Ewriting Format by Carl Peterson © 2001

A Scandal in Bohemia
The Red-headed League
A Case of Identity
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
The Five Orange Pips
The Man with the Twisted Lip
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
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 teasoner
to admit such intrusions in
to 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 clews,
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 in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to 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,
endeavoring
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 in
to 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-colored 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 honor
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 honor 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 in
to 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 drily."

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 incogni
to 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 wellknown adventuress,
Irene Adler.

The name is no doubt farmiliar
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 stnct 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 in
to 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 wlll 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 in
to my head.It was close upon four before the door opened,
and a drunkenlooking groom,
ill-kempt and side-whiskered,

with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes,
walked in
to 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 in
to the bedroom,
whence he emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable,
as of old.

Putting his hands in
to 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 horsy 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 neighborhood 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 in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to 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 cooperation."


"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 in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to 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's succinct description,
but the locality appeared
to be less private than I expected.

On the contrary,

for a small street in a quiet neighborhood,
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 hcr 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 scissorsgrinder,
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 in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to the sitting-room.

There is a comfortable sofa.

This way,
please!"
Slowly and solemnly he was borne in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to the room."

You have really got it!" he cried,
grasping Sherlock Holmes by either shoulder and looking eagerly in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to 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,
nee 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 honor
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 honorable 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 in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to 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 endeavored,
after the fashion of my companion,

to read the indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance.I did not gain very much,
however,
by my inspection.

Our visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace British tradesman,
obese,
pompous,
and slow.

He wore rather baggy gray shepherd's check trousers,
a not over-clean black frock-coat,
unbuttoned in the front,
and a drab waistcoat
with a heavy brassy Albert chain,
and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as an ornament.

A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat
with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him.

Altogether,
look as I would,
there was nothing remarkable about the man save his blazing red head,
and the expression of extreme chagrin and discontent upon his features.Sherlock Holmes's quick eye took in my occupation,
and he shook his head
with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances.

"Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual 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.

Appiy 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 employee 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 in
to the cellar like a rabbit in
to 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 in
to 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 color,
here's a nice little crib all ready
for me
to step into.'
"'Why,
what is it,
then?' I asked.

You see.

Mr. Holmes,
I 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 eligibile 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 color.

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 in
to 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 color they were--straw,
lemon,
orange,
brick,
Irish-setter,
liver,
clay;
but,
as Spaulding said,
there were not many who had the real vivid flame-colored 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 favorable
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 favor 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 card-board 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 card-board 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 in
to 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 in
to 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 in
to 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 endeavor
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 gypsy 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 in
to 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 realize 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 perfomer 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 neighbors,
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 recognized 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 peajacket 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 Shol
to 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 in
to 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,
in
to 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 carree,
you might have your rubber after all.

But I see that the enemy's preparations have gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light.

And,
first of all,
we must choose our positions.

These are daring men,
and though we shall take them at a disadvantage,
they may do us some harm unless we are careful.

I shall stand behind this crate,
and do you conceal yourselves behind those.

Then,
when I flash a light upon them,
close in swiftly.

If they fire,
Watson,
have no 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 in
to Saxe-Coburg Square.

I hope that you have done what I asked you,
Jones?"


"l 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's 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 Encyclopaedia,
must be
to get this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way
for a number of hours every day.

It was a curious way of managing it,
but,
really,
it would be difficult
to suggest a better.

The method was no doubt suggested
to Clay's ingenious mind by the color of his accomplice's hair.

The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw him,
and what was it
to them,
who were playing
for thousands?

They put in the advertisement,
one rogue has the temporary office,
the other rogue incites the man
to apply
for it.

and 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 in
to the cellar.

The cellar!

There was the end of this tangled clew.

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'oeuvre c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote
to George Sand."


ADVENTURE 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 generation,
and leading
to the most outre 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 in
to 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 thc 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 in
to 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 in
to the fire.

"Oscillation upon the pavement always means an affaire de coeur.

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 in
to 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 realizing 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 pounds
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 4 1/2 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 in
to 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 pounds."


"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