http://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/ignite/blob/11b00873/modules/hadoop-impl/src/test/java/org/apache/ignite/internal/processors/hadoop/impl/books/sherlock-holmes.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------- diff --git a/modules/hadoop-impl/src/test/java/org/apache/ignite/internal/processors/hadoop/impl/books/sherlock-holmes.txt b/modules/hadoop-impl/src/test/java/org/apache/ignite/internal/processors/hadoop/impl/books/sherlock-holmes.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..af52c04 --- /dev/null +++ b/modules/hadoop-impl/src/test/java/org/apache/ignite/internal/processors/hadoop/impl/books/sherlock-holmes.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13052 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Posting Date: April 18, 2011 [EBook #1661] +First Posted: November 29, 2002 + +Language: English + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** + + + + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez + + + + + + + + + +THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES + +by + +SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE + + + + I. A Scandal in Bohemia + II. The Red-headed League + III. A Case of Identity + IV. The Boscombe Valley Mystery + V. The Five Orange Pips + VI. The Man with the Twisted Lip + VII. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle +VIII. The Adventure of the Speckled Band + IX. The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb + X. The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor + XI. The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet + XII. The Adventure of the Copper Beeches + + + + +ADVENTURE I. A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA + +I. + +To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard +him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses +and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt +any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that +one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but +admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect +reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a +lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never +spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They +were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the +veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner +to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely +adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which +might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a +sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power +lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a +nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and +that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable +memory. + +I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us +away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the +home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first +finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to +absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of +society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in +Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from +week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the +drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, +as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his +immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in +following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which +had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time +to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons +to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up +of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, +and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so +delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. +Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely +shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of +my former friend and companion. + +One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was +returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to +civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I +passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated +in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the +Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes +again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. +His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw +his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against +the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head +sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who +knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their +own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his +drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new +problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which +had formerly been in part my own. + +His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I +think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly +eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, +and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he +stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular +introspective fashion. + +"Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have +put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." + +"Seven!" I answered. + +"Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, +I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not +tell me that you intended to go into harness." + +"Then, how do you know?" + +"I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting +yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and +careless servant girl?" + +"My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly +have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true +that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful +mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you +deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has +given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it +out." + +He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands +together. + +"It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the +inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, +the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they +have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round +the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. +Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile +weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting +specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a +gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black +mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge +on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted +his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce +him to be an active member of the medical profession." + +I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his +process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I +remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously +simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each +successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you +explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good +as yours." + +"Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing +himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. +The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen +the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." + +"Frequently." + +"How often?" + +"Well, some hundreds of times." + +"Then how many are there?" + +"How many? I don't know." + +"Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is +just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, +because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are +interested in these little problems, and since you are good +enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you +may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, +pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. +"It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." + +The note was undated, and without either signature or address. + +"There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight +o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a +matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of +the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may +safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which +can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all +quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do +not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." + +"This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that +it means?" + +"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before +one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit +theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. +What do you deduce from it?" + +I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was +written. + +"The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, +endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper +could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly +strong and stiff." + +"Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an +English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." + +I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a +large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. + +"What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. + +"The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." + +"Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for +'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a +customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for +'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental +Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. +"Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking +country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being +the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous +glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you +make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue +triumphant cloud from his cigarette. + +"The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. + +"Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you +note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of +you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian +could not have written that. It is the German who is so +uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover +what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and +prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if +I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." + +As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and +grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the +bell. Holmes whistled. + +"A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing +out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of +beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in +this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." + +"I think that I had better go, Holmes." + +"Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my +Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity +to miss it." + +"But your client--" + +"Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he +comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best +attention." + +A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and +in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there +was a loud and authoritative tap. + +"Come in!" said Holmes. + +A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six +inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His +dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked +upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed +across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while +the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined +with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch +which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended +halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with +rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence +which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a +broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper +part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black +vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, +for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower +part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, +with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive +of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. + +"You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a +strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He +looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to +address. + +"Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and +colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me +in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" + +"You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. +I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour +and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most +extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate +with you alone." + +I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me +back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say +before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." + +The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said +he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at +the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At +present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it +may have an influence upon European history." + +"I promise," said Holmes. + +"And I." + +"You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The +august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to +you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have +just called myself is not exactly my own." + +"I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. + +"The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution +has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense +scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of +Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House +of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." + +"I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself +down in his armchair and closing his eyes. + +Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, +lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him +as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. +Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his +gigantic client. + +"If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he +remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." + +The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in +uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he +tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You +are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to +conceal it?" + +"Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken +before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich +Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and +hereditary King of Bohemia." + +"But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down +once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you +can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in +my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not +confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I +have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting +you." + +"Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. + +"The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a +lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known +adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." + +"Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without +opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of +docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it +was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not +at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography +sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a +staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea +fishes. + +"Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year +1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera +of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in +London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled +with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and +is now desirous of getting those letters back." + +"Precisely so. But how--" + +"Was there a secret marriage?" + +"None." + +"No legal papers or certificates?" + +"None." + +"Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should +produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is +she to prove their authenticity?" + +"There is the writing." + +"Pooh, pooh! Forgery." + +"My private note-paper." + +"Stolen." + +"My own seal." + +"Imitated." + +"My photograph." + +"Bought." + +"We were both in the photograph." + +"Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an +indiscretion." + +"I was mad--insane." + +"You have compromised yourself seriously." + +"I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." + +"It must be recovered." + +"We have tried and failed." + +"Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." + +"She will not sell." + +"Stolen, then." + +"Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked +her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice +she has been waylaid. There has been no result." + +"No sign of it?" + +"Absolutely none." + +Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. + +"But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. + +"Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the +photograph?" + +"To ruin me." + +"But how?" + +"I am about to be married." + +"So I have heard." + +"To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the +King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her +family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a +doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." + +"And Irene Adler?" + +"Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I +know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul +of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and +the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry +another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not +go--none." + +"You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" + +"I am sure." + +"And why?" + +"Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the +betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." + +"Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That +is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to +look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in +London for the present?" + +"Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the +Count Von Kramm." + +"Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." + +"Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." + +"Then, as to money?" + +"You have carte blanche." + +"Absolutely?" + +"I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom +to have that photograph." + +"And for present expenses?" + +The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak +and laid it on the table. + +"There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in +notes," he said. + +Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and +handed it to him. + +"And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. + +"Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." + +Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the +photograph a cabinet?" + +"It was." + +"Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon +have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, +as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If +you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three +o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." + + +II. + +At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had +not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the +house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down +beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, +however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his +inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and +strange features which were associated with the two crimes which +I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the +exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. +Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my +friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of +a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a +pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the +quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most +inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable +success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to +enter into my head. + +It was close upon four before the door opened, and a +drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an +inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. +Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of +disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it +was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he +emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. +Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in +front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. + +"Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again +until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the +chair. + +"What is it?" + +"It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I +employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." + +"I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the +habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." + +"Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, +however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this +morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a +wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of +them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found +Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but +built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock +to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well +furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those +preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. +Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window +could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round +it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without +noting anything else of interest. + +"I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that +there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the +garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, +and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two +fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire +about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in +the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but +whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." + +"And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. + +"Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is +the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the +Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, +drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for +dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. +Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, +handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and +often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See +the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him +home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. +When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up +and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan +of campaign. + +"This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the +matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the +relation between them, and what the object of his repeated +visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the +former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his +keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this +question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony +Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the +Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my +inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to +let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the +situation." + +"I am following you closely," I answered. + +"I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab +drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a +remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently +the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a +great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the +maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly +at home. + +"He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch +glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and +down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see +nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than +before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from +his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he +shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to +the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if +you do it in twenty minutes!' + +"Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do +well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, +the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under +his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of +the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall +door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, +but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. + +"'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a +sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' + +"This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing +whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her +landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked +twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could +object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign +if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to +twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. + +"My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the +others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their +steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid +the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there +save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who +seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three +standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side +aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. +Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to +me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards +me. + +"'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' + +"'What then?' I asked. + +"'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' + +"I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was +I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, +and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally +assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to +Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and +there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady +on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was +the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my +life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just +now. It seems that there had been some informality about their +license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them +without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance +saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in +search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean +to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." + +"This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what +then?" + +"Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if +the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate +very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church +door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and +she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as +usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove +away in different directions, and I went off to make my own +arrangements." + +"Which are?" + +"Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the +bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to +be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want +your co-operation." + +"I shall be delighted." + +"You don't mind breaking the law?" + +"Not in the least." + +"Nor running a chance of arrest?" + +"Not in a good cause." + +"Oh, the cause is excellent!" + +"Then I am your man." + +"I was sure that I might rely on you." + +"But what is it you wish?" + +"When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to +you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that +our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I +have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must +be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns +from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." + +"And what then?" + +"You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to +occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must +not interfere, come what may. You understand?" + +"I am to be neutral?" + +"To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small +unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being +conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the +sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close +to that open window." + +"Yes." + +"You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." + +"Yes." + +"And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what +I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of +fire. You quite follow me?" + +"Entirely." + +"It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped +roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, +fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. +Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, +it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then +walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten +minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" + +"I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, +and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry +of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." + +"Precisely." + +"Then you may entirely rely on me." + +"That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I +prepare for the new role I have to play." + +He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in +the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist +clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white +tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and +benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have +equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His +expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every +fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as +science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in +crime. + +It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still +wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in +Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just +being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, +waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such +as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, +but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On +the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was +remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men +smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his +wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and +several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with +cigars in their mouths. + +"You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of +the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The +photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are +that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey +Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his +princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the +photograph?" + +"Where, indeed?" + +"It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is +cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's +dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid +and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We +may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." + +"Where, then?" + +"Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But +I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, +and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it +over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but +she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be +brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she +had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she +can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." + +"But it has twice been burgled." + +"Pshaw! They did not know how to look." + +"But how will you look?" + +"I will not look." + +"What then?" + +"I will get her to show me." + +"But she will refuse." + +"She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is +her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." + +As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round +the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which +rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of +the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in +the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another +loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce +quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who +took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, +who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and +in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was +the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who +struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes +dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached +her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood +running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to +their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while +a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle +without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to +attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, +had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her +superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking +back into the street. + +"Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. + +"He is dead," cried several voices. + +"No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be +gone before you can get him to hospital." + +"He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the +lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a +gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." + +"He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" + +"Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable +sofa. This way, please!" + +Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out +in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings +from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the +blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay +upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with +compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I +know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life +than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was +conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited +upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery +to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted +to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under +my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are +but preventing her from injuring another. + +Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man +who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the +window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the +signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The +word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of +spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and +servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds +of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I +caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice +of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. +Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner +of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my +friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. +He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we +had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the +Edgeware Road. + +"You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could +have been better. It is all right." + +"You have the photograph?" + +"I know where it is." + +"And how did you find out?" + +"She showed me, as I told you she would." + +"I am still in the dark." + +"I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter +was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the +street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." + +"I guessed as much." + +"Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in +the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand +to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." + +"That also I could fathom." + +"Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else +could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room +which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was +determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for +air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your +chance." + +"How did that help you?" + +"It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on +fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she +values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have +more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the +Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in +the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; +an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to +me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious +to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. +The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were +enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The +photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the +right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a +glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it +was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed +from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making +my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to +attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had +come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to +wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." + +"And now?" I asked. + +"Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King +to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be +shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is +probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the +photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain +it with his own hands." + +"And when will you call?" + +"At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall +have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage +may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to +the King without delay." + +We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was +searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: + +"Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." + +There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the +greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had +hurried by. + +"I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the +dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have +been." + + +III. + +I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our +toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed +into the room. + +"You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by +either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. + +"Not yet." + +"But you have hopes?" + +"I have hopes." + +"Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." + +"We must have a cab." + +"No, my brougham is waiting." + +"Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off +once more for Briony Lodge. + +"Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. + +"Married! When?" + +"Yesterday." + +"But to whom?" + +"To an English lawyer named Norton." + +"But she could not love him." + +"I am in hopes that she does." + +"And why in hopes?" + +"Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future +annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your +Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason +why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." + +"It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own +station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a +moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in +Serpentine Avenue. + +The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood +upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped +from the brougham. + +"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. + +"I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a +questioning and rather startled gaze. + +"Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She +left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing +Cross for the Continent." + +"What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and +surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" + +"Never to return." + +"And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." + +"We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the +drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was +scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and +open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before +her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small +sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a +photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler +herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to +"Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend +tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at +midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: + +"MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You +took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a +suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I +began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had +been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly +be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, +you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became +suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind +old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress +myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage +of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to +watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call +them, and came down just as you departed. + +"Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was +really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock +Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and +started for the Temple to see my husband. + +"We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by +so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when +you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in +peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may +do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly +wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a +weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might +take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to +possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, + + "Very truly yours, + "IRENE NORTON, n�e ADLER." + +"What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when +we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick +and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? +Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" + +"From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a +very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am +sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business +to a more successful conclusion." + +"On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be +more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The +photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." + +"I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." + +"I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can +reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from +his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. + +"Your Majesty has something which I should value even more +highly," said Holmes. + +"You have but to name it." + +"This photograph!" + +The King stared at him in amazement. + +"Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." + +"I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the +matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He +bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the +King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his +chambers. + +And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom +of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were +beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the +cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And +when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her +photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. + + + +ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE + +I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the +autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a +very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. +With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when +Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door +behind me. + +"You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear +Watson," he said cordially. + +"I was afraid that you were engaged." + +"So I am. Very much so." + +"Then I can wait in the next room." + +"Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and +helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no +doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." + +The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of +greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small +fat-encircled eyes. + +"Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and +putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in +judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love +of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum +routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by +the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you +will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own +little adventures." + +"Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I +observed. + +"You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we +went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary +Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary +combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more +daring than any effort of the imagination." + +"A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." + +"You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my +view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you +until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to +be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call +upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to +be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some +time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique +things are very often connected not with the larger but with the +smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for +doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I +have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present +case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is +certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. +Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to +recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend +Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the +peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every +possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some +slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide +myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my +memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the +facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." + +The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some +little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the +inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the +advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper +flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and +endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the +indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. + +I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor +bore every mark of being an average commonplace British +tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey +shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, +unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy +Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as +an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a +wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, +look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save +his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and +discontent upon his features. + +Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook +his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. +"Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual +labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has +been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of +writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." + +Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger +upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. + +"How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. +Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did +manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's +carpenter." + +"Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger +than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more +developed." + +"Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" + +"I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, +especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you +use an arc-and-compass breastpin." + +"Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" + +"What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for +five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the +elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" + +"Well, but China?" + +"The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right +wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small +study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature +of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a +delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I +see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter +becomes even more simple." + +Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I +thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see +that there was nothing in it, after all." + +"I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake +in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my +poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I +am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" + +"Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger +planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began +it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." + +I took the paper from him and read as follows: + +"TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late +Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now +another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a +salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All +red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age +of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at +eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 +Pope's Court, Fleet Street." + +"What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice +read over the extraordinary announcement. + +Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when +in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" +said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us +all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this +advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, +Doctor, of the paper and the date." + +"It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months +ago." + +"Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" + +"Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock +Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small +pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a +very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than +just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, +but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but +that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the +business." + +"What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. + +"His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, +either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter +assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better +himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after +all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" + +"Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employ� who +comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience +among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is +not as remarkable as your advertisement." + +"Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a +fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought +to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar +like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his +main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice +in him." + +"He is still with you, I presume?" + +"Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple +cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the +house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very +quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads +and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. + +"The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. +Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight +weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: + +"'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' + +"'Why that?' I asks. + +"'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the +Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who +gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than +there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what +to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's +a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' + +"'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a +very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of +my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting +my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what +was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. + +"'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he +asked with his eyes open. + +"'Never.' + +"'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one +of the vacancies.' + +"'And what are they worth?' I asked. + +"'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, +and it need not interfere very much with one's other +occupations.' + +"Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, +for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an +extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. + +"'Tell me all about it,' said I. + +"'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for +yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address +where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, +the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah +Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself +red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; +so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous +fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the +interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of +that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to +do.' + +"'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who +would apply.' + +"'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is +really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had +started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the +old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your +applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but +real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. +Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be +worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a +few hundred pounds.' + +"Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, +that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed +to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I +stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent +Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might +prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for +the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to +have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for +the address that was given us in the advertisement. + +"I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From +north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in +his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. +Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court +looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought +there were so many in the whole country as were brought together +by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they +were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; +but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real +vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I +would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear +of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and +pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up +to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream +upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back +dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found +ourselves in the office." + +"Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked +Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge +pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." + +"There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs +and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that +was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate +as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in +them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem +to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn +came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of +the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he +might have a private word with us. + +"'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is +willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' + +"'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has +every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so +fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and +gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he +plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my +success. + +"'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, +however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' +With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I +yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as +he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we +have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and +once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which +would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the +window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the +vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, +and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there +was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the +manager. + +"'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of +the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are +you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' + +"I answered that I had not. + +"His face fell immediately. + +"'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am +sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the +propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their +maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a +bachelor.' + +"My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was +not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for +a few minutes he said that it would be all right. + +"'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be +fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a +head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your +new duties?' + +"'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' +said I. + +"'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. +'I should be able to look after that for you.' + +"'What would be the hours?' I asked. + +"'Ten to two.' + +"Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. +Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just +before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in +the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, +and that he would see to anything that turned up. + +"'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' + +"'Is 4 pounds a week.' + +"'And the work?' + +"'Is purely nominal.' + +"'What do you call purely nominal?' + +"'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the +building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole +position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You +don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office +during that time.' + +"'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' +said I. + +"'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness +nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose +your billet.' + +"'And the work?' + +"'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first +volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and +blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be +ready to-morrow?' + +"'Certainly,' I answered. + +"'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you +once more on the important position which you have been fortunate +enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with +my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased +at my own good fortune. + +"Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in +low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the +whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its +object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past +belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay +such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the +'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to +cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the +whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look +at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a +quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for +Pope's Court. + +"Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as +possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross +was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off +upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from +time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he +bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had +written, and locked the door of the office after me. + +"This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the +manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my +week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week +after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I +left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only +once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at +all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an +instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet +was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk +the loss of it. + +"Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about +Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and +hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very +long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly +filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole +business came to an end." + +"To an end?" + +"Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as +usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a +little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the +panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." + +He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet +of note-paper. It read in this fashion: + + THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE + + IS + + DISSOLVED. + + October 9, 1890. + +Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the +rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so +completely overtopped every other consideration that we both +burst out into a roar of laughter. + +"I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our +client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can +do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." + +"No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from +which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for +the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you +will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. +Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the +door?" + +"I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called +at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything +about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant +living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me +what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had +never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan +Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. + +"'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' + +"'What, the red-headed man?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor +and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new +premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' + +"'Where could I find him?' + +"'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 +King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' + +"I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was +a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever +heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." + +"And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. + +"I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my +assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say +that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite +good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place +without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough +to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right +away to you." + +"And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an +exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. +From what you have told me I think that it is possible that +graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." + +"Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four +pound a week." + +"As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do +not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary +league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some +30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have +gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have +lost nothing by them." + +"No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, +and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a +prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it +cost them two and thirty pounds." + +"We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, +one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who +first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he +been with you?" + +"About a month then." + +"How did he come?" + +"In answer to an advertisement." + +"Was he the only applicant?" + +"No, I had a dozen." + +"Why did you pick him?" + +"Because he was handy and would come cheap." + +"At half-wages, in fact." + +"Yes." + +"What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" + +"Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, +though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon +his forehead." + +Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought +as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are +pierced for earrings?" + +"Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he +was a lad." + +"Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still +with you?" + +"Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." + +"And has your business been attended to in your absence?" + +"Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a +morning." + +"That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an +opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is +Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." + +"Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what +do you make of it all?" + +"I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most +mysterious business." + +"As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less +mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless +crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is +the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this +matter." + +"What are you going to do, then?" I asked. + +"To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I +beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled +himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his +hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his +black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. +I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and +indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his +chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put +his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. + +"Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he +remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare +you for a few hours?" + +"I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very +absorbing." + +"Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City +first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that +there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is +rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is +introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" + +We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short +walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular +story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, +little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy +two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in +enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded +laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and +uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with +"JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced +the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. +Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side +and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between +puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down +again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally +he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously +upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up +to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a +bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step +in. + +"Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would +go from here to the Strand." + +"Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, +closing the door. + +"Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, +in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring +I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known +something of him before." + +"Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good +deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you +inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." + +"Not him." + +"What then?" + +"The knees of his trousers." + +"And what did you see?" + +"What I expected to see." + +"Why did you beat the pavement?" + +"My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We +are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg +Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." + +The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the +corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a +contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was +one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City +to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense +stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, +while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of +pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line +of fine shops and stately business premises that they really +abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square +which we had just quitted. + +"Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing +along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the +houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of +London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little +newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, +the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building +depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, +Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A +sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where +all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no +red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." + +My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a +very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All +the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect +happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the +music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes +were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the +relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was +possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature +alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and +astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction +against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally +predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from +extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was +never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been +lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his +black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase +would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning +power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were +unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a +man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him +that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I +felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set +himself to hunt down. + +"You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we +emerged. + +"Yes, it would be as well." + +"And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This +business at Coburg Square is serious." + +"Why serious?" + +"A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to +believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being +Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help +to-night." + +"At what time?" + +"Ten will be early enough." + +"I shall be at Baker Street at ten." + +"Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, +so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his +hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the +crowd. + +I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was +always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings +with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had +seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that +he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to +happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and +grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought +over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed +copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg +Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. +What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? +Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from +Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a +formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to +puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside +until night should bring an explanation. + +It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my +way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker +Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered +the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering +his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, +one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police +agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a +very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. + +"Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his +pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. +"Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me +introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in +to-night's adventure." + +"We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in +his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for +starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do +the running down." + +"I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," +observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. + +"You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said +the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which +are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical +and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It +is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of +the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly +correct than the official force." + +"Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the +stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. +It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I +have not had my rubber." + +"I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will +play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and +that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, +the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will +be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." + +"John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a +young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his +profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on +any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John +Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been +to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and +though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to +find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, +and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. +I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him +yet." + +"I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. +I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I +agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is +past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two +will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the +second." + +Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive +and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in +the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit +streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. + +"We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow +Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the +matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is +not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. +He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as +tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we +are, and they are waiting for us." + +We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had +found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, +following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a +narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. +Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive +iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding +stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. +Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us +down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a +third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all +round with crates and massive boxes. + +"You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he +held up the lantern and gazed about him. + +"Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon +the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite +hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. + +"I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes +severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our +expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit +down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" + +The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a +very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his +knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, +began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few +seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again +and put his glass in his pocket. + +"We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can +hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. +Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their +work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at +present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of +the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. +Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to +you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of +London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at +present." + +"It is our French gold,"
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