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THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

A STUDY IN SCARLET.

THE SIGN OF FOUR.

THE FIRM OF GIRDLESTONE.

MICAH CLARKE.

THE WHITE COMPANY.

THE CAPTAIN OF THE POLESTAR.

THE DOINGS OF RAFFLES HAW.

THE GREAT SHADOW.

THE ADVENTURES

OF

SHERLOCK HOLMES.

BY

A. CONAN DOYLE.

Hon Do a : GEORGE NEWNES, Limited,

SOUTHAMPTON STREET AND EXETER STREET,

STRAND. 1892.

[A/^ rights reserved^

MY OLD TEACHER,

JOSEPH BELL, M.D., &c.

OF

2, MELVILLE CRESCENT,

EDINBURGH.

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

1

1

I.

THE ADVENTURES OF A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA.

I.

O Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise, but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen ; but, as a lover, he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer — excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensi- tive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.

I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first finds himself master of his own establishmient, were sufficient to absorb all my attention ; while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in

2 »

2 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

Baker-street, buried among his old books, and alternating fi*om week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries, which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings : of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of my former friend and companion.

One night — it was on the 20th of March, 1888 — I was returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to civil prac- tice), when my way led me through Baker-street. As I passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest, and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his drug-created dreams, and was hot upon the scent of some new problem. I rang the bell, and was shown up to the chamber which had formerly been in part my own.

His manner was rot effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he stood before the fire, and looked me over in his singular introspec- tive fashion.

*' Wedlock suits 5'ou," he remarked. " I think, Watson, that .you have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you."

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA.

" Seven," I answered.

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

"Then, how do you Know ?

** I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you ^ ^ V

have been getting yourself very wet lately, and that

^^^^^^_^^_ ■ "'^K^^

and careless servant girl ? "

"THEN HE STOOD BEFORE THE FIRE."

"My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly have been burned had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess ; but, as I have changed my clothes, I can't imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible,

4 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

and my wife has given her notice ; but there again I fail to see how you work it out."

He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long nervous hands together.

" It is simplicity itself," said he ; " my eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of idioform, with a black mark of nitrate of silver upon his right fore-finger, and a bulge on the side of his top- hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, I must be dull indeed if I do not pronounce him to be an active member of the medical profession."

I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his process of deduction. " When I hear you give your reasons," I remarked, " the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am bafifled, until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours."

" Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself down into an armchair. *' You see, but you do not ob- serve. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room."

*' Frequently."

** How often ? "

*' Well, some hundreds of times."

** Then how many are there ? "

" How many ! I don't know."

** Quite so ! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed. By the way, since you are interested in these little problems, and since you are good enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick pink-tinted

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA.

notepaper which had been lying open upon the table. " It came by the last post," said he. " Read it aloud."

The note was undated, and without either signature or address.

"There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight o'clock," it said, " a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of the Royal Houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all quarters re- ceived. Be in your cham ber then at that hour, and do not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask."

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

" I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories,

instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. What do you deduce from it ? "

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

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

6 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

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

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

" What do you make of that ? " asked Holmes.

*' The name of the maker, no doubt ; or his monogram, rather."

'' Not at all. The G with the small t stands for ' Gesellschaft,' which is the German for ' Company.' It is a customary contrac- tion like our * Co.' P, of course, stands for ' Papier.' Now for the Eg. Let us glance at our Continental Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. " Eglow, Eglonitz — here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking country — in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. * Remarkable as being the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous glass factories and paper mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you make of that ? " His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue triumphant cloud from his cigarette.

*'The paper was made in Bohemia," I said.

" Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you note the peculiar construction of the sentence — ' This account of you we have from all quarters received.' A French- man or Russian could not have written that.' It is the German who is so uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohe- mian paper, and prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts."

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

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

** I think that I had better go. Holmes."

** Not a bit. Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss it."

** But your client '*

** Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he.

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA.

1

Here he comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best attention."

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

authoritative tap.
*'Come in!"	said
Holmes.
A man entered	who
could hardly have	been
less than six feet	six
inches in height,	with

the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His dress was rich with a richness which would, in Eng- land, be looked upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of Astrakhan were slashed across the sleeves and fronts of his double- breasted coat, while the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined with flame - coloured silk, and secured at the neck with a brooch which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended half way up his calves, and which v/ere trimmed at the tops with rich brown fur, completed the

impression of barbaric opulence which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper part of his face, extending down past the cheek-bones, a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, for his hand was still raised to it as he

"a man entered.'

8 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

entered. From the lower part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, with a thick, hanging hp, and a long straight chin, suggestive of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy.

" You had my note ? " he asked, with a deep harsh voice and a strongly marked German accent. " I told you that I would call." He looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to address.

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

** You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to com- municate with you alone."

I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me back into my chair. ** It is both, or none," said he. "You may say before this gentleman anything which you may say to me."

The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. " Then I must begin," said he, " by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years, at the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight that it may have an influence upon European history."

" I promise," said Holmes.

'' And I."

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

" I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly.

** The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia."

** I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself down in his armchair, and closing his eyes.

Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid.

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA.

lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him as the most incisive reasoner, and most energetic agent in Europe. Holmes slowly reopened his eyes, and looked impatiently at his gigantic client.

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

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

room in uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the

\BEiStv..

"HE TORE THE MASK FROM HIS FACE.

ground. " You are right," he cried, ** I am the King. Why should I attempt to conceal it ? "

** Why, indeed ? " murmured Holmes. " Your Majesty had not spoken before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel- Felstein, and hereditary King of Bohemia."

*' But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down once more and passing his hand over his high, white

lo ADVENTURES OE SHERLOCK HOLMES.

forehead, "you can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting you."

*' Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more.

*' The facts are briefly these : Some five years ago, during a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well- known adventuress Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you."

*' Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Kolmes, without opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew Rabbi and that of a staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep sea fishes.

" Let me see," said Holmes. " Hum ! Born in New Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto — hum ! La Scala, hum ! Prima donna Imperial Opera of Warsaw — Yes! Retired from operatic stage — ha ! Living in London — quite so ! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and is now desirous of getting those letters back."

" Precisely so. But how "

'* Was there a secret marriage ? "

''None."

*' No legal papers or certificates ? " -

"None."

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

" There is the writing."

" Pooh, pooh ! Forgery."

" My private notepaper."

" Stolen."

" My own seal."

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA. ii

" Imitated." '* My photograph." " Bought."

** We were both in the photograph."

** Oh dear ! That is very bad ! Your Majesty has indeed committed an indiscretion." ** I was mad — insane."

** You have compromised yourself seriously." " I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now."

** It must be recovered." " We have tried and failed." "Your Majesty must pa}^ It must be bought." " She will not sell." " Stolen, then."

" Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice she has been waylaid. There has been no result."

" No sign of it ? " ** Absolutely none."

Holmes laughed. *' It is quite a pretty little problem," said he.

*' But a very serious one to me," returned the King, reproach- fully.

" Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the photograph ? " '*To ruin me." "But how?"

" I am about to be married." "So I have heard."

" To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." " And Irene Adler ? "

" Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of

12 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

women, and the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not go — none."

" You are sure that she has not sent it yet ? **

" I am sure."

" And why ? »'

** Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday."

** Oh, then, we have three days yet," said Holmes, with a yawn. " That is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of im- portance to look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in London for the present ? "

** Certainly. You will find me at the Langham, under the name of the Count Von Kramm."

" Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress."

" Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety."

** Then, as to money ? "

" You have carte hlanchey

** Absolutely ? "

*' I tell you that I v/ould give one of the provinces of my kingdom to have that photograph."

*' And for present expenses ? "

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

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

Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book, and handed it to him.

*'And mademoiselle's address?" he asked.

" Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine-avenue, St. John's Wood."

Holmes took a note of it. '* One other question," said he. " Was the photograph a cabinet ? "

" It was."

*' Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, as the wheels of the Royal brougham rolled down the street. *' If you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon,

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA

13

at three o'clock, I should like to chat this little matter over with

you,

II.

At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker-street, but Holmes had not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and strange features which were associated with the two crimes which I have elsewhere recorded, still, the nature of the case and the exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. In- deed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the quick, subtle methods by which he disen- tangled the most inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to enter into my head.

It was close upon four before the door opened, and a drunken- looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of disguises,

A DRUNKEN-LOOKING GROOM.

14 ADVENTURES OE SHERLOCK HOLMES.

I had to look three times before I was certain that it was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in front of the fire, and laughed heartily for some minutes.

"Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked; and laughed again until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the chair.

" What is it ? "

" It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I employed my morning, or what I ended by doing."

'' I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler."

" Quite so, but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this morning, in the character of a groom out of work. There is a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found Briony Lodge. It is a hijou villa, with a garden at the back, but built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without noting anything else of interest.

" I then lounged down the street, and found, as I expected, that there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, and I received in exchange twopence, a glass of half-and- half, two fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but whose biographies I was compelled to listen to."

" And what of Irene Adler? " I asked.

'' Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA, 15

concerts, drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, handsome, and dashing; never calls less than once a day, and often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. When I had listened to all that they had to tell, I began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan of campaign.

" This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the relation between them, and what the object of his repeated visits ? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress ? If the former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman^s chambers in the Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the situation."

" I am following you closely," I answered.

** I was still balancing the matter in my mind, when a hansom cab drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached — evidently the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly at home.

" He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch glimpses of him, in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and down, talking excitedly and waving his arms. Of her I could see nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from his pocket and looked at it earnestly. ' Drive like the devil,' he shouted, ' first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent-street, and then to the church of St. Monica in the Edgware-road. Half a guinea if you do it in twenty minutes ! * "

i6 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

" Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do well to follow them, when up the lane came a neat little landau^ the coachman with his coat only half buttoned, and his tie under his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for.

** ' The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, * and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.'

** This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her landau, when a cab came through the street. The driver looked twice at such a shabby fare ; but I jumped in before he could object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, * and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind.

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

'' Thank God ! " he cried. ** You'll do. Come ! Come ! **

"What then?" I asked.

** Come man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal."

I was half dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was, I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA.

17

the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just now. It seems that there had been some informality about their licence, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean to wear it on my watch chain in memory of the occasion."

" This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I ; ** and what then ? '

"Well, I found my plans very seri- ously menaced. It looked as if the pair might take an immediate de- parture, and so necessitate very prompt and ener- getic measures on my part. At the church door, how- ever, they sepa- rated, he driving back to the Temple, and she to her own house. * I shall drive out in the Park at five as usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove away in different directions, and I went off to make my own arrangements." " Which are .? "

" Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the bell. ** I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to be busier still this evening. By the way. Doctor, I shall want your co-operation."

I FOUND MYSELF MUMF-LING RESPONSES.'

1 3 AD VENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES,

"I shall be delighted."

" You don't mind breaking the law ? "

"Not in the least."

" Nor running a chance of arrest ? "

" Not in a good cause."

** Oh, the cause is excellent ! '

** Then I am your man."

*' I was sure that I might rely on you."

'* But what is it you wish ? "

"When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to you. Now," he said, as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that our landlady had provided, " I must discuss it while I eat, for I have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her."

''And what then? "

** You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must not interfere, come what may. You understand ? "

"I am to be neutral ? "

** To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being con- veyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the sitting- room window will open. You are to station yourself close to that open window."

"Yes."

'* You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you."

" Yes."

" And when I raise my hand — so — you will throw into the room what I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of fire. You quite follow me ? "

*' Entirely."

" It is nothing very formidable," he said, takii.g a long cigar- shaped roll from his pocket. ** It is an ordinary plumber's smoke rocket, fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear ? "

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA.

19

J P.

" I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, and, at the signal, to throw in this object, then to raise the cry of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street."

** Precisely."

" Then you may entirely rely on me."

" That is excellent. I think perhaps it is almost time that I prepared for the new role I have to play."

He disappeared into his bedroom, and returned in a few minutes in the character of an amiable and simple - minded Nonconformist clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and benevolent curi- osity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime.

It was a quarter past six when we left Baker-street, and it still wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found our- selves in Serpentine-avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, but the locality appeared to be less private than I ex- pected. On the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily- dressed men smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors grinder with his wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl,

A SIMPLE-MIWDED CLERGYMAN.

20 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

and several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with cigars in their mouths.

"You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of the house, '* this marriage rather simplifies matters. The photo- graph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his Princess. Now the question is — Where are we to find the photograph ? "

** Where, indeed ? "

** It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We may take it then that she does not carry it about with her."

*' Where, then ? "

" Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it over to any one else ? She could trust her own guardianship, but she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house."

*' But it has twice been burgled."

** Pshaw ! They did not know how to look."

" But how will you look ? "

'' I will not look."

*' What then ? "

** I will get her to show me."

" But she will refuse."

** She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter."

As he spoke the gleam of the sidelights of a carriage came round the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up one of the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another loafer who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who took sides with

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA,

31

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

" HE GAVE A CRY AND DROPPED.

dropped to the ground, with the blood running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while a number of better dressed people who had watched the scuffle without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, had hurried up the steps ; but she stood at the top

2 2 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

with her superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking back into the street.

** Is the poor gentleman much hurt ? " she asked.

*' He is dead," cried several voices.

" No, no, there's life in him," shouted another. *' But he'll be gone before you can get him to hospital."

" He's a brave fellow," said a woman. *' They would have had the lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a gang, and a rough one too. Ah, he's breathing now."

" He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm ? "

'' Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a com- fortable sofa. This way, please ! "

Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge, and laid out in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with com- punction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had entrusted to me. I hardened my heart and took the smoke-rocket from under my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are but prevent- ing her from injuring another.

Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man who is in want of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand, and at the signai I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of '' Fire." The word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well dressed and ill — gentlemen, ostlers, and servant maids — joined in a general shriek of " Fire." Thick clouds of smoke curled through the room, and out at the open window. I caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice of Holmes from within, assuring them that it was a false alarm. Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of the uproar. He

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA. 23

walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes, until we had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the Ed"'- ware-road.

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

** You have the photograph ! "

** I know where it is."

** And how did you find out ? '*

" She showed me, as I told you that she would.'*

'* I am still in the dark."

** I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. " The matter was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that every one in the street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening."

" I guessed as much.'*

" Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." - -

" That also I could fathom." ^

** Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room which I suspected. It lay between that and her bed- room, and I was determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your chance."

" How did that help you ? "

" It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the Darling- ton Substitution Scandal it was of u^e to me, and also in the Arns- worth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby — an unmarried one reaches for her jewel box. Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting was enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the

24 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

right-bell pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a glimpse of it as she half drew it out. When I cried out that it was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to attempt to secure the photograph at once ; but the coachman had come in, and, as he was watching me narrowly, it seemed safer to wait. A little over- precipitance may ruin all."

*' And now ? " I asked.

*'Ojr quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the photograph. It might be a satisfaction to His Majesty to regain it with his own hands."

" And when will you call ? "

** At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to the King without delay."

We had reached Baker-street, and had stopped at the door. He was searching his pockets for the key, when some one passing said :

** Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes."

There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had hurried by.

" I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the dimly lit street. " Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have been."

III.

I slept at Baker-street that night, and we were engaged upon our toast and coffee when the King of Bohemia rushed into the room.

*' You have really got it ! " he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by either shoulder, and looking eagerly into his face.

'* Not yet."

** But you have hopes ? " .

** I have hopes."

A SCANDAL I/V BOHEMIA.

25

"Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone."

" We must have a cab."

" No, my brougham is waiting."

''Then that will simplify matters." We descended, and started off once more for Briony Lodge.

*' Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes.

"Married! When?" " Yesterday." " But to whom ? " ** To an English lawyer named Nor- ton."

" But she could not love him ? '*

" I am in hopes that she does." ** And why in hopes ? "

" Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan."

** It is true. And yet — ! Well! I wish she had been of my own station ! What a queen she would have made ! " He re- lapsed into a moody silence which was not broken until we drew up in Serpentine-avenue.

The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped from the brougham.

*' Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe ? " said she.

GOOD-NIGHT, MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES.*

26 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

" I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a questioning and rather startled gaze.

*' Indeed ! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She left this morning with her husband, by the 5.15 train from Charing-cross, for the Continent."

** What I " Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and surprise. " Do you mean that she has left England ? "

" Never to return."

" And the papers ? " asked the King, hoarsely. ** All is lost."

'* We shall see." He pushed past the servant, and rushed into the drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves, and open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to *' Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend tore it open, and we all three read it together. It was dated at midnight of the preceding night, and ran in this way : —

" My Dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, — You really did it very well. You took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had been told that, if the King employed an agent, it would certainly be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to watch you, ran upstairs, got into my walking clothes, as I call them, and came down just as you departed.

" Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and started for the Temple to see my husband.

** We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by so formidable an antagonist ; so you will find the nest empty

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA.

27

when you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to possess ; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, very truly yours, *' Irene Norton, nee Abler."

" What a woman — oh, what a woman ! " cried the King of Bohemia, when we had all three read this epistle. *' Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was ? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity she was not on my level ? "

" From what I have seen "^~

of the lady, she seems, in- - Wr:

deed, to be on a very differ- *'

ent level to your Majesty," said Holmes, coldly. " I am sorry that I have not been able to bring your Ma- jesty's business to a more suc- cessful conclu- sion."

** On the con- trary, my dear sir," cried the King. "Nothing could be more successful. 1 know that he: word is invio- late. The pho- tograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire."

** I am glad to hear your Majesty say so."

" I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I

** THIS PHOTOGRAPH I "

28 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

can reward you. This ring " He slipped an emerald snake

ring from his finger, and held it out upon the palm of his hand.

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

" You have but to name it."

" This photograph ! "

The King stared at him in amazement.

" Irene's photograph ! " he cried. " Certainly, if you wish it."

" I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good morning." He bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his chambers.

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

II.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE.

HAD called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the autumn of last year, and found him in deep conversation with a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman, with fiery red hair. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw, when Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room, and closed the door behind me.

" You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson," he said, cordially.

" I was afraid that you were engaged."

" So I am. Very much so."

" Then I can wait in the next room."

" Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also."

The stout gentleman half rose from his chair, and gave a bob of greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small, fat- encircled eyes.

*' Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair, and putting his finger-tips together, as was his custom when in judicial moods. " I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of every-day life. You have shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own little adventures."

" Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I observed.

" You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary

Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary combinations

29

3<^

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

we must go to life itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the imagination."

** A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.'* " You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my view, for otherwise I shall keep piling fact upon fact on you, until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some time.

MR. JABEZ WILSON.

You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique things are very often connected not with the larger but with the smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I have heard, it is impossible for me to say whether the present case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to recommence your

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE. 31

narrative. I ask you, not merely because my friend Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part, but also because the peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some slight indication of the course of events I am able to guide myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the facts are, to the best of my belief, unique."

The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some little pride, and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the advertise- ment column, with his head thrust forward, and the paper flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man, and endeavoured after the fashion of my companion to read the indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance.

I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey shepherd's check trousers, a not overclean black frockcoat, un- buttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as an ornament. A frayed top hat and a faded brown overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and discontent upon his features.

Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. " Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else."

Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion.

" How, in the name of good fortune, did you know all that, Mr. Holmes ? " he asked. ** How did you know, for example, that I did manual labour. It's as true as gospel, and I began as a ship's carpenter."

"Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size

32 ADVENTURES OE SHERLOCK HOLMES.

larger than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more developed."

" Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry ? "

" I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you use an arc and compass breastpin."

** Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing ? "

" What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiney for five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the elbow where you rest it upon the desk."

**Well, but China?"

" The fish which you have tattooed immediately above your right wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small study of tattoo marks, and have even contributed to the literature of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter becomes even more simple."

Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. ** Well, I never ! " said he. *' I thought at first you had done something clever, but I see that there was nothing in it after all."

** I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, ** that I make a mistake in explaining. * Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson ? "

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

I took the paper from him and read as follows : —

** To THE Red-Headed League. On account of the bequest of the late Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Penn., U.S.A., there is now another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a salary of four pounds a week for purely nominal services. All red-headed men who are sound in body and mind, and above the age of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7, Pope's-court, Fleet-street."

** What on earth does this mean ? " I ejaculated, after I had twice read over the extraordinary announcement.

THE RED HEADED LEAGUE.

33

Holmes chuckled, and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when in high spirits. ''' It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it ? " said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch, and tell us all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this adver- tisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, Doctor, of the paper and the date."

" It is The Morning Chronicle, of April 27, 1890. Just two months ago."

*' Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson ?

"Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said Jabez Wil-

VVHAT ON EARTH DOES THIS MEAN.

son, mopping his forehead, " I have a small pawnbroker's business at Coburg-square, near the City. It's not a very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, but now I only keep one ; and I would have a job to pay him, but that he is willing to come for half wages, so as to learn the business."

"What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes.

4

34 ADVENTUKES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

" His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter assistant, Mr. Holmes ; and I know very well that he could better himself, and earn twice what I am able to give him. But after all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head ? "

*' Why, indeed ? You seem most fortunate in having an employe who comes under the full market price. It is not a common ex- perience among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is not as remarkable as your advertisement."

" Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. ** Never was such a fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his main fault ; but on the whole, he's a good worker. There's no vice in him."

*' He is still with you, I presume ? "

"Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple cooking, and keeps the place clean — that's all I have in the house, for I am a widower, and never had any family. We live very quietly, sir, the three of us ; and we keep a roof over our heads, and pay our debts, if we do nothing more.

** The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight weeks with this very paper in his hand, and he says : —

" * I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.'

** ' Why that ? ' I asks.

" ' Why,' says he, ' here's another vacancy on the League of the Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.'

'' * Why, what is it, then ? ' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a very stay-at-home man, and, as my business came to me instead of my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news.

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE.

35

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

" ' Never/

*' * Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one of the vacancies.

" * And what are they worth ? ' I asked.

" ' Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is shght, and it need not interfere very much with one's other occu- pations.'

"the league has a vacancy."

" Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, for the business has not been over good for some years, and an extra couple of hundred would have been very handy.

" *Tell me all about it,' said I.

"'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, * you can see for yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself red- headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men ; so,

36 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

when he died, it was found that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the interest to the providing of easy herths to men whose hair is of that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay, and very little to do.'

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

*' ' Not so many as you might think,' he answered. * You see it is really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had started from London when he w^as young, and he wanted to do the old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your applying if your hair is lightj'ed, or dark red, or anything but real, bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a few hundred pounds.'

" Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed to me that, if there was to be any competition in the matter, I stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for the day, and to come right away with me. He was very willing to have a holiday, so we shut the business up, and started off for the address that was given us in the advertisement.

" I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in his hair had tramped into the City to answer the advertise- ment. Fleet-street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's- court looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought there were so many in the whole country as were brought together by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they were — straw, lemon, orange^ brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay ; but, as Spaulding said, there were not maany who had the real vivid flame- coloured tint. When I saw how maany were waiting, I would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back dejected ; but we

THE REDHEADED LEAGUE.

37

wedged in as well as we could, and soon found ourselves in the office."

*' Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked Holmes, as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge pinch of snuff. " Pray continue your very interesting statement."

" There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs and a deal table, behind which sat a small man, with a head that was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem to be such a very easy matter after all. However, when our turn came, the little man was more favour- able to me than to any of the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he might have a private word with us.

*"This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, * and he is willing to fill a va- cancy in the League.'

" ' And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. ' He has every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so fine.' He took a step backwards, cocked his head on one side, and gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my success.

" * It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. ' You will, however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I yelled with the pain. * There is water in your eyes,' said he, as he released me.

" HE CONGRATULATED ME WARMLY.

38 ADVENTURES OE SHERLOCK HOLMES.

' I perceive that all is as it should be. But we have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the window, and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the vacancy was filled. A groan of dis- appointment came up from below, and the folk all trooped away in different directions, until there was not a red head to be seen except my own and that of the manager.

"'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are you a married man, Mr. Wilson ? Have you a family ? *

" I answered that I had not.

" His face fell immediately.

" ' Dear me ! ' he said, gravel}^, ' that is very serious indeed ! I am sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their main- tenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a bachelor.'

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

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

*' ' Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,'

said I.

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

'* ' What would be the hours ? ' I asked.

" ' Ten to two.'

** Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just before pay-day ; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, and that he would see to anything that turned up.

" ' That would suit me very well,' said I. ' And the pay? *

*' ' Is four pounds a week.'

" 'And the work?'

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE. 39

** * Is purely nominal.'

" * What do you call purely nominal ? '*

" * Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole position for ever. The will is very clear upon that point. You don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office during that time.'

** * It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' said I.

" No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross, ' neither sickness, nor business, nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose your billet.'

'' 'And the work?'

" * Is to copy out the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be ready to-morrow ? '

" * Certainly,' I answered.

" * Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you once more on the important position which you have been fortunate enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room, and I went home with my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased at my own good fortune.

** Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in low spirits again ; for I had quite persuaded myself that the whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past belief that 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 I had reasoned myself out of the whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a quill pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for Pope's-court.

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

40

ADVEMLRES OE SHERLOCK HOLMES.

wmasfHfKimi

bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had written, and locked the door of the oftice after me.

" This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I

left at two. By de- grees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an in- stant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk the loss of it. ** Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about Abbots, and Archery, and Armour, and Architecture, and Attica, and hoped with diligence that I might get on to the Bs before very long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole business came to an end." ''To an end?"

"Yes^ sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself."

THE DOOR WAS SHUT AND LOCKED

THE RED HEADED LEAGUE. 41

He held up a piece of white cardboard, about the si::e of a sheet of notepaper. It read in this fashion : —

" The Red-Headed League is Dissolved. Oct. 9, i8go."

Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so completely overtopped every other consideration that we both burst out into a roar of laughter.

" I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. " If you can do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere."

" No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from which he had half risen. " I really w^ouldn't miss your case for the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the door?"

**' I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant living on the ground floor, and I asked him if he could tell me what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him."

" ' Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.'

" ' What, the red-headed man ? '

"'Yes.'

" ' Oh,' said he, ' his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor, and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.'

'* * Where could I find him ? '

" ' Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17, King Edward- street, near St. Paul's.' "

"I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever heard of either Mr. William Morris, or Mr. Duncan Ross."

" And what did you do then ? " asked Holmes.

" I went home to Saxe-Coburg-square, and I took the advice

42 AD VENTURES OF SHERL O CK HOLMES.

of my assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right away to you."

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

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

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

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

*' We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who first called your attention to the advertisement — how long had he been with you ? "

''About a month then."

" How did he come ? "

" In answer to an advertisement."

" Was he the only applicant."

" No, I had a dozen."

*' Why did you pick him ? "

*' Because he was handy, and would come cheap.'*

*' At half wages, in fact."

**Yes."

** What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding ? "

'* Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon his forehead."

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE.

43

Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. " I thought as much," said he. " Have you ever observed that his ears are pierced for earrings ? "

" Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he was a lad."

" Hum ! " said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. " He is still with vou ? "

" 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 mornmoj.

'* That will do, Mr. Wil- son. I shall be happy to give you an opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is Satur- day, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion."

'' Well, Watson," said Holmes, when our visitor had left us, ''what do you make of it all ? "

" I make nothing of it," I answered, frankly. " It is a most mysterious business."

"As a rule," said Holmes, ''the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it ■ proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this matter." "HE CURLED HIMSELF UP IN "What arc you going to do then ?" I

HIS CHAIR." ^3j^^^^

"To smoke," he answered. " It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his hawk- like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his black clay

44 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind, and put his pipe down upon the mantelpiece.

" Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare you for a few hours ? "

" I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very absorbing."

*' Then, put on your hat, and come. I am going through the City first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along ! "

We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate ; and a short walk took us to Saxe-Coburg-square, the scene of the singular story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a pokey, little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass, and a few clumps of faded laurel bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with '* Jabez Wilson " in white letters, upon a corner house, announced the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street and then down again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a bright-looking, clean- shaven young fellow, who asked him to step in.

"Thank you," said Holmes, " I only wished to ask you how you would go from here to the Strand."

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

"Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. " He is, in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE.

45

for daring I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known something of him before."

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

"Not him."

" What then ? "

*' The knees of his trousers."

" And what did you see ? "

"What I ex- pected to see."

'' W^hy did you beat the pave- ment ? "

" My dear Doc- tor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe- Coburg-square. Let us now explore the parts which lie be- hind it."

The road in which v/e found ourselves as we turned round the corner from the re- tired Saxe-Coburg- square presented as great a contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was one of the main arteries which convey the traffic of the City to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inwards and outwards, while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we - looked at the line of fine shops and stately business premises that

THE DOOR WAS INSTANTLY OPENED.

46

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

they really abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square which we had just quitted.

** Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner, and glancing along the line, " I should like just to remember the order of the houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restau- rant, and McFarlane's carriage-building depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now% Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A sandwich, and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness, and delicacy, and harmony, and there are no red-headed clients to vex us w^ith their conundrums."

My friend was an enthu- siastic musician, being him- self not only a very capable performer, but a composer of no ordinary merit. All the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness, gently waving his long thin fingers in time to the music, while his gently smiling face and his languid dreamy eyes were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was pos- sible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature alter- nately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was never so truly

ALL AFTEKNOON HE SAT IN THE STALLS.

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE. 47

formidable as when, for days on end, he had been lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set himself to hunt down.

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

** Yes, it would be as well."

" And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This business at Coburg-square is serious."

*' Why serious ? "

** A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help to-night."

"At what time?"

** Ten will be early enough."

** I shall be at Baker-street at ten."

■*'Very well. And, I say. Doctor! there may be some little danger, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the crowd.

I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that he saw clearly not only what had happened, but what was about to happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed copier of the ** Encyclopaedia " down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg- square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? Where were we going, and what were we to do ? I had the hint from Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was

48 ADVENTURES OE SHERLOCK HOLMES.

a formidable man — a man who mi^:!;ht play a deep game. I tried to puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair, and set the matter aside until night should bring an explanation.

It was a quarter past nine when I started from home and made my way across the Park, and so through Oxford-street to Baker- street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and, as I entered the passage, I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering his room, I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police agent ; while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat.

" Ha! our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his pea jacket, and taking his heavy hunting-crop from the rack. *' Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland-yard ? Let me introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in to-night's adventure."

" We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones, in his consequential way. " Our friend here is a wonderful man for starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do the running down."

'* I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," observed Mr. Merryweather, gloomily.

'*You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said the police agent, loftily. *' He has his own little methods, which are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly correct than the official force."

"Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right ! " said the stranger, with deference. '' Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I have not had my rubber."

*' I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, " that you will play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, the stake will be some thirt}^ thousand pounds ; and for you, Jones, it will be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands."

" John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's

THE RED-IIEADED LEAGUE. 49

a 30ung man, Mr. Menyweather, but he is at the head of his pro- fession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John Clay. His grandfather was a Royal Duke, and he himself has been to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. I've been on his track for years, and have never set eyes on him yet."

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

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

'* We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow Menyweather is a bank director and personally interested in the matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog, and as tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon any one. Here we are, and they are waiting for us."

We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a narrow passage, and through a side door, which he opened for us. Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all round with crates and massive boxes.

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

5

5°

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

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

" I must really ask you to be a little more quiet," said Holmes, severely. ** You have already imperilled the whole success of our expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere ? " ■■

The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his knees upon the floor, and, with the lantern and a magni- fying lens, began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again, and put his glass in his pocket.

" We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, '' for they can hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. Then they will not lose a minute, ««i,ir. merryweather sTorrED to light a lantern." 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. Merry- weather is the chairman of directors, ^nd he will explain to you

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE. 5^

that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at present."

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

" Your French gold ? "

*' Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources, and borrowed, for that purpose, thirty thousand napoleons from the Bank of France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The crate upon which I sit contains two thousand napoleons packed between layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the directors have had misgivings upon the subject."

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

'* And sit in the dark ? "

*' I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and I thought that, as we were 2. partie carree, you might have your rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, and, though we shall take them at a disadvantage they may do us some harm, unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no com- punction about shooting them down."

I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front of his lantern, and left us in pitch darkness — such an absolute darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold, dank air of the vault.

" They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. " That is

52 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

back through the house into Saxe-Coburg-square. I hope that you have done what I asked 3^ou, Jones ? "

" I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door."

" Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must I e silent and wait."

What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must have almost gone, and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position, yet my nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, heavier in- breath of the bulky Jones from the thin sighing note of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint of a light.

At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark again save the single lurid spark, which marked a chink between the stones.

Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rend- ing, tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon its side, and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder high and waist high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another instant he stood at the side of the hole, and was hauling after him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face and a shock of very red hair.

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

Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE.

53

upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone floor.

"It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly; " you have no chance at all."

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

'it's no use, JOHN CLAY."

** There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes.

** Oh, indeed. You seem to have done the thing very com- pletely. I must compliment you."

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

** You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. '* He's

54 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

quicker at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the derbies."

" I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," remarked our prisoner, as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have the goodness also when you address me always to say * sir ' and 'please.'"

** All right," said Jones, with a stare and a snigger. ''Well, would you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry your highness to the police-station."

" That is better," said John Clay, serenely. He made a sweeping bow to the three of us, and walked quietly off in the custody of the detective.

" Really, Mr. Holmes," said I\Ir. Merryweather, as we followed them from the cellar, " I do not know how the bank can thank you or repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience."

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

" You see, Watson," he explained, in the early hours of the morning, as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker-street, " it was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of the League, and the copying of the ' Encyclopaedia,' must be to get this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but really it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was no doubt^suggeSted to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his accomplice's hair. The four pounds a week was a lure which must draw him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands ? They put in the advertisement; one rogue has the temporary office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and togethe** they manage to

The red-headed league:. 55

secure his absence every morning in the week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive for securing the situation."

** But how could you guess what the motive was ? "

" Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure as they were at. It must then be something out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar ! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant, and found that I had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in London. He was doing something in the cellar — something which took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel to some other building.

" So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the as- sistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had never set eyes on each other before. I hardly looked at his face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw that the City and Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I called upon Scotland-yard, and upon the chairman of the bank directors, with the result that you have seen."

"And how could you tell that they would make their attempt to-night ? " I asked.

" Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence ; in other words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than any other

5(5 Adventures oe Sherlock holmes.

day, as it would give them two days for their escape. For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night."

*' You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed, in unfeigned admiration. " It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings true."

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

** And you are a benefactor of the race," said I.

He shrugged his shoulders. *' Well, perhaps, after all, it is of sorne little use," he remarked. " ' L'homme c'est rien — I'oeuvre c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert WM'ote to Georges Sand."

J

111.

THE ADVENTURE OF A CASE OF IDENTITY.

Y dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes, as we sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker-street, ** life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to con- ceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that v/indow hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains of events, Vv'orking through generations, and leading to the most outre results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitahle."

" And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. ** The cases which come to light in the papers are, as a rule, hald enough, and vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must he confessed, neither fascinating nor artistic."

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

I smiled and shook my head. ** I can quite understand you thinking so," I said. " Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, through- out three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is strange and bizarre. But here " — I picked up the morning paper f.'om the ground — *' let us put it to a practical test. Here is the first heading upon which I come. *A husband's cruelty to his

57

58 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the bruise, the sympa- thetic sister or landlady. The crudest of writers could invent nothing more crude."

" Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argu- ment," said Holmes, taking the paper, and glancing his eye down it. "This is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling them at his wife, which you wdll allow is not an action likely to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a pinch of snuff. Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over you in your example."

He held out his snuff-box of old gold, with a great amethyst in the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon it.

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

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

" It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of my little problems."

" And have you any on hand just now? " I asked with interest.

" Sorne ten or twelve, but none which presents any feature of interest. They are important, you understand, without being in- teresting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the charm to an investi- gation. The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing which presents any features

A CASE OF IDENTITY. 59

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

He had risen from his chair, and was standing between the parted blinds, gazing down into the dull, neutral-tinted London street. Looking over his shoulder I saw that on the pavement opposite there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquettish Duchess-of-Devonshire fashion over her ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated backwards and forwards, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp clang of the bell.

" I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire. " Oscillation upon the pavement always means an affaire de cceur. She would like advice, but is not sure that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love /natter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts."

As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed merchantman behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and having closed the door, and bowed her into an armchair, he looked her over in the minute, and yet abstracted fashion which was peculiar to him.

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

" I did at first," she answered, " but now I know where the letters are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport of his words, she gave a violent start, and looked up with fear and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know all that?"

6o

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

** Never mind," said Holmes, laughing, " it is my business to know things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me ? "

'' I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as

SHERLOCK HOLMES WELCOMED HER.

much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and 1 would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." " Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together, and his eyes to the ceiling.

A CASE OF IDENTITY. 6i

Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss Mary Sutherland. " Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "for it made me angry to see the easy way in \vhich Mr. Windibank— that is, my father— took it all. He would not go to the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he would do nothing, and kept on saying that there was no harm done, it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away to 3^ou."

"Your father,'' said Holmes, "your step-father, surely, since the name is different."

" Yes, my step-father. I call him father, though it sounds funny, too, for he is only five years and two months older tlian

mvself."

•J

" And your mother is alive ? "

" Oh yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father was a plumber in the Tottenham Court-road, and he left a tidy business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the foreman, but wdien Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wdnes. They got four thousand seven hundred for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't near as much as father could have got if he had been alive."

I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he had listened with the greatest concentration of attention.

" Your own little income," he asked, " does it come out of the business? "

" Oh no, sir. It is quite separate, and was left me by my Uncle Ned in Auckland. It is in Ne\v Zealand Stock, paying \\ per cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can only touch the interest."

"You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the bargain, you no doubt travel a little, and indulge yourself in every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely upon an income of about sixty pounds."

" I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you

62 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while I am staying with them. Of course that is only just for the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter, and pays it over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day."

'' You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. " This is my friend. Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your con- nection with Mr. Hosmer Angel."

A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked nervously at the fringe of her jacket. " I met him first at the gasfitters' ball," she said. " They used to send father tickets when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I was set on going, and I would go, for what right had he to prevent ? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much as taken out of the drawer. At last when nothing else would do he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel."

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

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

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

'' Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if we had got home all safe, and after that we met him — that is to say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house any more,"

J

A CASE OF IDENTITY.

63

**No?"

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

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

'^ Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer wrote and said that it v/ould be safer and better not to see each other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morn- ing, so there was no need for father to know."

" Were you engaged to the gentleman at this tim.e ? " ''Oh yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engage d after the first walk that we took. Hosmer — Mr. Angel — was a cashier in an office in Leadenhall-street — and — " " What office ? " " That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." " Where did he live then ? " " He slept on the premises." " And 5^ou don't know his address ? " " No — except that it was Leadenhall-street." '* Where did you address your letters, then ? " " To the Leadenhall-street Post Office, to be left till called for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be chaffed

•' AT THE GASFITTERS' BALL."

64 ADVENTURES OE SHERLOCK HOLMES.

by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think of."

*' It was most suggestive," said Holmes. ** It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel ? "

'' He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always well-dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes weie weak, just as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare."

'* Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your step- father, returned to France ? "

*' Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again, and proposed that we should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest, and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. Mother was all in his favour from the first, and was even fonder of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the week, I began to ask about father ; but they both said never to mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother said she would make it all ri^ht with him. I didn't quite like that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as he was only a few years older than me ; but I didn't want to do anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the Company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on the very morning of the wedding."

'* It missed him then ? "

" Yes, sir, for he had started to England just before it arrived,"

A CASE OF IDENTITY.

6S

" Ha ! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for the Friday. Was it to be in church ? "

" Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near King's-cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were two of us, he put us both into it, and stepped himself into a four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and when the cabman got dov,^n from the box and looked, there was no one there !

THERE WAS NO ONE THERE.

The cabman said he could not imagine what had become of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything since then to throw any light upon what became of him."

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

*' Oh no, sir ! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to be true ; and that even if something quite unforeseen

6

66 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

occurred to separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed strange talk for a wedding morning, but what has happened since gives a meaning to it."

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

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

" But you have no notion as to what it could have been ? "

'' None."

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

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

*' And your father ? Did you tell him ? " )

*' Yes, and he seemed to think, with me, that something had happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, what interest could any one have in bringing me to the doors of the church, and then leaving me ? Now, if he had borrowed my money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, there might be some reason ; but Hosmer was very independent about money, and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet what could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me half mad to think of ! and I can't sleep a wink at night." She pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff, and began to sob heavily into it.

*' I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, *' and I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life."

*' Then you don't think I'll see him again ? "

*' I fear not."

*' Then what has happened to him ? "

** You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an accurate description of him, and any letters of his which you can spare."

" I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicley" said she. *' Here is the slip, and here are four letters from him."

A CASE OF in ENTITY.

67

*' Thank you. And your address ? '*

"31, Lyon-place, Cambervvell.'*

** Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your father's place of business ? "

" He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret im- porters of Fenchurch-street."

** Thank you. You have made your state- ment very clearly. You will leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it to affect your life."

" You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back."

For all the prepos- terous hat and the vacuous face, there was something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which compelled our re- spect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon the table, and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever she might be summoned.

Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his finger tips still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, and his gaze directed upwards to the ceiling. Then he took down from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of infinite languor in his face.

SHE LAID A LITTLE BUNDLE UPON THE TABLE.

68 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

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

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

*' Not invisible, but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestive- ness of thumbnails, or the great issues that may hang from a bootlace. Now what did you gather from that woman's appear- ance ? Describe it."

" Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed ■ straw hat, with a feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish, and were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a general air of being fairly well to do, in a vulgar, comfortable, easy-going way."

Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled.

" 'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most useful material for showing traces. The double line a little above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the broadest

A CASE OF- IDENTITY. 6(;

part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed to surprise her."

*' It surprised me."

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

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

** I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving home, but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had written in a hurry, and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised description of Mr. Hosmer Angel ? "

I held the little printed slip to the light. '' Missing," it said, " on the morning of the 14th, a gentleman named Hosmer Angel. About 5ft. 7in. in height ; strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a httle bald in the centre, bushy, black side whiskers and moustache ; tinted glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, in black frock coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over elastic-sided boots. Known to have been em- ployed in an office in Leadenhall-street. Anybody bringing," &c., &c. *' That will do," said Holmes. " As to the letters," he con- tinued, glancing over them, " they are very commonplace. Abso- lutely no clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike you."

70 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

" They are typewritten," I remarked.

" Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the neat little * Hosmer Angel ' at the bottom. There is a date, you see, but no superscription, except Leadenhall-street, which is rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive — in fact, we may call it conclusive."

" Of what ? "

** My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it bears upon the case."

** I cannot say that I do, unless it were that he wished to be able to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were insti- tuted."

*' No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock to-morrow evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem upon the shelf for the interim."

I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers of reasoning, and extraordinary energy in action, that I felt that he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known hirh to fail, in the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler photograph, but when I looked back to the weird business of the Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle indeed which he could not unravel.

I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the con- viction that when I came again on the next evening I would find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary Sutherland.

A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own atten- tion at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six o'clock that I found myself free, and was able to spring into a hansom and drive to Baker-street, half afraid that I might be too late to assist at the

A CASE OF IDENTITY.

71

denouement of the little mystery. I found Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable array of bottles and test- tubes, with the pun- ■^' gent cleanly smell of

hydrochloric acid,

" I FOUND SHERLOCK HOLMES HALF ASLF.EP."

told me that he had spent his day in the chemical work which was so dear to him.

" Well, have you solved it ? " I asked as I entered.

"Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta."

" No, no, the mystery ! " I cried.

*' Oh, that ! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only draw- back is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel."

" Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss Sutherland ? "

The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not

72 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

yet opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the passage, and a tap at the door,

" This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes.. " He has written to me to say that he would be here at six. Come in 1 "

The man who entered was a sturdy middle-sized fellow, some thirty years of age, clean shaven, and sallow skinned, with a bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of us, placed his shiny top hat upon the sideboard, and, with a slight bow, sidled down into the nearest chair.

'' Good evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. " I think that this typewritten letter is from you. in which you made an appointment with me for six o'clock ! "

*' Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides it is a useless expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel ? "

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

Angel."

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

'' It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that in every case there is some little slurring over of the ' e,' and a slight defect in the tail of the ' r.' There are fourteen other charac- teristics, but those are the more obvious."

*' We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office,

A CASE OF IDENTITY.

73

and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes.

" And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. " I think of writing another little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not only are the 'e's ' slurred and the ' r's ' tailless, but you will observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well."

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

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

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

*'0h, it won't do— really it won't," said Holmes, suavely. *' There is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's right ! Sit down, and let us talk it over."

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

*' I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, Windibank, it was as cruel, and selfish, and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the course of events, and you will contradict me, if I go wrong."

The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up on the corner of the mantelpiece, and, leaning back with his hands in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, than to us.

*' The man married a woman very much older than himself for her money," said he, " and he enjoyed the use of the money of the daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable

74

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

sum for peo- ple in their position, and the loss of it would have made a serious difference. Itwas worth an effort to preserve it. The daugh- ter was of a good, ami- able dispo- sition, but affectionate and warm- hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with her fair personal ad- vantages,

and her little income, she would not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her stepfather do to prevent it ? He takes the obvious course of keeping her at home, and forbidding her to. seek the company of people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not answer for ever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain ball. What does her clever stepfather do then ? He conceives an idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice into an insinuating whisper, and, doubly secure on account of the girl's short sight, he appears as Mr.

GLANCING ABOUT HIM LIKE A RAT IN A TRAP

A CASE OF IDENTITY. 75

Hosmer Angel, and keeps off other lovers by making love him- self."

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

*' Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very decidedly carried away, and having quite made up her mind that her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the gentle- man's attentions, and the effect was increased by the loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as far as it would go, if a real effect were to be produced. There were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the girl's affections from turning towards any one else. But the deception could not be kept up for ever. These pretended journeys to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind, and prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening on the very morn- ing of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, and then, as he could go no further, he conveniently vanished away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a four-wheeler, and out at the other. I think that that was the chain of events, Mr. Windibank ! "

Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold sneer upon his pale face.

" It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, " but if you are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal constraint."

" The law cannot, as you sa}^, touch you," said Holmes, unlock- ing and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who

76

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon the man's face," it is not part of my duties to my client, but here's a

hunting-crop handy, and I think I shall just treat myself to "

He took two swift steps to the wiiip, but before he could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road.

*' HE TOOK TWO SWIFT STEPS TO THE WHIP."

"There's a cold-blooded scoundrel ! " said

I Holmes, laughing, as he threw himself down

^- -^ into his chair once more. " That fellow

will rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and

ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not

entirely devoid of interest."

A CASE OF IDENTITY. 77

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

" Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, which both hinted at a dis- guise, as did the bushy whiskers. My suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in typewriting his signature, which of course inferred that his handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same direction."

" And how did you verify them ? "

" Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed description, I eliminated everything from it which could be the result of a disguise — the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me whether it answered the description of any of their travellers. 1 had already noticed the peculiarities of the typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business address, asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his reply was typewritten, and revealed the same trivial but characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from Westhouse and Marbank, of Fenchurch-street, to say that the description tallied in every respect with that of their employe, James Windibank. Voila tout ! "

''And Miss Sutherland?"

" If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Persian saying, ' There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much know- ledge of the world."

IV.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY.

E were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes, and ran in this way :

*' Have you a couple of days to spare ? Have just been wired for from the West of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. Leave Paddington by the 11.15."

'* What do you say, dear? " said my wife, looking across at me. " Will you go ? "

*' I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at present."

** Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases."

'' I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained through one of them," I answered. '' But if I am to go I must pack at once, for I have only half an hour."

My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey travelling cloak, and close-fitting cloth cap.

" It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. " It

makes a considerable difference to me, having some one with me

on whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either

worthless or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats

I shall get the tickets."

78

THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY.

79

We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he

j^

*'WE HAD THE CARRIAGE TO OURSELVES. '

rummaged and read, with intervals of note-taking and of medita- tion, until we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a gigantic ball, and tossed them up on to the rack.

" Have you heard anything of the case ? " he asked.

*' Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days."

*' The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple cases which are so extremely difficult."

** That sounds a little paradoxical."

*' But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more

8o ADVENTURES OE SHERLOCK HOLMES.

difficult is it to bring it home. In this case, however, they have established a very serious case against the son of the murdered man."

"• It is a murder, then ? "

"Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have been able to understand it, in a very few words.

** Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia, and returned some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the Colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his tenant, but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have avoided the society of the neighbouring English families, and to have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of sport, and were frequently seen at the race meetings of the neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants — a man and a girl. Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the families. Now for

the facts.

*' On June 3, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at Hatherley about three in the afternoon, and walked down to the Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came back alive.

*'From Hatherley Farmhouse to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the

THE BOSCOMBE VALLE V MYSTER V. 8 1

other was William Crowder, a gamekeeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The gamekeeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in the evening of the tragedy that had occurred.

'*The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, the gamekeeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley Estate, was in one of the woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their violence that she ran away, and told her mother when she reached home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near Bos- combe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On following him they found the dead body of his father stretched out upon the grass beside the Pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly arrested, and a verdict of 'Wilful Murder ' having been returned at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out before the coroner and at the police- court."

7

82

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

'' I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. " If ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so here."

" Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered

f^^ ...<•• Holmes, thoughtfully,

*' It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in an equally uncom- promising manner to something entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people in the neigh- bourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who be- lieve in his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may remember in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in his interest. Les- trade, being rather puzzled, has referred the case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are flying westward at fifty miles an hour, instead of quietly digesting their breakfasts at home."

"THEY FOUND THE BODY."

THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY. §3

" I am afraid," said I, " that the facts are so obvious that you will find little credit to be gained out of this case."

"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he answered, laughing. *' Besides, we may chance to hit upon some other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of under- standing. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted even so self-evident a thing as that."

" How on earth ! "

"My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this season you shave by the sunlight, but since your shaving is less and less complete as we get further back on the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less well illuminated than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking at himself in an equal light, and being satisfied with such a result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and inference. Therein lies my metier, and it is just possible that it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in the inquest, and which are worth considering." ''What are they?"

" It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of con- stabulary informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the coroner's jury."

" It was a confession," I ejaculated.

" No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." *' Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at least a most suspicious remark."

" On the contraiy," said Holmes, " it is the brightest rift

84 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

which I can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger would not be natural under the circum- stances, and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not unnatural if you consider that he stood by the dead body of his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind, rather than of a guilty one."

I shook my head. " Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence," I remarked.

'* So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." *' What is the young man's own account of the matter ? " '' It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. You will find it here, and may read it for yourself."

He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire paper, and having turned down the sheet, he pointed out the paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the corner of the carriage, and read it very carefully. It ran in this way : —

*' Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called, and gave evidence as follows : — ' I had been away from home for three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out of the yard, though I was not aware in which

THE BO SCO MB E VALLE Y MYSTERY. 85

direction he was going. I then took my gun, and strolled out in the direction of the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William Crowder, the gamekeeper, as he has stated in his evidence ; but he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards from the Pool I heard a cry of ' Cooee ! ' which was a usual signal between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found him standing by the Pool. He appeared to be much surprised at seeing me, and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A conversation ensued, which led to high words, and almost to blows, for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his passion was becoming un- governable, I left him, and returned towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than one hundred and fifty yards, however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me to run back again. I found my father expiring on the ground, with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun, and held him in my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge- keeper, his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by his injuries. He was not a popular man, being some- what cold and forbidding in his manners; but he had, as far as I know, no active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' " " The Coroner : Did your father make any statement to you before he died ?

" Witness : He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some allusion to a rat.

*' The Coroner : What did you understand by that ?

" Witness : It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was delirious.

'* The Coroner : What was the point upon which you and your father had this final quarrel ?

"Witness: I should prefer not to answer. . *' The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it.

*' Witness : It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which followed.

86

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES,

" I HELD HIM IN MY ARMS."

''The Coroner: That is for the Court to decide. I need not point out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case considerably in any future proceedings which may arise.

''Witness: I must still refuse.

" The Coroner : I understand that the cry of ' Cooee ' was a common signal between you and your father?

" Witness : It was.

" The Coroner : " How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol ?

" Witness (with considerable confusion) : I do not know.

" A Juryman : Did you see nothing which aroused your sus- picions when you returned on hearing the cry, and found your father fatally injured ?

THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY. 87

" Witness : Nothing definite.

" The Coroner : What do you mean ?

" Witness : I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into the open, that I could think of nothing except of m}^ father. Yet I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was gone.

** ' Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help ? '

*' ' Yes, it was gone.'

'* ' You cannot say what it was ? '

*' ' No, I had a feeling something was there.'

*' ' How far from the body ? '

'* ' A dozen yards or so.'

*' 'And how far from the edge of the wood ? '

" 'About the same.'

*' ' Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen yards of it ? '

" 'Yes, but with my back towards it.'

"This concluded the examination of the witness." " I see," said I, as I glanced down the column, " that the coroner in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, as he remarks, very much against the son.

Holmes laughed softly to himself, and stretched himself out upon the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some pains," said he, " to single out the very strongest points in the young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him credit for having too much imagination and too little ? Too little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from his own inner consciousness anything so outre as a dying reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarchj and not another word

88 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

shall I say of this case until we are on the scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be there in twenty minutes."

It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, found ourselves at the pretty little country town of Ross. A lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and leather leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of Scotland-yard. With him we drove to the '' Hereford Arms," where a room had already been engaged for us.

*' I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade, as we sat over a cup of tea. *' I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be happy until you had been on the scene of the crime."

"It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. *' It is entirely a question of barometric pressure."

Lestrade looked startled. *' I do not quite follow," he said.

" How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a clolid in the sky. I have a easeful of cigarettes here which need smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I shall use the carriage to-night."

Lestrade laughed indulgently. ''You have, no doubt, already formed your conclusions frDm the newspapers," he said. '' The case is as plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it ihe plainer it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a very positive one, too. She had heard of you, and would have your opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my soul ! here is her carriage at the door."

He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her overpowering excitement and concern.

'* Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes ! " she cried, glancing from one to the other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, fastening upon my companion, ** I am so glad that you have come. I have

THE SOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY

89

driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a charge is absurd to any one who really knows him."

''I hope w^e may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. *' You may rely upon my doing all that I can."

" But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion ? Do you not see some loophole, some flaw ? Do you not yourself think that he is innocent ? "

*'I think that it is very probable."

*' There now! " she cried, throwing back her head, and looking defiantly at Lestrade. '* You hear ! He gives me hopes."

Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. *' I am afraid that my colleague has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said.

" But he is right. Oh ! I knowj that he is right. James never did it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because I was concerned in it."

LESTRADE SHRUGGED HIS SHOULDERS."

90 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

" In what way ? " asked Holmes.

"■ It is no time for me to hide anythin?^. James and his father had many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always loved each other as brother and sister, but of course he is young, and has seen very little of life yet, and — and— well, he naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them."

" And your father ? " asked Holmes. " Was he in favour of such a union ? "

*' No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her.

*' Thank you for this information," said he. '' May I see your father if I call to-morrow ? "

" I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." *'The doctor?"

*' Yes, have you not heard ? Poor father has never been strong for years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck, and that his nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." '^ Ha ! In Victoria! That is important." '' Yes, at the mines."

*' Quite so; at the gold mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner made his money." " Yes, certainly."

** Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assist- ance to me."'

" You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt 5^ou will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do tell him that I know him to be innocent." " I will. Miss Turner."

" I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street.

^* I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity, after a few minutes' silence. " Why should you raise up hopes

THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY.

91

which you are bound to disappoint ? I am not over-tender of heart, but I call it cruel."

" I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said Holmes. *' Have you an order to see him in prison."

'' Yes, but only for you and me."

" Then I shall re-consider my resolution about going out. We have still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night ? "

''Ample."

'* Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very slow, but 1 shall only be away a couple of hours."

I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through the streets of

the little town, finally -- _._,,^.._,, -™^--^^^_

returning to the hotel, |

where I lay upon the sofa

I TRIED TO INTEREST MYSELF IN A YELLOW-BACKED NOVEL."

rest myself in a yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were groping, and I found my attention wander so constantly from the fiction to the fact, that 1 at last flung it across the room, and gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story 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.

92 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

What could it be ? Might not the nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts ? I rang the bell, and called for the weekly county paper, which contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying reference to a rat. What could that mean ? It could not be delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how he met his fate. But what could it indicate ? I cudgelled my brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident of the grey cloth, seen by young McCarthy. If that were true, the murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardi- hood to return and carry it away at the instant when the son was kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young McCarthy's innocence.

It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town.

" The glass still keeps very high," he remarked; as he sat down. ** It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young McCarthy."

" And what did you learn from him ? "

*' Nothing."

** Could he throw no light ? "

'* None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that h^

The BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY. 93

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, and, I should think, sound at heart."

*' I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, *' if it is indeed a fact that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as this Miss Turner."

" Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly,

insanely in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was

only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away

five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get into

the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol, and marry her at a registry

office ? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can imagine

how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not doing

what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows to be

absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort which made

him throw his hands up into the air when his father, at their last

interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss Turner. On the

other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, and his father,

who was by all accounts a very hard man, would have thrown him

over utterly had he known the truth. It was with his barmaid wife

that he had spent the last three days in Bristol, and his father did

not know where he was. Mark that point. It is of importance.

Good has come out of evil, however, for the barmaid, finding from

the papers that he is in serious trouble, and likely to be hanged,

has thrown him over utterly, and has written to him to say that she

has a husband already in the Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is

really no tie between them. I think that that bit of news has

consoled young McCarthy for all that he has suffered."

*' But if he is innocent, who has done it ? "

" Ah 1 who ? I would call your attention very particularly to two points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with some one at the Pool, and that the some one could not have been his son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry, ' Cooee ! ' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the crucial points upon which' the case depends. And now let us talk about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all minor matters until to-morrow."-

94 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe Pool.

" There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. '' It is said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is despaired of."

*'An elderly man, I presume? " said Holmes.

" About sixty ; but his constitution has been shattered by his life abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free."

" Indeed ! That is interesting," said Holmes.

*' Oh, yes ! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody about here speaks of his kindness to him."

" Really ! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this McCarthy, who appeals to have had little of his own, and to have been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, as if it was merely a case of a proposal and all else would follow ? It is the more strange since we know that Turner himself was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not .deduce something from that ? "

*' We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said Lestrade, winking at me. " I find it hard enough to tackle facts, Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies."

*' You are right," said Holmes, demurely; "you do find it very hard to tackle the facts."

" Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade, with some warmth.

'*And that is?"

*' That McCarthy, senior, met his death from McCarthy, junior, and that all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine."

" Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, laughing. " But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley Farm upon the left."

" Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking

THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY,

95

building, two-storied, slate roofed, with great yellow blotches of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured these very carefully from seven or eight different points. Holmes

^^

"THE MAID SHOWED US THE BOOTS.

desired to be led to the courtyard, from which we all followed the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool.

Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Baker-street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard, black lines, while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. His face was bent downwards, his shoulders bowed, his lips compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his

96 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

long, sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concen- trated upon the matter before him, that a question or remark fell unheeded upon his ears, or at the most, only provoked a quick, impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon the path, and amid the short grass which bounded it on either side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the conviction that every one of his actions were directed towards a definite end.

The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water some fifty yards across, is situated at tlie boundary between the Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. Above the woods which lined it upon the further 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 the woods grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking up a scent, and then turned upon my companion.

*' What did you go into the Pool for ? " he asked.

" I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some

weapon or other trace. But how on earth ? "

" Oh, tut, tut ! I have no time ! That left foot of yours with its inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo, and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the lodge- keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or eight feet

THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY AIYSTERY,

97

round the body. But here are three separate tracks of the same feet." He drew out a lens, and lay down upon his waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to himself than to us. " These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he was walking, and once he ran swiftly so that the soles are deeply marked, and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then ? It is the butt end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this ? Ha, ha ! What have we here? Tip-toes! tip-toes! Square, too, quite unusual boots ! They come, they go, they come again — of course that was

x

^'jujljy

*' FOR A LONG TIME HE REMAINED THERE,

for the cloak. Now where did they come from ? " He ran up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we were well within the edge of the wood, and under the shadow of a great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced his way to the further side of this, and lay down once more upon his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope, and examining with his lens not only the ground, but even the bark of the tree as far as he could reach. -A jagged stone was lying among the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then he followed

6

98 ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

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, returning to his natural manner. *' I fancy that this grey house on the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, and I shall be with you presently."

It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab, and drove back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he had picked up in the wood.

" This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. ** The murder was done with it."

" I see no marks."

" There are none."

*' How do you know, then ? "

*' The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other weapon."

*' And the murderer ? "

** Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears thick-soled shooting boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt penknife in his pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be enough to aid us in our search."

Lestrade laughed. " I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he said. " Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a hard- headed British jury."

^' Nous verrons,'" answered Holmes, calmly. "You work your own method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this after- noon, and shall probably return to London by the evening train."

*' And leave your case unfinished ? "

** No, finished."

**But the mystery?"

** It is solved."

*' Who was the criminal, then ? "

** The gentleman I describe,"

" But who is he ? "

• THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY. 99

" Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a populous neighbourhood."

Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. " I am a practical man," he said, *'and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the laughing-stock of Scotland-yard."

" All right," said Holmes, quietly. *' I have given you the chance. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before I leave."

Having left Lestrade at his rooms we drove to our hotel, where we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds himself in a perplexing position.

"Look here, Watson," he said, when the cloth was cleared ; ** just sit down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't quite know what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a cigar, and let me expound."

" Pray do so."

" Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One was the fact that his father should, according to his account, cry * Cooee ! ' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double point our research must commence, and we will begin it by presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true."

" What of this Xooee 1 ' then ? "

Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that he was within earshot. The ' Cooee ! ' was meant to attract the attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But * Cooee ' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was some one who had been in Australia."

*' What of the rat, then ? "

Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened it out on the table. *' This is a map of the Colony of

loo ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES,

Victoria," he said. " I wired to Bristol for it last night.'* He put his hand over part of the map. " What do you read ? " he asked.

*' ARAT," I read.

** And now ? " He raised his hand.

" BALLARAT."

" Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter the name of his murderer. So-and-so of Ballarat."

" It is wonderful ! " I exclaimed.

" It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak."

"Certainly."

'' And one who was at home in the district, for the Pool can only be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could hardly wander."

''Quite so."

*' Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal."

" But how did you gain them ? "

*' You know my method. It is founded upon the observance of trifles."

" His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces."

" Yes, they were peculiar boots."

" But his lameness ? "

" The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than his left. He put less weight upon it. Why ? Because he limped — he was lame."

*' But his left-handedness.''

" You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as re- corded 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

THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY.

lOI

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 to- bacco ashes enabled me to pronounce as an Indian cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some atten- tion to this, and written a little mono- graph on the ashes of 140 different varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the ash, I then looked round and disco ve red the stump among the moss where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety which are rolled in Rot- terdam."

** And the cigar- holder?"

" I could see that

the end had not been

in his mouth. Therefore he used a holder. The tip had been cut

off, not bitten off, but the cut was not a clean one, so I deduced

a blunt penknife."

" Holmes," I said, " you have drawn a net round this man from which he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see

the direction in which all this points. The culprit is "

" Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door ot our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor.

The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His

** HE HAD STOOD BEHIND THAT TREE."

I02

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease.

'* Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes, gently. ** You had my note ? "

** Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to see me here to avoid scandal."

" I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall."

'* And why did you wish to see me ? " He looked across at my companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question were already answered.

*' Yes," said Holmes, an- swering the look rather than the words. " It is so. I know all about McCarthy."

The old man sank his face in his hands. *' God help me ! " he cried. " But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at the Assizes."

" I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes, gravely. " I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It would break her heart — it will break her heart when she hears that I am arres'cd."

MR. JOHN lURNLU, SAID THE WAITER.'

THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY, to3

*' It may not come to that," said Holmes.

**What!"

*' I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. Young McCarthy must be got off, however."

*' I am a dying man," said old Turner. *' I have had diabetes for years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol."

Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand and a bundle of paper before him. *' Just tell us the truth," he said. " I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall not use it unless it is absolutely needed."

*' It's as well," said the old man; ''it's a question whether I shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the thing clear to you ; it has been a long time in the acting, but will not take me long to tell.

" You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be in his power.

" It was in the early sixties at the diggings. I was a young chap then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand to anything ; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck with my claim, took to the bush, and, in a word, became what you would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and we had a wild,