I.
A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA
I.
To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman.
I have seldom heard him mention her under
any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and
predominates the whole of her sex. It was
not that he felt any emotion akin to love
for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one
particularly, were abhorrent to his cold,
precise but admirably balanced mind. He was,
I take it, the most perfect reasoning and
observing machine that the world has seen,
but as a lover he would have placed himself
in a false position. He never spoke of the
softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer.
They were admirable things for the observer—excellent
for drawing the veil from men’s motives
and actions. But for the trained reasoner
to admit such intrusions into his own delicate
and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce
a distracting factor which might throw a doubt
upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive
instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power
lenses, would not be more disturbing than
a strong emotion in a nature such as his.
And yet there was but one woman to him, and
that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious
and questionable memory.
I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage
had drifted us away from each other. My own
complete happiness, and the home-centred interests
which rise up around the man who first finds
himself master of his own establishment, were
sufficient to absorb all my attention, while
Holmes, who loathed every form of society
with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in
our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among
his old books, and alternating from week to
week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness
of the drug, and the fierce energy of his
own keen nature. He was still, as ever, deeply
attracted by the study of crime, and occupied
his immense faculties and extraordinary powers
of observation in following out those clues,
and clearing up those mysteries which had
been abandoned as hopeless by the official
police. From time to time I heard some vague
account of his doings: of his summons to Odessa
in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his
clearing up of the singular tragedy of the
Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, and finally
of the mission which he had accomplished so
delicately and successfully for the reigning
family of Holland. Beyond these signs of his
activity, however, which I merely shared with
all the readers of the daily press, I knew
little of my former friend and companion.
One night—it was on the twentieth of March,
1888—I was returning from a journey to a
patient (for I had now returned to civil practice),
when my way led me through Baker Street. As
I passed the well-remembered door, which must
always be associated in my mind with my wooing,
and with the dark incidents of the Study in
Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to
see Holmes again, and to know how he was employing
his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly
lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall,
spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette
against the blind. He was pacing the room
swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon
his chest and his hands clasped behind him.
To me, who knew his every mood and habit,
his attitude and manner told their own story.
He was at work again. He had risen out of
his drug-created dreams and was hot upon the
scent of some new problem. I rang the bell
and was shown up to the chamber which had
formerly been in part my own.
His manner was not effusive. It seldom was;
but he was glad, I think, to see me. With
hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye,
he waved me to an armchair, threw across his
case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case
and a gasogene in the corner. Then he stood
before the fire and looked me over in his
singular introspective fashion.
“Wedlock suits you,” he remarked. “I
think, Watson, that you have put on seven
and a half pounds since I saw you.”
“Seven!” I answered.
“Indeed, I should have thought a little
more. Just a trifle more, I fancy, Watson.
And in practice again, I observe. You did
not tell me that you intended to go into harness.”
“Then, how do you know?”
“I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that
you have been getting yourself very wet lately,
and that you have a most clumsy and careless
servant girl?”
“My dear Holmes,” said I, “this is too
much. You would certainly have been burned,
had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true
that I had a country walk on Thursday and
came home in a dreadful mess, but as I have
changed my clothes I can’t imagine how you
deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible,
and my wife has given her notice, but there,
again, I fail to see how you work it out.”
He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long,
nervous hands together.
“It is simplicity itself,” said he; “my
eyes tell me that on the inside of your left
shoe, just where the firelight strikes it,
the leather is scored by six almost parallel
cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone
who has very carelessly scraped round the
edges of the sole in order to remove crusted
mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction
that you had been out in vile weather, and
that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting
specimen of the London slavey. As to your
practice, if a gentleman walks into my rooms
smelling of iodoform, with a black mark of
nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger,
and a bulge on the right side of his top-hat
to show where he has secreted his stethoscope,
I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce
him to be an active member of the medical
profession.”
I could not help laughing at the ease with
which he explained his process of deduction.
“When I hear you give your reasons,” I
remarked, “the thing always appears to me
to be so ridiculously simple that I could
easily do it myself, though at each successive
instance of your reasoning I am baffled until
you explain your process. And yet I believe
that my eyes are as good as yours.”
“Quite so,” he answered, lighting a cigarette,
and throwing himself down into an armchair.
“You see, but you do not observe. The distinction
is clear. For example, you have frequently
seen the steps which lead up from the hall
to this room.”
“Frequently.”
“How often?”
“Well, some hundreds of times.”
“Then how many are there?”
“How many? I don’t know.”
“Quite so! You have not observed. And yet
you have seen. That is just my point. Now,
I know that there are seventeen steps, because
I have both seen and observed. By the way,
since you are interested in these little problems,
and since you are good enough to chronicle
one or two of my trifling experiences, you
may be interested in this.” He threw over
a sheet of thick, pink-tinted 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
received. Be in your chamber then at that
hour, and do not take it amiss if your visitor
wear a mask.”
“This is indeed a mystery,” I remarked.
“What do you imagine that it means?”
“I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake
to 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.”
“Peculiar—that is the very word,” said
Holmes. “It is not an English paper at all.
Hold it up to the light.”
I did so, and saw a large “E” with a small
“g,” a “P,” and a large “G” with
a small “t” woven into the texture of
the paper.
“What do you make of that?” asked Holmes.
“The name of the maker, no doubt; or his
monogram, rather.”
“Not at all. The ‘G’ with the small
‘t’ stands for ‘Gesellschaft,’ which
is the German for ‘Company.’ It is a customary
contraction like our ‘Co.’ ‘P,’ of
course, stands for ‘Papier.’ Now for the
‘Eg.’ Let us glance at our Continental
Gazetteer.” He took down a heavy brown volume
from his shelves. “Eglow, Eglonitz—here
we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking
country—in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad.
‘Remarkable as being the scene of the death
of Wallenstein, and for its numerous glass-factories
and paper-mills.’ Ha, ha, my boy, what do
you make of that?” His eyes sparkled, and
he sent up a great blue triumphant cloud from
his cigarette.
“The paper was made in Bohemia,” I said.
“Precisely. And the man who wrote the note
is a German. Do you note the peculiar construction
of the sentence—‘This account of you we
have from all quarters received.’ A Frenchman
or Russian could not have written that. It
is the German who is so uncourteous to his
verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover
what is wanted by this German who writes upon
Bohemian paper and prefers wearing a mask
to showing his face. And here he comes, if
I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts.”
As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses’
hoofs and grating wheels against the curb,
followed by a sharp pull at the bell. Holmes
whistled.
“A pair, by the sound,” said he. “Yes,”
he continued, glancing out of the window.
“A nice little brougham and a pair of beauties.
A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There’s
money in this case, Watson, if there is nothing
else.”
“I think that I had better go, Holmes.”
“Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are.
I am lost without my Boswell. And this promises
to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss
it.”
“But your client—”
“Never mind him. I may want your help, and
so may he. Here he comes. Sit down in that
armchair, Doctor, and give us your best attention.”
A slow and heavy step, which had been heard
upon the stairs and in the passage, paused
immediately outside the door. Then there was
a loud and authoritative tap.
“Come in!” said Holmes.
A man entered who could hardly have been less
than six feet six inches in height, with the
chest and limbs of a Hercules. His dress was
rich with a richness which would, in England,
be looked upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy
bands of astrakhan were slashed across the
sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted
coat, while the deep blue cloak which was
thrown over his shoulders was lined with flame-coloured
silk and secured at the neck with a brooch
which consisted of a single flaming beryl.
Boots which extended halfway up his calves,
and which were trimmed at the tops with rich
brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric
opulence which was suggested by his whole
appearance. He carried a broad-brimmed hat
in his hand, while he wore across the upper
part of his face, extending down past the
cheekbones, a black vizard mask, which he
had apparently adjusted that very moment,
for his hand was still raised to it as he
entered. From the lower part of the face he
appeared to be a man of strong character,
with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight
chin suggestive of resolution pushed to the
length of obstinacy.
“You had my note?” he asked with a deep
harsh voice and a strongly marked German accent.
“I told you that I would call.” He looked
from one to the other of us, as if uncertain
which to address.
“Pray take a seat,” said Holmes. “This
is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, who
is occasionally good enough to help me in
my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?”
“You may address me as the Count Von Kramm,
a Bohemian nobleman. I understand that this
gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour
and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter
of the most extreme importance. If not, I
should much prefer to communicate with you
alone.”
I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the
wrist and pushed me back into my chair. “It
is both, or none,” said he. “You may say
before this gentleman anything which you may
say to me.”
The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. “Then
I must begin,” said he, “by binding you
both to absolute secrecy for two years; at
the end of that time the matter will be of
no importance. At present it is not too much
to say that it is of such weight it may have
an influence upon European history.”
“I promise,” said Holmes.
“And I.”
“You will excuse this mask,” continued
our strange visitor. “The august person
who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown
to you, and I may confess at once that the
title by which I have just called myself is
not exactly my own.”
“I was aware of it,” said Holmes dryly.
“The circumstances are of great delicacy,
and every precaution has to be taken to quench
what might grow to be an immense scandal and
seriously compromise one of the reigning families
of Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates
the great House of Ormstein, hereditary kings
of Bohemia.”
“I was also aware of that,” murmured Holmes,
settling himself down in his armchair and
closing his eyes.
Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise
at the languid, lounging figure of the man
who had been no doubt depicted to him as the
most incisive reasoner and most energetic
agent in Europe. Holmes slowly reopened his
eyes and looked impatiently at his gigantic
client.
“If your Majesty would condescend to state
your case,” he remarked, “I should be
better able to advise you.”
The man sprang from his chair and paced up
and down the room in uncontrollable agitation.
Then, with a gesture of desperation, he tore
the mask from his face and hurled it upon
the ground. “You are right,” he cried;
“I am the King. Why should I attempt to
conceal it?”
“Why, indeed?” murmured Holmes. “Your
Majesty had not spoken before I was aware
that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond
von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein,
and hereditary King of Bohemia.”
“But you can understand,” said our strange
visitor, sitting down once more and passing
his hand over his high white forehead, “you
can understand that I am not accustomed to
doing such business in my own person. Yet
the matter was so delicate that I could not
confide it to an agent without putting myself
in his power. I have come incognito from Prague
for the purpose of consulting you.”
“Then, pray consult,” said Holmes, shutting
his eyes once more.
“The facts are briefly these: Some five
years ago, during a lengthy visit to Warsaw,
I made the acquaintance of the well-known
adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt
familiar to you.”
“Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor,”
murmured Holmes without opening his eyes.
For many years he had adopted a system of
docketing all paragraphs concerning men and
things, so that it was difficult to name a
subject or a person on which he could not
at once furnish information. In this case
I found her biography sandwiched in between
that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a staff-commander
who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea
fishes.
“Let me see!” said Holmes. “Hum! Born
in New Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto—hum!
La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera
of Warsaw—yes! Retired from operatic stage—ha!
Living in London—quite so! Your Majesty,
as I understand, became entangled with this
young person, wrote her some compromising
letters, and is now desirous of getting those
letters back.”
“Precisely so. But how—”
“Was there a secret marriage?”
“None.”
“No legal papers or certificates?”
“None.”
“Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If
this young person should produce her letters
for blackmailing or other purposes, how is
she to prove their authenticity?”
“There is the writing.”
“Pooh, pooh! Forgery.”
“My private note-paper.”
“Stolen.”
“My own seal.”
“Imitated.”
“My photograph.”
“Bought.”
“We were both in the photograph.”
“Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty
has indeed committed an indiscretion.”
“I was mad—insane.”
“You have compromised yourself seriously.”
“I was only Crown Prince then. I was young.
I am but thirty now.”
“It must be recovered.”
“We have tried and failed.”
“Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought.”
“She will not sell.”
“Stolen, then.”
“Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars
in my pay ransacked her house. Once we diverted
her luggage when she travelled. Twice she
has been waylaid. There has been no result.”
“No sign of it?”
“Absolutely none.”
Holmes laughed. “It is quite a pretty little
problem,” said he.
“But a very serious one to me,” returned
the King reproachfully.
“Very, indeed. And what does she propose
to do with the photograph?”
“To ruin me.”
“But how?”
“I am about to be married.”
“So I have heard.”
“To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen,
second daughter of the King of Scandinavia.
You may know the strict principles of her
family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy.
A shadow of a doubt as to my conduct would
bring the matter to an end.”
“And Irene Adler?”
“Threatens to send them the photograph.
And she will do it. I know that she will do
it. You do not know her, but she has a soul
of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful
of women, and the mind of the most resolute
of men. Rather than I should marry another
woman, there are no lengths to which she would
not go—none.”
“You are sure that she has not sent it yet?”
“I am sure.”
“And why?”
“Because she has said that she would send
it on the day when the betrothal was publicly
proclaimed. That will be next Monday.”
“Oh, then we have three days yet,” said
Holmes with a yawn. “That is very fortunate,
as I have one or two matters of importance
to look into just at present. Your Majesty
will, of course, stay in London for the present?”
“Certainly. You will find me at the Langham
under the name of the Count Von Kramm.”
“Then I shall drop you a line to let you
know how we progress.”
“Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety.”
“Then, as to money?”
“You have carte blanche.”
“Absolutely?”
“I tell you that I would give one of the
provinces of my kingdom to have that photograph.”
“And for present expenses?”
The King took a heavy chamois leather bag
from under his cloak and laid it on the table.
“There are three hundred pounds in gold
and seven hundred in notes,” he said.
Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of
his note-book and handed it to him.
“And Mademoiselle’s address?” he asked.
“Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St.
John’s Wood.”
Holmes took a note of it. “One other question,”
said he. “Was the photograph a cabinet?”
“It was.”
“Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust
that we shall soon have some good news for
you. And good-night, Watson,” he added,
as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled
down the street. “If you will be good enough
to call to-morrow afternoon at three o’clock
I should like to chat this little matter over
with you.”
II.
At three o’clock precisely I was at Baker
Street, but Holmes had not yet returned. The
landlady informed me that he had left the
house shortly after eight o’clock in the
morning. I sat down beside the fire, however,
with the intention of awaiting him, however
long he might be. I was already deeply interested
in his inquiry, for, though it was surrounded
by none of the grim and strange features which
were associated with the two crimes which
I have already recorded, still, the nature
of the case and the exalted station of his
client gave it a character of its own. Indeed,
apart from the nature of the investigation
which my friend had on hand, there was something
in his masterly grasp of a situation, and
his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it
a pleasure to me to study his system of work,
and to follow the quick, subtle methods by
which he disentangled the most inextricable
mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable
success that the very possibility of his failing
had ceased to enter into my head.
It was close upon four before the door opened,
and a drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and
side-whiskered, with an inflamed face and
disreputable clothes, walked into the room.
Accustomed as I was to my friend’s amazing
powers in the use of disguises, I had to look
three times before I was certain that it was
indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the
bedroom, whence he emerged in five minutes
tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. Putting
his hands into his pockets, he stretched out
his legs in front of the fire and laughed
heartily for some minutes.
“Well, really!” he cried, and then he
choked and laughed again until he was obliged
to lie back, limp and helpless, in the chair.
“What is it?”
“It’s quite too funny. I am sure you could
never guess how I employed my morning, or
what I ended by doing.”
“I can’t imagine. I suppose that you have
been watching the habits, and perhaps the
house, of Miss Irene Adler.”
“Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual.
I will tell you, however. I left the house
a little after eight o’clock this morning
in the character of a groom out of work. There
is a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among
horsey men. Be one of them, and you will know
all that there is to know. I soon found Briony
Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden
at the back, but built out in front right
up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock to
the door. Large sitting-room on the right
side, well furnished, with long windows almost
to the floor, and those preposterous English
window fasteners which a child could open.
Behind there was nothing remarkable, save
that the passage window could be reached from
the top of the coach-house. I walked round
it and examined it closely from every point
of view, but without noting anything else
of interest.
“I then lounged down the street and found,
as I expected, that there was a mews in a
lane which runs down by one wall of the garden.
I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down
their horses, and received in exchange twopence,
a glass of half-and-half, two fills of shag
tobacco, and as much information as I could
desire about Miss Adler, to say nothing of
half a dozen other people in the neighbourhood
in whom I was not in the least interested,
but whose biographies I was compelled to listen
to.”
“And what of Irene Adler?” I asked.
“Oh, she has turned all the men’s heads
down in that part. She is the daintiest thing
under a bonnet on this planet. So say the
Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly,
sings at concerts, drives out at five every
day, and returns at seven sharp for dinner.
Seldom goes out at other times, except when
she sings. Has only one male visitor, but
a good deal of him. He is dark, handsome,
and dashing, never calls less than once a
day, and often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey
Norton, of the Inner Temple. See the advantages
of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven
him home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews,
and knew all about him. When I had listened
to all they had to tell, I began to walk up
and down near Briony Lodge once more, and
to think over my plan of campaign.
“This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important
factor in the matter. He was a lawyer. That
sounded ominous. What was the relation between
them, and what the object of his repeated
visits? Was she his client, his friend, or
his mistress? If the former, she had probably
transferred the photograph to his keeping.
If the latter, it was less likely. On the
issue of this question depended whether I
should continue my work at Briony Lodge, or
turn my attention to the gentleman’s chambers
in the Temple. It was a delicate point, and
it widened the field of my inquiry. I fear
that I bore you with these details, but I
have to let you see my little difficulties,
if you are to understand the situation.”
“I am following you closely,” I answered.
“I was still balancing the matter in my
mind when a hansom cab drove up to Briony
Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was
a remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline,
and moustached—evidently the man of whom
I had heard. He appeared to be in a great
hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and
brushed past the maid who opened the door
with the air of a man who was thoroughly at
home.
“He was in the house about half an hour,
and I could catch glimpses of him in the windows
of the sitting-room, pacing up and down, talking
excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could
see nothing. Presently he emerged, looking
even more flurried than before. As he stepped
up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from
his pocket and looked at it earnestly, ‘Drive
like the devil,’ he shouted, ‘first to
Gross & Hankey’s in Regent Street, and then
to the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware
Road. Half a guinea if you do it in twenty
minutes!’
“Away they went, and I was just wondering
whether I should not do well to follow them
when up the lane came a neat little landau,
the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned,
and his tie under his ear, while all the tags
of his harness were sticking out of the buckles.
It hadn’t pulled up before she shot out
of the hall door and into it. I only caught
a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was
a lovely woman, with a face that a man might
die for.
“‘The Church of St. Monica, John,’ she
cried, ‘and half a sovereign if you reach
it in twenty minutes.’
“This was quite too good to lose, Watson.
I was just balancing whether I should run
for it, or whether I should perch behind her
landau when a cab came through the street.
The driver looked twice at such a shabby fare,
but I jumped in before he could object. ‘The
Church of St. Monica,’ said I, ‘and half
a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.’
It was twenty-five minutes to twelve, and
of course it was clear enough what was in
the wind.
“My cabby drove fast. I don’t think I
ever drove faster, but the others were there
before us. The cab and the landau with their
steaming horses were in front of the door
when I arrived. I paid the man and hurried
into the church. There was not a soul there
save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced
clergyman, who seemed to be expostulating
with them. They were all three standing in
a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up
the side aisle like any other idler who has
dropped into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise,
the three at the altar faced round to me,
and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as
he could towards me.
“‘Thank God,’ he cried. ‘You’ll
do. Come! Come!’
“‘What then?’ I asked.
“‘Come, man, come, only three minutes,
or it won’t be legal.’
“I was half-dragged up to the altar, and
before I knew where I was I found myself mumbling
responses which were whispered in my ear,
and vouching for things of which I knew nothing,
and generally assisting in the secure tying
up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton,
bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and
there was the gentleman thanking me on the
one side and the lady on the other, while
the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was
the most preposterous position in which I
ever found myself in my life, and it was the
thought of it that started me laughing just
now. It seems that there had been some informality
about their license, that the clergyman absolutely
refused to marry them without a witness of
some sort, and that my lucky appearance saved
the bridegroom from having to sally out into
the streets in search of a best man. The bride
gave me a sovereign, and I mean to wear it
on my watch chain in memory of the occasion.”
“This is a very unexpected turn of affairs,”
said I; “and what then?”
“Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced.
It looked as if the pair might take an immediate
departure, and so necessitate very prompt
and energetic measures on my part. At the
church door, however, they separated, he driving
back to the Temple, and she to her own house.
‘I shall drive out in the park at five as
usual,’ she said as she left him. I heard
no more. They drove away in different directions,
and I went off to make my own arrangements.”
“Which are?”
“Some cold beef and a glass of beer,”
he answered, ringing the bell. “I have been
too busy to think of food, and I am likely
to be busier still this evening. By the way,
Doctor, I shall want your co-operation.”
“I shall be delighted.”
“You don’t mind breaking the law?”
“Not in the least.”
“Nor running a chance of arrest?”
“Not in a good cause.”
“Oh, the cause is excellent!”
“Then I am your man.”
“I was sure that I might rely on you.”
“But what is it you wish?”
“When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray
I will make it clear to you. Now,” he said
as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that
our landlady had provided, “I must discuss
it while I eat, for I have not much time.
It is nearly five now. In two hours we must
be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or
Madame, rather, returns from her drive at
seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet
her.”
“And what then?”
“You must leave that to me. I have already
arranged what is to occur. There is only one
point on which I must insist. You must not
interfere, come what may. You understand?”
“I am to be neutral?”
“To do nothing whatever. There will probably
be some small unpleasantness. Do not join
in it. It will end in my being conveyed into
the house. Four or five minutes afterwards
the sitting-room window will open. You are
to station yourself close to that open window.”
“Yes.”
“You are to watch me, for I will be visible
to you.”
“Yes.”
“And when I raise my hand—so—you will
throw into the room what I give you to throw,
and will, at the same time, raise the cry
of fire. You quite follow me?”
“Entirely.”
“It is nothing very formidable,” he said,
taking a long cigar-shaped roll from his pocket.
“It is an ordinary plumber’s smoke-rocket,
fitted with a cap at either end to make it
self-lighting. Your task is confined to that.
When you raise your cry of fire, it will be
taken up by quite a number of people. You
may then walk to the end of the street, and
I will rejoin you in ten minutes. I hope that
I have made myself clear?”
“I am to remain neutral, to get near the
window, to watch you, and at the signal to
throw in this object, then to raise the cry
of fire, and to wait you at the corner of
the street.”
“Precisely.”
“Then you may entirely rely on me.”
“That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it
is almost time that I prepare for the new
role I have to play.”
He disappeared into his bedroom and returned
in a few minutes in the character of an amiable
and simple-minded Nonconformist clergyman.
His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his
white tie, his sympathetic smile, and general
look of peering and benevolent curiosity were
such as Mr. John Hare alone could have equalled.
It was not merely that Holmes changed his
costume. His expression, his manner, his very
soul seemed to vary with every fresh part
that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor,
even as science lost an acute reasoner, when
he became a specialist in crime.
It was a quarter past six when we left Baker
Street, and it still wanted ten minutes to
the hour when we found ourselves in Serpentine
Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps
were just being lighted as we paced up and
down in front of Briony Lodge, waiting for
the coming of its occupant. The house was
just such as I had pictured it from Sherlock
Holmes’ succinct description, but the locality
appeared to be less private than I expected.
On the contrary, for a small street in a quiet
neighbourhood, it was remarkably animated.
There was a group of shabbily dressed men
smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder
with his wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting
with a nurse-girl, and several well-dressed
young men who were lounging up and down with
cigars in their mouths.
“You see,” remarked Holmes, as we paced
to and fro in front of the house, “this
marriage rather simplifies matters. The photograph
becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances
are that she would be as averse to its being
seen by Mr. Godfrey Norton, as our client
is to its coming to the eyes of his princess.
Now the question is, Where are we to find
the photograph?”
“Where, indeed?”
“It is most unlikely that she carries it
about with her. It is cabinet size. Too large
for easy concealment about a woman’s dress.
She knows that the King is capable of having
her waylaid and searched. Two attempts of
the sort have already been made. We may take
it, then, that she does not carry it about
with her.”
“Where, then?”
“Her banker or her lawyer. There is that
double possibility. But I am inclined to think
neither. Women are naturally secretive, and
they like to do their own secreting. Why should
she hand it over to anyone else? She could
trust her own guardianship, but she could
not tell what indirect or political influence
might be brought to bear upon a business man.
Besides, remember that she had resolved to
use it within a few days. It must be where
she can lay her hands upon it. It must be
in her own house.”
“But it has twice been burgled.”
“Pshaw! They did not know how to look.”
“But how will you look?”
“I will not look.”
“What then?”
“I will get her to show me.”
“But she will refuse.”
“She will not be able to. But I hear the
rumble of wheels. It is her carriage. Now
carry out my orders to the letter.”
As he spoke the gleam of the 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
one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder,
who was equally hot upon the other side. A
blow was struck, and in an instant the lady,
who had stepped from her carriage, was the
centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling
men, who struck savagely at each other with
their fists and sticks. Holmes dashed into
the crowd to protect the lady; but, just as
he reached her, he gave a cry and dropped
to the ground, with the blood running freely
down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took
to their heels in one direction and the loungers
in the other, while a number of better dressed
people, who had watched the scuffle without
taking part in it, crowded in to help the
lady and to attend to the injured man. Irene
Adler, as I will still call her, had hurried
up the steps; but she stood at the top with
her superb figure outlined against the lights
of the hall, looking back into the street.
“Is the poor gentleman much hurt?” she
asked.
“He is dead,” cried several voices.
“No, no, there’s life in him!” shouted
another. “But he’ll be gone before you
can get him to hospital.”
“He’s a brave fellow,” said a woman.
“They would have had the lady’s purse
and watch if it hadn’t been for him. They
were a gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he’s
breathing now.”
“He can’t lie in the street. May we bring
him in, marm?”
“Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room.
There is a comfortable sofa. This way, please!”
Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony
Lodge and laid out in the principal room,
while I still observed the proceedings from
my post by the window. The lamps had been
lit, but the blinds had not been drawn, so
that I could see Holmes as he lay upon the
couch. I do not know whether he was seized
with compunction at that moment for the part
he was playing, but I know that I never felt
more heartily ashamed of myself in my life
than when I saw the beautiful creature against
whom I was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness
with which she waited upon the injured man.
And yet it would be the blackest treachery
to Holmes to draw back now from the part which
he had intrusted to me. I hardened my heart,
and took the smoke-rocket from under my ulster.
After all, I thought, we are not injuring
her. We are but preventing her from injuring
another.
Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw
him motion like a man who is in need of air.
A maid rushed across and threw open the window.
At the same instant I saw him raise his hand
and at the signal I tossed my rocket into
the room with a cry of “Fire!” The word
was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole
crowd of spectators, well dressed and ill—gentlemen,
ostlers, and servant maids—joined in a general
shriek of “Fire!” Thick clouds of smoke
curled through the room and out at the open
window. I caught a glimpse of rushing figures,
and a moment later the voice of Holmes from
within assuring them that it was a false alarm.
Slipping through the shouting crowd I made
my way to the corner of the street, and in
ten minutes was rejoiced to find my friend’s
arm in mine, and to get away from the scene
of uproar. He walked swiftly and in silence
for some few minutes until we had turned down
one of the quiet streets which lead towards
the Edgeware Road.
“You did it very nicely, Doctor,” he remarked.
“Nothing could have been better. It is all
right.”
“You have the photograph?”
“I know where it is.”
“And how did you find out?”
“She showed me, as I told you she would.”
“I am still in the dark.”
“I do not wish to make a mystery,” said
he, laughing. “The matter was perfectly
simple. You, of course, saw that everyone
in the street was an accomplice. They were
all engaged for the evening.”
“I guessed as much.”
“Then, when the row broke out, I had a little
moist red paint in the palm of my hand. I
rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand
to my face, and became a piteous spectacle.
It is an old trick.”
“That also I could fathom.”
“Then they carried me in. She was bound
to have me in. What else could she do? And
into her sitting-room, which was the very
room which I suspected. It lay between that
and her bedroom, and I was determined to see
which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned
for air, they were compelled to open the window,
and you had your chance.”
“How did that help you?”
“It was all-important. When a woman thinks
that her house is on fire, her instinct is
at once to rush to the thing which she values
most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse,
and I have more than once taken advantage
of it. In the case of the Darlington Substitution
Scandal it was of use to me, and also in the
Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman
grabs at her baby; an unmarried one reaches
for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to me
that our lady of to-day had nothing in the
house more precious to her than what we are
in quest of. She would rush to secure it.
The alarm of fire was admirably done. The
smoke and shouting were enough to shake nerves
of steel. She responded beautifully. The photograph
is in a recess behind a sliding panel just
above the right bell-pull. She was there in
an instant, and I caught a glimpse of it as
she half drew it out. When I cried out that
it was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced
at the rocket, rushed from the room, and I
have not seen her since. I rose, and, making
my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated
whether to attempt to secure the photograph
at once; but the coachman had come in, and
as he was watching me narrowly, it seemed
safer to wait. A little over-precipitance
may ruin all.”
“And now?” I asked.
“Our quest is practically finished. I shall
call with the King to-morrow, and with you,
if you care to come with us. We will be shown
into the sitting-room to wait for the lady,
but it is probable that when she comes she
may find neither us nor the photograph. It
might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to
regain it with his own hands.”
“And when will you call?”
“At eight in the morning. She will not be
up, so that we shall have a clear field. Besides,
we must be prompt, for this marriage may mean
a complete change in her life and habits.
I must wire to the King without delay.”
We had reached Baker Street and had stopped
at the door. He was searching his pockets
for the key when someone passing said:
“Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes.”
There were several people on the pavement
at the time, but the greeting appeared to
come from a slim youth in an ulster who had
hurried by.
“I’ve heard that voice before,” said
Holmes, staring down the dimly lit street.
“Now, I wonder who the deuce that could
have been.”
III.
I
slept at Baker Street that night, and we were
engaged upon our toast and coffee in the morning
when the King of Bohemia rushed into the room.
“You have really got it!” he cried, grasping
Sherlock Holmes by either shoulder and looking
eagerly into his face.
“Not yet.”
“But you have hopes?”
“I have hopes.”
“Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone.”
“We must have a cab.”
“No, my brougham is waiting.”
“Then that will simplify matters.” We
descended and started off once more for Briony
Lodge.
“Irene Adler is married,” remarked Holmes.
“Married! When?”
“Yesterday.”
“But to whom?”
“To an English lawyer named Norton.”
“But she could not love him.”
“I am in hopes that she does.”
“And why in hopes?”
“Because it would spare your Majesty all
fear of future annoyance. If the lady loves
her husband, she does not love your Majesty.
If she does not love your Majesty, there is
no reason why she should interfere with your
Majesty’s plan.”
“It is true. And yet—! Well! I wish she
had been of my own station! What a queen she
would have made!” He relapsed into a moody
silence, which was not broken until we drew
up in Serpentine Avenue.
The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an
elderly woman stood upon the steps. She watched
us with a sardonic eye as we stepped from
the brougham.
“Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?” said
she.
“I am Mr. Holmes,” answered my companion,
looking at her with a questioning and rather
startled gaze.
“Indeed! My mistress told me that you were
likely to call. She left this morning with
her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing
Cross for the Continent.”
“What!” Sherlock Holmes staggered back,
white with chagrin and surprise. “Do you
mean that she has left England?”
“Never to return.”
“And the papers?” asked the King hoarsely.
“All is lost.”
“We shall see.” He pushed past the servant
and rushed into the drawing-room, followed
by the King and myself. The furniture was
scattered about in every direction, with dismantled
shelves and open drawers, as if the lady had
hurriedly ransacked them before her flight.
Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back
a small sliding shutter, and, plunging in
his hand, pulled out a photograph and a letter.
The photograph was of Irene Adler herself
in evening dress, the letter was superscribed
to “Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till
called for.” My friend tore it open, and
we all three read it together. It was dated
at midnight of the preceding night and ran
in this way:
“MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,—You really
did it very well. You took me in completely.
Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a
suspicion. But then, when I found how I had
betrayed myself, I began to think. I had been
warned against you months ago. I had been
told that, if the King employed an agent,
it would certainly be you. And your address
had been given me. Yet, with all this, you
made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even
after I became suspicious, I found it hard
to think evil of such a dear, kind old clergyman.
But, you know, I have been trained as an actress
myself. Male costume is nothing new to me.
I often take advantage of the freedom which
it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to watch
you, ran 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 when you call
to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client
may rest in peace. I love and am loved by
a better man than he. The King may do what
he will without hindrance from one whom he
has cruelly wronged. I keep it only to safeguard
myself, and to preserve a weapon which will
always secure me from any steps which he might
take in the future. I leave a photograph which
he might care to possess; and I remain, dear
Mr. Sherlock Holmes,
“Very truly yours,
“IRENE NORTON, née ADLER.”
“What a woman—oh, what a woman!” cried
the King of Bohemia, when we had all three
read this epistle. “Did I not tell you how
quick and resolute she was? Would she not
have made an admirable queen? Is it not a
pity that she was not on my level?”
“From what I have seen of the lady, she
seems, indeed, to be on a very different level
to your Majesty,” said Holmes coldly. “I
am sorry that I have not been able to bring
your Majesty’s business to a more successful
conclusion.”
“On the contrary, my dear sir,” cried
the King; “nothing could be more successful.
I know that her word is inviolate. The photograph
is now as safe as if it were in the fire.”
“I am glad to hear your Majesty say so.”
“I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell
me in what way I can reward you. This ring—”
He slipped an emerald snake ring from his
finger and held it out upon the palm of his
hand.
“Your Majesty has something which I should
value even more highly,” said Holmes.
“You have but to name it.”
“This photograph!”
The King stared at him in amazement.
“Irene’s photograph!” he cried. “Certainly,
if you wish it.”
“I thank your Majesty. Then there is no
more to be done in the matter. I have the
honour to wish you a very good morning.”
He bowed, and, turning away without observing
the hand which the King had stretched out
to him, he set off in my company for his chambers.
And that was how a great scandal threatened
to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how
the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were
beaten by a woman’s wit. He used to make
merry over the cleverness of women, but I
have not heard him do it of late. And when
he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers
to her photograph, it is always under the
honourable title
of the woman.
II.
THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE
I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock
Holmes, one day in the autumn of last year
and found him in deep conversation with a
very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman
with fiery red hair. With an apology for my
intrusion, I was about to withdraw when Holmes
pulled me abruptly into the room and closed
the door behind me.
“You could not possibly have come at a better
time, my dear Watson,” he said cordially.
“I was afraid that you were engaged.”
“So I am. Very much so.”
“Then I can wait in the next room.”
“Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson,
has been my partner and helper in many of
my most successful cases, and I have no doubt
that he will be of the utmost use to me in
yours also.”
The stout gentleman half rose from his chair
and gave a bob of greeting, with a quick little
questioning glance from his small fat-encircled
eyes.
“Try the settee,” said Holmes, relapsing
into his armchair and putting his fingertips
together, as was his custom when in judicial
moods. “I know, my dear Watson, that you
share my love of all that is bizarre and outside
the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday
life. You have shown your relish for it by
the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle,
and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat
to embellish so many of my own little adventures.”
“Your cases have indeed been of the greatest
interest to me,” I observed.
“You will remember that I remarked the other
day, just before we went into the very simple
problem presented by Miss Mary Sutherland,
that for strange effects and extraordinary
combinations we must go to life itself, which
is always far more daring than any effort
of the imagination.”
“A proposition which I took the liberty
of doubting.”
“You did, Doctor, but none the less you
must come round to my view, for otherwise
I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you
until your reason breaks down under them and
acknowledges me to be right. Now, Mr. Jabez
Wilson here has been good enough to call upon
me this morning, and to begin a narrative
which promises to be one of the most singular
which I have listened to for some time. You
have heard me remark that the strangest and
most unique things are very often connected
not with the larger but with the smaller crimes,
and occasionally, indeed, where there is room
for doubt whether any positive crime has been
committed. As far as I have heard, it is impossible
for me to say whether the present case is
an instance of crime or not, but the course
of events is certainly among the most singular
that I have ever listened to. Perhaps, Mr.
Wilson, you would have the great kindness
to recommence your narrative. I ask you not
merely because my friend Dr. Watson has not
heard the opening part but also because the
peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious
to have every possible detail from your lips.
As a rule, when I have heard some slight indication
of the course of events, I am able to guide
myself by the thousands of other similar cases
which occur to my memory. In the present instance
I am forced to admit that the facts are, to
the best of my belief, unique.”
The portly client puffed out his chest with
an appearance of some little pride and pulled
a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the inside
pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down
the advertisement column, with his head thrust
forward and the paper flattened out upon his
knee, I took a good look at the man and endeavoured,
after the fashion of my companion, to read
the indications which might be presented by
his dress or appearance.
I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection.
Our visitor bore every mark of being an average
commonplace British tradesman, obese, pompous,
and slow. He wore rather baggy grey shepherd’s
check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat,
unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat
with a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square
pierced bit of metal dangling down as an ornament.
A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat
with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair
beside him. Altogether, look as I would, there
was nothing remarkable about the man save
his blazing red head, and the expression of
extreme chagrin and discontent upon his features.
Sherlock Holmes’ quick eye took in my occupation,
and he shook his head with a smile as he noticed
my questioning glances. “Beyond the obvious
facts that he has at some time done manual
labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a
Freemason, that he has been in China, and
that he has done a considerable amount of
writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.”
Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair,
with his forefinger upon the paper, but his
eyes upon my companion.
“How, in the name of good-fortune, did you
know all that, Mr. Holmes?” he asked. “How
did you know, for example, that I did manual
labour. It’s as true as gospel, for I began
as a ship’s carpenter.”
“Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand
is quite a size larger than your left. You
have worked with it, and the muscles are more
developed.”
“Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?”
“I won’t insult your intelligence by telling
you how I read that, especially as, rather
against the strict rules of your order, you
use an arc-and-compass breastpin.”
“Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?”
“What else can be indicated by that right
cuff so very shiny for five inches, and the
left one with the smooth patch near the elbow
where you rest it upon the desk?”
“Well, but China?”
“The fish that you have tattooed immediately
above your right wrist could only have been
done in China. I have made a small study of
tattoo marks and have even contributed to
the literature of the subject. That trick
of staining the fishes’ scales of a delicate
pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in
addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from
your watch-chain, the matter becomes even
more simple.”
Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. “Well,
I never!” said he. “I thought at first
that you had done something clever, but I
see that there was nothing in it after all.”
“I begin to think, Watson,” said Holmes,
“that I make a mistake in explaining. ‘Omne
ignotum pro magnifico,’ you know, and my
poor little reputation, such as it is, will
suffer shipwreck if I am so candid. Can you
not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?”
“Yes, I have got it now,” he answered
with his thick red finger planted halfway
down the column. “Here it is. This is what
began it all. You just read it for yourself,
sir.”
I took the paper from him and read as follows:
“TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of
the bequest of the late Ezekiah Hopkins, of
Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., there is now
another vacancy open which entitles a member
of the League to a salary of £ 4 a week for
purely nominal services. All red-headed men
who are sound in body and mind and above the
age of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply
in person on Monday, at eleven o’clock,
to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League,
7 Pope’s Court, Fleet Street.”
“What on earth does this mean?” I ejaculated
after I had twice read over the extraordinary
announcement.
Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair,
as was his habit when in high spirits. “It
is a little off the beaten track, isn’t
it?” said he. “And now, Mr. Wilson, off
you go at scratch and tell us all about yourself,
your household, and the effect which this
advertisement had upon your fortunes. You
will first make a note, Doctor, of the paper
and the date.”
“It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27,
1890. Just two months ago.”
“Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?”
“Well, it is just as I have been telling
you, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said Jabez Wilson,
mopping his forehead; “I have a small pawnbroker’s
business at Coburg Square, near the City.
It’s not a very large affair, and of late
years it has not done more than just give
me a living. I used to be able to keep two
assistants, but now I only keep one; and I
would have a job to pay him but that he is
willing to come for half wages so as to learn
the business.”
“What is the name of this obliging youth?”
asked Sherlock Holmes.
“His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he’s
not such a youth, either. It’s hard to say
his age. I should not wish a smarter assistant,
Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could
better himself and earn twice what I am able
to give him. But, after all, if he is satisfied,
why should I put ideas in his head?”
“Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in
having an employé who comes under the full
market price. It is not a common experience
among employers in this age. I don’t know
that your assistant is not as remarkable as
your advertisement.”
“Oh, he has his faults, too,” said Mr.
Wilson. “Never was such a fellow for photography.
Snapping away with a camera when he ought
to be improving his mind, and then diving
down into the cellar like a rabbit into its
hole to develop his pictures. That is his
main fault, but on the whole he’s a good
worker. There’s no vice in him.”
“He is still with you, I presume?”
“Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who
does a bit of simple cooking and keeps the
place clean—that’s all I have in the house,
for I am a widower and never had any family.
We live very quietly, sir, the three of us;
and we keep a roof over our heads and pay
our debts, if we do nothing more.
“The first thing that put us out was that
advertisement. Spaulding, he came down into
the office just this day eight weeks, with
this very paper in his hand, and he says:
“‘I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that
I was a red-headed man.’
“‘Why that?’ I asks.
“‘Why,’ says he, ‘here’s another
vacancy on the League of the Red-headed Men.
It’s worth quite a little fortune to any
man who gets it, and I understand that there
are more vacancies than there are men, so
that the trustees are at their wits’ end
what to do with the money. If my hair would
only change colour, here’s a nice little
crib all ready for me to step into.’
“‘Why, what is it, then?’ I asked. You
see, Mr. Holmes, I am a very stay-at-home
man, and as my business came to me instead
of my having to go to it, I was often weeks
on end without putting my foot over the door-mat.
In that way I didn’t know much of what was
going on outside, and I was always glad of
a bit of news.
“‘Have you never heard of the League of
the Red-headed Men?’ he asked with his eyes
open.
“‘Never.’
“‘Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible
yourself for one of the vacancies.’
“‘And what are they worth?’ I asked.
“‘Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year,
but the work is slight, and it need not interfere
very much with one’s other occupations.’
“Well, you can easily think that that made
me prick up my ears, for the business has
not been over good for some years, and an
extra couple of hundred would have been very
handy.
“‘Tell me all about it,’ said I.
“‘Well,’ said he, showing me the advertisement,
‘you can see for yourself that the League
has a vacancy, and there is the address where
you should apply for particulars. As far as
I can make out, the League was founded by
an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins,
who was very peculiar in his ways. He was
himself red-headed, and he had a great sympathy
for all red-headed men; so, when he died,
it was found that he had left his enormous
fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions
to apply the interest to the providing of
easy berths to men whose hair is of that colour.
From all I hear it is splendid pay and very
little to do.’
“‘But,’ said I, ‘there would be millions
of red-headed men who would apply.’
“‘Not so many as you might think,’ he
answered. ‘You see it is really confined
to Londoners, and to grown men. This American
had started from London when he was young,
and he wanted to do the old town a good turn.
Then, again, I have heard it is no use your
applying if your hair is light red, or dark
red, or anything but real bright, blazing,
fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr.
Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps
it would hardly be worth your while to put
yourself out of the way for the sake of a
few hundred pounds.’
“Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may
see for yourselves, that my hair is of a very
full and rich tint, so that it seemed to me
that if there was to be any competition in
the matter I stood as good a chance as any
man that I had ever met. Vincent Spaulding
seemed to know so much about it that I thought
he might prove useful, so I just ordered him
to put up the shutters for the day and to
come right away with me. He was very willing
to have a holiday, so we shut the business
up and started off for the address that was
given us in the advertisement.
“I never hope to see such a sight as that
again, Mr. Holmes. From north, south, east,
and west every man who had a shade of red
in his hair had tramped into the city to answer
the advertisement. Fleet Street was choked
with red-headed folk, and Pope’s Court looked
like a coster’s orange barrow. I should
not have thought there were so many in the
whole country as were brought together by
that single advertisement. Every shade of
colour they were—straw, lemon, orange, brick,
Irish-setter, liver, clay; but, as Spaulding
said, there were not many who had the real
vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how
many were waiting, I would have given it up
in despair; but Spaulding would not hear of
it. How he did it I could not imagine, but
he pushed and pulled and butted until he got
me through the crowd, and right up to the
steps which led to the office. There was a
double stream upon the stair, some going up
in hope, and some coming back dejected; but
we wedged in as well as we could and soon
found ourselves in the office.”
“Your experience has been a most entertaining
one,” remarked Holmes as his client paused
and refreshed his memory with a huge pinch
of snuff. “Pray continue your very interesting
statement.”
“There was nothing in the office but a couple
of wooden chairs and a deal table, behind
which sat a small man with a head that was
even redder than mine. He said a few words
to each candidate as he came up, and then
he always managed to find some fault in them
which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy
did not seem to be such a very easy matter,
after all. However, when our turn came the
little man was much more favourable to me
than to any of the others, and he closed the
door as we entered, so that he might have
a private word with us.
“‘This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,’ said my
assistant, ‘and he is willing to fill a
vacancy in the League.’
“‘And he is admirably suited for it,’
the other answered. ‘He has every requirement.
I cannot recall when I have seen anything
so fine.’ He took a step backward, cocked
his head on one side, and gazed at my hair
until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly
he plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated
me warmly on my success.
“‘It would be injustice to hesitate,’
said he. ‘You will, however, I am sure,
excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.’
With that he seized my hair in both his hands,
and tugged until I yelled with the pain. ‘There
is water in your eyes,’ said he as he released
me. ‘I perceive that all is as it should
be. But we have to be careful, for we have
twice been deceived by wigs and once by paint.
I could tell you tales of cobbler’s wax
which would disgust you with human nature.’
He stepped over to the window and shouted
through it at the top of his voice that the
vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment
came up from below, and the folk all trooped
away in different directions until there was
not a red-head to be seen except my own and
that of the manager.
“‘My name,’ said he, ‘is Mr. Duncan
Ross, and I am myself one of the pensioners
upon the fund left by our noble benefactor.
Are you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you
a family?’
“I answered that I had not.
“His face fell immediately.
“‘Dear me!’ he said gravely, ‘that
is very serious indeed! I am sorry to hear
you say that. The fund was, of course, for
the propagation and spread of the red-heads
as well as for their maintenance. It is exceedingly
unfortunate that you should be a bachelor.’
“My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes,
for I thought that I was not to have the vacancy
after all; but after thinking it over for
a few minutes he said that it would be all
right.
“‘In the case of another,’ said he,
‘the objection might be fatal, but we must
stretch a point in favour of a man with such
a head of hair as yours. When shall you be
able to enter upon your new duties?’
“‘Well, it is a little awkward, for I
have a business already,’ said I.
“‘Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!’
said Vincent Spaulding. ‘I should be able
to look after that for you.’
“‘What would be the hours?’ I asked.
“‘Ten to two.’
“Now a pawnbroker’s business is mostly
done of an evening, Mr. Holmes, especially
Thursday and Friday evening, which is just
before pay-day; so it would suit me very well
to earn a little in the mornings. Besides,
I knew that my assistant was a good man, and
that he would see to anything that turned
up.
“‘That would suit me very well,’ said
I. ‘And the pay?’
“‘Is £ 4 a week.’
“‘And the work?’
“‘Is purely nominal.’
“‘What do you call purely nominal?’
“‘Well, you have to be in the office,
or at least in the building, the whole time.
If you leave, you forfeit your whole position
forever. The will is very clear upon that
point. You don’t comply with the conditions
if you budge from the office during that time.’
“‘It’s only four hours a day, and I
should not think of leaving,’ said I.
“‘No excuse will avail,’ said Mr. Duncan
Ross; ‘neither sickness nor business nor
anything else. There you must stay, or you
lose your billet.’
“‘And the work?’
“‘Is to copy out the Encyclopædia Britannica.
There is the first volume of it in that press.
You must find your own ink, pens, and blotting-paper,
but we provide this table and chair. Will
you be ready to-morrow?’
“‘Certainly,’ I answered.
“‘Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and
let me congratulate you once more on the important
position which you have been fortunate enough
to gain.’ He bowed me out of the room and
I went home with my assistant, hardly knowing
what to say or do, I was so pleased at my
own good fortune.
“Well, I thought over the matter all day,
and by evening I was in low spirits again;
for I had quite persuaded myself that the
whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud,
though what its object might be I could not
imagine. It seemed altogether past belief
that anyone could make such a will, or that
they would pay such a sum for doing anything
so simple as copying out the Encyclopædia
Britannica. Vincent Spaulding did what he
could to cheer me up, but by bedtime I had
reasoned myself out of the whole thing. However,
in the morning I determined to have a look
at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of
ink, and with a quill-pen, and seven sheets
of foolscap paper, I started off for Pope’s
Court.
“Well, to my surprise and delight, everything
was as right as possible. The table was set
out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross was
there to see that I got fairly to work. He
started me off upon the letter A, and then
he left me; but he would drop in from time
to time to see that all was right with me.
At two o’clock he bade me good-day, complimented
me upon the amount that I had written, and
locked the door of the office after me.
“This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes,
and on Saturday the manager came in and planked
down four golden sovereigns for my week’s
work. It was the same next week, and the same
the week after. Every morning I was there
at ten, and every afternoon I left at two.
By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming
in only once of a morning, and then, after
a time, he did not come in at all. Still,
of course, I never dared to leave the room
for an instant, for I was not sure when he
might come, and the billet was such a good
one, and suited me so well, that I would not
risk the loss of it.
“Eight weeks passed away like this, and
I had written about Abbots and Archery and
Armour and Architecture and Attica, and hoped
with diligence that I might get on to the
B’s before very long. It cost me something
in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly filled
a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly
the whole business came to an end.”
“To an end?”
“Yes, sir. And no later than this morning.
I went to my work as usual at ten o’clock,
but the door was shut and locked, with a little
square of cardboard hammered on to the middle
of the panel with a tack. Here it is, and
you can read for yourself.”
He held up a piece of white cardboard about
the size of a sheet of note-paper. It read
in this fashion:
“THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED. October
9, 1890.”
Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement
and the rueful face behind it, until the comical
side of the affair so completely overtopped
every other consideration that we both burst
out into a roar of laughter.
“I cannot see that there is anything very
funny,” cried our client, flushing up to
the roots of his flaming head. “If you can
do nothing better than laugh at me, I can
go elsewhere.”
“No, no,” cried Holmes, shoving him back
into the chair from which he had half risen.
“I really wouldn’t miss your case for
the world. It is most refreshingly unusual.
But there is, if you will excuse my saying
so, something just a little funny about it.
Pray what steps did you take when you found
the card upon the door?”
“I was staggered, sir. I did not know what
to do. Then I called at the offices round,
but none of them seemed to know anything about
it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is
an accountant living on the ground floor,
and I asked him if he could tell me what had
become of the Red-headed League. He said that
he had never heard of any such body. Then
I asked him who Mr. Duncan Ross was. He answered
that the name was new to him.
“‘Well,’ said I, ‘the gentleman at
No. 4.’
“‘What, the red-headed man?’
“‘Yes.’
“‘Oh,’ said he, ‘his name was William
Morris. He was a solicitor and was using my
room as a temporary convenience until his
new premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.’
“‘Where could I find him?’
“‘Oh, at his new offices. He did tell
me the address. Yes, 17 King Edward Street,
near St. Paul’s.’
“I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got
to that address it was a manufactory of artificial
knee-caps, and no one in it had ever heard
of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan
Ross.”
“And what did you do then?” asked Holmes.
“I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and
I took the advice of my assistant. But he
could not help me in any way. He could only
say that if I waited I should hear by post.
But that was not quite good enough, Mr. Holmes.
I did not wish to lose such a place without
a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were
good enough to give advice to poor folk who
were in need of it, I came right away to you.”
“And you did very wisely,” said Holmes.
“Your case is an exceedingly remarkable
one, and I shall be happy to look into it.
From what you have told me I think that it
is possible that graver issues hang from it
than might at first sight appear.”
“Grave enough!” said Mr. Jabez Wilson.
“Why, I have lost four pound a week.”
“As far as you are personally concerned,”
remarked Holmes, “I do not see that you
have any grievance against this extraordinary
league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand,
richer by some £ 30, to say nothing of the
minute knowledge which you have gained on
every subject which comes under the letter
A. You have lost nothing by them.”
“No, sir. But I want to find out about them,
and who they are, and what their object was
in playing this prank—if it was a prank—upon
me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them,
for it cost them two and thirty pounds.”
“We shall endeavour to clear up these points
for you. And, first, one or two questions,
Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who first
called your attention to the advertisement—how
long had he been with you?”
“About a month then.”
“How did he come?”
“In answer to an advertisement.”
“Was he the only applicant?”
“No, I had a dozen.”
“Why did you pick him?”
“Because he was handy and would come cheap.”
“At half wages, in fact.”
“Yes.”
“What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?”
“Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways,
no hair on his face, though he’s not short
of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon
his forehead.”
Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable
excitement. “I thought as much,” said
he. “Have you ever observed that his ears
are pierced for earrings?”
“Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done
it for him when he was a lad.”
“Hum!” said Holmes, sinking back in deep
thought. “He is still with you?”
“Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him.”
“And has your business been attended to
in your absence?”
“Nothing to complain of, sir. There’s
never very much to do of a morning.”
“That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy
to give you an opinion upon the subject in
the course of a day or two. To-day is Saturday,
and I hope that by Monday we may come to a
conclusion.”
“Well, Watson,” said Holmes when our visitor
had left us, “what do you make of it all?”
“I make nothing of it,” I answered frankly.
“It is a most mysterious business.”
“As a rule,” said Holmes, “the more
bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it
proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless
crimes which are really puzzling, just as
a commonplace face is the most difficult to
identify. But I must be prompt over this matter.”
“What are you going to do, then?” I asked.
“To smoke,” he answered. “It is quite
a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won’t
speak to me for fifty minutes.” He curled
himself up in his chair, with his thin knees
drawn up to his hawk-like nose, and there
he sat with his eyes closed and his black
clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some
strange bird. I had come to the conclusion
that he had dropped asleep, and indeed was
nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out
of his chair with the gesture of a man who
has made up his mind and put his pipe down
upon the mantelpiece.
“Sarasate plays at the St. James’s Hall
this afternoon,” he remarked. “What do
you think, Watson? Could your patients spare
you for a few hours?”
“I have nothing to do to-day. My practice
is never very absorbing.”
“Then put on your hat and come. I am going
through the City first, and we can have some
lunch on the way. I observe that there is
a good deal of German music on the programme,
which is rather more to my taste than Italian
or French. It is introspective, and I want
to introspect. Come along!”
We travelled by the Underground as far as
Aldersgate; and a short walk took us to Saxe-Coburg
Square, the scene of the singular story which
we had listened to in the morning. It was
a poky, little, shabby-genteel place, where
four lines of dingy two-storied brick houses
looked out into a small railed-in enclosure,
where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps
of faded laurel bushes made a hard fight against
a smoke-laden and uncongenial atmosphere.
Three gilt balls and a brown board with “JABEZ
WILSON” in white letters, upon a corner
house, announced the place where our red-headed
client carried on his business. Sherlock Holmes
stopped in front of it with his head on one
side and looked it all over, with his eyes
shining brightly between puckered lids. Then
he walked slowly up the street, and then down
again to the corner, still looking keenly
at the houses. Finally he returned to the
pawnbroker’s, and, having thumped vigorously
upon the pavement with his stick two or three
times, he went up to the door and knocked.
It was instantly opened by a bright-looking,
clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to
step in.
“Thank you,” said Holmes, “I only wished
to ask you how you would go from here to the
Strand.”
“Third right, fourth left,” answered the
assistant promptly, closing the door.
“Smart fellow, that,” observed Holmes
as we walked away. “He is, in my judgment,
the fourth smartest man in London, and for
daring I am not sure that he has not a claim
to be third. I have known something of him
before.”
“Evidently,” said I, “Mr. Wilson’s
assistant counts for a good deal in this mystery
of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you
inquired your way merely in order that you
might see him.”
“Not him.”
“What then?”
“The knees of his trousers.”
“And what did you see?”
“What I expected to see.”
“Why did you beat the pavement?”
“My dear doctor, this is a time for observation,
not for talk. We are spies in an enemy’s
country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg
Square. Let us now explore the parts which
lie behind it.”
The road in which we found ourselves as we
turned round the corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg
Square presented as great a contrast to it
as the front of a picture does to the back.
It was one of the main arteries which conveyed
the traffic of the City to the north and west.
The roadway was blocked with the immense stream
of commerce flowing in a double tide inward
and outward, while the footpaths were black
with the hurrying swarm of pedestrians. It
was difficult to realise as we looked at the
line of fine shops and stately business premises
that they really abutted on the other side
upon the faded and stagnant square which we
had just quitted.
“Let me see,” said Holmes, standing at
the corner and glancing along the line, “I
should like just to remember the order of
the houses here. It is a hobby of mine to
have an exact knowledge of London. There is
Mortimer’s, the tobacconist, the little
newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City
and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restaurant,
and McFarlane’s carriage-building depot.
That carries us right on to the other block.
And now, Doctor, we’ve done our work, so
it’s time we had some play. A sandwich and
a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land,
where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony,
and there are no red-headed clients to vex
us with their conundrums.”
My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being
himself not only a very capable performer
but a composer of no ordinary merit. All the
afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in
the most perfect happiness, gently waving
his long, thin fingers in time to the music,
while his gently smiling face and his languid,
dreamy eyes were as unlike those of Holmes
the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted,
ready-handed criminal agent, as it was possible
to conceive. In his singular character the
dual nature alternately asserted itself, and
his extreme exactness and astuteness represented,
as I have often thought, the reaction against
the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally
predominated in him. The swing of his nature
took him from extreme languor to devouring
energy; and, as I knew well, he was never
so truly formidable as when, for days on end,
he had been lounging in his armchair amid
his improvisations and his black-letter editions.
Then it was that the lust of the chase would
suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant
reasoning power would rise to the level of
intuition, until those who were unacquainted
with his methods would look askance at him
as on a man whose knowledge was not that of
other mortals. When I saw him that afternoon
so enwrapped in the music at St. James’s
Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming
upon those whom he had set himself to hunt
down.
“You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor,”
he remarked as we emerged.
“Yes, it would be as well.”
“And I have some business to do which will
take some hours. This business at Coburg Square
is serious.”
“Why serious?”
“A considerable crime is in contemplation.
I have every reason to believe that we shall
be in time to stop it. But to-day being Saturday
rather complicates matters. I shall want your
help to-night.”
“At what time?”
“Ten will be early enough.”
“I shall be at Baker Street at ten.”
“Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may
be some little danger, so kindly put your
army revolver in your pocket.” He waved
his hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared
in an instant among the crowd.
I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours,
but I was always oppressed with a sense of
my own stupidity in my dealings with Sherlock
Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard,
I had seen what he had seen, and yet from
his words it was evident that he saw clearly
not only what had happened but what was about
to happen, while to me the whole business
was still confused and grotesque. As I drove
home to my house in Kensington I thought over
it all, from the extraordinary story of the
red-headed copier of the Encyclopædia down
to the visit to Saxe-Coburg Square, and the
ominous words with which he had parted from
me. What was this nocturnal expedition, and
why should I go armed? Where were we going,
and what were we to do? I had the hint from
Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker’s
assistant was a formidable man—a man who
might play a deep game. I tried to puzzle
it out, but gave it up in despair and set
the matter aside until night should bring
an explanation.
It was a quarter-past nine when I started
from home and made my way across the Park,
and so through Oxford Street to Baker Street.
Two hansoms were standing at the door, and
as I entered the passage I heard the sound
of voices from above. On entering his room,
I found Holmes in animated conversation with
two men, one of whom I recognised as Peter
Jones, the official police agent, while the
other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with
a very shiny hat and oppressively respectable
frock-coat.
“Ha! Our party is complete,” said Holmes,
buttoning up his pea-jacket and taking his
heavy hunting crop from the rack. “Watson,
I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard?
Let me introduce you to Mr. Merryweather,
who is to be our companion in to-night’s
adventure.”
“We’re hunting in couples again, Doctor,
you see,” said Jones in his consequential
way. “Our friend here is a wonderful man
for starting a chase. All he wants is an old
dog to help him to do the running down.”
“I hope a wild goose may not prove to be
the end of our chase,” observed Mr. Merryweather
gloomily.
“You may place considerable confidence in
Mr. Holmes, sir,” said the police agent
loftily. “He has his own little methods,
which are, if he won’t mind my saying so,
just a little too theoretical and fantastic,
but he has the makings of a detective in him.
It is not too much to say that once or twice,
as in that business of the Sholto murder and
the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly
correct than the official force.”
“Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all
right,” said the stranger with deference.
“Still, I confess that I miss my rubber.
It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty
years that I have not had my rubber.”
“I think you will find,” said Sherlock
Holmes, “that you will play for a higher
stake to-night than you have ever done yet,
and that the play will be more exciting. For
you, Mr. Merryweather, the stake will be some
£ 30,000; and for you, Jones, it will be
the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands.”
“John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher,
and forger. He’s a young man, Mr. Merryweather,
but he is at the head of his profession, and
I would rather have my bracelets on him than
on any criminal in London. He’s a remarkable
man, is young John Clay. His grandfather was
a royal duke, and he himself has been to Eton
and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his
fingers, and though we meet signs of him at
every turn, we never know where to find the
man himself. He’ll crack a crib in Scotland
one week, and be raising money to build an
orphanage in Cornwall the next. I’ve been
on his track for years and have never set
eyes on him yet.”
“I hope that I may have the pleasure of
introducing you to-night. I’ve had one or
two little turns also with Mr. John Clay,
and I agree with you that he is at the head
of his profession. It is past ten, however,
and quite time that we started. If you two
will take the first hansom, Watson and I will
follow in the second.”
Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative
during the long drive and lay back in the
cab humming the tunes which he had heard in
the afternoon. We rattled through an endless
labyrinth of gas-lit streets until we emerged
into Farrington Street.
“We are close there now,” my friend remarked.
“This fellow Merryweather is a bank director,
and personally interested in the matter. I
thought it as well to have Jones with us also.
He is not a bad fellow, though an absolute
imbecile in his profession. He has one positive
virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as
tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws
upon anyone. Here we are, and they are waiting
for us.”
We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare
in which we had found ourselves in the morning.
Our cabs were dismissed, and, following the
guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down
a narrow passage and through a side door,
which he opened for us. Within there was a
small corridor, which ended in a very massive
iron gate. This also was opened, and led down
a flight of winding stone steps, which terminated
at another formidable gate. Mr. Merryweather
stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted
us down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and
so, after opening a third door, into a huge
vault or cellar, which was piled all round
with crates and massive boxes.
“You are not very vulnerable from above,”
Holmes remarked as he held up the lantern
and gazed about him.
“Nor from below,” said Mr. Merryweather,
striking his stick upon the flags which lined
the floor. “Why, dear me, it sounds quite
hollow!” he remarked, looking up in surprise.
“I must really ask you to be a little more
quiet!” said Holmes severely. “You have
already imperilled the whole success of our
expedition. Might I beg that you would have
the goodness to sit down upon one of those
boxes, and not to interfere?”
The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself
upon a crate, with a very injured expression
upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his
knees upon the floor and, with the lantern
and a magnifying lens, began to examine minutely
the cracks between the stones. A few seconds
sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to
his feet again and put his glass in his pocket.
“We have at least an hour before us,”
he remarked, “for they can hardly take any
steps until the good pawnbroker is safely
in bed. Then they will not lose a minute,
for the sooner they do their work the longer
time they will have for their escape. We are
at present, Doctor—as no doubt you have
divined—in the cellar of the City branch
of one of the principal London banks. Mr.
Merryweather is the chairman of directors,
and he will explain to you that there are
reasons why the more daring criminals of London
should take a considerable interest in this
cellar at present.”
“It is our French gold,” whispered the
director. “We have had several warnings
that an attempt might be made upon it.”
“Your French gold?”
“Yes. We had occasion some months ago to
strengthen our resources and borrowed for
that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank
of France. It has become known that we have
never had occasion to unpack the money, and
that it is still lying in our cellar. The
crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons
packed between layers of lead foil. Our reserve
of bullion is much larger at present than
is usually kept in a single branch office,
and the directors have had misgivings upon
the subject.”
“Which were very well justified,” observed
Holmes. “And now it is time that we arranged
our little plans. I expect that within an
hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime
Mr. Merryweather, we must put the screen over
that dark lantern.”
“And sit in the dark?”
“I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of
cards in my pocket, and I thought that, as
we were a partie carrée, you might have your
rubber after all. But I see that the enemy’s
preparations have gone so far that we cannot
risk the presence of a light. And, first of
all, we must choose our positions. These are
daring men, and though we shall take them
at a disadvantage, they may do us some harm
unless we are careful. I shall stand behind
this crate, and do you conceal yourselves
behind those. Then, when I flash a light upon
them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson,
have no compunction about shooting them down.”
I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top
of the wooden case behind which I crouched.
Holmes shot the slide across the front of
his lantern and left us in pitch darkness—such
an absolute darkness as I have never before
experienced. The smell of hot metal remained
to assure us that the light was still there,
ready to flash out at a moment’s notice.
To me, with my nerves worked up to a pitch
of expectancy, there was something depressing
and subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the
cold dank air of the vault.
“They have but one retreat,” whispered
Holmes. “That is back through the house
into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have
done what I asked you, Jones?”
“I have an inspector and two officers waiting
at the front door.”
“Then we have stopped all the holes. And
now we must be silent and wait.”
What a time it seemed! From comparing notes
afterwards it was but an hour and a quarter,
yet it appeared to me that the night must
have almost gone, and the dawn be breaking
above us. My limbs were weary and stiff, for
I feared to change my position; yet my nerves
were worked up to the highest pitch of tension,
and my hearing was so acute that I could not
only hear the gentle breathing of my companions,
but I could distinguish the deeper, heavier
in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin,
sighing note of the bank director. From my
position I could look over the case in the
direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught
the glint of a light.
At first it was but a lurid spark upon the
stone pavement. Then it lengthened out until
it became a yellow line, and then, without
any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open
and a hand appeared, a white, almost womanly
hand, which felt about in the centre of the
little area of light. For a minute or more
the hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded
out of the floor. Then it was withdrawn as
suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark
again save the single lurid spark which marked
a chink between the stones.
Its disappearance, however, was but momentary.
With a rending, tearing sound, one of the
broad, white stones turned over upon its side
and left a square, gaping hole, through which
streamed the light of a lantern. Over the
edge there peeped a clean-cut, boyish face,
which looked keenly about it, and then, with
a hand on either side of the aperture, drew
itself shoulder-high and waist-high, until
one knee rested upon the edge. In another
instant he stood at the side of the hole and
was hauling after him a companion, lithe and
small like himself, with a pale face and a
shock of very red hair.
“It’s all clear,” he whispered. “Have
you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott!
Jump, Archie, jump, and I’ll swing for it!”
Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized
the intruder by the collar. The other dived
down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending
cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The
light flashed upon the barrel of a revolver,
but Holmes’ hunting crop came down on the
man’s wrist, and the pistol clinked upon
the stone floor.
“It’s no use, John Clay,” said Holmes
blandly. “You have no chance at all.”
“So I see,” the other answered with the
utmost coolness. “I fancy that my pal is
all right, though I see you have got his coat-tails.”
“There are three men waiting for him at
the door,” said Holmes.
“Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing
very completely. I must compliment you.”
“And I you,” Holmes answered. “Your
red-headed idea was very new and effective.”
“You’ll see your pal again presently,”
said Jones. “He’s quicker at climbing
down holes than I am. Just hold out while
I fix the derbies.”
“I beg that you will not touch me with your
filthy hands,” remarked our prisoner as
the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. “You
may not be aware that I have royal blood in
my veins. Have the goodness, also, when you
address me always to say ‘sir’ and ‘please.’”
“All right,” said Jones with a stare and
a snigger. “Well, would you please, sir,
march upstairs, where we can get a cab to
carry your Highness to the police-station?”
“That is better,” said John Clay serenely.
He made a sweeping bow to the three of us
and walked quietly off in the custody of the
detective.
“Really, Mr. Holmes,” said Mr. Merryweather
as we followed them from the cellar, “I
do not know how the bank can thank you or
repay you. There is no doubt that you have
detected and defeated in the most complete
manner one of the most determined attempts
at bank robbery that have ever come within
my experience.”
“I have had one or two little scores of
my own to settle with Mr. John Clay,” said
Holmes. “I have been at some small expense
over this matter, which I shall expect the
bank to refund, but beyond that I am amply
repaid by having had an experience which is
in many ways unique, and by hearing the very
remarkable narrative of the Red-headed League.”
“You see, Watson,” he explained in the
early hours of the morning as we sat over
a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street,
“it was perfectly obvious from the first
that the only possible object of this rather
fantastic business of the advertisement of
the League, and the copying of the Encyclopædia,
must be to get this not over-bright pawnbroker
out of the way for a number of hours every
day. It was a curious way of managing it,
but, really, it would be difficult to suggest
a better. The method was no doubt suggested
to Clay’s ingenious mind by the colour of
his accomplice’s hair. The £ 4 a week was
a lure which must draw him, and what was it
to them, who were playing for thousands? They
put in the advertisement, one rogue has the
temporary office, the other rogue incites
the man to apply for it, and together they
manage to secure his absence every morning
in the week. From the time that I heard of
the assistant having come for half wages,
it was obvious to me that he had some strong
motive for securing the situation.”
“But how could you guess what the motive
was?”
“Had there been women in the house, I should
have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue. That,
however, was out of the question. The man’s
business was a small one, and there was nothing
in his house which could account for such
elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure
as they were at. It must, then, be something
out of the house. What could it be? I thought
of the assistant’s fondness for photography,
and his trick of vanishing into the cellar.
The cellar! There was the end of this tangled
clue. Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious
assistant and found that I had to deal with
one of the coolest and most daring criminals
in London. He was doing something in the cellar—something
which took many hours a day for months on
end. What could it be, once more? I could
think of nothing save that he was running
a tunnel to some other building.
“So far I had got when we went to visit
the scene of action. I surprised you by beating
upon the pavement with my stick. I was ascertaining
whether the cellar stretched out in front
or behind. It was not in front. Then I rang
the bell, and, as I hoped, the assistant answered
it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had
never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly
looked at his face. His knees were what I
wished to see. You must yourself have remarked
how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were.
They spoke of those hours of burrowing. The
only remaining point was what they were burrowing
for. I walked round the corner, saw the City
and Suburban Bank abutted on our friend’s
premises, and felt that I had solved my problem.
When you drove home after the concert I called
upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of
the bank directors, with the result that you
have seen.”
“And how could you tell that they would
make their attempt to-night?” I asked.
“Well, when they closed their League offices
that was a sign that they cared no longer
about Mr. Jabez Wilson’s presence—in other
words, that they had completed their tunnel.
But it was essential that they should use
it soon, as it might be discovered, or the
bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit
them better than any other day, as it would
give them two days for their escape. For all
these reasons I expected them to come to-night.”
“You reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed
in unfeigned admiration. “It is so long
a chain, and yet every link rings true.”
“It saved me from ennui,” he answered,
yawning. “Alas! I already feel it closing
in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort
to escape from the commonplaces of existence.
These little problems help me to do so.”
“And you are a benefactor of the race,”
said I.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, perhaps,
after all, it is of some little use,” he
remarked. “‘L’homme c’est rien—l’œuvre
c’est tout,’ as Gustave Flaubert wrote
to George Sand.”
III.
A CASE OF IDENTITY
“My dear fellow,” said Sherlock Holmes
as we sat on either side of the fire in his
lodgings at Baker Street, “life is infinitely
stranger than anything which the mind of man
could invent. We would not dare to conceive
the things which are really mere commonplaces
of existence. If we could fly out of that
window hand in hand, hover over this great
city, gently remove the roofs, and peep in
at the queer things which are going on, the
strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes,
the wonderful chains of events, working through
generations, and leading to the most outré
results, it would make all fiction with its
conventionalities and foreseen conclusions
most stale and unprofitable.”
“And yet I am not convinced of it,” I
answered. “The cases which come to light
in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough,
and vulgar enough. We have in our police reports
realism pushed to its extreme limits, and
yet the result is, it must be confessed, neither
fascinating nor artistic.”
“A certain selection and discretion must
be used in producing a realistic effect,”
remarked Holmes. “This is wanting in the
police report, where more stress is laid,
perhaps, upon the platitudes of the magistrate
than upon the details, which to an observer
contain the vital essence of the whole matter.
Depend upon it, there is nothing so unnatural
as the commonplace.”
I smiled and shook my head. “I can quite
understand your thinking so,” I said. “Of
course, in your position of unofficial adviser
and helper to everybody who is absolutely
puzzled, throughout three continents, you
are brought in contact with all that is strange
and bizarre. But here”—I picked up the
morning paper from the ground—“let us
put it to a practical test. Here is the first
heading upon which I come. ‘A husband’s
cruelty to his wife.’ There is half a column
of print, but I know without reading it that
it is all perfectly familiar to me. There
is, of course, the other woman, the drink,
the push, the blow, the bruise, the sympathetic
sister or landlady. The crudest of writers
could invent nothing more crude.”
“Indeed, your example is an unfortunate
one for your argument,” said Holmes, taking
the paper and glancing his eye down it. “This
is the Dundas separation case, and, as it
happens, I was engaged in clearing up some
small points in connection with it. The husband
was a teetotaler, there was no other woman,
and the conduct complained of was that he
had drifted into the habit of winding up every
meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling
them at his wife, which, you will allow, is
not an action likely to occur to the imagination
of the average story-teller. Take a pinch
of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have
scored over you in your example.”
He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with
a great amethyst in the centre of the lid.
Its splendour was in such contrast to his
homely ways and simple life that I could not
help commenting upon it.
“Ah,” said he, “I forgot that I had
not seen you for some weeks. It is a little
souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return
for my assistance in the case of the Irene
Adler papers.”
“And the ring?” I asked, glancing at a
remarkable brilliant which sparkled upon his
finger.
“It was from the reigning family of Holland,
though the matter in which I served them was
of such delicacy that I cannot confide it
even to you, who have been good enough to
chronicle one or two of my little problems.”
“And have you any on hand just now?” I
asked with interest.
“Some ten or twelve, but none which present
any feature of interest. They are important,
you understand, without being interesting.
Indeed, I have found that it is usually in
unimportant matters that there is a field
for the observation, and for the quick analysis
of cause and effect which gives the charm
to an investigation. The larger crimes are
apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the
crime the more obvious, as a rule, is the
motive. In these cases, save for one rather
intricate matter which has been referred to
me from Marseilles, there is nothing which
presents any features of interest. It is possible,
however, that I may have something better
before very many minutes are over, for this
is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken.”
He had risen from his chair and was standing
between the parted blinds gazing down into
the dull neutral-tinted London street. Looking
over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement
opposite there stood a large woman with a
heavy fur boa round her neck, and a large
curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat
which was tilted in a coquettish Duchess of
Devonshire fashion over her ear. From under
this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous,
hesitating fashion at our windows, while her
body oscillated backward and forward, and
her fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons.
Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer
who leaves the bank, she hurried across the
road, and we heard the sharp clang of the
bell.
“I have seen those symptoms before,” said
Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire.
“Oscillation upon the pavement always means
an affaire de cœur. She would like advice,
but is not sure that the matter is not too
delicate for communication. And yet even here
we may discriminate. When a woman has been
seriously wronged by a man she no longer oscillates,
and the usual symptom is a broken bell wire.
Here we may take it that there is a love matter,
but that the maiden is not so much angry as
perplexed, or grieved. But here she comes
in person to resolve our doubts.”
As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and
the boy in buttons entered to announce Miss
Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself loomed
behind his small black figure like a full-sailed
merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock
Holmes welcomed her with the easy courtesy
for which he was remarkable, and, having closed
the door and bowed her into an armchair, he
looked her over in the minute and yet abstracted
fashion which was peculiar to him.
“Do you not find,” he said, “that with
your short sight it is a little trying to
do so much typewriting?”
“I did at first,” she answered, “but
now I know where the letters are without looking.”
Then, suddenly realising the full purport
of his words, she gave a violent start and
looked up, with fear and astonishment upon
her broad, good-humoured face. “You’ve
heard about me, Mr. Holmes,” she cried,
“else how could you know all that?”
“Never mind,” said Holmes, laughing; “it
is my business to know things. Perhaps I have
trained myself to see what others overlook.
If not, why should you come to consult me?”
“I came to you, sir, because I heard of
you from Mrs. Etherege, whose husband you
found so easy when the police and everyone
had given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes,
I wish you would do as much for me. I’m
not rich, but still I have a hundred a year
in my own right, besides the little that I
make by the machine, and I would give it all
to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel.”
“Why did you come away to consult me in
such a hurry?” asked Sherlock Holmes, with
his finger-tips together and his eyes to the
ceiling.
Again a startled look came over the somewhat
vacuous face of Miss Mary Sutherland. “Yes,
I did bang out of the house,” she said,
“for it made me angry to see the easy way
in which Mr. Windibank—that is, my father—took
it all. He would not go to the police, and
he would not go to you, and so at last, as
he would do nothing and kept on saying that
there was no harm done, it made me mad, and
I just on with my things and came right away
to you.”
“Your father,” said Holmes, “your stepfather,
surely, since the name is different.”
“Yes, my stepfather. I call him father,
though it sounds funny, too, for he is only
five years and two months older than myself.”
“And your mother is alive?”
“Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn’t
best pleased, Mr. Holmes, when she married
again so soon after father’s death, and
a man who was nearly fifteen years younger
than herself. Father was a plumber in the
Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy business
behind him, which mother carried on with Mr.
Hardy, the foreman; but when Mr. Windibank
came he made her sell the business, for he
was very superior, being a traveller in wines.
They got £ 4700 for the goodwill and interest,
which wasn’t near as much as father could
have got if he had been alive.”
I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient
under this rambling and inconsequential narrative,
but, on the contrary, he had listened with
the greatest concentration of attention.
“Your own little income,” he asked, “does
it come out of the business?”
“Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was
left me by my uncle Ned in Auckland. It is
in New Zealand stock, paying 4½ per cent.
Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount,
but I can only touch the interest.”
“You interest me extremely,” said Holmes.
“And since you draw so large a sum as a
hundred a year, with what you earn into the
bargain, you no doubt travel a little and
indulge yourself in every way. I believe that
a single lady can get on very nicely upon
an income of about £ 60.”
“I could do with much less than that, Mr.
Holmes, but you understand that as long as
I live at home I don’t wish to be a burden
to them, and so they have the use of the money
just while I am staying with them. Of course,
that is only just for the time. Mr. Windibank
draws my interest every quarter and pays it
over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty
well with what I earn at typewriting. It brings
me twopence a sheet, and I can often do from
fifteen to twenty sheets in a day.”
“You have made your position very clear
to me,” said Holmes. “This is my friend,
Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely
as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about
your connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel.”
A flush stole over Miss Sutherland’s face,
and she picked nervously at the fringe of
her jacket. “I met him first at the gasfitters’
ball,” she said. “They used to send father
tickets when he was alive, and then afterwards
they remembered us, and sent them to mother.
Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He never
did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite
mad if I wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school
treat. But this time I was set on going, and
I would go; for what right had he to prevent?
He said the folk were not fit for us to know,
when all father’s friends were to be there.
And he said that I had nothing fit to wear,
when I had my purple plush that I had never
so much as taken out of the drawer. At last,
when nothing else would do, he went off to
France upon the business of the firm, but
we went, mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who
used to be our foreman, and it was there I
met Mr. Hosmer Angel.”
“I suppose,” said Holmes, “that when
Mr. Windibank came back from France he was
very annoyed at your having gone to the ball.”
“Oh, well, he was very good about it. He
laughed, I remember, and shrugged his shoulders,
and said there was no use denying anything
to a woman, for she would have her way.”
“I see. Then at the gasfitters’ ball you
met, as I understand, a gentleman called Mr.
Hosmer Angel.”
“Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he
called next day to ask if we had got home
all safe, and after that we met him—that
is to say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for
walks, but after that father came back again,
and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the
house any more.”
“No?”
“Well, you know father didn’t like anything
of the sort. He wouldn’t have any visitors
if he could help it, and he used to say that
a woman should be happy in her own family
circle. But then, as I used to say to mother,
a woman wants her own circle to begin with,
and I had not got mine yet.”
“But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he
make no attempt to see you?”
“Well, father was going off to France again
in a week, and Hosmer wrote and said that
it would be safer and better not to see each
other until he had gone. We could write in
the meantime, and he used to write every day.
I took the letters in in the morning, so there
was no need for father to know.”
“Were you engaged to the gentleman at this
time?”
“Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after
the first walk that we took. Hosmer—Mr.
Angel—was a cashier in an office in Leadenhall
Street—and—”
“What office?”
“That’s the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I
don’t know.”
“Where did he live, then?”
“He slept on the premises.”
“And you don’t know his address?”
“No—except that it was Leadenhall Street.”
“Where did you address your letters, then?”
“To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to
be left till called for. He said that if they
were sent to the office he would be chaffed
by all the other clerks about having letters
from a lady, so I offered to typewrite them,
like he did his, but he wouldn’t have that,
for he said that when I wrote them they seemed
to come from me, but when they were typewritten
he always felt that the machine had come between
us. That will just show you how fond he was
of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that
he would think of.”
“It was most suggestive,” said Holmes.
“It has long been an axiom of mine that
the little things are infinitely the most
important. Can you remember any other little
things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?”
“He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would
rather walk with me in the evening than in
the daylight, for he said that he hated to
be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly
he was. Even his voice was gentle. He’d
had the quinsy and swollen glands when he
was young, he told me, and it had left him
with a weak throat, and a hesitating, whispering
fashion of speech. He was always well dressed,
very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak,
just as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses
against the glare.”
“Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank,
your stepfather, returned to France?”
“Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again
and proposed that we should marry before father
came back. He was in dreadful earnest and
made me swear, with my hands on the Testament,
that whatever happened I would always be true
to him. Mother said he was quite right to
make me swear, and that it was a sign of his
passion. Mother was all in his favour from
the first and was even fonder of him than
I was. Then, when they talked of marrying
within the week, I began to ask about father;
but they both said never to mind about father,
but just to tell him afterwards, and mother
said she would make it all right with him.
I didn’t quite like that, Mr. Holmes. It
seemed funny that I should ask his leave,
as he was only a few years older than me;
but I didn’t want to do anything on the
sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where
the company has its French offices, but the
letter came back to me on the very morning
of the wedding.”
“It missed him, then?”
“Yes, sir; for he had started to England
just before it arrived.”
“Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding
was arranged, then, for the Friday. Was it
to be in church?”
“Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be
at St. Saviour’s, near King’s Cross, and
we were to have breakfast afterwards at the
St. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a
hansom, but as there were two of us he put
us both into it and stepped himself into a
four-wheeler, which happened to be the only
other cab in the street. We got to the church
first, and when the four-wheeler drove up
we waited for him to step out, but he never
did, and when the cabman got down from the
box and looked there was no one there! The
cabman said that he could not imagine what
had become of him, for he had seen him get
in with his own eyes. That was last Friday,
Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard
anything since then to throw any light upon
what became of him.”
“It seems to me that you have been very
shamefully treated,” said Holmes.
“Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to
leave me so. Why, all the morning he was saying
to me that, whatever happened, I was to be
true; and that even if something quite unforeseen
occurred to separate us, I was always to remember
that I was pledged to him, and that he would
claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed
strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what
has happened since gives a meaning to it.”
“Most certainly it does. Your own opinion
is, then, that some unforeseen catastrophe
has occurred to him?”
“Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some
danger, or else he would not have talked so.
And then I think that what he foresaw happened.”
“But you have no notion as to what it could
have been?”
“None.”
“One more question. How did your mother
take the matter?”
“She was angry, and said that I was never
to speak of the matter again.”
“And your father? Did you tell him?”
“Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that
something had happened, and that I should
hear of Hosmer again. As he said, what interest
could anyone have in bringing me to the doors
of the church, and then leaving me? Now, if
he had borrowed my money, or if he had married
me and got my money settled on him, there
might be some reason, but Hosmer was very
independent about money and never would look
at a shilling of mine. And yet, what could
have happened? And why could he not write?
Oh, it drives me half-mad to think of it,
and I can’t sleep a wink at night.” She
pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff
and began to sob heavily into it.
“I shall glance into the case for you,”
said Holmes, rising, “and I have no doubt
that we shall reach some definite result.
Let the weight of the matter rest upon me
now, and do not let your mind dwell upon it
further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer
Angel vanish from your memory, as he has done
from your life.”
“Then you don’t think I’ll see him again?”
“I fear not.”
“Then what has happened to him?”
“You will leave that question in my hands.
I should like an accurate description of him
and any letters of his which you can spare.”
“I advertised for him in last Saturday’s
Chronicle,” said she. “Here is the slip
and here are four letters from him.”
“Thank you. And your address?”
“No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell.”
“Mr. Angel’s address you never had, I
understand. Where is your father’s place
of business?”
“He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the
great claret importers of Fenchurch Street.”
“Thank you. You have made your statement
very clearly. You will leave the papers here,
and remember the advice which I have given
you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book,
and do not allow it to affect your life.”
“You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot
do that. I shall be true to Hosmer. He shall
find me ready when he comes back.”
For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous
face, there was something noble in the simple
faith of our visitor which compelled our respect.
She laid her little bundle of papers upon
the table and went her way, with a promise
to come again whenever she might be summoned.
Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes
with his fingertips still pressed together,
his legs stretched out in front of him, and
his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then
he took down from the rack the old and oily
clay pipe, which was to him as a counsellor,
and, having lit it, he leaned back in his
chair, with the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning
up from him, and a look of infinite languor
in his face.
“Quite an interesting study, that maiden,”
he observed. “I found her more interesting
than her little problem, which, by the way,
is rather a trite one. You will find parallel
cases, if you consult my index, in Andover
in ’77, and there was something of the sort
at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea,
however, there were one or two details which
were new to me. But the maiden herself was
most instructive.”
“You appeared to read a good deal upon her
which was quite invisible to me,” I remarked.
“Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You
did not know where to look, and so you missed
all that was important. I can never bring
you to realise the importance of sleeves,
the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the
great issues that may hang from a boot-lace.
Now, what did you gather from that woman’s
appearance? Describe it.”
“Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed
straw hat, with a feather of a brickish red.
Her jacket was black, with black beads sewn
upon it, and a fringe of little black jet
ornaments. Her dress was brown, rather darker
than coffee colour, with a little purple plush
at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish
and were worn through at the right forefinger.
Her boots I didn’t observe. She had small
round, hanging gold earrings, and a general
air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar,
comfortable, easy-going way.”
Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together
and chuckled.
“’Pon my word, Watson, you are coming
along wonderfully. You have really done very
well indeed. It is true that you have missed
everything of importance, but you have hit
upon the method, and you have a quick eye
for colour. Never trust to general impressions,
my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details.
My first glance is always at a woman’s sleeve.
In a man it is perhaps better first to take
the knee of the trouser. As you observe, this
woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is
a most useful material for showing traces.
The double line a little above the wrist,
where the typewritist presses against the
table, was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine,
of the hand type, leaves a similar mark, but
only on the left arm, and on the side of it
farthest from the thumb, instead of being
right across the broadest part, as this was.
I then glanced at her face, and, observing
the dint of a pince-nez at either side of
her nose, I ventured a remark upon short sight
and typewriting, which seemed to surprise
her.”
“It surprised me.”
“But, surely, it was obvious. I was then
much surprised and interested on glancing
down to observe that, though the boots which
she was wearing were not unlike each other,
they were really odd ones; the one having
a slightly decorated toe-cap, and the other
a plain one. One was buttoned only in the
two lower buttons out of five, and the other
at the first, third, and fifth. Now, when
you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly
dressed, has come away from home with odd
boots, half-buttoned, it is no great deduction
to say that she came away in a hurry.”
“And what else?” I asked, keenly interested,
as I always was, by my friend’s incisive
reasoning.
“I noted, in passing, that she had written
a note before leaving home but after being
fully dressed. You observed that her right
glove was torn at the forefinger, but you
did not apparently see that both glove and
finger were stained with violet ink. She had
written in a hurry and dipped her pen too
deep. It must have been this morning, or the
mark would not remain clear upon the finger.
All this is amusing, though rather elementary,
but I must go back to business, Watson. Would
you mind reading me the advertised description
of Mr. Hosmer Angel?”
I held the little printed slip to the light.
“Missing,” it said, “on the morning
of the fourteenth, a gentleman named Hosmer
Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height;
strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair,
a little bald in the centre, bushy, black
side-whiskers and moustache; tinted glasses,
slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when
last seen, in black frock-coat faced with
silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert chain,
and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown
gaiters over elastic-sided boots. Known to
have been employed in an office in Leadenhall
Street. Anybody bringing,” &c, &c.
“That will do,” said Holmes. “As to
the letters,” he continued, glancing over
them, “they are very commonplace. Absolutely
no clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he
quotes Balzac once. There is one remarkable
point, however, which will no doubt strike
you.”
“They are typewritten,” I remarked.
“Not only that, but the signature is typewritten.
Look at the neat little ‘Hosmer Angel’
at the bottom. There is a date, you see, but
no superscription except Leadenhall Street,
which is rather vague. The point about the
signature is very suggestive—in fact, we
may call it conclusive.”
“Of what?”
“My dear fellow, is it possible you do not
see how strongly it bears upon the case?”
“I cannot say that I do unless it were that
he wished to be able to deny his signature
if an action for breach of promise were instituted.”
“No, that was not the point. However, I
shall write two letters, which should settle
the matter. One is to a firm in the City,
the other is to the young lady’s stepfather,
Mr. Windibank, asking him whether he could
meet us here at six o’clock 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 him
to fail, in the case of the King of Bohemia
and of the Irene Adler photograph; but when
I looked back to the weird business of the
Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances
connected with the Study in Scarlet, I felt
that it would be a strange tangle indeed which
he could not unravel.
I left him then, still puffing at his black
clay pipe, with the conviction that when I
came again on the next evening I would find
that he held in his hands all the clues which
would lead up to the identity of the disappearing
bridegroom of Miss Mary Sutherland.
A professional case of great gravity was engaging
my own attention at the time, and the whole
of next day I was busy at the bedside of the
sufferer. It was not until close upon six
o’clock that I found myself free and was
able to spring into a hansom and drive to
Baker Street, half afraid that I might be
too late to assist at the dénouement of the
little mystery. I found Sherlock Holmes alone,
however, half asleep, with his long, thin
form curled up in the recesses of his armchair.
A formidable array of bottles and test-tubes,
with the pungent cleanly smell of hydrochloric
acid, told me that he had spent his day in
the chemical work which was so dear to him.
“Well, have you solved it?” I asked as
I entered.
“Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta.”
“No, no, the mystery!” I cried.
“Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I
have been working upon. There was never any
mystery in the matter, though, as I said yesterday,
some of the details are of interest. The only
drawback is that there is no law, I fear,
that can touch the scoundrel.”
“Who was he, then, and what was his object
in deserting Miss Sutherland?”
The question was hardly out of my mouth, and
Holmes had not yet opened his lips to reply,
when we heard a heavy footfall in the passage
and a tap at the door.
“This is the girl’s stepfather, Mr. James
Windibank,” said Holmes. “He has written
to me to say that he would be here at six.
Come in!”
The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized
fellow, some thirty years of age, clean-shaven,
and sallow-skinned, with a bland, insinuating
manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and
penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning
glance at each of us, placed his shiny top-hat
upon the sideboard, and with a slight bow
sidled down into the nearest chair.
“Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank,” said
Holmes. “I think that this typewritten letter
is from you, in which you made an appointment
with me for six o’clock?”
“Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little
late, but I am not quite my own master, you
know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland has
troubled you about this little matter, for
I think it is far better not to wash linen
of the sort in public. It was quite against
my wishes that she came, but she is a very
excitable, impulsive girl, as you may have
noticed, and she is not easily controlled
when she has made up her mind on a point.
Of course, I did not mind you so much, as
you are not connected with the official police,
but it is not pleasant to have a family misfortune
like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a
useless expense, for how could you possibly
find this Hosmer Angel?”
“On the contrary,” said Holmes quietly;
“I have every reason to believe that I will
succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel.”
Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped
his gloves. “I am delighted to hear it,”
he said.
“It is a curious thing,” remarked Holmes,
“that a typewriter has really quite as much
individuality as a man’s handwriting. Unless
they are quite new, no two of them write exactly
alike. Some letters get more worn than others,
and some wear only on one side. Now, you remark
in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that
in every case there is some little slurring
over of the ‘e,’ and a slight defect in
the tail of the ‘r.’ There are fourteen
other characteristics, but those are the more
obvious.”
“We do all our correspondence with this
machine at the office, and no doubt it is
a little worn,” our visitor answered, glancing
keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes.
“And now I will show you what is really
a very interesting study, Mr. Windibank,”
Holmes continued. “I think of writing another
little monograph some of these days on the
typewriter and its relation to crime. It is
a subject to which I have devoted some little
attention. I have here four letters which
purport to come from the missing man. They
are all typewritten. In each case, not only
are the ‘e’s’ slurred and the ‘r’s’
tailless, but you will observe, if you care
to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen
other characteristics to which I have alluded
are there as well.”
Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and
picked up his hat. “I cannot waste time
over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes,”
he said. “If you can catch the man, catch
him, and let me know when you have done it.”
“Certainly,” said Holmes, stepping over
and turning the key in the door. “I let
you know, then, that I have caught him!”
“What! where?” shouted Mr. Windibank,
turning white to his lips and glancing about
him like a rat in a trap.
“Oh, it won’t do—really it won’t,”
said Holmes suavely. “There is no possible
getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite
too transparent, and it was a very bad compliment
when you said that it was impossible for me
to solve so simple a question. That’s right!
Sit down and let us talk it over.”
Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a
ghastly face and a glitter of moisture on
his brow. “It—it’s not actionable,”
he stammered.
“I am very much afraid that it is not. But
between ourselves, Windibank, it was as cruel
and selfish and heartless a trick in a petty
way as ever came before me. Now, let me just
run over the course of events, and you will
contradict me if I go wrong.”
The man sat huddled up in his chair, with
his head sunk upon his breast, like one who
is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet
up on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning
back with his hands in his pockets, began
talking, rather to himself, as it seemed,
than to us.
“The man married a woman very much older
than himself for her money,” said he, “and
he enjoyed the use of the money of the daughter
as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable
sum, for people in their position, and the
loss of it would have made a serious difference.
It was worth an effort to preserve it. The
daughter was of a good, amiable disposition,
but affectionate and warm-hearted in her ways,
so that it was evident that with her fair
personal advantages, and her little income,
she would not be allowed to remain single
long. Now her marriage would mean, of course,
the loss of a hundred a year, so what does
her stepfather do to prevent it? He takes
the obvious course of keeping her at home
and forbidding her to seek the company of
people of her own age. But soon he found that
that would not answer forever. She became
restive, insisted upon her rights, and finally
announced her positive intention of going
to a certain ball. What does her clever stepfather
do then? He conceives an idea more creditable
to his head than to his heart. With the connivance
and assistance of his wife he disguised himself,
covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses,
masked the face with a moustache and a pair
of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice into
an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure
on account of the girl’s short sight, he
appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off
other lovers by making love himself.”
“It was only a joke at first,” groaned
our visitor. “We never thought that she
would have been so carried away.”
“Very likely not. However that may be, the
young lady was very decidedly carried away,
and, having quite made up her mind that her
stepfather was in France, the suspicion of
treachery never for an instant entered her
mind. She was flattered by the gentleman’s
attentions, and the effect was increased by
the loudly expressed admiration of her mother.
Then Mr. Angel began to call, for it was obvious
that the matter should be pushed as far as
it would go if a real effect were to be produced.
There were meetings, and an engagement, which
would finally secure the girl’s affections
from turning towards anyone else. But the
deception could not be kept up forever. These
pretended journeys to France were rather cumbrous.
The thing to do was clearly to bring the business
to an end in such a dramatic manner that it
would leave a permanent impression upon the
young lady’s mind and prevent her from looking
upon any other suitor for some time to come.
Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon
a Testament, and hence also the allusions
to a possibility of something happening on
the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank
wished Miss Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer
Angel, and so uncertain as to his fate, that
for ten years to come, at any rate, she would
not listen to another man. As far as the church
door he brought her, and then, as he could
go no farther, he conveniently vanished away
by the old trick of stepping in at one door
of a four-wheeler and out at the other. I
think that was the chain of events, Mr. Windibank!”
Our visitor had recovered something of his
assurance while Holmes had been talking, and
he rose from his chair now with a cold sneer
upon his pale face.
“It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes,”
said he, “but if you are so very sharp you
ought to be sharp enough to know that it is
you who are breaking the law now, and not
me. I have done nothing actionable from the
first, but as long as you keep that door locked
you lay yourself open to an action for assault
and illegal constraint.”
“The law cannot, as you say, touch you,”
said Holmes, unlocking and throwing open the
door, “yet there never was a man who deserved
punishment more. If the young lady has a brother
or a friend, he ought to lay a whip across
your shoulders. By Jove!” he continued,
flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer
upon the man’s face, “it is not part of
my duties to my client, but here’s a hunting
crop handy, and I think I shall just treat
myself to—” He took two swift steps to
the whip, but before he could grasp it there
was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs,
the heavy hall door banged, and from the window
we could see Mr. James Windibank running at
the top of his speed down the road.
“There’s a cold-blooded scoundrel!”
said Holmes, laughing, as he threw himself
down into his chair once more. “That fellow
will rise from crime to crime until he does
something very bad, and ends on a gallows.
The case has, in some respects, been not entirely
devoid of interest.”
“I cannot now entirely see all the steps
of your reasoning,” I remarked.
“Well, of course it was obvious from the
first that this Mr. Hosmer Angel must have
some strong object for his curious conduct,
and it was equally clear that the only man
who really profited by the incident, as far
as we could see, was the stepfather. Then
the fact that the two men were never together,
but that the one always appeared when the
other was away, was suggestive. So were the
tinted spectacles and the curious voice, which
both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy
whiskers. My suspicions were all confirmed
by his peculiar action in typewriting his
signature, which, of course, inferred that
his handwriting was so familiar to her that
she would recognise even the smallest sample
of it. You see all these isolated facts, together
with many minor ones, all pointed in the same
direction.”
“And how did you verify them?”
“Having once spotted my man, it was easy
to get corroboration. I knew the firm for
which this man worked. Having taken the printed
description. I eliminated everything from
it which could be the result of a disguise—the
whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I sent
it to the firm, with a request that they would
inform me whether it answered to the description
of any of their travellers. I had already
noticed the peculiarities of the typewriter,
and I wrote to the man himself at his business
address asking him if he would come here.
As I expected, his reply was typewritten and
revealed the same trivial but characteristic
defects. The same post brought me a letter
from Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street,
to say that the description tallied in every
respect with that of their employé, James
Windibank. Voilà tout!”
“And Miss Sutherland?”
“If I tell her she will not believe me.
You may remember the old Persian saying, ‘There
is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub,
and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion
from a woman.’ There is as much sense in
Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge
of the world.”
