ded expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while
I sat opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange
" You must know," said he, " that I am an orphan and a
bachelor, residing alone in lodgings in London, By profes-
sion I am an hydraulic engineer, and have had considerable
I
upon it. Close at his heels came the colonel himself, a man
rather over the middle size, but of an exceeding thinness. I
do not think that I have ever seen so thin a man. His whole
face sharpened away into nose and chin, and the skin of his
cheeks was drawn quite tense over his outstanding bones. Yet
this emaciation seemed to be his natural habit, and due to no
was bright, his step brisk, and his bearing
disease, for his eye
assured. He was plainly but neatly dressed, and his age, I
should judge, would be nearer forty than thirty.
" '
Mr. Hatherley ?' said he, with something of a German
accent. 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley,
as being a man who is not only proficient in his profession,
but is also discreetand capable of preserving a secret.'
" I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at
THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEERS THUMB 211
" '
it is better that I should not tell you that
Well, perhaps
moment. I have it from the same source that
just at this
you are both an orphan and a bachelor, and are residing
alone in London.'
" 'That is quite correct,' I answered, 'but you will excuse
me if I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my pro-
fessional qualifications. I understood that it was on a profes-
sional matter that you wished to speak to me ?'
" Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really
'
" '
How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you ?'
he asked.
" '
Most admirably.'
" *
I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the
mark. I simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamp-
ing machine which has got out of gear. If you show us what
is wrong we shall soon set it right ourselves. What do you
think of such a commission as that V
" '
The work appears to be and the pay munificent.'
light
" *
Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by
the last train.'
'' *
Where to ?'
" '
To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the
borders of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading.
There is a train from Paddington which would bring you
there at about 11.15.
" Very good.'
'
" *
Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a
good seven miles from Eyford Station.'
" Then we can hardly get there before midnight.
*
I sup-
" '
Entirely ?'
" *
Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware
that fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only
found in one or two places in England ?'
" '
I have heard so.'
" '
Some little time ago I bought a small place —a very small
place —within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough
to discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of
my fields. On examining it, however, I found that this de-
posit was a comparatively small one, and that it formed a link
between two very much larger ones upon the right and left
both of them, however, in the grounds of my neighbors. These
good people were absolutely ignorant that their land contained
that which was quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally,
it was to my interest to buy their land before they discovered
and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell any one of my er-
was the only passenger who got out there, and there was no
one upon the platform save a single sleepy porter with a lan-
tern. As I passed out through the wicket gate, however, I
but I should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and
from the time that we took, that it must have been nearer
twelve. He sat at my side in silence all the time, and I was
aware, more than once when I glanced in his direction, that
he was looking at me with great intensity. The country roads
seem to be not very good in that part of the world, for we
lurched and jolted terribly. I tried to look out of the win-
ignorance o-f German I could see that two of them were treat-
ises on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I
walked across to the window, hoping that I might catch some
glimpse of the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred,
was folded across it. It was a wonderfully silent house.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB 217
*
get away from here before it is too late !'
shut just now. I fear that you have felt the draught.'
" On the contrary,' said I, I opened the door myself, be-
' *
" '
Oh no, it is in the house.'
" What, you dig
* fuller's-earth in the house ?'
ble, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the lady, even
though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon my
right.'
" I took the
lamp from him, and I examined the machine
very thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable
of exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside,
however, and pressed down the levers which controlled it, I
knew at once by the whishing sound that there was a slight
leakage, which allowed a regurgitation of water through one
of the side cylinders. An examination showed that one of
the india-rubber bands which was round the head of a driving-
rod had shrunk so as not quite to fill the socket along which
it worked. This was clearly the cause of the loss of power,
and I pointed it out to my companions, who followed my
220 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
pulled at the handle, but it was quite secure, and did not give
in the least to my kicks and shoves. '
Hello !' I yelled.
*
Hello ! Colonel ! Let me out
!'
and the swish of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine
at work. The lamp still stood upon the floor where I had
placed it when examining the trough. By its light I saw that
the black ceiling was coming down upon me, slowly, jerkily,
but, as none knew better than myself, with a force which must
within a minute grind me to a shapeless pulp. I threw my-
THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER S THUMB 221
feet and the shouting of two voices, one answering the other,
from the floor on which we were and from the one beneath.
My guide stopped and looked about her like one who is at
her wits' end. Then she threw open a door which led into a
bedroom, through the window of which the moon was shining
brightly.
" '
It is your only chance,' said she. '
It is high, but it may
be that you can jump it'
"As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end
of the passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander
Stark rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a
weapon like a butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across
the bedroom, flung open the window, and looked out. How
quiet and sweet and wholesome the garden looked in the
moonlight, and it could not be more than thirty feet down. I
clambered out upon the sill, but I hesitated to jump until I
" '
You are mad, Elise !'
he shouted, struggling to break
away from her. You will be
'
the ruin of us. He has seen
too much. Let me pass, I say !'
He dashed her to one side,
night. Were it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all
that had passed during those dreadful hours might have been
an evil dream.
" Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the
morning train. There would be one to Reading in less than
an hour. The same porter was on duty, I found, as had been
there when I arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever
heard of Colonel Lysander Stark. The name was strange to
him. Had he observed a carriage the night before waiting
for me ? No, he had not. Was there a police-station any-
where near } There was one about three miles off.
" It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I de-
termined to wait until I got back to town before telling my
story to the police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so
I went first to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor
was kind enough to bring me along here. I put the case into
your hands, and shall do exactly what you advise."
224 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
have spared you when they found you lying fainting in the
garden. Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's
entreaties."
*'
I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable
face in my life."
" Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet.
"Well, I have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at
what point upon it the folk that we are in search of are to be
found."
" I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes, quietly.
" Really, now !" cried the inspector, " you have formed your
opinion ! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I
there, and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage
go up any."
"Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty
diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us.
Who do you give your casting vote to ?"
" I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got
worse, and the whole place is in a blaze."
" Whose house is it
.-'"
now."
And Holmes's fears came to be realized, for from that day
to this no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful
woman, the sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Ear-
ly that morning a peasant had met a cart containing several
people and some very bulky boxes driving rapidly in the di-
rection of Reading, but there all traces of the fugitives disap-
peared, and even Holmes's ingenuity failed ever to discover
ithe least clew as to their whereabouts.
The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange ar-
all day, for the weather had taken a sudden turn to rain, with
high autumnal winds, and the jezail bullet which I had brought
back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan campaign,
throbbed with dull persistency. With my body in one easy-
chair and my legs upon another, I had surrounded myself
with a cloud of newspapers, until at last, saturated with the
news of the day, I tossedthem all aside and lay listless,
watching the huge crest and monogram upon the envelope
upon the table, and wondering lazily who my friend's noble
pen, and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear
of ink upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked
Holmes, as he folded up the epistle.
" He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here
in an hour."
"Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear
upon the subject. Turn over those papers, and arrange the
extracts in their order of time, while I take a glance as to
who our client is." He picked a red-covered volume from
a line of books of reference beside the mantel-piece. " Here
knew that you had an inquiry on hand, and that you disliked
the intrusion of other matters."
" Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square
232 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
'
and will, if rumor is correct, very shortly take place, between
Lord Robert St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral,
and Miss Hatty Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran,
Esq., of San Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all."
"Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching
his long, thin legs towards the fire.
"
There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the so-
ciety papers of the same week. Ah, here it is. There will '
pelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, and as
Lord St. Simon has no property of his own, save the small
prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler and the
footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house
before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to break-
fast with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposi-
tion, and retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having
caused some comment, her father followed her, but learned
from her maid that she had only come up to her chamber
for an instant, caught up an ulster and bonnet, and hurried
down to the passage. One of the footmen declared that he
had seen a lady leave the house thus apparelled, but had
refused to credit that it was his mistress, believing her to
be with the company. On ascertaining that his daughter
had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with the
bridegroom, instantly put themselves into communication
with the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made,
which will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very
singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however,
nothing had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing
lady. There are rumors of foul play in the matter, and it is
said that the police have caused the arrest of the woman who
had caused the original disturbance, in the belief that, from
THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 235
golden eye-glasses.
" Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bow-
ing. "Pray take the basket- chair. This is my friend and
236 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
as it goes."
" But it needs a great deal of supplementing before any one
could offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my
facts most directly by questioning you."
" Pray do so."
" When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran ?"
" I was amused by her society, and she could see that I
was amused."
" Her father is very rich ?"
" He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope."
" And how did he make his money ?"
down into the fire. " You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, " my
wife was twenty before her father became a rich man. Dur-
ing that time she ran free in a mining camp, and wandered
through woods or mountains, so that her education has
come from Nature rather than from the school-master. She
is what we call in England a tomboy, with a strong nature,
" Yes, her father brought her over for this last London sea-
238 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
a fait accompli f
" I really havemade no inquiries on the subject."
"
Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day
before the wedding T
"Yes."
" Was she in good spirits V
" Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in
our future lives."
" Indeed That! is very interesting. And on the morning
of the wedding ?"
"She was as bright as possible — at least, until after the
ceremony."
" And did you observe any change in her then ?"
" Well, to
tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I
had ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The
incident, however, was too trivial to relate, and can have no
possible bearing upon the case."
" Pray let us have it, for all that."
" Oh, it is She dropped her bouquet as we went
childish.
towards the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the
time, and it fell over into the pew. There was a moment's
delay, but the gentleman in the pew handed it up to her
again, and it did not appear to be the worse for the fall.
Yet, when I spoke to her of the matter, she answered me
abruptly and in the carriage, on our way home, she seemed
;
did your wife do when she finished speaking to her maid ?"
" She walked into the breakfast-room."
" On your arm ?"
what women are, Mr. Holmes. Flora was a dear little thing,
but exceedingly hot-headed, and devotedly attached to me.
She wrote me dreadful letters when she heard that I was
about to be married ; and, to tell the truth, the reason why I
had the marriage celebrated so was that I feared lest
quietly
there might be a scandal in the church. She came to Mr.
Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavored to
push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards
my wife, and even threatening her but I had foreseen the ,
wards .?"
*'
You think so, too ?"
" I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself
look upon this as likely ?"
made up."
" Oh, indeed ! Then you think that the Serpentine plays
no part in the matter V
" I think it very unlikely."
" Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we
found this in it ?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tum-
bled onto the floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of
white satin shoes, and a bride's wreath and veil, all discolored
and soaked in water. " There," said he, putting a new wed-
ding-ring upon the top of the pile. " There is a little nut for
ness. " I am
Holmes, that you are not very practical
afraid.
this :
'
You will see me when all is ready. Come at once.
244 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
F. H. M.' Now my theory all along has been that Lady St.
Simon was decoyed away by Flora Millar, and that she, with
confederates, no doubt, was responsible for her disappearance.
Here, signed with her initials, is the very note which was no
doubt quietly slipped into her hand at the door, and which
lured her within their reach."
"Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You
really are very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the
paper in a listless way, but his attention instantly became
riveted, and he gave a little cry of satisfaction. " This is in-
to me, tapped his forehead three times, shook his head sol-
was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but
It
said he. "I am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not al-
ready arrived. Ha I fancy that I hear his step now upon
!
the stairs."
It was indeed our visitor of the morning who came bustling
in,dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a
very perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features.
" My messenger reached you, then ?" asked Holmes.
" Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond
measure. Have you good authority for what you say ?"
"The best possible."
246 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over
his forehead.
"What will the duke say," he murmured, "when he hears
that one of the family has been subjected to such humilia-
tion ?"
" It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any
humiliation."
"Ah, you look on these things from another stand-point."
" I fail to see that any one is to blame. I can hardly see
how the lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt
method of doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having
no mother, she had no one to advise her at such a crisis."
" It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon,
tapping his fingers upon the table.
" You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so
unprecedented a position."
" I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I
mon," said he, " allow me to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs.
Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I think, you have already
met."
At the s'lgh^ of these new-comers our client had sprung
from his seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down
and his hand thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture
of offended dignity. The lady had taken a quick step for-
ward and had held out her hand to him, but he still refused to
raise his eyes. It was as well for his resolution, perhaps, for
" Oh yes, I know that I have treated you real bad, and that
I should have spoken to you before I went but I was kind of
;
rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I
just didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder
I didn't fall down and do a faint right there before the
altar."
" Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me
to leave the room while you explain this matter ?"
" If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentle-
man, "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this busi-
ness already. For my part, I should like all Europe and
America to hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry,
sunburnt man, clean shaven, with a sharp face and alert
manner.
" Then our story right away," said the lady. " Frank
I'll tell
pocket and made a pile, while poor Frank here had a claim
that petered out and came to nothing. The richer pa grew,
the poorer was Frank j so at last pa wouldn't hear of our en-
gagement lasting any longer, and he took me away to 'Frisco.
Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though so he followed ;
married right away, then,' said he, and then I will feel sure '
what was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to tell
I
" When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in
the name and the church, but not where the lady lived."
" Then we had we should do, and Frank
a talk as to what
was all for was so ashamed of it all that I felt
openness, but I
—
again just sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I
was alive. It was awful to me to think of all those lords and
ladies sitting round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to
come back. So Frank took my wedding-clothes and things
and made a bundle of them, so that I should not be traced,
and dropped them away somewhere where no one could find
them. It is likely that we should have gone on to Paris to-
morrow, only that this good gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came
round to us this evening, though how he found us is more
than I can think, and he showed us very clearly and kindly
2SO ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and that we
should be putting ourselvesin the wrong if we were so secret.
" It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held in-
252 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
towards us.
*'
No doubt you think me mad .''"
said he.
"I see that you have had some great trouble," responded
Holmes.
" God knows I have —
a trouble which is enough to unseat
!
is not I alone. The very noblest in the land may suffer, unless
some way be found out of this horrible affair."
"Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me
have a clear account of who you are, and what it is that has
befallen you."
" My name," answered our visitor, " is probably familiar to
your ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of
"I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened
here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure
your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Under-
ground, and hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly
through this snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for
I am a man who takes very little exercise. I feel better now,
and I will put the facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly
as I can.
" It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful
a disagreeable task.
" *
Mr. Holder,' said he, '
I have been informed that you are
in the habit of advancing money.'
" 'The firm do so when the security is good,' I answered.
" *
It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, '
that I should
have ;£'5 0,000 at once. I could of course borrow so trifling a
sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make
it a matter of business, and to carry out that business myself.
In my position you can readily understand that it is unwise to
place one's self under obligations.'
" For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum ?' I asked.
'
" Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall
'
square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair.
'
You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet ?'
" One of the most precious public possessions
' of the em-
pire,' said I.
" ' Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded
in soft, flesh-colored velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jew-
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 257
"
' Ample.'
" am
' You understand, Mr. Holder, that I giving you a
strong proof of the confidence which I have in you, founded
upon all that I have heard of you. I rely upon you not
only to be discreet and to refrain from all gossip upon the
matter, but, above all, to preserve this coronet with every
possible precaution, because I need not say that a great
public scandal would be caused if any harm were to befall it.
Any injury to it would be almost as serious as its complete
loss, for there are no beryls in the world to match these, and
it would be impossible to replace them. I leave it with you,
however, with every confidence, and I shall call for it in person
on Monday morning.'
" Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no
more ; but, calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over
fifty ;£"iooo notes. When I was alone once more, however,
with the precious case lying upon the table in front of me,
I could not but think with some misgivings of the immense
responsibility which it entailed upon me. There could be
no doubt that, as it was a national possession, a horrible
scandal would ensue if any misfortune should occur to it. I
without her. In only one matter has she ever gone against
my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for
he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I
think that if any one could have drawn him into the right path
26o ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
it would have been she, and that his marriage might have
changed his whole life ; but now, alas ! it is too late —for ever
too late
" Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under
my roof, and I shall continue with my miserable story.
"When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that
night, after dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience,
and of the precious treasure which we had under our roof,
suppressing only the name of my client. Lucy Parr, who had
brought in the coffee, had, I am sure, left the room but I ;
cannot swear that the door was closed. Mary and Arthur
were much interested, and wished to see the famous coronet,
but I thought it better not to disturb it.
"' Where have you put it ?' asked Arthur.
" *
In my own bureau.'
" *
Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled
during the night,' said he.
" '
It is locked up,' I answered.
Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a
" *
" '
Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonored
man,' said he. '
I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise
the money in some way, and if you will not let me have it,
" I was very angry, for this was the third demand during
the month. *
You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried ;
turbed, did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out to-night
* ?'
" *
Certainly not.'
" She came now by the back door.
' in just I have no
doubt that she has only been to the side gate to see some one
but I think that it is hardly safe, and should be stopped."
"
' You must speak to her in the morning, or I will, if you
prefer it. Are you sure that everything is fastened V
"*
Quite sure, dad.'
" Then, good-night.'
' I kissed her, and went up to my bed-
room again, where I was soon asleep.
" I am endeavoring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes,
which may have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you
will question me upon any point which I do not make clear."
" On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid."
" I come my story now in which I should wish
to a part of
to be particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the
" '
Arthur !' I screamed, '
you villain ! you thief ! How
dare you touch that coronet ?'
*'
The gas was half up, as Ihad left it, and my unhappy
boy, dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing be-
side the light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared
to be wrenching at it, or bending it with At all his strength.
my cry he dropped it from and turned as pale as
his grasp,
death. I snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold
corners, with three of the beryls in it, was missing.
" You
'blackguard !' I shouted, beside myself with rage.
*
You have destroyed it ! You have dishonored me for ever !
" *
Stolen !' he cried.
" '
Yes, you thief !' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder.
" '
There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,'
said he.
" '
There are three missing. And you know where they are.
Must I call you a liar as well as a thief .''
Did I not see you
trying to tear off another piece V
" 'You have called me names enough,' said he ;
'
I will not
stand it any longer. I shall not say another word about this
business since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave
your house in the morning and make my own way in the
world.'
" You shall leave it in the hands of the police !'
I cried,
'
half -mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter
probed to the bottom.'
"'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he, with a pas-
'"At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once.
It would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave
the house for five minutes.'
" That you may get away, or perhaps that you
' may con-
ceal what you have stolen,' said I. And then realizing the
dreadful position in which I was placed, I implored him to
remember that not only my honor, but that of one who was
far greater than I was at stake and that he threatened to
;
" God bless you ! You are doing what you can for him and
for me. But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there
at all ? If his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so ?"
" Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a
lie ? His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 265
several singular points about the case. What did the police
think of the noise which awoke you from your sleep ?"
" They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's clos-
" But what other is there ?" cried the banker, with a gesture
if you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham to-
there in silence when the door opened and a young lady came
in. She was rather above the middle height, slim, with dark
hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against the absolute
pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever seen such
trust, sir, that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is
"Yes."
"You have a maid who has a sweetheart .-^
I think that you
remarked to your uncle last night that she had been out to
see him ?"
"Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room,
and who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet."
" I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her
sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery."
" But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried
the banker, impatiently, " when I have told you that I saw
Arthur with the coronet in his hands ?"
" Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that.
About this girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the
kitchen door, I presume ?"
" Yes when I went to see if the door was fastened for the
;
night I met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom."
" Do you know him ?"
" Oh yes ; he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables
round. His name is Francis Prosper."
" He stood," said Holmes, " to the left of the door —that
is to say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the
door?"
" Yes, he did."
ive black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she.
" How do you know that ?" She smiled, but there was no
answering smile in Holmes's thin, eager face.
" I should be very glad now to go up-stairs," said he. " I
did not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet.
We must have a look He opened the case, and, taking
at it."
out the diadem, he laid upon the table. It was a magnifi-
it
Now, what do you think would happen if I did break it, Mr.
Holder ? There would be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you
270 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
tell me that all this happened within a few yards of your bed,
and that you heard nothing of it ?"
" I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me."
" But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you
think, Miss Holder ?"
" I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity."
"Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw
him ?"
" He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt."
"Thank you. We
have certainly been favored with ex-
traordinary luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely
The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them
again !" he cried. " And my son ? You give me hopes ?"
" My opinion is in no way altered."
" Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which
was acted in my house last night ?"
glass above the fireplace. " I only wish that you could come
with me, Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on
to be away for days and nights on end when he was hot upon
a scent, so that his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not
the change which had come over him, which was for his face,
" Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her
room was empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table.
I had said to her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that
if she had married my boy all might have been well with him.
upon you, and that if I had acted differently this terrible mis-
fortune might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought
in my mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel
that I must leave you for ever. Do not worry about my fut-
ure, for that is provided for; and, above all, do not search for
me, for it will be fruitless labor and an ill-service to me. In
life or in death, I am ever your loving Mary.*
" You would not think ;f looo apiece an excessive sum for
them ?"
18
274 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
hardest for me to say and for you to hear : there has been
an understanding between Sir George Burnwell and your niece
Mary. They have now fled together."
" My Mary ? Impossible !"
heart. The devil knows best what he said, but at least she
became his tool, and was in the habit of seeing him nearly
every evening."
"I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker, with
an ashen face.
" I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last
night. Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your
room, slipped down and talked to her lover through the window
which leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed
right through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told
him of the coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the
news, and he bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she
loved you, but there are women in whom the love of a lover
extinguishes all other loves, and I think that she must have
been one. She had hardly listened to his instructions when
she saw you coming down-stairs, on which she closed the win-
dow rapidly, and told you about one of the servants' escapade
with her wooden-legged lover, which was all perfectly true.
''
Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with
you, but he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his
club debts. In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread
pass his door, so he rose, and looking out, was surprised to see
his cousin walking very stealthily along the passage, until she
disappeared into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonish-
ment, the lad slipped on some clothes, and waited there in the
dark to see what would come of this strange affair. Presently
she emerged from the room again, and in the light of the pas-
sage-lamp your son saw that she carried the precious coronet
in her hands. She passed down the stairs, and he, thrilling
with horror, ran along and slipped behind the curtain near
your door, whence he could see what passed in the hall be-
neath. He saw her stealthily open the window, hand out the
coronet to some one in the gloom, and then closing it once
more hurry back to her room, passing quite close to where he
stood hid behind the curtain.
" As long as she was on the scene he could not take any
276 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
time that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom
you had already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so.
I passed round the garden without seeing anything more than
into the stable lane a very long and complex story was written
in the snow in front of me.
" There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and
that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane,
and another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who
had been hurt. When he came to the high-road at the other
end, I found that the pavement had been cleared, so there
was an end to that clew.
" On entering the house, however, I examined, as you re-
waited outside tlie window, some one had brought the gems;
the deed had been overseen by your son, he had pursued the
thief, had struggled with him, they had each tugged at the
coronet, their united strength causing injuries which neither
alone could have effected. He had returned with the prize,
must have been he who wore those boots and retained the
missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur had dis-
covered him, he might still flatter himself that he was safe,
for the lad could not say a word without compromising his
own family.
" Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I
took next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's
house, managed up an acquaintance with his valet,
to pick
learned that his master had cut his head the night before, and,
finally, at the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying
I CLAPPED A PISTOL lo HIS HEAD
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 279
'
I've let them go at six hundred for the three I soon man- !'
china and metal, for the table had not been cleared yet. Sher-
lock Holmes had been silent all the morning, dipping continu-
ously into the advertisement columns of a succession of papers,
until at last, having apparently given up his search, he had
which he had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down
into the fire, "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensa-
tionalism, for out of these cases which you have been so kind
"The end may have been so," I answered, **but the meth-
ods I hold to have been novel and of interest."
" Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unob-
282 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
office as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone.
A prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face, and a great
heavy chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat,
sat at her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking
very earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he
gave quite a jump in his chair, and turned quickly to Miss
Stoper
284 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
"
' That will do,' said he ;
*
I could not ask for anything
better. Capital ! quite enthusiastic, and
capital !'
He seemed
rubbed his hands together most genial fashion. He in the
was such a comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleas-
ure to look at him.
" You are looking for
' a situation, miss ?' he asked.
"'Yes, sir.'
" *
As governess ?'
" '
Yes, sir.'
" '
And what salary do you ask ?'
" '
I had £4 a month in my last place with Colonel Spence
Munro.'
" *
Oh, tut, tut ! sweating —rank sweating !' he cried, throw-
ing his fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a
boiling passion. *
How could any one offer so pitiful a sum to
a lady with such attractions and accomplishments V
" '
My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,'
said I. 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing —
" '
Tut, tut !'
he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question.
The have you or have you not the bearing and de-
point is,
" It seemed to me
had never met so fascinating and
that I
men, the advance was a great convenience, and yet there was
something unnatural about the whole transaction which made
me wish to know a little more before I quite committed myself.
" May I ask where you live, sir ?' said I.
'
"'One child — one dear little romper just six years old.
Oh, if you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper
Smack smack smack ! ! ! Three gone before you could wink !'
He leaned back in his chair and laughed his eyes into his
head again.
" I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amuse-
ment, but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he
was joking.
"
' My sole duties, then,' I asked, '
are to take charge of a
single child ?'
to wear any dress which we might give you, you would not
object to our little whim. Heh ?'
" No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words.
'
"'Oh, no.'
286 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
" *
Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us ?'
"The manageress had sat all this while busy with her
papers without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me
now much annoyance upon her face that I could not
with so
help suspecting that she had lost a handsome commission
through my refusal.
"
' Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books ?'
she asked.
" '
If you please, Miss Stoper.'
" *
Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the
most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she, sharply. *
You
can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such
opening for you. Miss Hunter.' She struck
Good-day to you.
a gong upon the table, and was shown out by the page.
I
made a mistake, and by the day after I was sure of it. I had
almost overcome my pride, so far as to go back to the agency
and inquire whether the place was still open, when I received
this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it here, and I
" *
The Copper Beeches, near Winchester.
" *
Dear Miss Hunter, — Miss Stoper has very kindly given
me your address, and I write from here to ask you whether
you have reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious
that you should come, for she has been much attracted by my
description of you. We are willing to give £$o a quarter, or
;^i2o a year, so as to recompense you for any little inconven-
ience which our fads may cause you. They are not very
exacting, after all. My wife is fond of a particular shade of
electric blue, and would like you to wear such a dress in-doors
in the morning. You need not, however, go to the expense of
purchasing one, as we have one belonging to my dear daughter
Alice (now in Philadelphia), which would, I should think, fit
" That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes,
and my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought,
288 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
keep the matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asy-
lum, and that he humors her fancies in every way in order to
prevent an outbreak."
" That is a possible solution — in fact, as matters stand, it is
the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to
be a nice household for a young lady."
!"
*'
But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money
" Well, yes, of course the pay is good too good. That is —
what makes me uneasy. Why should they give you ;^i2o a
year, when they could have their pick for ^40 ? There must
be some strong reason behind."
" I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would
" That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with
the anxiety all swept from her face. " I shall go down to
" Data ! data ! data !" he cried, impatiently. " I can't make
bricks without clay." And yet he would always wind up by
muttering that no sister of his should ever have accepted such
a situation.
The telegram which we came late one
eventually received
night, just as I and Holmes was set-
was thinking of turning in,
tling down to one of those all-night chemical researches which
he frequently indulged in, when I would leave him stooping
over a retort and a test-tube at night, and find him in the same
position when I came down to breakfast in the morning. He
opened the yellow envelope, and then, glancing at the mes-
sage, threw it across to me.
*9
290 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
" Just look Up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned
back to his chemical studies.
The summons was a brief and urgent one.
" Please be at the '
Black Swan ' Hotel at Winchester at
mid-day to-morrow," it said. " Do come ! I am at my wits'
end. Hunter."
ever, and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and
the child. There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture
I AM SO DELIGHTED THAT YOU HAVE COME
THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 293
life was very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down
turned towards it. In this I was asked to sit, and then Mr.
Rucastle, walking up and down on the other side of the room,
THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 295
a mirror in my hand, and had seen what was behind me. She
rose at once.
*'
' Jephro,' said she, *
there is an impertinent fellow upon the
road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.'
" '
No friend of yours. Miss Hunter ?' he asked.
" *
No ; I know no one in these parts.'
" Dear
'
me ! How very impertinent ! Kindly turn round
and motion him to to go away.'
" *
would be better to take no notice.'
Surely it
" No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly
'
drew down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that
time I have not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the
blue dress, nor seen the man in the road."
" Pray continue," said Holmes. " Your narrative promises
to be a most interesting one."
" You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may
prove to be little relation between the different incidents of
which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper
Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small out-house which
stands near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard
the sharp rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large
animal moving about.
" *
Look in here !'
said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit be-
tween two planks. '
Is he not a beauty ?'
him mine, but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man
who can do anything with him. We feed him once a day, and
not too much then, so that he is always as keen as mustard.
Toller lets him loose every night, and God help the trespasser
whom he lays his fangs upon. For goodness' sake don't you
ever on any pretext set your foot over the threshold at night,
for as much as your
it is life is worth.'
" The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I hap-
all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his temples
startled at my remark.
" one of my have
' Photography is hobbies,' said he. * I
ant young lady we have come upon. Who would have be-
lieved it.'' Who would have ever believed it.-" He spoke in
a jesting tone, but there was no jest in his eyes as he looked
at me. I read suspicion there and annoyance, but no jest.
you that, besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find
something to do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him
carrying a large black linen bag with him through the door.
Recently he has been drinking hard, and yesterday evening
he was very drunk ; and, when I came
was the up-stairs, there
key in the door.
I at had
have no doubt left it all that he
there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both down-stairs, and the
child was with them, so that I had an admirable opportunity.
I turned the key gently in the lock, opened the door, and
slipped through.
" There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and
uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end.
Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and
third of which were open. They each led into an empty room,
dusty and cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in
the other, so thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered
300 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
dimly through them. The centre door was closed, and across
the outside of had been fastened one of the broad bars of
it
mastiff.'
which is about half a mile from the house, and then returned,
feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my
mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose,
but I remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state
of insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only
one in the household who had any influence with the savage
creature, or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in
that you could perform one more feat ? I should not ask it of
you if I did not think you a quite exceptional woman."
" I will try. What is it ?"
was perfectly happy, and that she no longer desired his atten-
that you have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing
help to this poor creature."
"We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very
cunning man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At
that hour we shall be with you, and it will not be long before
we solve the mystery."
We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we
reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a way-
side public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves
shining like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun,
were sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not
been standing smiling on the door-step.
*'
Have you managed it ?" asked Holmes.
A loud thudding noise came from somewhere down-stairs.
" That is Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. " Her husband
lies snoring on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are
the duplicates of Mr. Rucastle's."
" You have done well indeed !" cried Holmes, with enthu-
siasm. " Now lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of
this black business."
304 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
aged it." He swung himself up onto the roof. " Ah, yes,"
he cried; "here's the end of a long light ladder against the
eaves. That is how he did it."
prised if this were he whose step I hear now upon the stair.
The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open
skylight.
" It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, " you thieves !
know."
" Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it, for there are
several points on which I must confess that I am still in the
dark."
" I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have
done so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If
there's police-court business over this, you'll remember that I
was the one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's
friend too.
" She was never happy at home. Miss Alice wasn't, from the
time that her father married again. She was slighted like, and
had no say in anything ; but it never really became bad for
her until after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As
well as I could learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will,
but she was so quiet and patient, she was, that she never said
a word about them, but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's
hands. He knew he was safe with her ; but when there was a
chance of a husband coming forward, who would ask for all that
the law would give him, then her father thought it time to put a
stop on it. He wanted her to sign a paper, so that whether she
married or not, he could use her money. When she wouldn't
do it, he kept on worrying her until she got brain-fever, and
for sixweeks was at death's door. Then she got better at
worn to a shadow, and with her beautiful hair cut off:
last, all
good enough to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that
I can deduce all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume,
took to this system of imprisonment ?" •
" Yes, -sir."
man should be, blockaded the house, and, having met you,
succeeded by certain arguments, metallic or otherwise, in con-
vincing you that your interests were the same as his."
" Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentle-
THE END
BY W. D. HO WELLS.
His descriptions are wonderfully vivid and natural. His pages are
brightened everywhere with great humor the quaint, dry turns of thought
;
In all of Captain King's stories the author holds to lofty ideals of man-
hood and womanhood, and inculcates the lessons of honor, generosity,
courage, and self-control. Literari/ \Vo7-ld, Boston.
The vivacity and charm which signaUy distinguish Captain King's
pen. ... He occupies a position in American literature entirely his own.
. . —
His is the Uterature of honest sentiment, pure and tender. iV". Y. Press.
A romance by Captain King is always a pleasure, because he has so
complete a mastery of the subjects with which he deals. Captain . . .
King has few rivals in his domain. The general tone of Captain King's
. . .
stories is highly commendable. The heroes are simple, frank, and sol-
dierly the heroines are dignified and maidenly in the most unconvention-
;
al situations. Epoch, N. Y.
All Captain King's stories are full of spirit and with the true ring about
them. Philadelphia Item.
Captain King's stories of army life are so brilliant and intense, they
have such a ring of true experience, and his characters are so lifelike and
vivid that the announcement of a new one is always received with pleas-
ure.— iV(?M» Haven Palladium.
Captain King is a delightful story-teller. —
Washington Post.
In the delineation of war scenes Captain King's style is crisp and vig-
orous, inspiring in the breast of the reader a thrill of genuine patriotic fer-
vor. Boston Commo7iwealth.
Captain King is almost without a rival in the field he has chosen. . , .
His style is at once vigorous and sentimental in the best sense of that
wordj so that his novels are pleasing to young men as well as young
women. Pittsburgh Bulletin.
It is good to think that there is at least one man who believes that all
the spirit of romance and chivalry has not yet died out of the world, and
that there are as brave and honest hearts to-day as there were in the
days of knights and paladins. Philadelphia Record.