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Title  A Study In Scarlet 
 
Author  Arthur Conan Doyle 
 
Posting Date  July           EBook       
Release Date  April       
 
Language  English 
 
Character set encoding  ASCII 
 
    START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A STUDY IN SCARLET     
 
 
 
 
Produced by Roger Squires 
 
 
 
 
 
A STUDY IN SCARLET  
 
By A  Conan Doyle 
 
    
 
 
 
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A STUDY IN SCARLET  
 
 
 
 
 
PART I  
 
  Being a reprint from the reminiscences of  JOHN H  WATSON  M D    late 
of the Army Medical Department        
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER I  MR  SHERLOCK HOLMES  
 
 
IN the year      I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the 
University of London  and proceeded to Netley to go through the course 
prescribed for surgeons in the army  Having completed my studies there  
I was duly attached to the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers as Assistant 
Surgeon  The regiment was stationed in India at the time  and before 
I could join it  the second Afghan war had broken out  On landing at 
Bombay  I learned that my corps had advanced through the passes  and 
was already deep in the enemy s country  I followed  however  with many 
other officers who were in the same situation as myself  and succeeded 
in reaching Candahar in safety  where I found my regiment  and at once 
entered upon my new duties  
 
The campaign brought honours and promotion to many  but for me it had 
nothing but misfortune and disaster  I was removed from my brigade and 
attached to the Berkshires  with whom I served at the fatal battle of 
Maiwand  There I was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet  which 
shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery  I should have 
fallen into the hands of the murderous Ghazis had it not been for the 
devotion and courage shown by Murray  my orderly  who threw me across a 
pack horse  and succeeded in bringing me safely to the British lines  
 
Worn with pain  and weak from the prolonged hardships which I had 
undergone  I was removed  with a great train of wounded sufferers  to 
the base hospital at Peshawar  Here I rallied  and had already improved 
so far as to be able to walk about the wards  and even to bask a little 
upon the verandah  when I was struck down by enteric fever  that curse 
of our Indian possessions  For months my life was despaired of  and 
when at last I came to myself and became convalescent  I was so weak and 
emaciated that a medical board determined that not a day should be lost 
in sending me back to England  I was dispatched  accordingly  in the 
troopship  Orontes   and landed a month later on Portsmouth jetty  with 
my health irretrievably ruined  but with permission from a paternal 
government to spend the next nine months in attempting to improve it  
 
I had neither kith nor kin in England  and was therefore as free as 
air  or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will 
permit a man to be  Under such circumstances  I naturally gravitated to 
London  that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of 
the Empire are irresistibly drained  There I stayed for some time at 
a private hotel in the Strand  leading a comfortless  meaningless 
existence  and spending such money as I had  considerably more freely 
than I ought  So alarming did the state of my finances become  that 
I soon realized that I must either leave the metropolis and rusticate 
somewhere in the country  or that I must make a complete alteration in 
my style of living  Choosing the latter alternative  I began by making 
up my mind to leave the hotel  and to take up my quarters in some less 
pretentious and less expensive domicile  
 
On the very day that I had come to this conclusion  I was standing at 
the Criterion Bar  when some one tapped me on the shoulder  and turning 
round I recognized young Stamford  who had been a dresser under me at 
Barts  The sight of a friendly face in the great wilderness of London is 
a pleasant thing indeed to a lonely man  In old days Stamford had never 
been a particular crony of mine  but now I hailed him with enthusiasm  
and he  in his turn  appeared to be delighted to see me  In the 
exuberance of my joy  I asked him to lunch with me at the Holborn  and 
we started off together in a hansom  
 
 Whatever have you been doing with yourself  Watson   he asked in 
undisguised wonder  as we rattled through the crowded London streets  
 You are as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut   
 
I gave him a short sketch of my adventures  and had hardly concluded it 
by the time that we reached our destination  
 
 Poor devil   he said  commiseratingly  after he had listened to my 
misfortunes   What are you up to now   
 
 Looking for lodgings       I answered   Trying to solve the problem 
as to whether it is possible to get comfortable rooms at a reasonable 
price   
 
 That s a strange thing   remarked my companion   you are the second man 
to day that has used that expression to me   
 
 And who was the first   I asked  
 
 A fellow who is working at the chemical laboratory up at the hospital  
He was bemoaning himself this morning because he could not get someone 
to go halves with him in some nice rooms which he had found  and which 
were too much for his purse   
 
 By Jove   I cried   if he really wants someone to share the rooms and 
the expense  I am the very man for him  I should prefer having a partner 
to being alone   
 
Young Stamford looked rather strangely at me over his wine glass   You 
don t know Sherlock Holmes yet   he said   perhaps you would not care 
for him as a constant companion   
 
 Why  what is there against him   
 
 Oh  I didn t say there was anything against him  He is a little queer 
in his ideas  an enthusiast in some branches of science  As far as I 
know he is a decent fellow enough   
 
 A medical student  I suppose   said I  
 
 No  I have no idea what he intends to go in for  I believe he is well 
up in anatomy  and he is a first class chemist  but  as far as I know  
he has never taken out any systematic medical classes  His studies are 
very desultory and eccentric  but he has amassed a lot of out of the way 
knowledge which would astonish his professors   
 
 Did you never ask him what he was going in for   I asked  
 
 No  he is not a man that it is easy to draw out  though he can be 
communicative enough when the fancy seizes him   
 
 I should like to meet him   I said   If I am to lodge with anyone  I 
should prefer a man of studious and quiet habits  I am not strong 
enough yet to stand much noise or excitement  I had enough of both in 
Afghanistan to last me for the remainder of my natural existence  How 
could I meet this friend of yours   
 
 He is sure to be at the laboratory   returned my companion   He either 
avoids the place for weeks  or else he works there from morning to 
night  If you like  we shall drive round together after luncheon   
 
 Certainly   I answered  and the conversation drifted away into other 
channels  
 
As we made our way to the hospital after leaving the Holborn  Stamford 
gave me a few more particulars about the gentleman whom I proposed to 
take as a fellow lodger  
 
 You mustn t blame me if you don t get on with him   he said   I know 
nothing more of him than I have learned from meeting him occasionally in 
the laboratory  You proposed this arrangement  so you must not hold me 
responsible   
 
 If we don t get on it will be easy to part company   I answered   It 
seems to me  Stamford   I added  looking hard at my companion   that you 
have some reason for washing your hands of the matter  Is this fellow s 
temper so formidable  or what is it  Don t be mealy mouthed about it   
 
 It is not easy to express the inexpressible   he answered with a laugh  
 Holmes is a little too scientific for my tastes  it approaches to 
cold bloodedness  I could imagine his giving a friend a little pinch of 
the latest vegetable alkaloid  not out of malevolence  you understand  
but simply out of a spirit of inquiry in order to have an accurate idea 
of the effects  To do him justice  I think that he would take it himself 
with the same readiness  He appears to have a passion for definite and 
exact knowledge   
 
 Very right too   
 
 Yes  but it may be pushed to excess  When it comes to beating the 
subjects in the dissecting rooms with a stick  it is certainly taking 
rather a bizarre shape   
 
 Beating the subjects   
 
 Yes  to verify how far bruises may be produced after death  I saw him 
at it with my own eyes   
 
 And yet you say he is not a medical student   
 
 No  Heaven knows what the objects of his studies are  But here we 
are  and you must form your own impressions about him   As he spoke  we 
turned down a narrow lane and passed through a small side door  which 
opened into a wing of the great hospital  It was familiar ground to me  
and I needed no guiding as we ascended the bleak stone staircase and 
made our way down the long corridor with its vista of whitewashed 
wall and dun coloured doors  Near the further end a low arched passage 
branched away from it and led to the chemical laboratory  
 
This was a lofty chamber  lined and littered with countless bottles  
Broad  low tables were scattered about  which bristled with retorts  
test tubes  and little Bunsen lamps  with their blue flickering flames  
There was only one student in the room  who was bending over a distant 
table absorbed in his work  At the sound of our steps he glanced round 
and sprang to his feet with a cry of pleasure   I ve found it  I ve 
found it   he shouted to my companion  running towards us with a 
test tube in his hand   I have found a re agent which is precipitated 
by hoemoglobin      and by nothing else   Had he discovered a gold mine  
greater delight could not have shone upon his features  
 
 Dr  Watson  Mr  Sherlock Holmes   said Stamford  introducing us  
 
 How are you   he said cordially  gripping my hand with a strength 
for which I should hardly have given him credit   You have been in 
Afghanistan  I perceive   
 
 How on earth did you know that   I asked in astonishment  
 
 Never mind   said he  chuckling to himself   The question now is about 
hoemoglobin  No doubt you see the significance of this discovery of 
mine   
 
 It is interesting  chemically  no doubt   I answered   but 
practically      
 
 Why  man  it is the most practical medico legal discovery for years  
Don t you see that it gives us an infallible test for blood stains  Come 
over here now   He seized me by the coat sleeve in his eagerness  and 
drew me over to the table at which he had been working   Let us have 
some fresh blood   he said  digging a long bodkin into his finger  and 
drawing off the resulting drop of blood in a chemical pipette   Now  I 
add this small quantity of blood to a litre of water  You perceive that 
the resulting mixture has the appearance of pure water  The proportion 
of blood cannot be more than one in a million  I have no doubt  however  
that we shall be able to obtain the characteristic reaction   As he 
spoke  he threw into the vessel a few white crystals  and then added 
some drops of a transparent fluid  In an instant the contents assumed a 
dull mahogany colour  and a brownish dust was precipitated to the bottom 
of the glass jar  
 
 Ha  ha   he cried  clapping his hands  and looking as delighted as a 
child with a new toy   What do you think of that   
 
 It seems to be a very delicate test   I remarked  
 
 Beautiful  beautiful  The old Guiacum test was very clumsy and 
uncertain  So is the microscopic examination for blood corpuscles  The 
latter is valueless if the stains are a few hours old  Now  this appears 
to act as well whether the blood is old or new  Had this test been 
invented  there are hundreds of men now walking the earth who would long 
ago have paid the penalty of their crimes   
 
 Indeed   I murmured  
 
 Criminal cases are continually hinging upon that one point  A man is 
suspected of a crime months perhaps after it has been committed  His 
linen or clothes are examined  and brownish stains discovered upon them  
Are they blood stains  or mud stains  or rust stains  or fruit stains  
or what are they  That is a question which has puzzled many an expert  
and why  Because there was no reliable test  Now we have the Sherlock 
Holmes  test  and there will no longer be any difficulty   
 
His eyes fairly glittered as he spoke  and he put his hand over his 
heart and bowed as if to some applauding crowd conjured up by his 
imagination  
 
 You are to be congratulated   I remarked  considerably surprised at his 
enthusiasm  
 
 There was the case of Von Bischoff at Frankfort last year  He would 
certainly have been hung had this test been in existence  Then there was 
Mason of Bradford  and the notorious Muller  and Lefevre of Montpellier  
and Samson of new Orleans  I could name a score of cases in which it 
would have been decisive   
 
 You seem to be a walking calendar of crime   said Stamford with a 
laugh   You might start a paper on those lines  Call it the  Police News 
of the Past    
 
 Very interesting reading it might be made  too   remarked Sherlock 
Holmes  sticking a small piece of plaster over the prick on his finger  
 I have to be careful   he continued  turning to me with a smile   for I 
dabble with poisons a good deal   He held out his hand as he spoke  and 
I noticed that it was all mottled over with similar pieces of plaster  
and discoloured with strong acids  
 
 We came here on business   said Stamford  sitting down on a high 
three legged stool  and pushing another one in my direction with 
his foot   My friend here wants to take diggings  and as you were 
complaining that you could get no one to go halves with you  I thought 
that I had better bring you together   
 
Sherlock Holmes seemed delighted at the idea of sharing his rooms with 
me   I have my eye on a suite in Baker Street   he said   which would 
suit us down to the ground  You don t mind the smell of strong tobacco  
I hope   
 
 I always smoke  ship s  myself   I answered  
 
 That s good enough  I generally have chemicals about  and occasionally 
do experiments  Would that annoy you   
 
 By no means   
 
 Let me see  what are my other shortcomings  I get in the dumps at 
times  and don t open my mouth for days on end  You must not think I am 
sulky when I do that  Just let me alone  and I ll soon be right  What 
have you to confess now  It s just as well for two fellows to know the 
worst of one another before they begin to live together   
 
I laughed at this cross examination   I keep a bull pup   I said   and 
I object to rows because my nerves are shaken  and I get up at all sorts 
of ungodly hours  and I am extremely lazy  I have another set of vices 
when I m well  but those are the principal ones at present   
 
 Do you include violin playing in your category of rows   he asked  
anxiously  
 
 It depends on the player   I answered   A well played violin is a treat 
for the gods  a badly played one      
 
 Oh  that s all right   he cried  with a merry laugh   I think we may 
consider the thing as settled  that is  if the rooms are agreeable to 
you   
 
 When shall we see them   
 
 Call for me here at noon to morrow  and we ll go together and settle 
everything   he answered  
 
 All right  noon exactly   said I  shaking his hand  
 
We left him working among his chemicals  and we walked together towards 
my hotel  
 
 By the way   I asked suddenly  stopping and turning upon Stamford   how 
the deuce did he know that I had come from Afghanistan   
 
My companion smiled an enigmatical smile   That s just his little 
peculiarity   he said   A good many people have wanted to know how he 
finds things out   
 
 Oh  a mystery is it   I cried  rubbing my hands   This is very piquant  
I am much obliged to you for bringing us together   The proper study of 
mankind is man   you know   
 
 You must study him  then   Stamford said  as he bade me good bye  
 You ll find him a knotty problem  though  I ll wager he learns more 
about you than you about him  Good bye   
 
 Good bye   I answered  and strolled on to my hotel  considerably 
interested in my new acquaintance  
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER II  THE SCIENCE OF DEDUCTION  
 
 
WE met next day as he had arranged  and inspected the rooms at No     B  
    Baker Street  of which he had spoken at our meeting  They 
consisted of a couple of comfortable bed rooms and a single large 
airy sitting room  cheerfully furnished  and illuminated by two broad 
windows  So desirable in every way were the apartments  and so moderate 
did the terms seem when divided between us  that the bargain was 
concluded upon the spot  and we at once entered into possession  
That very evening I moved my things round from the hotel  and on the 
following morning Sherlock Holmes followed me with several boxes and 
portmanteaus  For a day or two we were busily employed in unpacking and 
laying out our property to the best advantage  That done  we 
gradually began to settle down and to accommodate ourselves to our new 
surroundings  
 
Holmes was certainly not a difficult man to live with  He was quiet 
in his ways  and his habits were regular  It was rare for him to be 
up after ten at night  and he had invariably breakfasted and gone out 
before I rose in the morning  Sometimes he spent his day at the chemical 
laboratory  sometimes in the dissecting rooms  and occasionally in long 
walks  which appeared to take him into the lowest portions of the City  
Nothing could exceed his energy when the working fit was upon him  but 
now and again a reaction would seize him  and for days on end he would 
lie upon the sofa in the sitting room  hardly uttering a word or moving 
a muscle from morning to night  On these occasions I have noticed such 
a dreamy  vacant expression in his eyes  that I might have suspected him 
of being addicted to the use of some narcotic  had not the temperance 
and cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion  
 
As the weeks went by  my interest in him and my curiosity as to his 
aims in life  gradually deepened and increased  His very person and 
appearance were such as to strike the attention of the most casual 
observer  In height he was rather over six feet  and so excessively 
lean that he seemed to be considerably taller  His eyes were sharp and 
piercing  save during those intervals of torpor to which I have alluded  
and his thin  hawk like nose gave his whole expression an air of 
alertness and decision  His chin  too  had the prominence and squareness 
which mark the man of determination  His hands were invariably 
blotted with ink and stained with chemicals  yet he was possessed of 
extraordinary delicacy of touch  as I frequently had occasion to observe 
when I watched him manipulating his fragile philosophical instruments  
 
The reader may set me down as a hopeless busybody  when I confess how 
much this man stimulated my curiosity  and how often I endeavoured 
to break through the reticence which he showed on all that concerned 
himself  Before pronouncing judgment  however  be it remembered  how 
objectless was my life  and how little there was to engage my attention  
My health forbade me from venturing out unless the weather was 
exceptionally genial  and I had no friends who would call upon me and 
break the monotony of my daily existence  Under these circumstances  I 
eagerly hailed the little mystery which hung around my companion  and 
spent much of my time in endeavouring to unravel it  
 
He was not studying medicine  He had himself  in reply to a question  
confirmed Stamford s opinion upon that point  Neither did he appear to 
have pursued any course of reading which might fit him for a degree in 
science or any other recognized portal which would give him an entrance 
into the learned world  Yet his zeal for certain studies was remarkable  
and within eccentric limits his knowledge was so extraordinarily ample 
and minute that his observations have fairly astounded me  Surely no man 
would work so hard or attain such precise information unless he had some 
definite end in view  Desultory readers are seldom remarkable for the 
exactness of their learning  No man burdens his mind with small matters 
unless he has some very good reason for doing so  
 
His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge  Of contemporary 
literature  philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing  
Upon my quoting Thomas Carlyle  he inquired in the naivest way who he 
might be and what he had done  My surprise reached a climax  however  
when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory 
and of the composition of the Solar System  That any civilized human 
being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth 
travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact 
that I could hardly realize it  
 
 You appear to be astonished   he said  smiling at my expression of 
surprise   Now that I do know it I shall do my best to forget it   
 
 To forget it   
 
 You see   he explained   I consider that a man s brain originally is 
like a little empty attic  and you have to stock it with such furniture 
as you choose  A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he 
comes across  so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets 
crowded out  or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that 
he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it  Now the skilful workman 
is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain attic  He will 
have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work  but of 
these he has a large assortment  and all in the most perfect order  It 
is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can 
distend to any extent  Depend upon it there comes a time when for every 
addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before  It is 
of the highest importance  therefore  not to have useless facts elbowing 
out the useful ones   
 
 But the Solar System   I protested  
 
 What the deuce is it to me   he interrupted impatiently   you say 
that we go round the sun  If we went round the moon it would not make a 
pennyworth of difference to me or to my work   
 
I was on the point of asking him what that work might be  but something 
in his manner showed me that the question would be an unwelcome one  I 
pondered over our short conversation  however  and endeavoured to draw 
my deductions from it  He said that he would acquire no knowledge which 
did not bear upon his object  Therefore all the knowledge which he 
possessed was such as would be useful to him  I enumerated in my own 
mind all the various points upon which he had shown me that he was 
exceptionally well informed  I even took a pencil and jotted them down  
I could not help smiling at the document when I had completed it  It ran 
in this way   
 
 
SHERLOCK HOLMES  his limits  
 
     Knowledge of Literature   Nil  
                  Philosophy   Nil  
                  Astronomy   Nil  
                  Politics   Feeble  
                  Botany   Variable   Well up in belladonna  
                              opium  and poisons generally  
                              Knows nothing of practical gardening  
                  Geology   Practical  but limited  
                               Tells at a glance different soils 
                               from each other   After walks has 
                               shown me splashes upon his trousers  
                               and told me by their colour and 
                               consistence in what part of London 
                               he had received them  
                  Chemistry   Profound  
                  Anatomy   Accurate  but unsystematic  
                  Sensational Literature   Immense   He appears 
                              to know every detail of every horror 
                              perpetrated in the century  
      Plays the violin well  
      Is an expert singlestick player  boxer  and swordsman  
      Has a good practical knowledge of British law  
 
 
When I had got so far in my list I threw it into the fire in despair  
 If I can only find what the fellow is driving at by reconciling all 
these accomplishments  and discovering a calling which needs them all   
I said to myself   I may as well give up the attempt at once   
 
I see that I have alluded above to his powers upon the violin  These 
were very remarkable  but as eccentric as all his other accomplishments  
That he could play pieces  and difficult pieces  I knew well  because 
at my request he has played me some of Mendelssohn s Lieder  and other 
favourites  When left to himself  however  he would seldom produce any 
music or attempt any recognized air  Leaning back in his arm chair of 
an evening  he would close his eyes and scrape carelessly at the fiddle 
which was thrown across his knee  Sometimes the chords were sonorous and 
melancholy  Occasionally they were fantastic and cheerful  Clearly they 
reflected the thoughts which possessed him  but whether the music aided 
those thoughts  or whether the playing was simply the result of a whim 
or fancy was more than I could determine  I might have rebelled against 
these exasperating solos had it not been that he usually terminated them 
by playing in quick succession a whole series of my favourite airs as a 
slight compensation for the trial upon my patience  
 
During the first week or so we had no callers  and I had begun to think 
that my companion was as friendless a man as I was myself  Presently  
however  I found that he had many acquaintances  and those in the most 
different classes of society  There was one little sallow rat faced  
dark eyed fellow who was introduced to me as Mr  Lestrade  and who came 
three or four times in a single week  One morning a young girl called  
fashionably dressed  and stayed for half an hour or more  The same 
afternoon brought a grey headed  seedy visitor  looking like a Jew 
pedlar  who appeared to me to be much excited  and who was closely 
followed by a slip shod elderly woman  On another occasion an old 
white haired gentleman had an interview with my companion  and on 
another a railway porter in his velveteen uniform  When any of these 
nondescript individuals put in an appearance  Sherlock Holmes used to 
beg for the use of the sitting room  and I would retire to my bed room  
He always apologized to me for putting me to this inconvenience   I have 
to use this room as a place of business   he said   and these people 
are my clients   Again I had an opportunity of asking him a point blank 
question  and again my delicacy prevented me from forcing another man to 
confide in me  I imagined at the time that he had some strong reason for 
not alluding to it  but he soon dispelled the idea by coming round to 
the subject of his own accord  
 
It was upon the  th of March  as I have good reason to remember  that I 
rose somewhat earlier than usual  and found that Sherlock Holmes had not 
yet finished his breakfast  The landlady had become so accustomed to my 
late habits that my place had not been laid nor my coffee prepared  With 
the unreasonable petulance of mankind I rang the bell and gave a curt 
intimation that I was ready  Then I picked up a magazine from the table 
and attempted to while away the time with it  while my companion munched 
silently at his toast  One of the articles had a pencil mark at the 
heading  and I naturally began to run my eye through it  
 
Its somewhat ambitious title was  The Book of Life   and it attempted to 
show how much an observant man might learn by an accurate and systematic 
examination of all that came in his way  It struck me as being a 
remarkable mixture of shrewdness and of absurdity  The reasoning was 
close and intense  but the deductions appeared to me to be far fetched 
and exaggerated  The writer claimed by a momentary expression  a twitch 
of a muscle or a glance of an eye  to fathom a man s inmost thoughts  
Deceit  according to him  was an impossibility in the case of one 
trained to observation and analysis  His conclusions were as infallible 
as so many propositions of Euclid  So startling would his results appear 
to the uninitiated that until they learned the processes by which he had 
arrived at them they might well consider him as a necromancer  
 
 From a drop of water   said the writer   a logician could infer the 
possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of 
one or the other  So all life is a great chain  the nature of which is 
known whenever we are shown a single link of it  Like all other arts  
the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be acquired 
by long and patient study nor is life long enough to allow any mortal 
to attain the highest possible perfection in it  Before turning to 
those moral and mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest 
difficulties  let the enquirer begin by mastering more elementary 
problems  Let him  on meeting a fellow mortal  learn at a glance to 
distinguish the history of the man  and the trade or profession to 
which he belongs  Puerile as such an exercise may seem  it sharpens the 
faculties of observation  and teaches one where to look and what to look 
for  By a man s finger nails  by his coat sleeve  by his boot  by his 
trouser knees  by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb  by his 
expression  by his shirt cuffs  by each of these things a man s calling 
is plainly revealed  That all united should fail to enlighten the 
competent enquirer in any case is almost inconceivable   
 
 What ineffable twaddle   I cried  slapping the magazine down on the 
table   I never read such rubbish in my life   
 
 What is it   asked Sherlock Holmes  
 
 Why  this article   I said  pointing at it with my egg spoon as I sat 
down to my breakfast   I see that you have read it since you have marked 
it  I don t deny that it is smartly written  It irritates me though  It 
is evidently the theory of some arm chair lounger who evolves all these 
neat little paradoxes in the seclusion of his own study  It is not 
practical  I should like to see him clapped down in a third class 
carriage on the Underground  and asked to give the trades of all his 
fellow travellers  I would lay a thousand to one against him   
 
 You would lose your money   Sherlock Holmes remarked calmly   As for 
the article I wrote it myself   
 
 You   
 
 Yes  I have a turn both for observation and for deduction  The 
theories which I have expressed there  and which appear to you to be so 
chimerical are really extremely practical  so practical that I depend 
upon them for my bread and cheese   
 
 And how   I asked involuntarily  
 
 Well  I have a trade of my own  I suppose I am the only one in the 
world  I m a consulting detective  if you can understand what that is  
Here in London we have lots of Government detectives and lots of private 
ones  When these fellows are at fault they come to me  and I manage to 
put them on the right scent  They lay all the evidence before me  and I 
am generally able  by the help of my knowledge of the history of 
crime  to set them straight  There is a strong family resemblance about 
misdeeds  and if you have all the details of a thousand at your finger 
ends  it is odd if you can t unravel the thousand and first  Lestrade 
is a well known detective  He got himself into a fog recently over a 
forgery case  and that was what brought him here   
 
 And these other people   
 
 They are mostly sent on by private inquiry agencies  They are 
all people who are in trouble about something  and want a little 
enlightening  I listen to their story  they listen to my comments  and 
then I pocket my fee   
 
 But do you mean to say   I said   that without leaving your room you 
can unravel some knot which other men can make nothing of  although they 
have seen every detail for themselves   
 
 Quite so  I have a kind of intuition that way  Now and again a case 
turns up which is a little more complex  Then I have to bustle about and 
see things with my own eyes  You see I have a lot of special knowledge 
which I apply to the problem  and which facilitates matters wonderfully  
Those rules of deduction laid down in that article which aroused your 
scorn  are invaluable to me in practical work  Observation with me is 
second nature  You appeared to be surprised when I told you  on our 
first meeting  that you had come from Afghanistan   
 
 You were told  no doubt   
 
 Nothing of the sort  I  knew  you came from Afghanistan  From long 
habit the train of thoughts ran so swiftly through my mind  that I 
arrived at the conclusion without being conscious of intermediate steps  
There were such steps  however  The train of reasoning ran   Here is a 
gentleman of a medical type  but with the air of a military man  Clearly 
an army doctor  then  He has just come from the tropics  for his face is 
dark  and that is not the natural tint of his skin  for his wrists are 
fair  He has undergone hardship and sickness  as his haggard face says 
clearly  His left arm has been injured  He holds it in a stiff and 
unnatural manner  Where in the tropics could an English army doctor have 
seen much hardship and got his arm wounded  Clearly in Afghanistan   The 
whole train of thought did not occupy a second  I then remarked that you 
came from Afghanistan  and you were astonished   
 
 It is simple enough as you explain it   I said  smiling   You remind 
me of Edgar Allen Poe s Dupin  I had no idea that such individuals did 
exist outside of stories   
 
Sherlock Holmes rose and lit his pipe   No doubt you think that you are 
complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin   he observed   Now  in my 
opinion  Dupin was a very inferior fellow  That trick of his of breaking 
in on his friends  thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter of 
an hour s silence is really very showy and superficial  He had some 
analytical genius  no doubt  but he was by no means such a phenomenon as 
Poe appeared to imagine   
 
 Have you read Gaboriau s works   I asked   Does Lecoq come up to your 
idea of a detective   
 
Sherlock Holmes sniffed sardonically   Lecoq was a miserable bungler   
he said  in an angry voice   he had only one thing to recommend him  and 
that was his energy  That book made me positively ill  The question was 
how to identify an unknown prisoner  I could have done it in twenty four 
hours  Lecoq took six months or so  It might be made a text book for 
detectives to teach them what to avoid   
 
I felt rather indignant at having two characters whom I had admired 
treated in this cavalier style  I walked over to the window  and stood 
looking out into the busy street   This fellow may be very clever   I 
said to myself   but he is certainly very conceited   
 
 There are no crimes and no criminals in these days   he said  
querulously   What is the use of having brains in our profession  I know 
well that I have it in me to make my name famous  No man lives or has 
ever lived who has brought the same amount of study and of natural 
talent to the detection of crime which I have done  And what is the 
result  There is no crime to detect  or  at most  some bungling villany 
with a motive so transparent that even a Scotland Yard official can see 
through it   
 
I was still annoyed at his bumptious style of conversation  I thought it 
best to change the topic  
 
 I wonder what that fellow is looking for   I asked  pointing to a 
stalwart  plainly dressed individual who was walking slowly down the 
other side of the street  looking anxiously at the numbers  He had 
a large blue envelope in his hand  and was evidently the bearer of a 
message  
 
 You mean the retired sergeant of Marines   said Sherlock Holmes  
 
 Brag and bounce   thought I to myself   He knows that I cannot verify 
his guess   
 
The thought had hardly passed through my mind when the man whom we were 
watching caught sight of the number on our door  and ran rapidly across 
the roadway  We heard a loud knock  a deep voice below  and heavy steps 
ascending the stair  
 
 For Mr  Sherlock Holmes   he said  stepping into the room and handing 
my friend the letter  
 
Here was an opportunity of taking the conceit out of him  He little 
thought of this when he made that random shot   May I ask  my lad   I 
said  in the blandest voice   what your trade may be   
 
 Commissionaire  sir   he said  gruffly   Uniform away for repairs   
 
 And you were   I asked  with a slightly malicious glance at my 
companion  
 
 A sergeant  sir  Royal Marine Light Infantry  sir  No answer  Right  
sir   
 
He clicked his heels together  raised his hand in a salute  and was 
gone  
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER III  THE LAURISTON GARDEN MYSTERY     
 
 
I CONFESS that I was considerably startled by this fresh proof of the 
practical nature of my companion s theories  My respect for his powers 
of analysis increased wondrously  There still remained some lurking 
suspicion in my mind  however  that the whole thing was a pre arranged 
episode  intended to dazzle me  though what earthly object he could have 
in taking me in was past my comprehension  When I looked at him he 
had finished reading the note  and his eyes had assumed the vacant  
lack lustre expression which showed mental abstraction  
 
 How in the world did you deduce that   I asked  
 
 Deduce what   said he  petulantly  
 
 Why  that he was a retired sergeant of Marines   
 
 I have no time for trifles   he answered  brusquely  then with a smile  
 Excuse my rudeness  You broke the thread of my thoughts  but perhaps 
it is as well  So you actually were not able to see that that man was a 
sergeant of Marines   
 
 No  indeed   
 
 It was easier to know it than to explain why I knew it  If you 
were asked to prove that two and two made four  you might find some 
difficulty  and yet you are quite sure of the fact  Even across the 
street I could see a great blue anchor tattooed on the back of the 
fellow s hand  That smacked of the sea  He had a military carriage  
however  and regulation side whiskers  There we have the marine  He was 
a man with some amount of self importance and a certain air of command  
You must have observed the way in which he held his head and swung 
his cane  A steady  respectable  middle aged man  too  on the face of 
him  all facts which led me to believe that he had been a sergeant   
 
 Wonderful   I ejaculated  
 
 Commonplace   said Holmes  though I thought from his expression that he 
was pleased at my evident surprise and admiration   I said just now that 
there were no criminals  It appears that I am wrong  look at this   He 
threw me over the note which the commissionaire had brought      
 
 Why   I cried  as I cast my eye over it   this is terrible   
 
 It does seem to be a little out of the common   he remarked  calmly  
 Would you mind reading it to me aloud   
 
This is the letter which I read to him     
 
 
 MY DEAR MR  SHERLOCK HOLMES    
 
 There has been a bad business during the night at    Lauriston Gardens  
off the Brixton Road  Our man on the beat saw a light there about two in 
the morning  and as the house was an empty one  suspected that something 
was amiss  He found the door open  and in the front room  which is bare 
of furniture  discovered the body of a gentleman  well dressed  and 
having cards in his pocket bearing the name of  Enoch J  Drebber  
Cleveland  Ohio  U S A   There had been no robbery  nor is there any 
evidence as to how the man met his death  There are marks of blood in 
the room  but there is no wound upon his person  We are at a loss as to 
how he came into the empty house  indeed  the whole affair is a puzzler  
If you can come round to the house any time before twelve  you will find 
me there  I have left everything  in statu quo  until I hear from you  
If you are unable to come I shall give you fuller details  and would 
esteem it a great kindness if you would favour me with your opinion  
Yours faithfully  
 
 TOBIAS GREGSON   
 
 
 Gregson is the smartest of the Scotland Yarders   my friend remarked  
 he and Lestrade are the pick of a bad lot  They are both quick and 
energetic  but conventional  shockingly so  They have their knives 
into one another  too  They are as jealous as a pair of professional 
beauties  There will be some fun over this case if they are both put 
upon the scent   
 
I was amazed at the calm way in which he rippled on   Surely there is 
not a moment to be lost   I cried   shall I go and order you a cab   
 
 I m not sure about whether I shall go  I am the most incurably lazy 
devil that ever stood in shoe leather  that is  when the fit is on me  
for I can be spry enough at times   
 
 Why  it is just such a chance as you have been longing for   
 
 My dear fellow  what does it matter to me  Supposing I unravel the 
whole matter  you may be sure that Gregson  Lestrade  and Co  will 
pocket all the credit  That comes of being an unofficial personage   
 
 But he begs you to help him   
 
 Yes  He knows that I am his superior  and acknowledges it to me  but 
he would cut his tongue out before he would own it to any third person  
However  we may as well go and have a look  I shall work it out on my 
own hook  I may have a laugh at them if I have nothing else  Come on   
 
He hustled on his overcoat  and bustled about in a way that showed that 
an energetic fit had superseded the apathetic one  
 
 Get your hat   he said  
 
 You wish me to come   
 
 Yes  if you have nothing better to do   A minute later we were both in 
a hansom  driving furiously for the Brixton Road  
 
It was a foggy  cloudy morning  and a dun coloured veil hung over the 
house tops  looking like the reflection of the mud coloured streets 
beneath  My companion was in the best of spirits  and prattled away 
about Cremona fiddles  and the difference between a Stradivarius and 
an Amati  As for myself  I was silent  for the dull weather and the 
melancholy business upon which we were engaged  depressed my spirits  
 
 You don t seem to give much thought to the matter in hand   I said at 
last  interrupting Holmes  musical disquisition  
 
 No data yet   he answered   It is a capital mistake to theorize before 
you have all the evidence  It biases the judgment   
 
 You will have your data soon   I remarked  pointing with my finger  
 this is the Brixton Road  and that is the house  if I am not very much 
mistaken   
 
 So it is  Stop  driver  stop   We were still a hundred yards or so from 
it  but he insisted upon our alighting  and we finished our journey upon 
foot  
 
Number    Lauriston Gardens wore an ill omened and minatory look  It was 
one of four which stood back some little way from the street  two being 
occupied and two empty  The latter looked out with three tiers of vacant 
melancholy windows  which were blank and dreary  save that here and 
there a  To Let  card had developed like a cataract upon the bleared 
panes  A small garden sprinkled over with a scattered eruption of sickly 
plants separated each of these houses from the street  and was traversed 
by a narrow pathway  yellowish in colour  and consisting apparently of a 
mixture of clay and of gravel  The whole place was very sloppy from the 
rain which had fallen through the night  The garden was bounded by a 
three foot brick wall with a fringe of wood rails upon the top  and 
against this wall was leaning a stalwart police constable  surrounded by 
a small knot of loafers  who craned their necks and strained their eyes 
in the vain hope of catching some glimpse of the proceedings within  
 
I had imagined that Sherlock Holmes would at once have hurried into the 
house and plunged into a study of the mystery  Nothing appeared to be 
further from his intention  With an air of nonchalance which  under the 
circumstances  seemed to me to border upon affectation  he lounged up 
and down the pavement  and gazed vacantly at the ground  the sky  the 
opposite houses and the line of railings  Having finished his scrutiny  
he proceeded slowly down the path  or rather down the fringe of grass 
which flanked the path  keeping his eyes riveted upon the ground  Twice 
he stopped  and once I saw him smile  and heard him utter an exclamation 
of satisfaction  There were many marks of footsteps upon the wet clayey 
soil  but since the police had been coming and going over it  I was 
unable to see how my companion could hope to learn anything from it  
Still I had had such extraordinary evidence of the quickness of his 
perceptive faculties  that I had no doubt that he could see a great deal 
which was hidden from me  
 
At the door of the house we were met by a tall  white faced  
flaxen haired man  with a notebook in his hand  who rushed forward and 
wrung my companion s hand with effusion   It is indeed kind of you to 
come   he said   I have had everything left untouched   
 
 Except that   my friend answered  pointing at the pathway   If a herd 
of buffaloes had passed along there could not be a greater mess  No 
doubt  however  you had drawn your own conclusions  Gregson  before you 
permitted this   
 
 I have had so much to do inside the house   the detective said 
evasively   My colleague  Mr  Lestrade  is here  I had relied upon him 
to look after this   
 
Holmes glanced at me and raised his eyebrows sardonically   With two 
such men as yourself and Lestrade upon the ground  there will not be 
much for a third party to find out   he said  
 
Gregson rubbed his hands in a self satisfied way   I think we have done 
all that can be done   he answered   it s a queer case though  and I 
knew your taste for such things   
 
 You did not come here in a cab   asked Sherlock Holmes  
 
 No  sir   
 
 Nor Lestrade   
 
 No  sir   
 
 Then let us go and look at the room   With which inconsequent remark he 
strode on into the house  followed by Gregson  whose features expressed 
his astonishment  
 
A short passage  bare planked and dusty  led to the kitchen and offices  
Two doors opened out of it to the left and to the right  One of these 
had obviously been closed for many weeks  The other belonged to the 
dining room  which was the apartment in which the mysterious affair had 
occurred  Holmes walked in  and I followed him with that subdued feeling 
at my heart which the presence of death inspires  
 
It was a large square room  looking all the larger from the absence 
of all furniture  A vulgar flaring paper adorned the walls  but it was 
blotched in places with mildew  and here and there great strips had 
become detached and hung down  exposing the yellow plaster beneath  
Opposite the door was a showy fireplace  surmounted by a mantelpiece of 
imitation white marble  On one corner of this was stuck the stump of a 
red wax candle  The solitary window was so dirty that the light was 
hazy and uncertain  giving a dull grey tinge to everything  which was 
intensified by the thick layer of dust which coated the whole apartment  
 
All these details I observed afterwards  At present my attention was 
centred upon the single grim motionless figure which lay stretched upon 
the boards  with vacant sightless eyes staring up at the discoloured 
ceiling  It was that of a man about forty three or forty four years of 
age  middle sized  broad shouldered  with crisp curling black hair  and 
a short stubbly beard  He was dressed in a heavy broadcloth frock coat 
and waistcoat  with light coloured trousers  and immaculate collar 
and cuffs  A top hat  well brushed and trim  was placed upon the floor 
beside him  His hands were clenched and his arms thrown abroad  while 
his lower limbs were interlocked as though his death struggle had been a 
grievous one  On his rigid face there stood an expression of horror  
and as it seemed to me  of hatred  such as I have never seen upon human 
features  This malignant and terrible contortion  combined with the low 
forehead  blunt nose  and prognathous jaw gave the dead man a singularly 
simious and ape like appearance  which was increased by his writhing  
unnatural posture  I have seen death in many forms  but never has 
it appeared to me in a more fearsome aspect than in that dark grimy 
apartment  which looked out upon one of the main arteries of suburban 
London  
 
Lestrade  lean and ferret like as ever  was standing by the doorway  and 
greeted my companion and myself  
 
 This case will make a stir  sir   he remarked   It beats anything I 
have seen  and I am no chicken   
 
 There is no clue   said Gregson  
 
 None at all   chimed in Lestrade  
 
Sherlock Holmes approached the body  and  kneeling down  examined it 
intently   You are sure that there is no wound   he asked  pointing to 
numerous gouts and splashes of blood which lay all round  
 
 Positive   cried both detectives  
 
 Then  of course  this blood belongs to a second individual      
presumably the murderer  if murder has been committed  It reminds me of 
the circumstances attendant on the death of Van Jansen  in Utrecht  in 
the year      Do you remember the case  Gregson   
 
 No  sir   
 
 Read it up  you really should  There is nothing new under the sun  It 
has all been done before   
 
As he spoke  his nimble fingers were flying here  there  and everywhere  
feeling  pressing  unbuttoning  examining  while his eyes wore the same 
far away expression which I have already remarked upon  So swiftly was 
the examination made  that one would hardly have guessed the minuteness 
with which it was conducted  Finally  he sniffed the dead man s lips  
and then glanced at the soles of his patent leather boots  
 
 He has not been moved at all   he asked  
 
 No more than was necessary for the purposes of our examination   
 
 You can take him to the mortuary now   he said   There is nothing more 
to be learned   
 
Gregson had a stretcher and four men at hand  At his call they entered 
the room  and the stranger was lifted and carried out  As they raised 
him  a ring tinkled down and rolled across the floor  Lestrade grabbed 
it up and stared at it with mystified eyes  
 
 There s been a woman here   he cried   It s a woman s wedding ring   
 
He held it out  as he spoke  upon the palm of his hand  We all gathered 
round him and gazed at it  There could be no doubt that that circlet of 
plain gold had once adorned the finger of a bride  
 
 This complicates matters   said Gregson   Heaven knows  they were 
complicated enough before   
 
 You re sure it doesn t simplify them   observed Holmes   There s 
nothing to be learned by staring at it  What did you find in his 
pockets   
 
 We have it all here   said Gregson  pointing to a litter of objects 
upon one of the bottom steps of the stairs   A gold watch  No         by 
Barraud  of London  Gold Albert chain  very heavy and solid  Gold ring  
with masonic device  Gold pin  bull dog s head  with rubies as eyes  
Russian leather card case  with cards of Enoch J  Drebber of Cleveland  
corresponding with the E  J  D  upon the linen  No purse  but loose 
money to the extent of seven pounds thirteen  Pocket edition of 
Boccaccio s  Decameron   with name of Joseph Stangerson upon the 
fly leaf  Two letters  one addressed to E  J  Drebber and one to Joseph 
Stangerson   
 
 At what address   
 
 American Exchange  Strand  to be left till called for  They are both 
from the Guion Steamship Company  and refer to the sailing of their 
boats from Liverpool  It is clear that this unfortunate man was about to 
return to New York   
 
 Have you made any inquiries as to this man  Stangerson   
 
 I did it at once  sir   said Gregson   I have had advertisements 
sent to all the newspapers  and one of my men has gone to the American 
Exchange  but he has not returned yet   
 
 Have you sent to Cleveland   
 
 We telegraphed this morning   
 
 How did you word your inquiries   
 
 We simply detailed the circumstances  and said that we should be glad 
of any information which could help us   
 
 You did not ask for particulars on any point which appeared to you to 
be crucial   
 
 I asked about Stangerson   
 
 Nothing else  Is there no circumstance on which this whole case appears 
to hinge  Will you not telegraph again   
 
 I have said all I have to say   said Gregson  in an offended voice  
 
Sherlock Holmes chuckled to himself  and appeared to be about to make 
some remark  when Lestrade  who had been in the front room while we 
were holding this conversation in the hall  reappeared upon the scene  
rubbing his hands in a pompous and self satisfied manner  
 
 Mr  Gregson   he said   I have just made a discovery of the highest 
importance  and one which would have been overlooked had I not made a 
careful examination of the walls   
 
The little man s eyes sparkled as he spoke  and he was evidently in 
a state of suppressed exultation at having scored a point against his 
colleague  
 
 Come here   he said  bustling back into the room  the atmosphere of 
which felt clearer since the removal of its ghastly inmate   Now  stand 
there   
 
He struck a match on his boot and held it up against the wall  
 
 Look at that   he said  triumphantly  
 
I have remarked that the paper had fallen away in parts  In this 
particular corner of the room a large piece had peeled off  leaving a 
yellow square of coarse plastering  Across this bare space there was 
scrawled in blood red letters a single word   
 
                         RACHE  
 
 
 What do you think of that   cried the detective  with the air of a 
showman exhibiting his show   This was overlooked because it was in the 
darkest corner of the room  and no one thought of looking there  The 
murderer has written it with his or her own blood  See this smear where 
it has trickled down the wall  That disposes of the idea of suicide 
anyhow  Why was that corner chosen to write it on  I will tell you  See 
that candle on the mantelpiece  It was lit at the time  and if it was 
lit this corner would be the brightest instead of the darkest portion of 
the wall   
 
 And what does it mean now that you  have  found it   asked Gregson in a 
depreciatory voice  
 
 Mean  Why  it means that the writer was going to put the female name 
Rachel  but was disturbed before he or she had time to finish  You mark 
my words  when this case comes to be cleared up you will find that a 
woman named Rachel has something to do with it  It s all very well for 
you to laugh  Mr  Sherlock Holmes  You may be very smart and clever  but 
the old hound is the best  when all is said and done   
 
 I really beg your pardon   said my companion  who had ruffled the 
little man s temper by bursting into an explosion of laughter   You 
certainly have the credit of being the first of us to find this out  
and  as you say  it bears every mark of having been written by the other 
participant in last night s mystery  I have not had time to examine this 
room yet  but with your permission I shall do so now   
 
As he spoke  he whipped a tape measure and a large round magnifying 
glass from his pocket  With these two implements he trotted noiselessly 
about the room  sometimes stopping  occasionally kneeling  and once 
lying flat upon his face  So engrossed was he with his occupation that 
he appeared to have forgotten our presence  for he chattered away to 
himself under his breath the whole time  keeping up a running fire 
of exclamations  groans  whistles  and little cries suggestive of 
encouragement and of hope  As I watched him I was irresistibly reminded 
of a pure blooded well trained foxhound as it dashes backwards and 
forwards through the covert  whining in its eagerness  until it comes 
across the lost scent  For twenty minutes or more he continued his 
researches  measuring with the most exact care the distance between 
marks which were entirely invisible to me  and occasionally applying his 
tape to the walls in an equally incomprehensible manner  In one place 
he gathered up very carefully a little pile of grey dust from the floor  
and packed it away in an envelope  Finally  he examined with his glass 
the word upon the wall  going over every letter of it with the most 
minute exactness  This done  he appeared to be satisfied  for he 
replaced his tape and his glass in his pocket  
 
 They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains   he 
remarked with a smile   It s a very bad definition  but it does apply to 
detective work   
 
Gregson and Lestrade had watched the manoeuvres     of their amateur 
companion with considerable curiosity and some contempt  They evidently 
failed to appreciate the fact  which I had begun to realize  that 
Sherlock Holmes  smallest actions were all directed towards some 
definite and practical end  
 
 What do you think of it  sir   they both asked  
 
 It would be robbing you of the credit of the case if I was to presume 
to help you   remarked my friend   You are doing so well now that it 
would be a pity for anyone to interfere   There was a world of 
sarcasm in his voice as he spoke   If you will let me know how your 
investigations go   he continued   I shall be happy to give you any help 
I can  In the meantime I should like to speak to the constable who found 
the body  Can you give me his name and address   
 
Lestrade glanced at his note book   John Rance   he said   He is off 
duty now  You will find him at     Audley Court  Kennington Park Gate   
 
Holmes took a note of the address  
 
 Come along  Doctor   he said   we shall go and look him up  I ll tell 
you one thing which may help you in the case   he continued  turning to 
the two detectives   There has been murder done  and the murderer was a 
man  He was more than six feet high  was in the prime of life  had 
small feet for his height  wore coarse  square toed boots and smoked a 
Trichinopoly cigar  He came here with his victim in a four wheeled cab  
which was drawn by a horse with three old shoes and one new one on his 
off fore leg  In all probability the murderer had a florid face  and the 
finger nails of his right hand were remarkably long  These are only a 
few indications  but they may assist you   
 
Lestrade and Gregson glanced at each other with an incredulous smile  
 
 If this man was murdered  how was it done   asked the former  
 
 Poison   said Sherlock Holmes curtly  and strode off   One other thing  
Lestrade   he added  turning round at the door    Rache   is the German 
for  revenge   so don t lose your time looking for Miss Rachel   
 
With which Parthian shot he walked away  leaving the two rivals 
open mouthed behind him  
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER IV  WHAT JOHN RANCE HAD TO TELL  
 
 
IT was one o clock when we left No     Lauriston Gardens  Sherlock 
Holmes led me to the nearest telegraph office  whence he dispatched a 
long telegram  He then hailed a cab  and ordered the driver to take us 
to the address given us by Lestrade  
 
 There is nothing like first hand evidence   he remarked   as a matter 
of fact  my mind is entirely made up upon the case  but still we may as 
well learn all that is to be learned   
 
 You amaze me  Holmes   said I   Surely you are not as sure as you 
pretend to be of all those particulars which you gave   
 
 There s no room for a mistake   he answered   The very first thing 
which I observed on arriving there was that a cab had made two ruts with 
its wheels close to the curb  Now  up to last night  we have had no rain 
for a week  so that those wheels which left such a deep impression must 
have been there during the night  There were the marks of the horse s 
hoofs  too  the outline of one of which was far more clearly cut than 
that of the other three  showing that that was a new shoe  Since the cab 
was there after the rain began  and was not there at any time during the 
morning  I have Gregson s word for that  it follows that it must have 
been there during the night  and  therefore  that it brought those two 
individuals to the house   
 
 That seems simple enough   said I   but how about the other man s 
height   
 
 Why  the height of a man  in nine cases out of ten  can be told from 
the length of his stride  It is a simple calculation enough  though 
there is no use my boring you with figures  I had this fellow s stride 
both on the clay outside and on the dust within  Then I had a way of 
checking my calculation  When a man writes on a wall  his instinct leads 
him to write about the level of his own eyes  Now that writing was just 
over six feet from the ground  It was child s play   
 
 And his age   I asked  
 
 Well  if a man can stride four and a half feet without the smallest 
effort  he can t be quite in the sere and yellow  That was the breadth 
of a puddle on the garden walk which he had evidently walked across  
Patent leather boots had gone round  and Square toes had hopped over  
There is no mystery about it at all  I am simply applying to ordinary 
life a few of those precepts of observation and deduction which I 
advocated in that article  Is there anything else that puzzles you   
 
 The finger nails and the Trichinopoly   I suggested  
 
 The writing on the wall was done with a man s forefinger dipped in 
blood  My glass allowed me to observe that the plaster was slightly 
scratched in doing it  which would not have been the case if the man s 
nail had been trimmed  I gathered up some scattered ash from the floor  
It was dark in colour and flakey  such an ash as is only made by a 
Trichinopoly  I have made a special study of cigar ashes  in fact  I 
have written a monograph upon the subject  I flatter myself that I can 
distinguish at a glance the ash of any known brand  either of cigar 
or of tobacco  It is just in such details that the skilled detective 
differs from the Gregson and Lestrade type   
 
 And the florid face   I asked  
 
 Ah  that was a more daring shot  though I have no doubt that I was 
right  You must not ask me that at the present state of the affair   
 
I passed my hand over my brow   My head is in a whirl   I remarked   the 
more one thinks of it the more mysterious it grows  How came these two 
men  if there were two men  into an empty house  What has become of the 
cabman who drove them  How could one man compel another to take poison  
Where did the blood come from  What was the object of the murderer  
since robbery had no part in it  How came the woman s ring there  Above 
all  why should the second man write up the German word RACHE before 
decamping  I confess that I cannot see any possible way of reconciling 
all these facts   
 
My companion smiled approvingly  
 
 You sum up the difficulties of the situation succinctly and well   he 
said   There is much that is still obscure  though I have quite made up 
my mind on the main facts  As to poor Lestrade s discovery it was simply 
a blind intended to put the police upon a wrong track  by suggesting 
Socialism and secret societies  It was not done by a German  The A  if 
you noticed  was printed somewhat after the German fashion  Now  a real 
German invariably prints in the Latin character  so that we may safely 
say that this was not written by one  but by a clumsy imitator who 
overdid his part  It was simply a ruse to divert inquiry into a wrong 
channel  I m not going to tell you much more of the case  Doctor  You 
know a conjuror gets no credit when once he has explained his trick  
and if I show you too much of my method of working  you will come to the 
conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all   
 
 I shall never do that   I answered   you have brought detection as near 
an exact science as it ever will be brought in this world   
 
My companion flushed up with pleasure at my words  and the earnest way 
in which I uttered them  I had already observed that he was as sensitive 
to flattery on the score of his art as any girl could be of her beauty  
 
 I ll tell you one other thing   he said   Patent leathers      and 
Square toes came in the same cab  and they walked down the pathway 
together as friendly as possible  arm in arm  in all probability  
When they got inside they walked up and down the room  or rather  
Patent leathers stood still while Square toes walked up and down  I 
could read all that in the dust  and I could read that as he walked he 
grew more and more excited  That is shown by the increased length of his 
strides  He was talking all the while  and working himself up  no doubt  
into a fury  Then the tragedy occurred  I ve told you all I know myself 
now  for the rest is mere surmise and conjecture  We have a good working 
basis  however  on which to start  We must hurry up  for I want to go to 
Halle s concert to hear Norman Neruda this afternoon   
 
This conversation had occurred while our cab had been threading its way 
through a long succession of dingy streets and dreary by ways  In the 
dingiest and dreariest of them our driver suddenly came to a stand  
 That s Audley Court in there   he said  pointing to a narrow slit in 
the line of dead coloured brick   You ll find me here when you come 
back   
 
Audley Court was not an attractive locality  The narrow passage led us 
into a quadrangle paved with flags and lined by sordid dwellings  We 
picked our way among groups of dirty children  and through lines of 
discoloured linen  until we came to Number     the door of which 
was decorated with a small slip of brass on which the name Rance was 
engraved  On enquiry we found that the constable was in bed  and we were 
shown into a little front parlour to await his coming  
 
He appeared presently  looking a little irritable at being disturbed in 
his slumbers   I made my report at the office   he said  
 
Holmes took a half sovereign from his pocket and played with it 
pensively   We thought that we should like to hear it all from your own 
lips   he said  
 
 I shall be most happy to tell you anything I can   the constable 
answered with his eyes upon the little golden disk  
 
 Just let us hear it all in your own way as it occurred   
 
Rance sat down on the horsehair sofa  and knitted his brows as though 
determined not to omit anything in his narrative  
 
 I ll tell it ye from the beginning   he said   My time is from ten at 
night to six in the morning  At eleven there was a fight at the  White 
Hart   but bar that all was quiet enough on the beat  At one o clock it 
began to rain  and I met Harry Murcher  him who has the Holland Grove 
beat  and we stood together at the corner of Henrietta Street a talkin   
Presently  maybe about two or a little after  I thought I would take 
a look round and see that all was right down the Brixton Road  It was 
precious dirty and lonely  Not a soul did I meet all the way down  
though a cab or two went past me  I was a strollin  down  thinkin  
between ourselves how uncommon handy a four of gin hot would be  when 
suddenly the glint of a light caught my eye in the window of that same 
house  Now  I knew that them two houses in Lauriston Gardens was empty 
on account of him that owns them who won t have the drains seed to  
though the very last tenant what lived in one of them died o  typhoid 
fever  I was knocked all in a heap therefore at seeing a light in 
the window  and I suspected as something was wrong  When I got to the 
door      
 
 You stopped  and then walked back to the garden gate   my companion 
interrupted   What did you do that for   
 
Rance gave a violent jump  and stared at Sherlock Holmes with the utmost 
amazement upon his features  
 
 Why  that s true  sir   he said   though how you come to know it  
Heaven only knows  Ye see  when I got up to the door it was so still and 
so lonesome  that I thought I d be none the worse for some one with me  
I ain t afeared of anything on this side o  the grave  but I thought 
that maybe it was him that died o  the typhoid inspecting the drains 
what killed him  The thought gave me a kind o  turn  and I walked back 
to the gate to see if I could see Murcher s lantern  but there wasn t no 
sign of him nor of anyone else   
 
 There was no one in the street   
 
 Not a livin  soul  sir  nor as much as a dog  Then I pulled myself 
together and went back and pushed the door open  All was quiet inside  
so I went into the room where the light was a burnin   There was a 
candle flickerin  on the mantelpiece  a red wax one  and by its light I 
saw      
 
 Yes  I know all that you saw  You walked round the room several times  
and you knelt down by the body  and then you walked through and tried 
the kitchen door  and then      
 
John Rance sprang to his feet with a frightened face and suspicion in 
his eyes   Where was you hid to see all that   he cried   It seems to me 
that you knows a deal more than you should   
 
Holmes laughed and threw his card across the table to the constable  
 Don t get arresting me for the murder   he said   I am one of the 
hounds and not the wolf  Mr  Gregson or Mr  Lestrade will answer for 
that  Go on  though  What did you do next   
 
Rance resumed his seat  without however losing his mystified expression  
 I went back to the gate and sounded my whistle  That brought Murcher 
and two more to the spot   
 
 Was the street empty then   
 
 Well  it was  as far as anybody that could be of any good goes   
 
 What do you mean   
 
The constable s features broadened into a grin   I ve seen many a drunk 
chap in my time   he said   but never anyone so cryin  drunk as 
that cove  He was at the gate when I came out  a leanin  up agin the 
railings  and a singin  at the pitch o  his lungs about Columbine s 
New fangled Banner  or some such stuff  He couldn t stand  far less 
help   
 
 What sort of a man was he   asked Sherlock Holmes  
 
John Rance appeared to be somewhat irritated at this digression   He was 
an uncommon drunk sort o  man   he said   He d ha  found hisself in the 
station if we hadn t been so took up   
 
 His face  his dress  didn t you notice them   Holmes broke in 
impatiently  
 
 I should think I did notice them  seeing that I had to prop him up  me 
and Murcher between us  He was a long chap  with a red face  the lower 
part muffled round      
 
 That will do   cried Holmes   What became of him   
 
 We d enough to do without lookin  after him   the policeman said  in an 
aggrieved voice   I ll wager he found his way home all right   
 
 How was he dressed   
 
 A brown overcoat   
 
 Had he a whip in his hand   
 
 A whip  no   
 
 He must have left it behind   muttered my companion   You didn t happen 
to see or hear a cab after that   
 
 No   
 
 There s a half sovereign for you   my companion said  standing up and 
taking his hat   I am afraid  Rance  that you will never rise in the 
force  That head of yours should be for use as well as ornament  You 
might have gained your sergeant s stripes last night  The man whom you 
held in your hands is the man who holds the clue of this mystery  and 
whom we are seeking  There is no use of arguing about it now  I tell you 
that it is so  Come along  Doctor   
 
We started off for the cab together  leaving our informant incredulous  
but obviously uncomfortable  
 
 The blundering fool   Holmes said  bitterly  as we drove back to our 
lodgings   Just to think of his having such an incomparable bit of good 
luck  and not taking advantage of it   
 
 I am rather in the dark still  It is true that the description of this 
man tallies with your idea of the second party in this mystery  But why 
should he come back to the house after leaving it  That is not the way 
of criminals   
 
 The ring  man  the ring  that was what he came back for  If we have no 
other way of catching him  we can always bait our line with the ring  I 
shall have him  Doctor  I ll lay you two to one that I have him  I must 
thank you for it all  I might not have gone but for you  and so have 
missed the finest study I ever came across  a study in scarlet  eh  
Why shouldn t we use a little art jargon  There s the scarlet thread of 
murder running through the colourless skein of life  and our duty is 
to unravel it  and isolate it  and expose every inch of it  And now 
for lunch  and then for Norman Neruda  Her attack and her bowing 
are splendid  What s that little thing of Chopin s she plays so 
magnificently  Tra la la lira lira lay   
 
Leaning back in the cab  this amateur bloodhound carolled away like a 
lark while I meditated upon the many sidedness of the human mind  
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER V  OUR ADVERTISEMENT BRINGS A VISITOR  
 
 
OUR morning s exertions had been too much for my weak health  and I was 
tired out in the afternoon  After Holmes  departure for the concert  I 
lay down upon the sofa and endeavoured to get a couple of hours  sleep  
It was a useless attempt  My mind had been too much excited by all that 
had occurred  and the strangest fancies and surmises crowded into 
it  Every time that I closed my eyes I saw before me the distorted 
baboon like countenance of the murdered man  So sinister was the 
impression which that face had produced upon me that I found it 
difficult to feel anything but gratitude for him who had removed its 
owner from the world  If ever human features bespoke vice of the most 
malignant type  they were certainly those of Enoch J  Drebber  of 
Cleveland  Still I recognized that justice must be done  and that the 
depravity of the victim was no condonment      in the eyes of the law  
 
The more I thought of it the more extraordinary did my companion s 
hypothesis  that the man had been poisoned  appear  I remembered how he 
had sniffed his lips  and had no doubt that he had detected something 
which had given rise to the idea  Then  again  if not poison  what 
had caused the man s death  since there was neither wound nor marks of 
strangulation  But  on the other hand  whose blood was that which lay so 
thickly upon the floor  There were no signs of a struggle  nor had the 
victim any weapon with which he might have wounded an antagonist  As 
long as all these questions were unsolved  I felt that sleep would be 
no easy matter  either for Holmes or myself  His quiet self confident 
manner convinced me that he had already formed a theory which explained 
all the facts  though what it was I could not for an instant conjecture  
 
He was very late in returning  so late  that I knew that the concert 
could not have detained him all the time  Dinner was on the table before 
he appeared  
 
 It was magnificent   he said  as he took his seat   Do you remember 
what Darwin says about music  He claims that the power of producing and 
appreciating it existed among the human race long before the power of 
speech was arrived at  Perhaps that is why we are so subtly influenced 
by it  There are vague memories in our souls of those misty centuries 
when the world was in its childhood   
 
 That s rather a broad idea   I remarked  
 
 One s ideas must be as broad as Nature if they are to interpret 
Nature   he answered   What s the matter  You re not looking quite 
yourself  This Brixton Road affair has upset you   
 
 To tell the truth  it has   I said   I ought to be more case hardened 
after my Afghan experiences  I saw my own comrades hacked to pieces at 
Maiwand without losing my nerve   
 
 I can understand  There is a mystery about this which stimulates the 
imagination  where there is no imagination there is no horror  Have you 
seen the evening paper   
 
 No   
 
 It gives a fairly good account of the affair  It does not mention the 
fact that when the man was raised up  a woman s wedding ring fell upon 
the floor  It is just as well it does not   
 
 Why   
 
 Look at this advertisement   he answered   I had one sent to every 
paper this morning immediately after the affair   
 
He threw the paper across to me and I glanced at the place indicated  It 
was the first announcement in the  Found  column   In Brixton Road  
this morning   it ran   a plain gold wedding ring  found in the roadway 
between the  White Hart  Tavern and Holland Grove  Apply Dr  Watson  
   B  Baker Street  between eight and nine this evening   
 
 Excuse my using your name   he said   If I used my own some of these 
dunderheads would recognize it  and want to meddle in the affair   
 
 That is all right   I answered   But supposing anyone applies  I have 
no ring   
 
 Oh yes  you have   said he  handing me one   This will do very well  It 
is almost a facsimile   
 
 And who do you expect will answer this advertisement   
 
 Why  the man in the brown coat  our florid friend with the square toes  
If he does not come himself he will send an accomplice   
 
 Would he not consider it as too dangerous   
 
 Not at all  If my view of the case is correct  and I have every reason 
to believe that it is  this man would rather risk anything than lose the 
ring  According to my notion he dropped it while stooping over Drebber s 
body  and did not miss it at the time  After leaving the house he 
discovered his loss and hurried back  but found the police already in 
possession  owing to his own folly in leaving the candle burning  He had 
to pretend to be drunk in order to allay the suspicions which might have 
been aroused by his appearance at the gate  Now put yourself in that 
man s place  On thinking the matter over  it must have occurred to him 
that it was possible that he had lost the ring in the road after leaving 
the house  What would he do  then  He would eagerly look out for the 
evening papers in the hope of seeing it among the articles found  His 
eye  of course  would light upon this  He would be overjoyed  Why should 
he fear a trap  There would be no reason in his eyes why the finding 
of the ring should be connected with the murder  He would come  He will 
come  You shall see him within an hour   
 
 And then   I asked  
 
 Oh  you can leave me to deal with him then  Have you any arms   
 
 I have my old service revolver and a few cartridges   
 
 You had better clean it and load it  He will be a desperate man  
and though I shall take him unawares  it is as well to be ready for 
anything   
 
I went to my bedroom and followed his advice  When I returned with 
the pistol the table had been cleared  and Holmes was engaged in his 
favourite occupation of scraping upon his violin  
 
 The plot thickens   he said  as I entered   I have just had an answer 
to my American telegram  My view of the case is the correct one   
 
 And that is   I asked eagerly  
 
 My fiddle would be the better for new strings   he remarked   Put your 
pistol in your pocket  When the fellow comes speak to him in an ordinary 
way  Leave the rest to me  Don t frighten him by looking at him too 
hard   
 
 It is eight o clock now   I said  glancing at my watch  
 
 Yes  He will probably be here in a few minutes  Open the door slightly  
That will do  Now put the key on the inside  Thank you  This is a 
queer old book I picked up at a stall yesterday   De Jure inter 
Gentes   published in Latin at Liege in the Lowlands  in       Charles  
head was still firm on his shoulders when this little brown backed 
volume was struck off   
 
 Who is the printer   
 
 Philippe de Croy  whoever he may have been  On the fly leaf  in very 
faded ink  is written  Ex libris Guliolmi Whyte   I wonder who William 
Whyte was  Some pragmatical seventeenth century lawyer  I suppose  His 
writing has a legal twist about it  Here comes our man  I think   
 
As he spoke there was a sharp ring at the bell  Sherlock Holmes rose 
softly and moved his chair in the direction of the door  We heard the 
servant pass along the hall  and the sharp click of the latch as she 
opened it  
 
 Does Dr  Watson live here   asked a clear but rather harsh voice  We 
could not hear the servant s reply  but the door closed  and some one 
began to ascend the stairs  The footfall was an uncertain and shuffling 
one  A look of surprise passed over the face of my companion as he 
listened to it  It came slowly along the passage  and there was a feeble 
tap at the door  
 
 Come in   I cried  
 
At my summons  instead of the man of violence whom we expected  a very 
old and wrinkled woman hobbled into the apartment  She appeared to be 
dazzled by the sudden blaze of light  and after dropping a curtsey  she 
stood blinking at us with her bleared eyes and fumbling in her pocket 
with nervous  shaky fingers  I glanced at my companion  and his face 
had assumed such a disconsolate expression that it was all I could do to 
keep my countenance  
 
The old crone drew out an evening paper  and pointed at our 
advertisement   It s this as has brought me  good gentlemen   she said  
dropping another curtsey   a gold wedding ring in the Brixton Road  It 
belongs to my girl Sally  as was married only this time twelvemonth  
which her husband is steward aboard a Union boat  and what he d say if 
he come  ome and found her without her ring is more than I can think  he 
being short enough at the best o  times  but more especially when he 
has the drink  If it please you  she went to the circus last night along 
with      
 
 Is that her ring   I asked  
 
 The Lord be thanked   cried the old woman   Sally will be a glad woman 
this night  That s the ring   
 
 And what may your address be   I inquired  taking up a pencil  
 
     Duncan Street  Houndsditch  A weary way from here   
 
 The Brixton Road does not lie between any circus and Houndsditch   said 
Sherlock Holmes sharply  
 
The old woman faced round and looked keenly at him from her little 
red rimmed eyes   The gentleman asked me for  my  address   she said  
 Sally lives in lodgings at    Mayfield Place  Peckham   
 
 And your name is       
 
 My name is Sawyer  her s is Dennis  which Tom Dennis married her  and 
a smart  clean lad  too  as long as he s at sea  and no steward in the 
company more thought of  but when on shore  what with the women and what 
with liquor shops      
 
 Here is your ring  Mrs  Sawyer   I interrupted  in obedience to a sign 
from my companion   it clearly belongs to your daughter  and I am glad 
to be able to restore it to the rightful owner   
 
With many mumbled blessings and protestations of gratitude the old crone 
packed it away in her pocket  and shuffled off down the stairs  Sherlock 
Holmes sprang to his feet the moment that she was gone and rushed into 
his room  He returned in a few seconds enveloped in an ulster and 
a cravat   I ll follow her   he said  hurriedly   she must be an 
accomplice  and will lead me to him  Wait up for me   The hall door had 
hardly slammed behind our visitor before Holmes had descended the stair  
Looking through the window I could see her walking feebly along the 
other side  while her pursuer dogged her some little distance behind  
 Either his whole theory is incorrect   I thought to myself   or else he 
will be led now to the heart of the mystery   There was no need for him 
to ask me to wait up for him  for I felt that sleep was impossible until 
I heard the result of his adventure  
 
It was close upon nine when he set out  I had no idea how long he might 
be  but I sat stolidly puffing at my pipe and skipping over the pages 
of Henri Murger s  Vie de Boheme   Ten o clock passed  and I heard the 
footsteps of the maid as they pattered off to bed  Eleven  and the 
more stately tread of the landlady passed my door  bound for the same 
destination  It was close upon twelve before I heard the sharp sound of 
his latch key  The instant he entered I saw by his face that he had not 
been successful  Amusement and chagrin seemed to be struggling for the 
mastery  until the former suddenly carried the day  and he burst into a 
hearty laugh  
 
 I wouldn t have the Scotland Yarders know it for the world   he cried  
dropping into his chair   I have chaffed them so much that they would 
never have let me hear the end of it  I can afford to laugh  because I 
know that I will be even with them in the long run   
 
 What is it then   I asked  
 
 Oh  I don t mind telling a story against myself  That creature had 
gone a little way when she began to limp and show every sign of being 
foot sore  Presently she came to a halt  and hailed a four wheeler which 
was passing  I managed to be close to her so as to hear the address  but 
I need not have been so anxious  for she sang it out loud enough to 
be heard at the other side of the street   Drive to     Duncan Street  
Houndsditch   she cried  This begins to look genuine  I thought  and 
having seen her safely inside  I perched myself behind  That s an art 
which every detective should be an expert at  Well  away we rattled  and 
never drew rein until we reached the street in question  I hopped off 
before we came to the door  and strolled down the street in an easy  
lounging way  I saw the cab pull up  The driver jumped down  and I saw 
him open the door and stand expectantly  Nothing came out though  When 
I reached him he was groping about frantically in the empty cab  and 
giving vent to the finest assorted collection of oaths that ever I 
listened to  There was no sign or trace of his passenger  and I fear it 
will be some time before he gets his fare  On inquiring at Number    
we found that the house belonged to a respectable paperhanger  named 
Keswick  and that no one of the name either of Sawyer or Dennis had ever 
been heard of there   
 
 You don t mean to say   I cried  in amazement   that that tottering  
feeble old woman was able to get out of the cab while it was in motion  
without either you or the driver seeing her   
 
 Old woman be damned   said Sherlock Holmes  sharply   We were the old 
women to be so taken in  It must have been a young man  and an 
active one  too  besides being an incomparable actor  The get up was 
inimitable  He saw that he was followed  no doubt  and used this means 
of giving me the slip  It shows that the man we are after is not as 
lonely as I imagined he was  but has friends who are ready to risk 
something for him  Now  Doctor  you are looking done up  Take my advice 
and turn in   
 
I was certainly feeling very weary  so I obeyed his injunction  I 
left Holmes seated in front of the smouldering fire  and long into the 
watches of the night I heard the low  melancholy wailings of his violin  
and knew that he was still pondering over the strange problem which he 
had set himself to unravel  
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER VI  TOBIAS GREGSON SHOWS WHAT HE CAN DO  
 
 
THE papers next day were full of the  Brixton Mystery   as they termed 
it  Each had a long account of the affair  and some had leaders upon it 
in addition  There was some information in them which was new to me  I 
still retain in my scrap book numerous clippings and extracts bearing 
upon the case  Here is a condensation of a few of them    
 
The  Daily Telegraph  remarked that in the history of crime there had 
seldom been a tragedy which presented stranger features  The German 
name of the victim  the absence of all other motive  and the sinister 
inscription on the wall  all pointed to its perpetration by political 
refugees and revolutionists  The Socialists had many branches in 
America  and the deceased had  no doubt  infringed their unwritten laws  
and been tracked down by them  After alluding airily to the Vehmgericht  
aqua tofana  Carbonari  the Marchioness de Brinvilliers  the Darwinian 
theory  the principles of Malthus  and the Ratcliff Highway murders  the 
article concluded by admonishing the Government and advocating a closer 
watch over foreigners in England  
 
The  Standard  commented upon the fact that lawless outrages of the sort 
usually occurred under a Liberal Administration  They arose from the 
unsettling of the minds of the masses  and the consequent weakening 
of all authority  The deceased was an American gentleman who had 
been residing for some weeks in the Metropolis  He had stayed at the 
boarding house of Madame Charpentier  in Torquay Terrace  Camberwell  
He was accompanied in his travels by his private secretary  Mr  Joseph 
Stangerson  The two bade adieu to their landlady upon Tuesday  the 
 th inst   and departed to Euston Station with the avowed intention of 
catching the Liverpool express  They were afterwards seen together upon 
the platform  Nothing more is known of them until Mr  Drebber s body 
was  as recorded  discovered in an empty house in the Brixton Road  
many miles from Euston  How he came there  or how he met his fate  are 
questions which are still involved in mystery  Nothing is known of the 
whereabouts of Stangerson  We are glad to learn that Mr  Lestrade and 
Mr  Gregson  of Scotland Yard  are both engaged upon the case  and it 
is confidently anticipated that these well known officers will speedily 
throw light upon the matter  
 
The  Daily News  observed that there was no doubt as to the crime being 
a political one  The despotism and hatred of Liberalism which animated 
the Continental Governments had had the effect of driving to our shores 
a number of men who might have made excellent citizens were they not 
soured by the recollection of all that they had undergone  Among these 
men there was a stringent code of honour  any infringement of which was 
punished by death  Every effort should be made to find the secretary  
Stangerson  and to ascertain some particulars of the habits of the 
deceased  A great step had been gained by the discovery of the address 
of the house at which he had boarded  a result which was entirely due to 
the acuteness and energy of Mr  Gregson of Scotland Yard  
 
Sherlock Holmes and I read these notices over together at breakfast  and 
they appeared to afford him considerable amusement  
 
 I told you that  whatever happened  Lestrade and Gregson would be sure 
to score   
 
 That depends on how it turns out   
 
 Oh  bless you  it doesn t matter in the least  If the man is caught  it 
will be  on account  of their exertions  if he escapes  it will be  in 
spite  of their exertions  It s heads I win and tails you lose  Whatever 
they do  they will have followers   Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot 
qui l admire    
 
 What on earth is this   I cried  for at this moment there came the 
pattering of many steps in the hall and on the stairs  accompanied by 
audible expressions of disgust upon the part of our landlady  
 
 It s the Baker Street division of the detective police force   said my 
companion  gravely  and as he spoke there rushed into the room half a 
dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street Arabs that ever I clapped 
eyes on  
 
  Tention   cried Holmes  in a sharp tone  and the six dirty little 
scoundrels stood in a line like so many disreputable statuettes   In 
future you shall send up Wiggins alone to report  and the rest of you 
must wait in the street  Have you found it  Wiggins   
 
 No  sir  we hain t   said one of the youths  
 
 I hardly expected you would  You must keep on until you do  Here are 
your wages        He handed each of them a shilling  
 
 Now  off you go  and come back with a better report next time   
 
He waved his hand  and they scampered away downstairs like so many rats  
and we heard their shrill voices next moment in the street  
 
 There s more work to be got out of one of those little beggars than 
out of a dozen of the force   Holmes remarked   The mere sight of an 
official looking person seals men s lips  These youngsters  however  go 
everywhere and hear everything  They are as sharp as needles  too  all 
they want is organisation   
 
 Is it on this Brixton case that you are employing them   I asked  
 
 Yes  there is a point which I wish to ascertain  It is merely a matter 
of time  Hullo  we are going to hear some news now with a vengeance  
Here is Gregson coming down the road with beatitude written upon every 
feature of his face  Bound for us  I know  Yes  he is stopping  There he 
is   
 
There was a violent peal at the bell  and in a few seconds the 
fair haired detective came up the stairs  three steps at a time  and 
burst into our sitting room  
 
 My dear fellow   he cried  wringing Holmes  unresponsive hand  
 congratulate me  I have made the whole thing as clear as day   
 
A shade of anxiety seemed to me to cross my companion s expressive face  
 
 Do you mean that you are on the right track   he asked  
 
 The right track  Why  sir  we have the man under lock and key   
 
 And his name is   
 
 Arthur Charpentier  sub lieutenant in Her Majesty s navy   cried 
Gregson  pompously  rubbing his fat hands and inflating his chest  
 
Sherlock Holmes gave a sigh of relief  and relaxed into a smile  
 
 Take a seat  and try one of these cigars   he said   We are anxious to 
know how you managed it  Will you have some whiskey and water   
 
 I don t mind if I do   the detective answered   The tremendous 
exertions which I have gone through during the last day or two have worn 
me out  Not so much bodily exertion  you understand  as the strain upon 
the mind  You will appreciate that  Mr  Sherlock Holmes  for we are both 
brain workers   
 
 You do me too much honour   said Holmes  gravely   Let us hear how you 
arrived at this most gratifying result   
 
The detective seated himself in the arm chair  and puffed complacently 
at his cigar  Then suddenly he slapped his thigh in a paroxysm of 
amusement  
 
 The fun of it is   he cried   that that fool Lestrade  who thinks 
himself so smart  has gone off upon the wrong track altogether  He is 
after the secretary Stangerson  who had no more to do with the crime 
than the babe unborn  I have no doubt that he has caught him by this 
time   
 
The idea tickled Gregson so much that he laughed until he choked  
 
 And how did you get your clue   
 
 Ah  I ll tell you all about it  Of course  Doctor Watson  this is 
strictly between ourselves  The first difficulty which we had to contend 
with was the finding of this American s antecedents  Some people would 
have waited until their advertisements were answered  or until parties 
came forward and volunteered information  That is not Tobias Gregson s 
way of going to work  You remember the hat beside the dead man   
 
 Yes   said Holmes   by John Underwood and Sons       Camberwell Road   
 
Gregson looked quite crest fallen  
 
 I had no idea that you noticed that   he said   Have you been there   
 
 No   
 
 Ha   cried Gregson  in a relieved voice   you should never neglect a 
chance  however small it may seem   
 
 To a great mind  nothing is little   remarked Holmes  sententiously  
 
 Well  I went to Underwood  and asked him if he had sold a hat of that 
size and description  He looked over his books  and came on it at once  
He had sent the hat to a Mr  Drebber  residing at Charpentier s Boarding 
Establishment  Torquay Terrace  Thus I got at his address   
 
 Smart  very smart   murmured Sherlock Holmes  
 
 I next called upon Madame Charpentier   continued the detective  
 I found her very pale and distressed  Her daughter was in the room  
too  an uncommonly fine girl she is  too  she was looking red about 
the eyes and her lips trembled as I spoke to her  That didn t escape 
my notice  I began to smell a rat  You know the feeling  Mr  Sherlock 
Holmes  when you come upon the right scent  a kind of thrill in your 
nerves   Have you heard of the mysterious death of your late boarder Mr  
Enoch J  Drebber  of Cleveland   I asked  
 
 The mother nodded  She didn t seem able to get out a word  The daughter 
burst into tears  I felt more than ever that these people knew something 
of the matter  
 
  At what o clock did Mr  Drebber leave your house for the train   I 
asked  
 
  At eight o clock   she said  gulping in her throat to keep down her 
agitation   His secretary  Mr  Stangerson  said that there were two 
trains  one at      and one at     He was to catch the first       
 
  And was that the last which you saw of him   
 
 A terrible change came over the woman s face as I asked the question  
Her features turned perfectly livid  It was some seconds before she 
could get out the single word  Yes   and when it did come it was in a 
husky unnatural tone  
 
 There was silence for a moment  and then the daughter spoke in a calm 
clear voice  
 
  No good can ever come of falsehood  mother   she said   Let us be 
frank with this gentleman  We  did  see Mr  Drebber again   
 
  God forgive you   cried Madame Charpentier  throwing up her hands and 
sinking back in her chair   You have murdered your brother   
 
  Arthur would rather that we spoke the truth   the girl answered 
firmly  
 
  You had best tell me all about it now   I said   Half confidences are 
worse than none  Besides  you do not know how much we know of it   
 
  On your head be it  Alice   cried her mother  and then  turning to me  
 I will tell you all  sir  Do not imagine that my agitation on behalf 
of my son arises from any fear lest he should have had a hand in this 
terrible affair  He is utterly innocent of it  My dread is  however  
that in your eyes and in the eyes of others he may appear to be 
compromised  That however is surely impossible  His high character  his 
profession  his antecedents would all forbid it   
 
  Your best way is to make a clean breast of the facts   I answered  
 Depend upon it  if your son is innocent he will be none the worse   
 
  Perhaps  Alice  you had better leave us together   she said  and her 
daughter withdrew   Now  sir   she continued   I had no intention of 
telling you all this  but since my poor daughter has disclosed it I 
have no alternative  Having once decided to speak  I will tell you all 
without omitting any particular   
 
  It is your wisest course   said I  
 
  Mr  Drebber has been with us nearly three weeks  He and his secretary  
Mr  Stangerson  had been travelling on the Continent  I noticed a 
 Copenhagen  label upon each of their trunks  showing that that had been 
their last stopping place  Stangerson was a quiet reserved man  but his 
employer  I am sorry to say  was far otherwise  He was coarse in his 
habits and brutish in his ways  The very night of his arrival he became 
very much the worse for drink  and  indeed  after twelve o clock in the 
day he could hardly ever be said to be sober  His manners towards the 
maid servants were disgustingly free and familiar  Worst of all  he 
speedily assumed the same attitude towards my daughter  Alice  and spoke 
to her more than once in a way which  fortunately  she is too innocent 
to understand  On one occasion he actually seized her in his arms and 
embraced her  an outrage which caused his own secretary to reproach him 
for his unmanly conduct   
 
  But why did you stand all this   I asked   I suppose that you can get 
rid of your boarders when you wish   
 
 Mrs  Charpentier blushed at my pertinent question   Would to God that 
I had given him notice on the very day that he came   she said   But 
it was a sore temptation  They were paying a pound a day each  fourteen 
pounds a week  and this is the slack season  I am a widow  and my boy in 
the Navy has cost me much  I grudged to lose the money  I acted for the 
best  This last was too much  however  and I gave him notice to leave on 
account of it  That was the reason of his going   
 
  Well   
 
  My heart grew light when I saw him drive away  My son is on leave 
just now  but I did not tell him anything of all this  for his temper 
is violent  and he is passionately fond of his sister  When I closed the 
door behind them a load seemed to be lifted from my mind  Alas  in 
less than an hour there was a ring at the bell  and I learned that Mr  
Drebber had returned  He was much excited  and evidently the worse for 
drink  He forced his way into the room  where I was sitting with my 
daughter  and made some incoherent remark about having missed his train  
He then turned to Alice  and before my very face  proposed to her that 
she should fly with him   You are of age   he said   and there is no law 
to stop you  I have money enough and to spare  Never mind the old girl 
here  but come along with me now straight away  You shall live like a 
princess   Poor Alice was so frightened that she shrunk away from him  
but he caught her by the wrist and endeavoured to draw her towards the 
door  I screamed  and at that moment my son Arthur came into the room  
What happened then I do not know  I heard oaths and the confused sounds 
of a scuffle  I was too terrified to raise my head  When I did look up 
I saw Arthur standing in the doorway laughing  with a stick in his hand  
 I don t think that fine fellow will trouble us again   he said   I will 
just go after him and see what he does with himself   With those words 
he took his hat and started off down the street  The next morning we 
heard of Mr  Drebber s mysterious death   
 
 This statement came from Mrs  Charpentier s lips with many gasps and 
pauses  At times she spoke so low that I could hardly catch the words  I 
made shorthand notes of all that she said  however  so that there should 
be no possibility of a mistake   
 
 It s quite exciting   said Sherlock Holmes  with a yawn   What happened 
next   
 
 When Mrs  Charpentier paused   the detective continued   I saw that the 
whole case hung upon one point  Fixing her with my eye in a way which 
I always found effective with women  I asked her at what hour her son 
returned  
 
  I do not know   she answered  
 
  Not know   
 
  No  he has a latch key  and he let himself in   
 
  After you went to bed   
 
  Yes   
 
  When did you go to bed   
 
  About eleven   
 
  So your son was gone at least two hours   
 
  Yes   
 
  Possibly four or five   
 
  Yes   
 
  What was he doing during that time   
 
  I do not know   she answered  turning white to her very lips  
 
 Of course after that there was nothing more to be done  I found 
out where Lieutenant Charpentier was  took two officers with me  and 
arrested him  When I touched him on the shoulder and warned him to come 
quietly with us  he answered us as bold as brass   I suppose you 
are arresting me for being concerned in the death of that scoundrel 
Drebber   he said  We had said nothing to him about it  so that his 
alluding to it had a most suspicious aspect   
 
 Very   said Holmes  
 
 He still carried the heavy stick which the mother described him as 
having with him when he followed Drebber  It was a stout oak cudgel   
 
 What is your theory  then   
 
 Well  my theory is that he followed Drebber as far as the Brixton Road  
When there  a fresh altercation arose between them  in the course of 
which Drebber received a blow from the stick  in the pit of the stomach  
perhaps  which killed him without leaving any mark  The night was so 
wet that no one was about  so Charpentier dragged the body of his victim 
into the empty house  As to the candle  and the blood  and the writing 
on the wall  and the ring  they may all be so many tricks to throw the 
police on to the wrong scent   
 
 Well done   said Holmes in an encouraging voice   Really  Gregson  you 
are getting along  We shall make something of you yet   
 
 I flatter myself that I have managed it rather neatly   the detective 
answered proudly   The young man volunteered a statement  in which he 
said that after following Drebber some time  the latter perceived him  
and took a cab in order to get away from him  On his way home he met an 
old shipmate  and took a long walk with him  On being asked where this 
old shipmate lived  he was unable to give any satisfactory reply  I 
think the whole case fits together uncommonly well  What amuses me is to 
think of Lestrade  who had started off upon the wrong scent  I am afraid 
he won t make much of      Why  by Jove  here s the very man himself   
 
It was indeed Lestrade  who had ascended the stairs while we were 
talking  and who now entered the room  The assurance and jauntiness 
which generally marked his demeanour and dress were  however  wanting  
His face was disturbed and troubled  while his clothes were disarranged 
and untidy  He had evidently come with the intention of consulting 
with Sherlock Holmes  for on perceiving his colleague he appeared to be 
embarrassed and put out  He stood in the centre of the room  fumbling 
nervously with his hat and uncertain what to do   This is a most 
extraordinary case   he said at last   a most incomprehensible affair   
 
 Ah  you find it so  Mr  Lestrade   cried Gregson  triumphantly   I 
thought you would come to that conclusion  Have you managed to find the 
Secretary  Mr  Joseph Stangerson   
 
 The Secretary  Mr  Joseph Stangerson   said Lestrade gravely   was 
murdered at Halliday s Private Hotel about six o clock this morning   
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER VII  LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS  
 
 
THE intelligence with which Lestrade greeted us was so momentous and so 
unexpected  that we were all three fairly dumfoundered  Gregson sprang 
out of his chair and upset the remainder of his whiskey and water  I 
stared in silence at Sherlock Holmes  whose lips were compressed and his 
brows drawn down over his eyes  
 
 Stangerson too   he muttered   The plot thickens   
 
 It was quite thick enough before   grumbled Lestrade  taking a chair  
 I seem to have dropped into a sort of council of war   
 
 Are you  are you sure of this piece of intelligence   stammered 
Gregson  
 
 I have just come from his room   said Lestrade   I was the first to 
discover what had occurred   
 
 We have been hearing Gregson s view of the matter   Holmes observed  
 Would you mind letting us know what you have seen and done   
 
 I have no objection   Lestrade answered  seating himself   I freely 
confess that I was of the opinion that Stangerson was concerned in 
the death of Drebber  This fresh development has shown me that I was 
completely mistaken  Full of the one idea  I set myself to find out 
what had become of the Secretary  They had been seen together at Euston 
Station about half past eight on the evening of the third  At two in the 
morning Drebber had been found in the Brixton Road  The question which 
confronted me was to find out how Stangerson had been employed between 
     and the time of the crime  and what had become of him afterwards  
I telegraphed to Liverpool  giving a description of the man  and warning 
them to keep a watch upon the American boats  I then set to work calling 
upon all the hotels and lodging houses in the vicinity of Euston  You 
see  I argued that if Drebber and his companion had become separated  
the natural course for the latter would be to put up somewhere in the 
vicinity for the night  and then to hang about the station again next 
morning   
 
 They would be likely to agree on some meeting place beforehand   
remarked Holmes  
 
 So it proved  I spent the whole of yesterday evening in making 
enquiries entirely without avail  This morning I began very early  and 
at eight o clock I reached Halliday s Private Hotel  in Little George 
Street  On my enquiry as to whether a Mr  Stangerson was living there  
they at once answered me in the affirmative  
 
  No doubt you are the gentleman whom he was expecting   they said   He 
has been waiting for a gentleman for two days   
 
  Where is he now   I asked  
 
  He is upstairs in bed  He wished to be called at nine   
 
  I will go up and see him at once   I said  
 
 It seemed to me that my sudden appearance might shake his nerves and 
lead him to say something unguarded  The Boots volunteered to show me 
the room  it was on the second floor  and there was a small corridor 
leading up to it  The Boots pointed out the door to me  and was about to 
go downstairs again when I saw something that made me feel sickish  in 
spite of my twenty years  experience  From under the door there curled 
a little red ribbon of blood  which had meandered across the passage and 
formed a little pool along the skirting at the other side  I gave a cry  
which brought the Boots back  He nearly fainted when he saw it  The door 
was locked on the inside  but we put our shoulders to it  and knocked it 
in  The window of the room was open  and beside the window  all huddled 
up  lay the body of a man in his nightdress  He was quite dead  and had 
been for some time  for his limbs were rigid and cold  When we turned 
him over  the Boots recognized him at once as being the same gentleman 
who had engaged the room under the name of Joseph Stangerson  The cause 
of death was a deep stab in the left side  which must have penetrated 
the heart  And now comes the strangest part of the affair  What do you 
suppose was above the murdered man   
 
I felt a creeping of the flesh  and a presentiment of coming horror  
even before Sherlock Holmes answered  
 
 The word RACHE  written in letters of blood   he said  
 
 That was it   said Lestrade  in an awe struck voice  and we were all 
silent for a while  
 
There was something so methodical and so incomprehensible about the 
deeds of this unknown assassin  that it imparted a fresh ghastliness to 
his crimes  My nerves  which were steady enough on the field of battle 
tingled as I thought of it  
 
 The man was seen   continued Lestrade   A milk boy  passing on his way 
to the dairy  happened to walk down the lane which leads from the mews 
at the back of the hotel  He noticed that a ladder  which usually lay 
there  was raised against one of the windows of the second floor  which 
was wide open  After passing  he looked back and saw a man descend the 
ladder  He came down so quietly and openly that the boy imagined him to 
be some carpenter or joiner at work in the hotel  He took no particular 
notice of him  beyond thinking in his own mind that it was early for him 
to be at work  He has an impression that the man was tall  had a reddish 
face  and was dressed in a long  brownish coat  He must have stayed in 
the room some little time after the murder  for we found blood stained 
water in the basin  where he had washed his hands  and marks on the 
sheets where he had deliberately wiped his knife   
 
I glanced at Holmes on hearing the description of the murderer  which 
tallied so exactly with his own  There was  however  no trace of 
exultation or satisfaction upon his face  
 
 Did you find nothing in the room which could furnish a clue to the 
murderer   he asked  
 
 Nothing  Stangerson had Drebber s purse in his pocket  but it seems 
that this was usual  as he did all the paying  There was eighty odd 
pounds in it  but nothing had been taken  Whatever the motives of these 
extraordinary crimes  robbery is certainly not one of them  There were 
no papers or memoranda in the murdered man s pocket  except a single 
telegram  dated from Cleveland about a month ago  and containing 
the words   J  H  is in Europe   There was no name appended to this 
message   
 
 And there was nothing else   Holmes asked  
 
 Nothing of any importance  The man s novel  with which he had read 
himself to sleep was lying upon the bed  and his pipe was on a chair 
beside him  There was a glass of water on the table  and on the 
window sill a small chip ointment box containing a couple of pills   
 
Sherlock Holmes sprang from his chair with an exclamation of delight  
 
 The last link   he cried  exultantly   My case is complete   
 
The two detectives stared at him in amazement  
 
 I have now in my hands   my companion said  confidently   all the 
threads which have formed such a tangle  There are  of course  details 
to be filled in  but I am as certain of all the main facts  from the 
time that Drebber parted from Stangerson at the station  up to the 
discovery of the body of the latter  as if I had seen them with my own 
eyes  I will give you a proof of my knowledge  Could you lay your hand 
upon those pills   
 
 I have them   said Lestrade  producing a small white box   I took them 
and the purse and the telegram  intending to have them put in a place of 
safety at the Police Station  It was the merest chance my taking these 
pills  for I am bound to say that I do not attach any importance to 
them   
 
 Give them here   said Holmes   Now  Doctor   turning to me   are those 
ordinary pills   
 
They certainly were not  They were of a pearly grey colour  small  
round  and almost transparent against the light   From their lightness 
and transparency  I should imagine that they are soluble in water   I 
remarked  
 
 Precisely so   answered Holmes   Now would you mind going down and 
fetching that poor little devil of a terrier which has been bad so long  
and which the landlady wanted you to put out of its pain yesterday   
 
I went downstairs and carried the dog upstair in my arms  It s laboured 
breathing and glazing eye showed that it was not far from its end  
Indeed  its snow white muzzle proclaimed that it had already exceeded 
the usual term of canine existence  I placed it upon a cushion on the 
rug  
 
 I will now cut one of these pills in two   said Holmes  and drawing his 
penknife he suited the action to the word   One half we return into the 
box for future purposes  The other half I will place in this wine glass  
in which is a teaspoonful of water  You perceive that our friend  the 
Doctor  is right  and that it readily dissolves   
 
 This may be very interesting   said Lestrade  in the injured tone of 
one who suspects that he is being laughed at   I cannot see  however  
what it has to do with the death of Mr  Joseph Stangerson   
 
 Patience  my friend  patience  You will find in time that it has 
everything to do with it  I shall now add a little milk to make the 
mixture palatable  and on presenting it to the dog we find that he laps 
it up readily enough   
 
As he spoke he turned the contents of the wine glass into a saucer and 
placed it in front of the terrier  who speedily licked it dry  Sherlock 
Holmes  earnest demeanour had so far convinced us that we all sat in 
silence  watching the animal intently  and expecting some startling 
effect  None such appeared  however  The dog continued to lie stretched 
upon tho      cushion  breathing in a laboured way  but apparently 
neither the better nor the worse for its draught  
 
Holmes had taken out his watch  and as minute followed minute without 
result  an expression of the utmost chagrin and disappointment appeared 
upon his features  He gnawed his lip  drummed his fingers upon the 
table  and showed every other symptom of acute impatience  So great 
was his emotion  that I felt sincerely sorry for him  while the two 
detectives smiled derisively  by no means displeased at this check which 
he had met  
 
 It can t be a coincidence   he cried  at last springing from his chair 
and pacing wildly up and down the room   it is impossible that it should 
be a mere coincidence  The very pills which I suspected in the case of 
Drebber are actually found after the death of Stangerson  And yet they 
are inert  What can it mean  Surely my whole chain of reasoning cannot 
have been false  It is impossible  And yet this wretched dog is none the 
worse  Ah  I have it  I have it   With a perfect shriek of delight he 
rushed to the box  cut the other pill in two  dissolved it  added milk  
and presented it to the terrier  The unfortunate creature s tongue 
seemed hardly to have been moistened in it before it gave a convulsive 
shiver in every limb  and lay as rigid and lifeless as if it had been 
struck by lightning  
 
Sherlock Holmes drew a long breath  and wiped the perspiration from his 
forehead   I should have more faith   he said   I ought to know by 
this time that when a fact appears to be opposed to a long train of 
deductions  it invariably proves to be capable of bearing some other 
interpretation  Of the two pills in that box one was of the most deadly 
poison  and the other was entirely harmless  I ought to have known that 
before ever I saw the box at all   
 
This last statement appeared to me to be so startling  that I could 
hardly believe that he was in his sober senses  There was the dead dog  
however  to prove that his conjecture had been correct  It seemed to me 
that the mists in my own mind were gradually clearing away  and I began 
to have a dim  vague perception of the truth  
 
 All this seems strange to you   continued Holmes   because you failed 
at the beginning of the inquiry to grasp the importance of the single 
real clue which was presented to you  I had the good fortune to seize 
upon that  and everything which has occurred since then has served to 
confirm my original supposition  and  indeed  was the logical sequence 
of it  Hence things which have perplexed you and made the case more 
obscure  have served to enlighten me and to strengthen my conclusions  
It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery  The most 
commonplace crime is often the most mysterious because it presents no 
new or special features from which deductions may be drawn  This murder 
would have been infinitely more difficult to unravel had the body of 
the victim been simply found lying in the roadway without any of 
those  outre  and sensational accompaniments which have rendered 
it remarkable  These strange details  far from making the case more 
difficult  have really had the effect of making it less so   
 
Mr  Gregson  who had listened to this address with considerable 
impatience  could contain himself no longer   Look here  Mr  Sherlock 
Holmes   he said   we are all ready to acknowledge that you are a smart 
man  and that you have your own methods of working  We want something 
more than mere theory and preaching now  though  It is a case of taking 
the man  I have made my case out  and it seems I was wrong  Young 
Charpentier could not have been engaged in this second affair  Lestrade 
went after his man  Stangerson  and it appears that he was wrong too  
You have thrown out hints here  and hints there  and seem to know more 
than we do  but the time has come when we feel that we have a right to 
ask you straight how much you do know of the business  Can you name the 
man who did it   
 
 I cannot help feeling that Gregson is right  sir   remarked Lestrade  
 We have both tried  and we have both failed  You have remarked more 
than once since I have been in the room that you had all the evidence 
which you require  Surely you will not withhold it any longer   
 
 Any delay in arresting the assassin   I observed   might give him time 
to perpetrate some fresh atrocity   
 
Thus pressed by us all  Holmes showed signs of irresolution  He 
continued to walk up and down the room with his head sunk on his chest 
and his brows drawn down  as was his habit when lost in thought  
 
 There will be no more murders   he said at last  stopping abruptly and 
facing us   You can put that consideration out of the question  You have 
asked me if I know the name of the assassin  I do  The mere knowing of 
his name is a small thing  however  compared with the power of laying 
our hands upon him  This I expect very shortly to do  I have good hopes 
of managing it through my own arrangements  but it is a thing which 
needs delicate handling  for we have a shrewd and desperate man to deal 
with  who is supported  as I have had occasion to prove  by another who 
is as clever as himself  As long as this man has no idea that anyone 
can have a clue there is some chance of securing him  but if he had the 
slightest suspicion  he would change his name  and vanish in an instant 
among the four million inhabitants of this great city  Without meaning 
to hurt either of your feelings  I am bound to say that I consider these 
men to be more than a match for the official force  and that is why I 
have not asked your assistance  If I fail I shall  of course  incur all 
the blame due to this omission  but that I am prepared for  At present 
I am ready to promise that the instant that I can communicate with you 
without endangering my own combinations  I shall do so   
 
Gregson and Lestrade seemed to be far from satisfied by this assurance  
or by the depreciating allusion to the detective police  The former had 
flushed up to the roots of his flaxen hair  while the other s beady eyes 
glistened with curiosity and resentment  Neither of them had time to 
speak  however  before there was a tap at the door  and the spokesman 
of the street Arabs  young Wiggins  introduced his insignificant and 
unsavoury person  
 
 Please  sir   he said  touching his forelock   I have the cab 
downstairs   
 
 Good boy   said Holmes  blandly   Why don t you introduce this pattern 
at Scotland Yard   he continued  taking a pair of steel handcuffs from 
a drawer   See how beautifully the spring works  They fasten in an 
instant   
 
 The old pattern is good enough   remarked Lestrade   if we can only 
find the man to put them on   
 
 Very good  very good   said Holmes  smiling   The cabman may as well 
help me with my boxes  Just ask him to step up  Wiggins   
 
I was surprised to find my companion speaking as though he were about 
to set out on a journey  since he had not said anything to me about it  
There was a small portmanteau in the room  and this he pulled out and 
began to strap  He was busily engaged at it when the cabman entered the 
room  
 
 Just give me a help with this buckle  cabman   he said  kneeling over 
his task  and never turning his head  
 
The fellow came forward with a somewhat sullen  defiant air  and put 
down his hands to assist  At that instant there was a sharp click  the 
jangling of metal  and Sherlock Holmes sprang to his feet again  
 
 Gentlemen   he cried  with flashing eyes   let me introduce you to Mr  
Jefferson Hope  the murderer of Enoch Drebber and of Joseph Stangerson   
 
The whole thing occurred in a moment  so quickly that I had no time 
to realize it  I have a vivid recollection of that instant  of Holmes  
triumphant expression and the ring of his voice  of the cabman s 
dazed  savage face  as he glared at the glittering handcuffs  which had 
appeared as if by magic upon his wrists  For a second or two we might 
have been a group of statues  Then  with an inarticulate roar of fury  
the prisoner wrenched himself free from Holmes s grasp  and hurled 
himself through the window  Woodwork and glass gave way before him  but 
before he got quite through  Gregson  Lestrade  and Holmes sprang upon 
him like so many staghounds  He was dragged back into the room  and then 
commenced a terrific conflict  So powerful and so fierce was he  that 
the four of us were shaken off again and again  He appeared to have the 
convulsive strength of a man in an epileptic fit  His face and hands 
were terribly mangled by his passage through the glass  but loss of 
blood had no effect in diminishing his resistance  It was not until 
Lestrade succeeded in getting his hand inside his neckcloth and 
half strangling him that we made him realize that his struggles were of 
no avail  and even then we felt no security until we had pinioned his 
feet as well as his hands  That done  we rose to our feet breathless and 
panting  
 
 We have his cab   said Sherlock Holmes   It will serve to take him to 
Scotland Yard  And now  gentlemen   he continued  with a pleasant smile  
 we have reached the end of our little mystery  You are very welcome to 
put any questions that you like to me now  and there is no danger that I 
will refuse to answer them   
 
 
 
 
 
PART II   The Country of the Saints   
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER I  ON THE GREAT ALKALI PLAIN  
 
 
IN the central portion of the great North American Continent there lies 
an arid and repulsive desert  which for many a long year served as a 
barrier against the advance of civilisation  From the Sierra Nevada to 
Nebraska  and from the Yellowstone River in the north to the Colorado 
upon the south  is a region of desolation and silence  Nor is Nature 
always in one mood throughout this grim district  It comprises 
snow capped and lofty mountains  and dark and gloomy valleys  There are 
swift flowing rivers which dash through jagged canons  and there are 
enormous plains  which in winter are white with snow  and in summer are 
grey with the saline alkali dust  They all preserve  however  the common 
characteristics of barrenness  inhospitality  and misery  
 
There are no inhabitants of this land of despair  A band of Pawnees 
or of Blackfeet may occasionally traverse it in order to reach other 
hunting grounds  but the hardiest of the braves are glad to lose sight 
of those awesome plains  and to find themselves once more upon their 
prairies  The coyote skulks among the scrub  the buzzard flaps heavily 
through the air  and the clumsy grizzly bear lumbers through the dark 
ravines  and picks up such sustenance as it can amongst the rocks  These 
are the sole dwellers in the wilderness  
 
In the whole world there can be no more dreary view than that from 
the northern slope of the Sierra Blanco  As far as the eye can reach 
stretches the great flat plain land  all dusted over with patches of 
alkali  and intersected by clumps of the dwarfish chaparral bushes  On 
the extreme verge of the horizon lie a long chain of mountain peaks  
with their rugged summits flecked with snow  In this great stretch of 
country there is no sign of life  nor of anything appertaining to life  
There is no bird in the steel blue heaven  no movement upon the dull  
grey earth  above all  there is absolute silence  Listen as one may  
there is no shadow of a sound in all that mighty wilderness  nothing but 
silence  complete and heart subduing silence  
 
It has been said there is nothing appertaining to life upon the broad 
plain  That is hardly true  Looking down from the Sierra Blanco  one 
sees a pathway traced out across the desert  which winds away and is 
lost in the extreme distance  It is rutted with wheels and trodden down 
by the feet of many adventurers  Here and there there are scattered 
white objects which glisten in the sun  and stand out against the dull 
deposit of alkali  Approach  and examine them  They are bones  some 
large and coarse  others smaller and more delicate  The former have 
belonged to oxen  and the latter to men  For fifteen hundred miles one 
may trace this ghastly caravan route by these scattered remains of those 
who had fallen by the wayside  
 
Looking down on this very scene  there stood upon the fourth of May  
eighteen hundred and forty seven  a solitary traveller  His appearance 
was such that he might have been the very genius or demon of the region  
An observer would have found it difficult to say whether he was nearer 
to forty or to sixty  His face was lean and haggard  and the brown 
parchment like skin was drawn tightly over the projecting bones  his 
long  brown hair and beard were all flecked and dashed with white  his 
eyes were sunken in his head  and burned with an unnatural lustre  while 
the hand which grasped his rifle was hardly more fleshy than that of a 
skeleton  As he stood  he leaned upon his weapon for support  and yet 
his tall figure and the massive framework of his bones suggested a wiry 
and vigorous constitution  His gaunt face  however  and his clothes  
which hung so baggily over his shrivelled limbs  proclaimed what it 
was that gave him that senile and decrepit appearance  The man was 
dying  dying from hunger and from thirst  
 
He had toiled painfully down the ravine  and on to this little 
elevation  in the vain hope of seeing some signs of water  Now the great 
salt plain stretched before his eyes  and the distant belt of savage 
mountains  without a sign anywhere of plant or tree  which might 
indicate the presence of moisture  In all that broad landscape there 
was no gleam of hope  North  and east  and west he looked with wild 
questioning eyes  and then he realised that his wanderings had come to 
an end  and that there  on that barren crag  he was about to die   Why 
not here  as well as in a feather bed  twenty years hence   he muttered  
as he seated himself in the shelter of a boulder  
 
Before sitting down  he had deposited upon the ground his useless rifle  
and also a large bundle tied up in a grey shawl  which he had carried 
slung over his right shoulder  It appeared to be somewhat too heavy for 
his strength  for in lowering it  it came down on the ground with some 
little violence  Instantly there broke from the grey parcel a little 
moaning cry  and from it there protruded a small  scared face  with very 
bright brown eyes  and two little speckled  dimpled fists  
 
 You ve hurt me   said a childish voice reproachfully  
 
 Have I though   the man answered penitently   I didn t go for to do 
it   As he spoke he unwrapped the grey shawl and extricated a pretty 
little girl of about five years of age  whose dainty shoes and smart 
pink frock with its little linen apron all bespoke a mother s care  The 
child was pale and wan  but her healthy arms and legs showed that she 
had suffered less than her companion  
 
 How is it now   he answered anxiously  for she was still rubbing the 
towsy golden curls which covered the back of her head  
 
 Kiss it and make it well   she said  with perfect gravity  shoving 
     the injured part up to him   That s what mother used to do  Where s 
mother   
 
 Mother s gone  I guess you ll see her before long   
 
 Gone  eh   said the little girl   Funny  she didn t say good bye  she 
 most always did if she was just goin  over to Auntie s for tea  and now 
she s been away three days  Say  it s awful dry  ain t it  Ain t there 
no water  nor nothing to eat   
 
 No  there ain t nothing  dearie  You ll just need to be patient awhile  
and then you ll be all right  Put your head up agin me like that  and 
then you ll feel bullier  It ain t easy to talk when your lips is like 
leather  but I guess I d best let you know how the cards lie  What s 
that you ve got   
 
 Pretty things  fine things   cried the little girl enthusiastically  
holding up two glittering fragments of mica   When we goes back to home 
I ll give them to brother Bob   
 
 You ll see prettier things than them soon   said the man confidently  
 You just wait a bit  I was going to tell you though  you remember when 
we left the river   
 
 Oh  yes   
 
 Well  we reckoned we d strike another river soon  d ye see  But there 
was somethin  wrong  compasses  or map  or somethin   and it didn t 
turn up  Water ran out  Just except a little drop for the likes of you 
and  and      
 
 And you couldn t wash yourself   interrupted his companion gravely  
staring up at his grimy visage  
 
 No  nor drink  And Mr  Bender  he was the fust to go  and then Indian 
Pete  and then Mrs  McGregor  and then Johnny Hones  and then  dearie  
your mother   
 
 Then mother s a deader too   cried the little girl dropping her face in 
her pinafore and sobbing bitterly  
 
 Yes  they all went except you and me  Then I thought there was some 
chance of water in this direction  so I heaved you over my shoulder and 
we tramped it together  It don t seem as though we ve improved matters  
There s an almighty small chance for us now   
 
 Do you mean that we are going to die too   asked the child  checking 
her sobs  and raising her tear stained face  
 
 I guess that s about the size of it   
 
 Why didn t you say so before   she said  laughing gleefully   You gave 
me such a fright  Why  of course  now as long as we die we ll be with 
mother again   
 
 Yes  you will  dearie   
 
 And you too  I ll tell her how awful good you ve been  I ll bet she 
meets us at the door of Heaven with a big pitcher of water  and a lot 
of buckwheat cakes  hot  and toasted on both sides  like Bob and me was 
fond of  How long will it be first   
 
 I don t know  not very long   The man s eyes were fixed upon the 
northern horizon  In the blue vault of the heaven there had appeared 
three little specks which increased in size every moment  so rapidly did 
they approach  They speedily resolved themselves into three large brown 
birds  which circled over the heads of the two wanderers  and then 
settled upon some rocks which overlooked them  They were buzzards  the 
vultures of the west  whose coming is the forerunner of death  
 
 Cocks and hens   cried the little girl gleefully  pointing at their 
ill omened forms  and clapping her hands to make them rise   Say  did 
God make this country   
 
 In course He did   said her companion  rather startled by this 
unexpected question  
 
 He made the country down in Illinois  and He made the Missouri   the 
little girl continued   I guess somebody else made the country in these 
parts  It s not nearly so well done  They forgot the water and the 
trees   
 
 What would ye think of offering up prayer   the man asked diffidently  
 
 It ain t night yet   she answered  
 
 It don t matter  It ain t quite regular  but He won t mind that  you 
bet  You say over them ones that you used to say every night in the 
waggon when we was on the Plains   
 
 Why don t you say some yourself   the child asked  with wondering eyes  
 
 I disremember them   he answered   I hain t said none since I was half 
the height o  that gun  I guess it s never too late  You say them out  
and I ll stand by and come in on the choruses   
 
 Then you ll need to kneel down  and me too   she said  laying the shawl 
out for that purpose   You ve got to put your hands up like this  It 
makes you feel kind o  good   
 
It was a strange sight had there been anything but the buzzards to see 
it  Side by side on the narrow shawl knelt the two wanderers  the little 
prattling child and the reckless  hardened adventurer  Her chubby face  
and his haggard  angular visage were both turned up to the cloudless 
heaven in heartfelt entreaty to that dread being with whom they were 
face to face  while the two voices  the one thin and clear  the other 
deep and harsh  united in the entreaty for mercy and forgiveness  The 
prayer finished  they resumed their seat in the shadow of the boulder 
until the child fell asleep  nestling upon the broad breast of her 
protector  He watched over her slumber for some time  but Nature proved 
to be too strong for him  For three days and three nights he had allowed 
himself neither rest nor repose  Slowly the eyelids drooped over the 
tired eyes  and the head sunk lower and lower upon the breast  until the 
man s grizzled beard was mixed with the gold tresses of his companion  
and both slept the same deep and dreamless slumber  
 
Had the wanderer remained awake for another half hour a strange sight 
would have met his eyes  Far away on the extreme verge of the alkali 
plain there rose up a little spray of dust  very slight at first  and 
hardly to be distinguished from the mists of the distance  but gradually 
growing higher and broader until it formed a solid  well defined cloud  
This cloud continued to increase in size until it became evident that it 
could only be raised by a great multitude of moving creatures  In more 
fertile spots the observer would have come to the conclusion that one 
of those great herds of bisons which graze upon the prairie land was 
approaching him  This was obviously impossible in these arid wilds  As 
the whirl of dust drew nearer to the solitary bluff upon which the two 
castaways were reposing  the canvas covered tilts of waggons and the 
figures of armed horsemen began to show up through the haze  and the 
apparition revealed itself as being a great caravan upon its journey for 
the West  But what a caravan  When the head of it had reached the base 
of the mountains  the rear was not yet visible on the horizon  Right 
across the enormous plain stretched the straggling array  waggons 
and carts  men on horseback  and men on foot  Innumerable women who 
staggered along under burdens  and children who toddled beside the 
waggons or peeped out from under the white coverings  This was evidently 
no ordinary party of immigrants  but rather some nomad people who had 
been compelled from stress of circumstances to seek themselves a new 
country  There rose through the clear air a confused clattering and 
rumbling from this great mass of humanity  with the creaking of wheels 
and the neighing of horses  Loud as it was  it was not sufficient to 
rouse the two tired wayfarers above them  
 
At the head of the column there rode a score or more of grave ironfaced 
men  clad in sombre homespun garments and armed with rifles  On reaching 
the base of the bluff they halted  and held a short council among 
themselves  
 
 The wells are to the right  my brothers   said one  a hard lipped  
clean shaven man with grizzly hair  
 
 To the right of the Sierra Blanco  so we shall reach the Rio Grande   
said another  
 
 Fear not for water   cried a third   He who could draw it from the 
rocks will not now abandon His own chosen people   
 
 Amen  Amen   responded the whole party  
 
They were about to resume their journey when one of the youngest and 
keenest eyed uttered an exclamation and pointed up at the rugged crag 
above them  From its summit there fluttered a little wisp of pink  
showing up hard and bright against the grey rocks behind  At the sight 
there was a general reining up of horses and unslinging of guns  while 
fresh horsemen came galloping up to reinforce the vanguard  The word 
 Redskins  was on every lip  
 
 There can t be any number of Injuns here   said the elderly man who 
appeared to be in command   We have passed the Pawnees  and there are no 
other tribes until we cross the great mountains   
 
 Shall I go forward and see  Brother Stangerson   asked one of the band  
 
 And I    and I   cried a dozen voices  
 
 Leave your horses below and we will await you here   the Elder 
answered  In a moment the young fellows had dismounted  fastened their 
horses  and were ascending the precipitous slope which led up to the 
object which had excited their curiosity  They advanced rapidly and 
noiselessly  with the confidence and dexterity of practised scouts  
The watchers from the plain below could see them flit from rock to rock 
until their figures stood out against the skyline  The young man who had 
first given the alarm was leading them  Suddenly his followers saw him 
throw up his hands  as though overcome with astonishment  and on joining 
him they were affected in the same way by the sight which met their 
eyes  
 
On the little plateau which crowned the barren hill there stood a 
single giant boulder  and against this boulder there lay a tall man  
long bearded and hard featured  but of an excessive thinness  His placid 
face and regular breathing showed that he was fast asleep  Beside him 
lay a little child  with her round white arms encircling his brown 
sinewy neck  and her golden haired head resting upon the breast of his 
velveteen tunic  Her rosy lips were parted  showing the regular line of 
snow white teeth within  and a playful smile played over her infantile 
features  Her plump little white legs terminating in white socks and 
neat shoes with shining buckles  offered a strange contrast to the long 
shrivelled members of her companion  On the ledge of rock above this 
strange couple there stood three solemn buzzards  who  at the sight of 
the new comers uttered raucous screams of disappointment and flapped 
sullenly away  
 
The cries of the foul birds awoke the two sleepers who stared about      
them in bewilderment  The man staggered to his feet and looked down upon 
the plain which had been so desolate when sleep had overtaken him  and 
which was now traversed by this enormous body of men and of beasts  His 
face assumed an expression of incredulity as he gazed  and he passed his 
boney hand over his eyes   This is what they call delirium  I guess   
he muttered  The child stood beside him  holding on to the skirt of 
his coat  and said nothing but looked all round her with the wondering 
questioning gaze of childhood  
 
The rescuing party were speedily able to convince the two castaways that 
their appearance was no delusion  One of them seized the little girl  
and hoisted her upon his shoulder  while two others supported her gaunt 
companion  and assisted him towards the waggons  
 
 My name is John Ferrier   the wanderer explained   me and that little 
un are all that s left o  twenty one people  The rest is all dead o  
thirst and hunger away down in the south   
 
 Is she your child   asked someone  
 
 I guess she is now   the other cried  defiantly   she s mine  cause I 
saved her  No man will take her from me  She s Lucy Ferrier from this 
day on  Who are you  though   he continued  glancing with curiosity at 
his stalwart  sunburned rescuers   there seems to be a powerful lot of 
ye   
 
 Nigh upon ten thousand   said one of the young men   we are the 
persecuted children of God  the chosen of the Angel Merona   
 
 I never heard tell on him   said the wanderer   He appears to have 
chosen a fair crowd of ye   
 
 Do not jest at that which is sacred   said the other sternly   We are 
of those who believe in those sacred writings  drawn in Egyptian letters 
on plates of beaten gold  which were handed unto the holy Joseph Smith 
at Palmyra  We have come from Nauvoo  in the State of Illinois  where we 
had founded our temple  We have come to seek a refuge from the violent 
man and from the godless  even though it be the heart of the desert   
 
The name of Nauvoo evidently recalled recollections to John Ferrier   I 
see   he said   you are the Mormons   
 
 We are the Mormons   answered his companions with one voice  
 
 And where are you going   
 
 We do not know  The hand of God is leading us under the person of our 
Prophet  You must come before him  He shall say what is to be done with 
you   
 
They had reached the base of the hill by this time  and were surrounded 
by crowds of the pilgrims  pale faced meek looking women  strong 
laughing children  and anxious earnest eyed men  Many were the cries 
of astonishment and of commiseration which arose from them when they 
perceived the youth of one of the strangers and the destitution of the 
other  Their escort did not halt  however  but pushed on  followed by 
a great crowd of Mormons  until they reached a waggon  which was 
conspicuous for its great size and for the gaudiness and smartness of 
its appearance  Six horses were yoked to it  whereas the others were 
furnished with two  or  at most  four a piece  Beside the driver there 
sat a man who could not have been more than thirty years of age  but 
whose massive head and resolute expression marked him as a leader  He 
was reading a brown backed volume  but as the crowd approached he laid 
it aside  and listened attentively to an account of the episode  Then he 
turned to the two castaways  
 
 If we take you with us   he said  in solemn words   it can only be as 
believers in our own creed  We shall have no wolves in our fold  Better 
far that your bones should bleach in this wilderness than that you 
should prove to be that little speck of decay which in time corrupts the 
whole fruit  Will you come with us on these terms   
 
 Guess I ll come with you on any terms   said Ferrier  with such 
emphasis that the grave Elders could not restrain a smile  The leader 
alone retained his stern  impressive expression  
 
 Take him  Brother Stangerson   he said   give him food and drink  
and the child likewise  Let it be your task also to teach him our holy 
creed  We have delayed long enough  Forward  On  on to Zion   
 
 On  on to Zion   cried the crowd of Mormons  and the words rippled down 
the long caravan  passing from mouth to mouth until they died away in a 
dull murmur in the far distance  With a cracking of whips and a creaking 
of wheels the great waggons got into motion  and soon the whole caravan 
was winding along once more  The Elder to whose care the two waifs 
had been committed  led them to his waggon  where a meal was already 
awaiting them  
 
 You shall remain here   he said   In a few days you will have recovered 
from your fatigues  In the meantime  remember that now and for ever you 
are of our religion  Brigham Young has said it  and he has spoken with 
the voice of Joseph Smith  which is the voice of God   
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER II  THE FLOWER OF UTAH  
 
 
THIS is not the place to commemorate the trials and privations endured 
by the immigrant Mormons before they came to their final haven  From the 
shores of the Mississippi to the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains 
they had struggled on with a constancy almost unparalleled in history  
The savage man  and the savage beast  hunger  thirst  fatigue  and 
disease  every impediment which Nature could place in the way  had all 
been overcome with Anglo Saxon tenacity  Yet the long journey and the 
accumulated terrors had shaken the hearts of the stoutest among them  
There was not one who did not sink upon his knees in heartfelt prayer 
when they saw the broad valley of Utah bathed in the sunlight beneath 
them  and learned from the lips of their leader that this was the 
promised land  and that these virgin acres were to be theirs for 
evermore  
 
Young speedily proved himself to be a skilful administrator as well as a 
resolute chief  Maps were drawn and charts prepared  in which the future 
city was sketched out  All around farms were apportioned and allotted in 
proportion to the standing of each individual  The tradesman was put 
to his trade and the artisan to his calling  In the town streets and 
squares sprang up  as if by magic  In the country there was draining 
and hedging  planting and clearing  until the next summer saw the whole 
country golden with the wheat crop  Everything prospered in the strange 
settlement  Above all  the great temple which they had erected in the 
centre of the city grew ever taller and larger  From the first blush of 
dawn until the closing of the twilight  the clatter of the hammer 
and the rasp of the saw was never absent from the monument which the 
immigrants erected to Him who had led them safe through many dangers  
 
The two castaways  John Ferrier and the little girl who had shared his 
fortunes and had been adopted as his daughter  accompanied the Mormons 
to the end of their great pilgrimage  Little Lucy Ferrier was borne 
along pleasantly enough in Elder Stangerson s waggon  a retreat which 
she shared with the Mormon s three wives and with his son  a headstrong 
forward boy of twelve  Having rallied  with the elasticity of childhood  
from the shock caused by her mother s death  she soon became a pet 
with the women  and reconciled herself to this new life in her moving 
canvas covered home  In the meantime Ferrier having recovered from his 
privations  distinguished himself as a useful guide and an indefatigable 
hunter  So rapidly did he gain the esteem of his new companions  that 
when they reached the end of their wanderings  it was unanimously agreed 
that he should be provided with as large and as fertile a tract of land 
as any of the settlers  with the exception of Young himself  and of 
Stangerson  Kemball  Johnston  and Drebber  who were the four principal 
Elders  
 
On the farm thus acquired John Ferrier built himself a substantial 
log house  which received so many additions in succeeding years that it 
grew into a roomy villa  He was a man of a practical turn of mind  
keen in his dealings and skilful with his hands  His iron constitution 
enabled him to work morning and evening at improving and tilling his 
lands  Hence it came about that his farm and all that belonged to 
him prospered exceedingly  In three years he was better off than his 
neighbours  in six he was well to do  in nine he was rich  and in twelve 
there were not half a dozen men in the whole of Salt Lake City who could 
compare with him  From the great inland sea to the distant Wahsatch 
Mountains there was no name better known than that of John Ferrier  
 
There was one way and only one in which he offended the susceptibilities 
of his co religionists  No argument or persuasion could ever induce him 
to set up a female establishment after the manner of his companions  He 
never gave reasons for this persistent refusal  but contented himself by 
resolutely and inflexibly adhering to his determination  There were some 
who accused him of lukewarmness in his adopted religion  and others who 
put it down to greed of wealth and reluctance to incur expense  Others  
again  spoke of some early love affair  and of a fair haired girl who 
had pined away on the shores of the Atlantic  Whatever the reason  
Ferrier remained strictly celibate  In every other respect he conformed 
to the religion of the young settlement  and gained the name of being an 
orthodox and straight walking man  
 
Lucy Ferrier grew up within the log house  and assisted her adopted 
father in all his undertakings  The keen air of the mountains and the 
balsamic odour of the pine trees took the place of nurse and mother to 
the young girl  As year succeeded to year she grew taller and stronger  
her cheek more rudy  and her step more elastic  Many a wayfarer upon 
the high road which ran by Ferrier s farm felt long forgotten thoughts 
revive in their mind as they watched her lithe girlish figure tripping 
through the wheatfields  or met her mounted upon her father s mustang  
and managing it with all the ease and grace of a true child of the West  
So the bud blossomed into a flower  and the year which saw her father 
the richest of the farmers left her as fair a specimen of American 
girlhood as could be found in the whole Pacific slope  
 
It was not the father  however  who first discovered that the child had 
developed into the woman  It seldom is in such cases  That mysterious 
change is too subtle and too gradual to be measured by dates  Least of 
all does the maiden herself know it until the tone of a voice or the 
touch of a hand sets her heart thrilling within her  and she learns  
with a mixture of pride and of fear  that a new and a larger nature has 
awoken within her  There are few who cannot recall that day and remember 
the one little incident which heralded the dawn of a new life  In the 
case of Lucy Ferrier the occasion was serious enough in itself  apart 
from its future influence on her destiny and that of many besides  
 
It was a warm June morning  and the Latter Day Saints were as busy as 
the bees whose hive they have chosen for their emblem  In the fields and 
in the streets rose the same hum of human industry  Down the dusty high 
roads defiled long streams of heavily laden mules  all heading to the 
west  for the gold fever had broken out in California  and the Overland 
Route lay through the City of the Elect  There  too  were droves of 
sheep and bullocks coming in from the outlying pasture lands  and trains 
of tired immigrants  men and horses equally weary of their interminable 
journey  Through all this motley assemblage  threading her way with the 
skill of an accomplished rider  there galloped Lucy Ferrier  her fair 
face flushed with the exercise and her long chestnut hair floating out 
behind her  She had a commission from her father in the City  and was 
dashing in as she had done many a time before  with all the fearlessness 
of youth  thinking only of her task and how it was to be performed  The 
travel stained adventurers gazed after her in astonishment  and even 
the unemotional Indians  journeying in with their pelties  relaxed their 
accustomed stoicism as they marvelled at the beauty of the pale faced 
maiden  
 
She had reached the outskirts of the city when she found the road 
blocked by a great drove of cattle  driven by a half dozen wild looking 
herdsmen from the plains  In her impatience she endeavoured to pass this 
obstacle by pushing her horse into what appeared to be a gap  Scarcely 
had she got fairly into it  however  before the beasts closed in behind 
her  and she found herself completely imbedded in the moving stream of 
fierce eyed  long horned bullocks  Accustomed as she was to deal with 
cattle  she was not alarmed at her situation  but took advantage of 
every opportunity to urge her horse on in the hopes of pushing her way 
through the cavalcade  Unfortunately the horns of one of the creatures  
either by accident or design  came in violent contact with the flank of 
the mustang  and excited it to madness  In an instant it reared up upon 
its hind legs with a snort of rage  and pranced and tossed in a way that 
would have unseated any but a most skilful rider  The situation was full 
of peril  Every plunge of the excited horse brought it against the horns 
again  and goaded it to fresh madness  It was all that the girl could 
do to keep herself in the saddle  yet a slip would mean a terrible death 
under the hoofs of the unwieldy and terrified animals  Unaccustomed to 
sudden emergencies  her head began to swim  and her grip upon the bridle 
to relax  Choked by the rising cloud of dust and by the steam from the 
struggling creatures  she might have abandoned her efforts in despair  
but for a kindly voice at her elbow which assured her of assistance  At 
the same moment a sinewy brown hand caught the frightened horse by 
the curb  and forcing a way through the drove  soon brought her to the 
outskirts  
 
 You re not hurt  I hope  miss   said her preserver  respectfully  
 
She looked up at his dark  fierce face  and laughed saucily   I m awful 
frightened   she said  naively   whoever would have thought that Poncho 
would have been so scared by a lot of cows   
 
 Thank God you kept your seat   the other said earnestly  He was a tall  
savage looking young fellow  mounted on a powerful roan horse  and 
clad in the rough dress of a hunter  with a long rifle slung over his 
shoulders   I guess you are the daughter of John Ferrier   he remarked  
 I saw you ride down from his house  When you see him  ask him if he 
remembers the Jefferson Hopes of St  Louis  If he s the same Ferrier  my 
father and he were pretty thick   
 
 Hadn t you better come and ask yourself   she asked  demurely  
 
The young fellow seemed pleased at the suggestion  and his dark eyes 
sparkled with pleasure   I ll do so   he said   we ve been in the 
mountains for two months  and are not over and above in visiting 
condition  He must take us as he finds us   
 
 He has a good deal to thank you for  and so have I   she answered  
 he s awful fond of me  If those cows had jumped on me he d have never 
got over it   
 
 Neither would I   said her companion  
 
 You  Well  I don t see that it would make much matter to you  anyhow  
You ain t even a friend of ours   
 
The young hunter s dark face grew so gloomy over this remark that Lucy 
Ferrier laughed aloud  
 
 There  I didn t mean that   she said   of course  you are a friend now  
You must come and see us  Now I must push along  or father won t trust 
me with his business any more  Good bye   
 
 Good bye   he answered  raising his broad sombrero  and bending over 
her little hand  She wheeled her mustang round  gave it a cut with her 
riding whip  and darted away down the broad road in a rolling cloud of 
dust  
 
Young Jefferson Hope rode on with his companions  gloomy and taciturn  
He and they had been among the Nevada Mountains prospecting for silver  
and were returning to Salt Lake City in the hope of raising capital 
enough to work some lodes which they had discovered  He had been as keen 
as any of them upon the business until this sudden incident had drawn 
his thoughts into another channel  The sight of the fair young girl  
as frank and wholesome as the Sierra breezes  had stirred his volcanic  
untamed heart to its very depths  When she had vanished from his sight  
he realized that a crisis had come in his life  and that neither silver 
speculations nor any other questions could ever be of such importance to 
him as this new and all absorbing one  The love which had sprung up in 
his heart was not the sudden  changeable fancy of a boy  but rather the 
wild  fierce passion of a man of strong will and imperious temper  He 
had been accustomed to succeed in all that he undertook  He swore in 
his heart that he would not fail in this if human effort and human 
perseverance could render him successful  
 
He called on John Ferrier that night  and many times again  until 
his face was a familiar one at the farm house  John  cooped up in the 
valley  and absorbed in his work  had had little chance of learning 
the news of the outside world during the last twelve years  All this 
Jefferson Hope was able to tell him  and in a style which interested 
Lucy as well as her father  He had been a pioneer in California  and 
could narrate many a strange tale of fortunes made and fortunes lost 
in those wild  halcyon days  He had been a scout too  and a trapper  a 
silver explorer  and a ranchman  Wherever stirring adventures were to be 
had  Jefferson Hope had been there in search of them  He soon became a 
favourite with the old farmer  who spoke eloquently of his virtues  On 
such occasions  Lucy was silent  but her blushing cheek and her bright  
happy eyes  showed only too clearly that her young heart was no longer 
her own  Her honest father may not have observed these symptoms  
but they were assuredly not thrown away upon the man who had won her 
affections  
 
It was a summer evening when he came galloping down the road and pulled 
up at the gate  She was at the doorway  and came down to meet him  He 
threw the bridle over the fence and strode up the pathway  
 
 I am off  Lucy   he said  taking her two hands in his  and gazing 
tenderly down into her face   I won t ask you to come with me now  but 
will you be ready to come when I am here again   
 
 And when will that be   she asked  blushing and laughing  
 
 A couple of months at the outside  I will come and claim you then  my 
darling  There s no one who can stand between us   
 
 And how about father   she asked  
 
 He has given his consent  provided we get these mines working all 
right  I have no fear on that head   
 
 Oh  well  of course  if you and father have arranged it all  there s 
no more to be said   she whispered  with her cheek against his broad 
breast  
 
 Thank God   he said  hoarsely  stooping and kissing her   It is 
settled  then  The longer I stay  the harder it will be to go  They are 
waiting for me at the canon  Good bye  my own darling  good bye  In two 
months you shall see me   
 
He tore himself from her as he spoke  and  flinging himself upon his 
horse  galloped furiously away  never even looking round  as though 
afraid that his resolution might fail him if he took one glance at 
what he was leaving  She stood at the gate  gazing after him until 
he vanished from her sight  Then she walked back into the house  the 
happiest girl in all Utah  
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER III  JOHN FERRIER TALKS WITH THE PROPHET  
 
 
THREE weeks had passed since Jefferson Hope and his comrades had 
departed from Salt Lake City  John Ferrier s heart was sore within him 
when he thought of the young man s return  and of the impending loss of 
his adopted child  Yet her bright and happy face reconciled him to 
the arrangement more than any argument could have done  He had always 
determined  deep down in his resolute heart  that nothing would ever 
induce him to allow his daughter to wed a Mormon  Such a marriage he 
regarded as no marriage at all  but as a shame and a disgrace  Whatever 
he might think of the Mormon doctrines  upon that one point he was 
inflexible  He had to seal his mouth on the subject  however  for to 
express an unorthodox opinion was a dangerous matter in those days in 
the Land of the Saints  
 
Yes  a dangerous matter  so dangerous that even the most saintly dared 
only whisper their religious opinions with bated breath  lest something 
which fell from their lips might be misconstrued  and bring down a 
swift retribution upon them  The victims of persecution had now turned 
persecutors on their own account  and persecutors of the most 
terrible description  Not the Inquisition of Seville  nor the German 
Vehm gericht  nor the Secret Societies of Italy  were ever able to put 
a more formidable machinery in motion than that which cast a cloud over 
the State of Utah  
 
Its invisibility  and the mystery which was attached to it  made 
this organization doubly terrible  It appeared to be omniscient and 
omnipotent  and yet was neither seen nor heard  The man who held out 
against the Church vanished away  and none knew whither he had gone or 
what had befallen him  His wife and his children awaited him at home  
but no father ever returned to tell them how he had fared at the 
hands of his secret judges  A rash word or a hasty act was followed 
by annihilation  and yet none knew what the nature might be of this 
terrible power which was suspended over them  No wonder that men 
went about in fear and trembling  and that even in the heart of the 
wilderness they dared not whisper the doubts which oppressed them  
 
At first this vague and terrible power was exercised only upon the 
recalcitrants who  having embraced the Mormon faith  wished afterwards 
to pervert or to abandon it  Soon  however  it took a wider range  The 
supply of adult women was running short  and polygamy without a female 
population on which to draw was a barren doctrine indeed  Strange 
rumours began to be bandied about  rumours of murdered immigrants and 
rifled camps in regions where Indians had never been seen  Fresh women 
appeared in the harems of the Elders  women who pined and wept  and 
bore upon their faces the traces of an unextinguishable horror  Belated 
wanderers upon the mountains spoke of gangs of armed men  masked  
stealthy  and noiseless  who flitted by them in the darkness  These 
tales and rumours took substance and shape  and were corroborated and 
re corroborated  until they resolved themselves into a definite name  
To this day  in the lonely ranches of the West  the name of the Danite 
Band  or the Avenging Angels  is a sinister and an ill omened one  
 
Fuller knowledge of the organization which produced such terrible 
results served to increase rather than to lessen the horror which it 
inspired in the minds of men  None knew who belonged to this ruthless 
society  The names of the participators in the deeds of blood and 
violence done under the name of religion were kept profoundly secret  
The very friend to whom you communicated your misgivings as to the 
Prophet and his mission  might be one of those who would come forth at 
night with fire and sword to exact a terrible reparation  Hence every 
man feared his neighbour  and none spoke of the things which were 
nearest his heart  
 
One fine morning  John Ferrier was about to set out to his wheatfields  
when he heard the click of the latch  and  looking through the window  
saw a stout  sandy haired  middle aged man coming up the pathway  His 
heart leapt to his mouth  for this was none other than the great Brigham 
Young himself  Full of trepidation  for he knew that such a visit boded 
him little good  Ferrier ran to the door to greet the Mormon chief  The 
latter  however  received his salutations coldly  and followed him with 
a stern face into the sitting room  
 
 Brother Ferrier   he said  taking a seat  and eyeing the farmer keenly 
from under his light coloured eyelashes   the true believers have been 
good friends to you  We picked you up when you were starving in the 
desert  we shared our food with you  led you safe to the Chosen Valley  
gave you a goodly share of land  and allowed you to wax rich under our 
protection  Is not this so   
 
 It is so   answered John Ferrier  
 
 In return for all this we asked but one condition  that was  that you 
should embrace the true faith  and conform in every way to its usages  
This you promised to do  and this  if common report says truly  you have 
neglected   
 
 And how have I neglected it   asked Ferrier  throwing out his hands in 
expostulation   Have I not given to the common fund  Have I not attended 
at the Temple  Have I not       
 
 Where are your wives   asked Young  looking round him   Call them in  
that I may greet them   
 
 It is true that I have not married   Ferrier answered   But women 
were few  and there were many who had better claims than I  I was not a 
lonely man  I had my daughter to attend to my wants   
 
 It is of that daughter that I would speak to you   said the leader 
of the Mormons   She has grown to be the flower of Utah  and has found 
favour in the eyes of many who are high in the land   
 
John Ferrier groaned internally  
 
 There are stories of her which I would fain disbelieve  stories that 
she is sealed to some Gentile  This must be the gossip of idle tongues  
What is the thirteenth rule in the code of the sainted Joseph Smith  
 Let every maiden of the true faith marry one of the elect  for if 
she wed a Gentile  she commits a grievous sin   This being so  it is 
impossible that you  who profess the holy creed  should suffer your 
daughter to violate it   
 
John Ferrier made no answer  but he played nervously with his 
riding whip  
 
 Upon this one point your whole faith shall be tested  so it has been 
decided in the Sacred Council of Four  The girl is young  and we would 
not have her wed grey hairs  neither would we deprive her of all 
choice  We Elders have many heifers       but our children must also 
be provided  Stangerson has a son  and Drebber has a son  and either of 
them would gladly welcome your daughter to their house  Let her choose 
between them  They are young and rich  and of the true faith  What say 
you to that   
 
Ferrier remained silent for some little time with his brows knitted  
 
 You will give us time   he said at last   My daughter is very 
young  she is scarce of an age to marry   
 
 She shall have a month to choose   said Young  rising from his seat  
 At the end of that time she shall give her answer   
 
He was passing through the door  when he turned  with flushed face and 
flashing eyes   It were better for you  John Ferrier   he thundered  
 that you and she were now lying blanched skeletons upon the Sierra 
Blanco  than that you should put your weak wills against the orders of 
the Holy Four   
 
With a threatening gesture of his hand  he turned from the door  and 
Ferrier heard his heavy step scrunching along the shingly path  
 
He was still sitting with his elbows upon his knees  considering how he 
should broach the matter to his daughter when a soft hand was laid upon 
his  and looking up  he saw her standing beside him  One glance at her 
pale  frightened face showed him that she had heard what had passed  
 
 I could not help it   she said  in answer to his look   His voice rang 
through the house  Oh  father  father  what shall we do   
 
 Don t you scare yourself   he answered  drawing her to him  and passing 
his broad  rough hand caressingly over her chestnut hair   We ll fix it 
up somehow or another  You don t find your fancy kind o  lessening for 
this chap  do you   
 
A sob and a squeeze of his hand was her only answer  
 
 No  of course not  I shouldn t care to hear you say you did  He s a 
likely lad  and he s a Christian  which is more than these folk here  in 
spite o  all their praying and preaching  There s a party starting for 
Nevada to morrow  and I ll manage to send him a message letting him know 
the hole we are in  If I know anything o  that young man  he ll be back 
here with a speed that would whip electro telegraphs   
 
Lucy laughed through her tears at her father s description  
 
 When he comes  he will advise us for the best  But it is for you that 
I am frightened  dear  One hears  one hears such dreadful stories about 
those who oppose the Prophet  something terrible always happens to 
them   
 
 But we haven t opposed him yet   her father answered   It will be time 
to look out for squalls when we do  We have a clear month before us  at 
the end of that  I guess we had best shin out of Utah   
 
 Leave Utah   
 
 That s about the size of it   
 
 But the farm   
 
 We will raise as much as we can in money  and let the rest go  To tell 
the truth  Lucy  it isn t the first time I have thought of doing it  I 
don t care about knuckling under to any man  as these folk do to their 
darned prophet  I m a free born American  and it s all new to me  Guess 
I m too old to learn  If he comes browsing about this farm  he might 
chance to run up against a charge of buckshot travelling in the opposite 
direction   
 
 But they won t let us leave   his daughter objected  
 
 Wait till Jefferson comes  and we ll soon manage that  In the meantime  
don t you fret yourself  my dearie  and don t get your eyes swelled up  
else he ll be walking into me when he sees you  There s nothing to be 
afeared about  and there s no danger at all   
 
John Ferrier uttered these consoling remarks in a very confident tone  
but she could not help observing that he paid unusual care to the 
fastening of the doors that night  and that he carefully cleaned and 
loaded the rusty old shotgun which hung upon the wall of his bedroom  
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER IV  A FLIGHT FOR LIFE  
 
 
ON the morning which followed his interview with the Mormon Prophet  
John Ferrier went in to Salt Lake City  and having found his 
acquaintance  who was bound for the Nevada Mountains  he entrusted him 
with his message to Jefferson Hope  In it he told the young man of the 
imminent danger which threatened them  and how necessary it was that he 
should return  Having done thus he felt easier in his mind  and returned 
home with a lighter heart  
 
As he approached his farm  he was surprised to see a horse hitched to 
each of the posts of the gate  Still more surprised was he on entering 
to find two young men in possession of his sitting room  One  with a 
long pale face  was leaning back in the rocking chair  with his feet 
cocked up upon the stove  The other  a bull necked youth with coarse 
bloated features  was standing in front of the window with his hands in 
his pocket  whistling a popular hymn  Both of them nodded to Ferrier as 
he entered  and the one in the rocking chair commenced the conversation  
 
 Maybe you don t know us   he said   This here is the son of Elder 
Drebber  and I m Joseph Stangerson  who travelled with you in the desert 
when the Lord stretched out His hand and gathered you into the true 
fold   
 
 As He will all the nations in His own good time   said the other in a 
nasal voice   He grindeth slowly but exceeding small   
 
John Ferrier bowed coldly  He had guessed who his visitors were  
 
 We have come   continued Stangerson   at the advice of our fathers to 
solicit the hand of your daughter for whichever of us may seem good to 
you and to her  As I have but four wives and Brother Drebber here has 
seven  it appears to me that my claim is the stronger one   
 
 Nay  nay  Brother Stangerson   cried the other   the question is not 
how many wives we have  but how many we can keep  My father has now 
given over his mills to me  and I am the richer man   
 
 But my prospects are better   said the other  warmly   When the 
Lord removes my father  I shall have his tanning yard and his leather 
factory  Then I am your elder  and am higher in the Church   
 
 It will be for the maiden to decide   rejoined young Drebber  smirking 
at his own reflection in the glass   We will leave it all to her 
decision   
 
During this dialogue  John Ferrier had stood fuming in the doorway  
hardly able to keep his riding whip from the backs of his two visitors  
 
 Look here   he said at last  striding up to them   when my daughter 
summons you  you can come  but until then I don t want to see your faces 
again   
 
The two young Mormons stared at him in amazement  In their eyes this 
competition between them for the maiden s hand was the highest of 
honours both to her and her father  
 
 There are two ways out of the room   cried Ferrier   there is the door  
and there is the window  Which do you care to use   
 
His brown face looked so savage  and his gaunt hands so threatening  
that his visitors sprang to their feet and beat a hurried retreat  The 
old farmer followed them to the door  
 
 Let me know when you have settled which it is to be   he said  
sardonically  
 
 You shall smart for this   Stangerson cried  white with rage   You have 
defied the Prophet and the Council of Four  You shall rue it to the end 
of your days   
 
 The hand of the Lord shall be heavy upon you   cried young Drebber   He 
will arise and smite you   
 
 Then I ll start the smiting   exclaimed Ferrier furiously  and would 
have rushed upstairs for his gun had not Lucy seized him by the arm and 
restrained him  Before he could escape from her  the clatter of horses  
hoofs told him that they were beyond his reach  
 
 The young canting rascals   he exclaimed  wiping the perspiration from 
his forehead   I would sooner see you in your grave  my girl  than the 
wife of either of them   
 
 And so should I  father   she answered  with spirit   but Jefferson 
will soon be here   
 
 Yes  It will not be long before he comes  The sooner the better  for we 
do not know what their next move may be   
 
It was  indeed  high time that someone capable of giving advice and 
help should come to the aid of the sturdy old farmer and his adopted 
daughter  In the whole history of the settlement there had never been 
such a case of rank disobedience to the authority of the Elders  If 
minor errors were punished so sternly  what would be the fate of this 
arch rebel  Ferrier knew that his wealth and position would be of no 
avail to him  Others as well known and as rich as himself had been 
spirited away before now  and their goods given over to the Church  He 
was a brave man  but he trembled at the vague  shadowy terrors which 
hung over him  Any known danger he could face with a firm lip  but 
this suspense was unnerving  He concealed his fears from his daughter  
however  and affected to make light of the whole matter  though she  
with the keen eye of love  saw plainly that he was ill at ease  
 
He expected that he would receive some message or remonstrance from 
Young as to his conduct  and he was not mistaken  though it came in an 
unlooked for manner  Upon rising next morning he found  to his surprise  
a small square of paper pinned on to the coverlet of his bed just over 
his chest  On it was printed  in bold straggling letters    
 
 Twenty nine days are given you for amendment  and then      
 
The dash was more fear inspiring than any threat could have been  How 
this warning came into his room puzzled John Ferrier sorely  for his 
servants slept in an outhouse  and the doors and windows had all been 
secured  He crumpled the paper up and said nothing to his daughter  but 
the incident struck a chill into his heart  The twenty nine days were 
evidently the balance of the month which Young had promised  What 
strength or courage could avail against an enemy armed with such 
mysterious powers  The hand which fastened that pin might have struck 
him to the heart  and he could never have known who had slain him  
 
Still more shaken was he next morning  They had sat down to their 
breakfast when Lucy with a cry of surprise pointed upwards  In the 
centre of the ceiling was scrawled  with a burned stick apparently  
the number     To his daughter it was unintelligible  and he did not 
enlighten her  That night he sat up with his gun and kept watch and 
ward  He saw and he heard nothing  and yet in the morning a great    had 
been painted upon the outside of his door  
 
Thus day followed day  and as sure as morning came he found that his 
unseen enemies had kept their register  and had marked up in some 
conspicuous position how many days were still left to him out of the 
month of grace  Sometimes the fatal numbers appeared upon the walls  
sometimes upon the floors  occasionally they were on small placards 
stuck upon the garden gate or the railings  With all his vigilance John 
Ferrier could not discover whence these daily warnings proceeded  A 
horror which was almost superstitious came upon him at the sight of 
them  He became haggard and restless  and his eyes had the troubled look 
of some hunted creature  He had but one hope in life now  and that was 
for the arrival of the young hunter from Nevada  
 
Twenty had changed to fifteen and fifteen to ten  but there was no news 
of the absentee  One by one the numbers dwindled down  and still there 
came no sign of him  Whenever a horseman clattered down the road  or a 
driver shouted at his team  the old farmer hurried to the gate thinking 
that help had arrived at last  At last  when he saw five give way to 
four and that again to three  he lost heart  and abandoned all hope of 
escape  Single handed  and with his limited knowledge of the mountains 
which surrounded the settlement  he knew that he was powerless  The 
more frequented roads were strictly watched and guarded  and none could 
pass along them without an order from the Council  Turn which way he 
would  there appeared to be no avoiding the blow which hung over him  
Yet the old man never wavered in his resolution to part with life itself 
before he consented to what he regarded as his daughter s dishonour  
 
He was sitting alone one evening pondering deeply over his troubles  and 
searching vainly for some way out of them  That morning had shown the 
figure   upon the wall of his house  and the next day would be the last 
of the allotted time  What was to happen then  All manner of vague and 
terrible fancies filled his imagination  And his daughter  what was to 
become of her after he was gone  Was there no escape from the invisible 
network which was drawn all round them  He sank his head upon the table 
and sobbed at the thought of his own impotence  
 
What was that  In the silence he heard a gentle scratching sound  low  
but very distinct in the quiet of the night  It came from the door of 
the house  Ferrier crept into the hall and listened intently  There 
was a pause for a few moments  and then the low insidious sound was 
repeated  Someone was evidently tapping very gently upon one of the 
panels of the door  Was it some midnight assassin who had come to carry 
out the murderous orders of the secret tribunal  Or was it some agent 
who was marking up that the last day of grace had arrived  John Ferrier 
felt that instant death would be better than the suspense which shook 
his nerves and chilled his heart  Springing forward he drew the bolt and 
threw the door open  
 
Outside all was calm and quiet  The night was fine  and the stars were 
twinkling brightly overhead  The little front garden lay before the 
farmer s eyes bounded by the fence and gate  but neither there nor on 
the road was any human being to be seen  With a sigh of relief  Ferrier 
looked to right and to left  until happening to glance straight down at 
his own feet he saw to his astonishment a man lying flat upon his face 
upon the ground  with arms and legs all asprawl  
 
So unnerved was he at the sight that he leaned up against the wall with 
his hand to his throat to stifle his inclination to call out  His first 
thought was that the prostrate figure was that of some wounded or dying 
man  but as he watched it he saw it writhe along the ground and into the 
hall with the rapidity and noiselessness of a serpent  Once within the 
house the man sprang to his feet  closed the door  and revealed to the 
astonished farmer the fierce face and resolute expression of Jefferson 
Hope  
 
 Good God   gasped John Ferrier   How you scared me  Whatever made you 
come in like that   
 
 Give me food   the other said  hoarsely   I have had no time for bite 
or sup for eight and forty hours   He flung himself upon the      cold 
meat and bread which were still lying upon the table from his host s 
supper  and devoured it voraciously   Does Lucy bear up well   he asked  
when he had satisfied his hunger  
 
 Yes  She does not know the danger   her father answered  
 
 That is well  The house is watched on every side  That is why I crawled 
my way up to it  They may be darned sharp  but they re not quite sharp 
enough to catch a Washoe hunter   
 
John Ferrier felt a different man now that he realized that he had 
a devoted ally  He seized the young man s leathery hand and wrung it 
cordially   You re a man to be proud of   he said   There are not many 
who would come to share our danger and our troubles   
 
 You ve hit it there  pard   the young hunter answered   I have a 
respect for you  but if you were alone in this business I d think twice 
before I put my head into such a hornet s nest  It s Lucy that brings me 
here  and before harm comes on her I guess there will be one less o  the 
Hope family in Utah   
 
 What are we to do   
 
 To morrow is your last day  and unless you act to night you are lost  
I have a mule and two horses waiting in the Eagle Ravine  How much money 
have you   
 
 Two thousand dollars in gold  and five in notes   
 
 That will do  I have as much more to add to it  We must push for Carson 
City through the mountains  You had best wake Lucy  It is as well that 
the servants do not sleep in the house   
 
While Ferrier was absent  preparing his daughter for the approaching 
journey  Jefferson Hope packed all the eatables that he could find into 
a small parcel  and filled a stoneware jar with water  for he knew by 
experience that the mountain wells were few and far between  He had 
hardly completed his arrangements before the farmer returned with his 
daughter all dressed and ready for a start  The greeting between the 
lovers was warm  but brief  for minutes were precious  and there was 
much to be done  
 
 We must make our start at once   said Jefferson Hope  speaking in a low 
but resolute voice  like one who realizes the greatness of the peril  
but has steeled his heart to meet it   The front and back entrances are 
watched  but with caution we may get away through the side window and 
across the fields  Once on the road we are only two miles from the 
Ravine where the horses are waiting  By daybreak we should be half way 
through the mountains   
 
 What if we are stopped   asked Ferrier  
 
Hope slapped the revolver butt which protruded from the front of his 
tunic   If they are too many for us we shall take two or three of them 
with us   he said with a sinister smile  
 
The lights inside the house had all been extinguished  and from the 
darkened window Ferrier peered over the fields which had been his own  
and which he was now about to abandon for ever  He had long nerved 
himself to the sacrifice  however  and the thought of the honour and 
happiness of his daughter outweighed any regret at his ruined fortunes  
All looked so peaceful and happy  the rustling trees and the broad 
silent stretch of grain land  that it was difficult to realize that 
the spirit of murder lurked through it all  Yet the white face and set 
expression of the young hunter showed that in his approach to the house 
he had seen enough to satisfy him upon that head  
 
Ferrier carried the bag of gold and notes  Jefferson Hope had the scanty 
provisions and water  while Lucy had a small bundle containing a few 
of her more valued possessions  Opening the window very slowly and 
carefully  they waited until a dark cloud had somewhat obscured the 
night  and then one by one passed through into the little garden  With 
bated breath and crouching figures they stumbled across it  and gained 
the shelter of the hedge  which they skirted until they came to the gap 
which opened into the cornfields  They had just reached this point when 
the young man seized his two companions and dragged them down into the 
shadow  where they lay silent and trembling  
 
It was as well that his prairie training had given Jefferson Hope the 
ears of a lynx  He and his friends had hardly crouched down before the 
melancholy hooting of a mountain owl was heard within a few yards 
of them  which was immediately answered by another hoot at a small 
distance  At the same moment a vague shadowy figure emerged from the 
gap for which they had been making  and uttered the plaintive signal cry 
again  on which a second man appeared out of the obscurity  
 
 To morrow at midnight   said the first who appeared to be in authority  
 When the Whip poor Will calls three times   
 
 It is well   returned the other   Shall I tell Brother Drebber   
 
 Pass it on to him  and from him to the others  Nine to seven   
 
 Seven to five   repeated the other  and the two figures flitted away 
in different directions  Their concluding words had evidently been some 
form of sign and countersign  The instant that their footsteps had died 
away in the distance  Jefferson Hope sprang to his feet  and helping his 
companions through the gap  led the way across the fields at the top 
of his speed  supporting and half carrying the girl when her strength 
appeared to fail her  
 
 Hurry on  hurry on   he gasped from time to time   We are through the 
line of sentinels  Everything depends on speed  Hurry on   
 
Once on the high road they made rapid progress  Only once did they 
meet anyone  and then they managed to slip into a field  and so avoid 
recognition  Before reaching the town the hunter branched away into a 
rugged and narrow footpath which led to the mountains  Two dark jagged 
peaks loomed above them through the darkness  and the defile which led 
between them was the Eagle Canon in which the horses were awaiting them  
With unerring instinct Jefferson Hope picked his way among the great 
boulders and along the bed of a dried up watercourse  until he came to 
the retired corner  screened with rocks  where the faithful animals had 
been picketed  The girl was placed upon the mule  and old Ferrier upon 
one of the horses  with his money bag  while Jefferson Hope led the 
other along the precipitous and dangerous path  
 
It was a bewildering route for anyone who was not accustomed to face 
Nature in her wildest moods  On the one side a great crag towered up a 
thousand feet or more  black  stern  and menacing  with long basaltic 
columns upon its rugged surface like the ribs of some petrified monster  
On the other hand a wild chaos of boulders and debris made all advance 
impossible  Between the two ran the irregular track  so narrow in places 
that they had to travel in Indian file  and so rough that only practised 
riders could have traversed it at all  Yet in spite of all dangers and 
difficulties  the hearts of the fugitives were light within them  
for every step increased the distance between them and the terrible 
despotism from which they were flying  
 
They soon had a proof  however  that they were still within the 
jurisdiction of the Saints  They had reached the very wildest and most 
desolate portion of the pass when the girl gave a startled cry  and 
pointed upwards  On a rock which overlooked the track  showing out dark 
and plain against the sky  there stood a solitary sentinel  He saw them 
as soon as they perceived him  and his military challenge of  Who goes 
there   rang through the silent ravine  
 
 Travellers for Nevada   said Jefferson Hope  with his hand upon the 
rifle which hung by his saddle  
 
They could see the lonely watcher fingering his gun  and peering down at 
them as if dissatisfied at their reply  
 
 By whose permission   he asked  
 
 The Holy Four   answered Ferrier  His Mormon experiences had taught him 
that that was the highest authority to which he could refer  
 
 Nine from seven   cried the sentinel  
 
 Seven from five   returned Jefferson Hope promptly  remembering the 
countersign which he had heard in the garden  
 
 Pass  and the Lord go with you   said the voice from above  Beyond his 
post the path broadened out  and the horses were able to break into a 
trot  Looking back  they could see the solitary watcher leaning upon 
his gun  and knew that they had passed the outlying post of the chosen 
people  and that freedom lay before them  
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER V  THE AVENGING ANGELS  
 
 
ALL night their course lay through intricate defiles and over irregular 
and rock strewn paths  More than once they lost their way  but Hope s 
intimate knowledge of the mountains enabled them to regain the track 
once more  When morning broke  a scene of marvellous though savage 
beauty lay before them  In every direction the great snow capped peaks 
hemmed them in  peeping over each other s shoulders to the far horizon  
So steep were the rocky banks on either side of them  that the larch 
and the pine seemed to be suspended over their heads  and to need only a 
gust of wind to come hurtling down upon them  Nor was the fear entirely 
an illusion  for the barren valley was thickly strewn with trees and 
boulders which had fallen in a similar manner  Even as they passed  
a great rock came thundering down with a hoarse rattle which woke 
the echoes in the silent gorges  and startled the weary horses into a 
gallop  
 
As the sun rose slowly above the eastern horizon  the caps of the great 
mountains lit up one after the other  like lamps at a festival  until 
they were all ruddy and glowing  The magnificent spectacle cheered the 
hearts of the three fugitives and gave them fresh energy  At a wild 
torrent which swept out of a ravine they called a halt and watered their 
horses  while they partook of a hasty breakfast  Lucy and her father 
would fain have rested longer  but Jefferson Hope was inexorable   They 
will be upon our track by this time   he said   Everything depends upon 
our speed  Once safe in Carson we may rest for the remainder of our 
lives   
 
During the whole of that day they struggled on through the defiles  and 
by evening they calculated that they were more than thirty miles from 
their enemies  At night time they chose the base of a beetling crag  
where the rocks offered some protection from the chill wind  and there 
huddled together for warmth  they enjoyed a few hours  sleep  Before 
daybreak  however  they were up and on their way once more  They had 
seen no signs of any pursuers  and Jefferson Hope began to think that 
they were fairly out of the reach of the terrible organization whose 
enmity they had incurred  He little knew how far that iron grasp could 
reach  or how soon it was to close upon them and crush them  
 
About the middle of the second day of their flight their scanty store 
of provisions began to run out  This gave the hunter little uneasiness  
however  for there was game to be had among the mountains  and he had 
frequently before had to depend upon his rifle for the needs of life  
Choosing a sheltered nook  he piled together a few dried branches and 
made a blazing fire  at which his companions might warm themselves  for 
they were now nearly five thousand feet above the sea level  and the air 
was bitter and keen  Having tethered the horses  and bade Lucy adieu  
he threw his gun over his shoulder  and set out in search of whatever 
chance might throw in his way  Looking back he saw the old man and the 
young girl crouching over the blazing fire  while the three animals 
stood motionless in the back ground  Then the intervening rocks hid them 
from his view  
 
He walked for a couple of miles through one ravine after another without 
success  though from the marks upon the bark of the trees  and other 
indications  he judged that there were numerous bears in the vicinity  
At last  after two or three hours  fruitless search  he was thinking of 
turning back in despair  when casting his eyes upwards he saw a sight 
which sent a thrill of pleasure through his heart  On the edge of a 
jutting pinnacle  three or four hundred feet above him  there stood a 
creature somewhat resembling a sheep in appearance  but armed with a 
pair of gigantic horns  The big horn  for so it is called  was acting  
probably  as a guardian over a flock which were invisible to the hunter  
but fortunately it was heading in the opposite direction  and had not 
perceived him  Lying on his face  he rested his rifle upon a rock  and 
took a long and steady aim before drawing the trigger  The animal sprang 
into the air  tottered for a moment upon the edge of the precipice  and 
then came crashing down into the valley beneath  
 
The creature was too unwieldy to lift  so the hunter contented himself 
with cutting away one haunch and part of the flank  With this trophy 
over his shoulder  he hastened to retrace his steps  for the evening was 
already drawing in  He had hardly started  however  before he realized 
the difficulty which faced him  In his eagerness he had wandered far 
past the ravines which were known to him  and it was no easy matter 
to pick out the path which he had taken  The valley in which he found 
himself divided and sub divided into many gorges  which were so like 
each other that it was impossible to distinguish one from the other  
He followed one for a mile or more until he came to a mountain torrent 
which he was sure that he had never seen before  Convinced that he had 
taken the wrong turn  he tried another  but with the same result  Night 
was coming on rapidly  and it was almost dark before he at last found 
himself in a defile which was familiar to him  Even then it was no easy 
matter to keep to the right track  for the moon had not yet risen  and 
the high cliffs on either side made the obscurity more profound  Weighed 
down with his burden  and weary from his exertions  he stumbled along  
keeping up his heart by the reflection that every step brought him 
nearer to Lucy  and that he carried with him enough to ensure them food 
for the remainder of their journey  
 
He had now come to the mouth of the very defile in which he had left 
them  Even in the darkness he could recognize the outline of the cliffs 
which bounded it  They must  he reflected  be awaiting him anxiously  
for he had been absent nearly five hours  In the gladness of his heart 
he put his hands to his mouth and made the glen re echo to a loud halloo 
as a signal that he was coming  He paused and listened for an answer  
None came save his own cry  which clattered up the dreary silent 
ravines  and was borne back to his ears in countless repetitions  Again 
he shouted  even louder than before  and again no whisper came back from 
the friends whom he had left such a short time ago  A vague  nameless 
dread came over him  and he hurried onwards frantically  dropping the 
precious food in his agitation  
 
When he turned the corner  he came full in sight of the spot where the 
fire had been lit  There was still a glowing pile of wood ashes there  
but it had evidently not been tended since his departure  The same 
dead silence still reigned all round  With his fears all changed to 
convictions  he hurried on  There was no living creature near the 
remains of the fire  animals  man  maiden  all were gone  It was only 
too clear that some sudden and terrible disaster had occurred during 
his absence  a disaster which had embraced them all  and yet had left no 
traces behind it  
 
Bewildered and stunned by this blow  Jefferson Hope felt his head spin 
round  and had to lean upon his rifle to save himself from falling  He 
was essentially a man of action  however  and speedily recovered from 
his temporary impotence  Seizing a half consumed piece of wood from the 
smouldering fire  he blew it into a flame  and proceeded with its help 
to examine the little camp  The ground was all stamped down by the feet 
of horses  showing that a large party of mounted men had overtaken 
the fugitives  and the direction of their tracks proved that they had 
afterwards turned back to Salt Lake City  Had they carried back both of 
his companions with them  Jefferson Hope had almost persuaded himself 
that they must have done so  when his eye fell upon an object which made 
every nerve of his body tingle within him  A little way on one side of 
the camp was a low lying heap of reddish soil  which had assuredly 
not been there before  There was no mistaking it for anything but a 
newly dug grave  As the young hunter approached it  he perceived that a 
stick had been planted on it  with a sheet of paper stuck in the cleft 
fork of it  The inscription upon the paper was brief  but to the point  
 
                        JOHN FERRIER  
                 FORMERLY OF SALT LAKE CITY       
                    Died August  th        
 
The sturdy old man  whom he had left so short a time before  was gone  
then  and this was all his epitaph  Jefferson Hope looked wildly round 
to see if there was a second grave  but there was no sign of one  Lucy 
had been carried back by their terrible pursuers to fulfil her original 
destiny  by becoming one of the harem of the Elder s son  As the young 
fellow realized the certainty of her fate  and his own powerlessness to 
prevent it  he wished that he  too  was lying with the old farmer in his 
last silent resting place  
 
Again  however  his active spirit shook off the lethargy which springs 
from despair  If there was nothing else left to him  he could at least 
devote his life to revenge  With indomitable patience and perseverance  
Jefferson Hope possessed also a power of sustained vindictiveness  which 
he may have learned from the Indians amongst whom he had lived  As he 
stood by the desolate fire  he felt that the only one thing which could 
assuage his grief would be thorough and complete retribution  brought 
by his own hand upon his enemies  His strong will and untiring energy 
should  he determined  be devoted to that one end  With a grim  white 
face  he retraced his steps to where he had dropped the food  and having 
stirred up the smouldering fire  he cooked enough to last him for a 
few days  This he made up into a bundle  and  tired as he was  he 
set himself to walk back through the mountains upon the track of the 
avenging angels  
 
For five days he toiled footsore and weary through the defiles which he 
had already traversed on horseback  At night he flung himself down among 
the rocks  and snatched a few hours of sleep  but before daybreak he was 
always well on his way  On the sixth day  he reached the Eagle Canon  
from which they had commenced their ill fated flight  Thence he could 
look down upon the home of the saints  Worn and exhausted  he leaned 
upon his rifle and shook his gaunt hand fiercely at the silent 
widespread city beneath him  As he looked at it  he observed that 
there were flags in some of the principal streets  and other signs of 
festivity  He was still speculating as to what this might mean when he 
heard the clatter of horse s hoofs  and saw a mounted man riding towards 
him  As he approached  he recognized him as a Mormon named Cowper  to 
whom he had rendered services at different times  He therefore accosted 
him when he got up to him  with the object of finding out what Lucy 
Ferrier s fate had been  
 
 I am Jefferson Hope   he said   You remember me   
 
The Mormon looked at him with undisguised astonishment  indeed  it was 
difficult to recognize in this tattered  unkempt wanderer  with ghastly 
white face and fierce  wild eyes  the spruce young hunter of former 
days  Having  however  at last  satisfied himself as to his identity  
the man s surprise changed to consternation  
 
 You are mad to come here   he cried   It is as much as my own life is 
worth to be seen talking with you  There is a warrant against you from 
the Holy Four for assisting the Ferriers away   
 
 I don t fear them  or their warrant   Hope said  earnestly   You must 
know something of this matter  Cowper  I conjure you by everything you 
hold dear to answer a few questions  We have always been friends  For 
God s sake  don t refuse to answer me   
 
 What is it   the Mormon asked uneasily   Be quick  The very rocks have 
ears and the trees eyes   
 
 What has become of Lucy Ferrier   
 
 She was married yesterday to young Drebber  Hold up  man  hold up  you 
have no life left in you   
 
 Don t mind me   said Hope faintly  He was white to the very lips  and 
had sunk down on the stone against which he had been leaning   Married  
you say   
 
 Married yesterday  that s what those flags are for on the Endowment 
House  There was some words between young Drebber and young Stangerson 
as to which was to have her  They d both been in the party that followed 
them  and Stangerson had shot her father  which seemed to give him the 
best claim  but when they argued it out in council  Drebber s party was 
the stronger  so the Prophet gave her over to him  No one won t have 
her very long though  for I saw death in her face yesterday  She is more 
like a ghost than a woman  Are you off  then   
 
 Yes  I am off   said Jefferson Hope  who had risen from his seat  His 
face might have been chiselled out of marble  so hard and set was its 
expression  while its eyes glowed with a baleful light  
 
 Where are you going   
 
 Never mind   he answered  and  slinging his weapon over his shoulder  
strode off down the gorge and so away into the heart of the mountains to 
the haunts of the wild beasts  Amongst them all there was none so fierce 
and so dangerous as himself  
 
The prediction of the Mormon was only too well fulfilled  Whether it was 
the terrible death of her father or the effects of the hateful marriage 
into which she had been forced  poor Lucy never held up her head again  
but pined away and died within a month  Her sottish husband  who had 
married her principally for the sake of John Ferrier s property  did not 
affect any great grief at his bereavement  but his other wives mourned 
over her  and sat up with her the night before the burial  as is the 
Mormon custom  They were grouped round the bier in the early hours of 
the morning  when  to their inexpressible fear and astonishment  
the door was flung open  and a savage looking  weather beaten man in 
tattered garments strode into the room  Without a glance or a word to 
the cowering women  he walked up to the white silent figure which had 
once contained the pure soul of Lucy Ferrier  Stooping over her  he 
pressed his lips reverently to her cold forehead  and then  snatching 
up her hand  he took the wedding ring from her finger   She shall not be 
buried in that   he cried with a fierce snarl  and before an alarm could 
be raised sprang down the stairs and was gone  So strange and so brief 
was the episode  that the watchers might have found it hard to believe 
it themselves or persuade other people of it  had it not been for the 
undeniable fact that the circlet of gold which marked her as having been 
a bride had disappeared  
 
For some months Jefferson Hope lingered among the mountains  leading 
a strange wild life  and nursing in his heart the fierce desire for 
vengeance which possessed him  Tales were told in the City of the weird 
figure which was seen prowling about the suburbs  and which haunted 
the lonely mountain gorges  Once a bullet whistled through Stangerson s 
window and flattened itself upon the wall within a foot of him  On 
another occasion  as Drebber passed under a cliff a great boulder 
crashed down on him  and he only escaped a terrible death by throwing 
himself upon his face  The two young Mormons were not long in 
discovering the reason of these attempts upon their lives  and led 
repeated expeditions into the mountains in the hope of capturing or 
killing their enemy  but always without success  Then they adopted the 
precaution of never going out alone or after nightfall  and of having 
their houses guarded  After a time they were able to relax these 
measures  for nothing was either heard or seen of their opponent  and 
they hoped that time had cooled his vindictiveness  
 
Far from doing so  it had  if anything  augmented it  The hunter s mind 
was of a hard  unyielding nature  and the predominant idea of revenge 
had taken such complete possession of it that there was no room for 
any other emotion  He was  however  above all things practical  He soon 
realized that even his iron constitution could not stand the incessant 
strain which he was putting upon it  Exposure and want of wholesome food 
were wearing him out  If he died like a dog among the mountains  what 
was to become of his revenge then  And yet such a death was sure to 
overtake him if he persisted  He felt that that was to play his enemy s 
game  so he reluctantly returned to the old Nevada mines  there to 
recruit his health and to amass money enough to allow him to pursue his 
object without privation  
 
His intention had been to be absent a year at the most  but a 
combination of unforeseen circumstances prevented his leaving the mines 
for nearly five  At the end of that time  however  his memory of 
his wrongs and his craving for revenge were quite as keen as on that 
memorable night when he had stood by John Ferrier s grave  Disguised  
and under an assumed name  he returned to Salt Lake City  careless 
what became of his own life  as long as he obtained what he knew to 
be justice  There he found evil tidings awaiting him  There had been a 
schism among the Chosen People a few months before  some of the younger 
members of the Church having rebelled against the authority of the 
Elders  and the result had been the secession of a certain number of the 
malcontents  who had left Utah and become Gentiles  Among these had been 
Drebber and Stangerson  and no one knew whither they had gone  Rumour 
reported that Drebber had managed to convert a large part of his 
property into money  and that he had departed a wealthy man  while his 
companion  Stangerson  was comparatively poor  There was no clue at all  
however  as to their whereabouts  
 
Many a man  however vindictive  would have abandoned all thought of 
revenge in the face of such a difficulty  but Jefferson Hope never 
faltered for a moment  With the small competence he possessed  eked out 
by such employment as he could pick up  he travelled from town to town 
through the United States in quest of his enemies  Year passed into 
year  his black hair turned grizzled  but still he wandered on  a human 
bloodhound  with his mind wholly set upon the one object upon which he 
had devoted his life  At last his perseverance was rewarded  It was 
but a glance of a face in a window  but that one glance told him that 
Cleveland in Ohio possessed the men whom he was in pursuit of  He 
returned to his miserable lodgings with his plan of vengeance all 
arranged  It chanced  however  that Drebber  looking from his window  
had recognized the vagrant in the street  and had read murder in 
his eyes  He hurried before a justice of the peace  accompanied by 
Stangerson  who had become his private secretary  and represented to him 
that they were in danger of their lives from the jealousy and hatred of 
an old rival  That evening Jefferson Hope was taken into custody  and 
not being able to find sureties  was detained for some weeks  When at 
last he was liberated  it was only to find that Drebber s house was 
deserted  and that he and his secretary had departed for Europe  
 
Again the avenger had been foiled  and again his concentrated hatred 
urged him to continue the pursuit  Funds were wanting  however  and 
for some time he had to return to work  saving every dollar for his 
approaching journey  At last  having collected enough to keep life in 
him  he departed for Europe  and tracked his enemies from city to 
city  working his way in any menial capacity  but never overtaking the 
fugitives  When he reached St  Petersburg they had departed for Paris  
and when he followed them there he learned that they had just set off 
for Copenhagen  At the Danish capital he was again a few days late  for 
they had journeyed on to London  where he at last succeeded in running 
them to earth  As to what occurred there  we cannot do better than quote 
the old hunter s own account  as duly recorded in Dr  Watson s Journal  
to which we are already under such obligations  
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER VI  A CONTINUATION OF THE REMINISCENCES OF JOHN WATSON  M D  
 
 
OUR prisoner s furious resistance did not apparently indicate any 
ferocity in his disposition towards ourselves  for on finding himself 
powerless  he smiled in an affable manner  and expressed his hopes that 
he had not hurt any of us in the scuffle   I guess you re going to take 
me to the police station   he remarked to Sherlock Holmes   My cab s at 
the door  If you ll loose my legs I ll walk down to it  I m not so light 
to lift as I used to be   
 
Gregson and Lestrade exchanged glances as if they thought this 
proposition rather a bold one  but Holmes at once took the prisoner at 
his word  and loosened the towel which we had bound round his ancles  
     He rose and stretched his legs  as though to assure himself that 
they were free once more  I remember that I thought to myself  as I eyed 
him  that I had seldom seen a more powerfully built man  and his dark 
sunburned face bore an expression of determination and energy which was 
as formidable as his personal strength  
 
 If there s a vacant place for a chief of the police  I reckon you 
are the man for it   he said  gazing with undisguised admiration at my 
fellow lodger   The way you kept on my trail was a caution   
 
 You had better come with me   said Holmes to the two detectives  
 
 I can drive you   said Lestrade  
 
 Good  and Gregson can come inside with me  You too  Doctor  you have 
taken an interest in the case and may as well stick to us   
 
I assented gladly  and we all descended together  Our prisoner made no 
attempt at escape  but stepped calmly into the cab which had been his  
and we followed him  Lestrade mounted the box  whipped up the horse  and 
brought us in a very short time to our destination  We were ushered into 
a small chamber where a police Inspector noted down our prisoner s name 
and the names of the men with whose murder he had been charged  The 
official was a white faced unemotional man  who went through his 
duties in a dull mechanical way   The prisoner will be put before the 
magistrates in the course of the week   he said   in the mean time  Mr  
Jefferson Hope  have you anything that you wish to say  I must warn you 
that your words will be taken down  and may be used against you   
 
 I ve got a good deal to say   our prisoner said slowly   I want to tell 
you gentlemen all about it   
 
 Hadn t you better reserve that for your trial   asked the Inspector  
 
 I may never be tried   he answered   You needn t look startled  It 
isn t suicide I am thinking of  Are you a Doctor   He turned his fierce 
dark eyes upon me as he asked this last question  
 
 Yes  I am   I answered  
 
 Then put your hand here   he said  with a smile  motioning with his 
manacled wrists towards his chest  
 
I did so  and became at once conscious of an extraordinary throbbing and 
commotion which was going on inside  The walls of his chest seemed to 
thrill and quiver as a frail building would do inside when some powerful 
engine was at work  In the silence of the room I could hear a dull 
humming and buzzing noise which proceeded from the same source  
 
 Why   I cried   you have an aortic aneurism   
 
 That s what they call it   he said  placidly   I went to a Doctor last 
week about it  and he told me that it is bound to burst before many days 
passed  It has been getting worse for years  I got it from over exposure 
and under feeding among the Salt Lake Mountains  I ve done my work now  
and I don t care how soon I go  but I should like to leave some account 
of the business behind me  I don t want to be remembered as a common 
cut throat   
 
The Inspector and the two detectives had a hurried discussion as to the 
advisability of allowing him to tell his story  
 
 Do you consider  Doctor  that there is immediate danger   the former 
asked       
 
 Most certainly there is   I answered  
 
 In that case it is clearly our duty  in the interests of justice  to 
take his statement   said the Inspector   You are at liberty  sir  to 
give your account  which I again warn you will be taken down   
 
 I ll sit down  with your leave   the prisoner said  suiting the action 
to the word   This aneurism of mine makes me easily tired  and the 
tussle we had half an hour ago has not mended matters  I m on the brink 
of the grave  and I am not likely to lie to you  Every word I say is the 
absolute truth  and how you use it is a matter of no consequence to me   
 
With these words  Jefferson Hope leaned back in his chair and began 
the following remarkable statement  He spoke in a calm and methodical 
manner  as though the events which he narrated were commonplace enough  
I can vouch for the accuracy of the subjoined account  for I have had 
access to Lestrade s note book  in which the prisoner s words were taken 
down exactly as they were uttered  
 
 It don t much matter to you why I hated these men   he said   it s 
enough that they were guilty of the death of two human beings  a father 
and a daughter  and that they had  therefore  forfeited their own 
lives  After the lapse of time that has passed since their crime  it was 
impossible for me to secure a conviction against them in any court  I 
knew of their guilt though  and I determined that I should be judge  
jury  and executioner all rolled into one  You d have done the same  if 
you have any manhood in you  if you had been in my place  
 
 That girl that I spoke of was to have married me twenty years ago  She 
was forced into marrying that same Drebber  and broke her heart over 
it  I took the marriage ring from her dead finger  and I vowed that his 
dying eyes should rest upon that very ring  and that his last thoughts 
should be of the crime for which he was punished  I have carried 
it about with me  and have followed him and his accomplice over two 
continents until I caught them  They thought to tire me out  but they 
could not do it  If I die to morrow  as is likely enough  I die knowing 
that my work in this world is done  and well done  They have perished  
and by my hand  There is nothing left for me to hope for  or to desire  
 
 They were rich and I was poor  so that it was no easy matter for me to 
follow them  When I got to London my pocket was about empty  and I found 
that I must turn my hand to something for my living  Driving and riding 
are as natural to me as walking  so I applied at a cabowner s office  
and soon got employment  I was to bring a certain sum a week to the 
owner  and whatever was over that I might keep for myself  There was 
seldom much over  but I managed to scrape along somehow  The hardest job 
was to learn my way about  for I reckon that of all the mazes that ever 
were contrived  this city is the most confusing  I had a map beside me 
though  and when once I had spotted the principal hotels and stations  I 
got on pretty well  
 
 It was some time before I found out where my two gentlemen were living  
but I inquired and inquired until at last I dropped across them  They 
were at a boarding house at Camberwell  over on the other side of the 
river  When once I found them out I knew that I had them at my mercy  I 
had grown my beard  and there was no chance of their recognizing me  
I would dog them and follow them until I saw my opportunity  I was 
determined that they should not escape me again  
 
 They were very near doing it for all that  Go where they would about 
London  I was always at their heels  Sometimes I followed them on my 
cab  and sometimes on foot  but the former was the best  for then they 
could not get away from me  It was only early in the morning or late 
at night that I could earn anything  so that I began to get behind hand 
with my employer  I did not mind that  however  as long as I could lay 
my hand upon the men I wanted  
 
 They were very cunning  though  They must have thought that there was 
some chance of their being followed  for they would never go out alone  
and never after nightfall  During two weeks I drove behind them every 
day  and never once saw them separate  Drebber himself was drunk half 
the time  but Stangerson was not to be caught napping  I watched them 
late and early  but never saw the ghost of a chance  but I was not 
discouraged  for something told me that the hour had almost come  My 
only fear was that this thing in my chest might burst a little too soon 
and leave my work undone  
 
 At last  one evening I was driving up and down Torquay Terrace  as the 
street was called in which they boarded  when I saw a cab drive up to 
their door  Presently some luggage was brought out  and after a time 
Drebber and Stangerson followed it  and drove off  I whipped up my horse 
and kept within sight of them  feeling very ill at ease  for I feared 
that they were going to shift their quarters  At Euston Station they 
got out  and I left a boy to hold my horse  and followed them on to the 
platform  I heard them ask for the Liverpool train  and the guard answer 
that one had just gone and there would not be another for some hours  
Stangerson seemed to be put out at that  but Drebber was rather pleased 
than otherwise  I got so close to them in the bustle that I could hear 
every word that passed between them  Drebber said that he had a little 
business of his own to do  and that if the other would wait for him he 
would soon rejoin him  His companion remonstrated with him  and reminded 
him that they had resolved to stick together  Drebber answered that the 
matter was a delicate one  and that he must go alone  I could not catch 
what Stangerson said to that  but the other burst out swearing  and 
reminded him that he was nothing more than his paid servant  and that he 
must not presume to dictate to him  On that the Secretary gave it up 
as a bad job  and simply bargained with him that if he missed the last 
train he should rejoin him at Halliday s Private Hotel  to which Drebber 
answered that he would be back on the platform before eleven  and made 
his way out of the station  
 
 The moment for which I had waited so long had at last come  I had my 
enemies within my power  Together they could protect each other  
but singly they were at my mercy  I did not act  however  with undue 
precipitation  My plans were already formed  There is no satisfaction in 
vengeance unless the offender has time to realize who it is that strikes 
him  and why retribution has come upon him  I had my plans arranged by 
which I should have the opportunity of making the man who had wronged me 
understand that his old sin had found him out  It chanced that some days 
before a gentleman who had been engaged in looking over some houses in 
the Brixton Road had dropped the key of one of them in my carriage  It 
was claimed that same evening  and returned  but in the interval I had 
taken a moulding of it  and had a duplicate constructed  By means of 
this I had access to at least one spot in this great city where I could 
rely upon being free from interruption  How to get Drebber to that house 
was the difficult problem which I had now to solve  
 
 He walked down the road and went into one or two liquor shops  staying 
for nearly half an hour in the last of them  When he came out he 
staggered in his walk  and was evidently pretty well on  There was a 
hansom just in front of me  and he hailed it  I followed it so close 
that the nose of my horse was within a yard of his driver the whole way  
We rattled across Waterloo Bridge and through miles of streets  until  
to my astonishment  we found ourselves back in the Terrace in which he 
had boarded  I could not imagine what his intention was in returning 
there  but I went on and pulled up my cab a hundred yards or so from 
the house  He entered it  and his hansom drove away  Give me a glass of 
water  if you please  My mouth gets dry with the talking   
 
I handed him the glass  and he drank it down  
 
 That s better   he said   Well  I waited for a quarter of an hour  or 
more  when suddenly there came a noise like people struggling inside the 
house  Next moment the door was flung open and two men appeared  one of 
whom was Drebber  and the other was a young chap whom I had never seen 
before  This fellow had Drebber by the collar  and when they came to 
the head of the steps he gave him a shove and a kick which sent him half 
across the road   You hound   he cried  shaking his stick at him   I ll 
teach you to insult an honest girl   He was so hot that I think he would 
have thrashed Drebber with his cudgel  only that the cur staggered away 
down the road as fast as his legs would carry him  He ran as far as the 
corner  and then  seeing my cab  he hailed me and jumped in   Drive me 
to Halliday s Private Hotel   said he  
 
 When I had him fairly inside my cab  my heart jumped so with joy that 
I feared lest at this last moment my aneurism might go wrong  I drove 
along slowly  weighing in my own mind what it was best to do  I might 
take him right out into the country  and there in some deserted lane 
have my last interview with him  I had almost decided upon this  when he 
solved the problem for me  The craze for drink had seized him again  and 
he ordered me to pull up outside a gin palace  He went in  leaving word 
that I should wait for him  There he remained until closing time  and 
when he came out he was so far gone that I knew the game was in my own 
hands  
 
 Don t imagine that I intended to kill him in cold blood  It would only 
have been rigid justice if I had done so  but I could not bring myself 
to do it  I had long determined that he should have a show for his life 
if he chose to take advantage of it  Among the many billets which I 
have filled in America during my wandering life  I was once janitor and 
sweeper out of the laboratory at York College  One day the professor was 
lecturing on poisions       and he showed his students some alkaloid  
as he called it  which he had extracted from some South American arrow 
poison  and which was so powerful that the least grain meant instant 
death  I spotted the bottle in which this preparation was kept  and when 
they were all gone  I helped myself to a little of it  I was a fairly 
good dispenser  so I worked this alkaloid into small  soluble pills  and 
each pill I put in a box with a similar pill made without the poison  
I determined at the time that when I had my chance  my gentlemen should 
each have a draw out of one of these boxes  while I ate the pill that 
remained  It would be quite as deadly  and a good deal less noisy than 
firing across a handkerchief  From that day I had always my pill boxes 
about with me  and the time had now come when I was to use them  
 
 It was nearer one than twelve  and a wild  bleak night  blowing hard 
and raining in torrents  Dismal as it was outside  I was glad within  so 
glad that I could have shouted out from pure exultation  If any of you 
gentlemen have ever pined for a thing  and longed for it during twenty 
long years  and then suddenly found it within your reach  you would 
understand my feelings  I lit a cigar  and puffed at it to steady my 
nerves  but my hands were trembling  and my temples throbbing with 
excitement  As I drove  I could see old John Ferrier and sweet Lucy 
looking at me out of the darkness and smiling at me  just as plain as I 
see you all in this room  All the way they were ahead of me  one on each 
side of the horse until I pulled up at the house in the Brixton Road  
 
 There was not a soul to be seen  nor a sound to be heard  except the 
dripping of the rain  When I looked in at the window  I found Drebber 
all huddled together in a drunken sleep  I shook him by the arm   It s 
time to get out   I said  
 
  All right  cabby   said he  
 
 I suppose he thought we had come to the hotel that he had mentioned  
for he got out without another word  and followed me down the garden  
I had to walk beside him to keep him steady  for he was still a little 
top heavy  When we came to the door  I opened it  and led him into the 
front room  I give you my word that all the way  the father and the 
daughter were walking in front of us  
 
  It s infernally dark   said he  stamping about  
 
  We ll soon have a light   I said  striking a match and putting it to 
a wax candle which I had brought with me   Now  Enoch Drebber   I 
continued  turning to him  and holding the light to my own face   who am 
I   
 
 He gazed at me with bleared  drunken eyes for a moment  and then I 
saw a horror spring up in them  and convulse his whole features  which 
showed me that he knew me  He staggered back with a livid face  and I 
saw the perspiration break out upon his brow  while his teeth chattered 
in his head  At the sight  I leaned my back against the door and laughed 
loud and long  I had always known that vengeance would be sweet  but I 
had never hoped for the contentment of soul which now possessed me  
 
  You dog   I said   I have hunted you from Salt Lake City to St  
Petersburg  and you have always escaped me  Now  at last your wanderings 
have come to an end  for either you or I shall never see to morrow s sun 
rise   He shrunk still further away as I spoke  and I could see on his 
face that he thought I was mad  So I was for the time  The pulses in my 
temples beat like sledge hammers  and I believe I would have had a fit 
of some sort if the blood had not gushed from my nose and relieved me  
 
  What do you think of Lucy Ferrier now   I cried  locking the door  and 
shaking the key in his face   Punishment has been slow in coming  but it 
has overtaken you at last   I saw his coward lips tremble as I spoke  He 
would have begged for his life  but he knew well that it was useless  
 
  Would you murder me   he stammered  
 
  There is no murder   I answered   Who talks of murdering a mad dog  
What mercy had you upon my poor darling  when you dragged her from her 
slaughtered father  and bore her away to your accursed and shameless 
harem   
 
  It was not I who killed her father   he cried  
 
  But it was you who broke her innocent heart   I shrieked  thrusting 
the box before him   Let the high God judge between us  Choose and 
eat  There is death in one and life in the other  I shall take what you 
leave  Let us see if there is justice upon the earth  or if we are ruled 
by chance   
 
 He cowered away with wild cries and prayers for mercy  but I drew my 
knife and held it to his throat until he had obeyed me  Then I swallowed 
the other  and we stood facing one another in silence for a minute or 
more  waiting to see which was to live and which was to die  Shall I 
ever forget the look which came over his face when the first warning 
pangs told him that the poison was in his system  I laughed as I saw 
it  and held Lucy s marriage ring in front of his eyes  It was but for 
a moment  for the action of the alkaloid is rapid  A spasm of pain 
contorted his features  he threw his hands out in front of him  
staggered  and then  with a hoarse cry  fell heavily upon the floor  I 
turned him over with my foot  and placed my hand upon his heart  There 
was no movement  He was dead  
 
 The blood had been streaming from my nose  but I had taken no notice of 
it  I don t know what it was that put it into my head to write upon the 
wall with it  Perhaps it was some mischievous idea of setting the police 
upon a wrong track  for I felt light hearted and cheerful  I remembered 
a German being found in New York with RACHE written up above him  and it 
was argued at the time in the newspapers that the secret societies must 
have done it  I guessed that what puzzled the New Yorkers would puzzle 
the Londoners  so I dipped my finger in my own blood and printed it on 
a convenient place on the wall  Then I walked down to my cab and found 
that there was nobody about  and that the night was still very wild  I 
had driven some distance when I put my hand into the pocket in which 
I usually kept Lucy s ring  and found that it was not there  I was 
thunderstruck at this  for it was the only memento that I had of her  
Thinking that I might have dropped it when I stooped over Drebber s 
body  I drove back  and leaving my cab in a side street  I went boldly 
up to the house  for I was ready to dare anything rather than lose 
the ring  When I arrived there  I walked right into the arms of a 
police officer who was coming out  and only managed to disarm his 
suspicions by pretending to be hopelessly drunk  
 
 That was how Enoch Drebber came to his end  All I had to do then was 
to do as much for Stangerson  and so pay off John Ferrier s debt  I knew 
that he was staying at Halliday s Private Hotel  and I hung about all 
day  but he never came out       fancy that he suspected something when 
Drebber failed to put in an appearance  He was cunning  was Stangerson  
and always on his guard  If he thought he could keep me off by staying 
indoors he was very much mistaken  I soon found out which was the window 
of his bedroom  and early next morning I took advantage of some ladders 
which were lying in the lane behind the hotel  and so made my way into 
his room in the grey of the dawn  I woke him up and told him that the 
hour had come when he was to answer for the life he had taken so long 
before  I described Drebber s death to him  and I gave him the same 
choice of the poisoned pills  Instead of grasping at the chance of 
safety which that offered him  he sprang from his bed and flew at my 
throat  In self defence I stabbed him to the heart  It would have been 
the same in any case  for Providence would never have allowed his guilty 
hand to pick out anything but the poison  
 
 I have little more to say  and it s as well  for I am about done up  
I went on cabbing it for a day or so  intending to keep at it until I 
could save enough to take me back to America  I was standing in the 
yard when a ragged youngster asked if there was a cabby there called 
Jefferson Hope  and said that his cab was wanted by a gentleman at    B  
Baker Street  I went round  suspecting no harm  and the next thing I 
knew  this young man here had the bracelets on my wrists  and as neatly 
snackled      as ever I saw in my life  That s the whole of my story  
gentlemen  You may consider me to be a murderer  but I hold that I am 
just as much an officer of justice as you are   
 
So thrilling had the man s narrative been  and his manner was so 
impressive that we had sat silent and absorbed  Even the professional 
detectives   blase  as they were in every detail of crime  appeared to 
be keenly interested in the man s story  When he finished we sat for 
some minutes in a stillness which was only broken by the scratching 
of Lestrade s pencil as he gave the finishing touches to his shorthand 
account  
 
 There is only one point on which I should like a little more 
information   Sherlock Holmes said at last   Who was your accomplice who 
came for the ring which I advertised   
 
The prisoner winked at my friend jocosely   I can tell my own secrets   
he said   but I don t get other people into trouble  I saw your 
advertisement  and I thought it might be a plant  or it might be the 
ring which I wanted  My friend volunteered to go and see  I think you ll 
own he did it smartly   
 
 Not a doubt of that   said Holmes heartily  
 
 Now  gentlemen   the Inspector remarked gravely   the forms of the law 
must be complied with  On Thursday the prisoner will be brought before 
the magistrates  and your attendance will be required  Until then I will 
be responsible for him   He rang the bell as he spoke  and Jefferson 
Hope was led off by a couple of warders  while my friend and I made our 
way out of the Station and took a cab back to Baker Street  
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER VII  THE CONCLUSION  
 
 
WE had all been warned to appear before the magistrates upon the 
Thursday  but when the Thursday came there was no occasion for our 
testimony  A higher Judge had taken the matter in hand  and Jefferson 
Hope had been summoned before a tribunal where strict justice would 
be meted out to him  On the very night after his capture the aneurism 
burst  and he was found in the morning stretched upon the floor of the 
cell  with a placid smile upon his face  as though he had been able 
in his dying moments to look back upon a useful life  and on work well 
done  
 
 Gregson and Lestrade will be wild about his death   Holmes remarked  as 
we chatted it over next evening   Where will their grand advertisement 
be now   
 
 I don t see that they had very much to do with his capture   I 
answered  
 
 What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence   returned my 
companion  bitterly   The question is  what can you make people believe 
that you have done  Never mind   he continued  more brightly  after a 
pause   I would not have missed the investigation for anything  There 
has been no better case within my recollection  Simple as it was  there 
were several most instructive points about it   
 
 Simple   I ejaculated  
 
 Well  really  it can hardly be described as otherwise   said Sherlock 
Holmes  smiling at my surprise   The proof of its intrinsic simplicity 
is  that without any help save a few very ordinary deductions I was able 
to lay my hand upon the criminal within three days   
 
 That is true   said I  
 
 I have already explained to you that what is out of the common is 
usually a guide rather than a hindrance  In solving a problem of this 
sort  the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards  That is a very 
useful accomplishment  and a very easy one  but people do not practise 
it much  In the every day affairs of life it is more useful to reason 
forwards  and so the other comes to be neglected  There are fifty who 
can reason synthetically for one who can reason analytically   
 
 I confess   said I   that I do not quite follow you   
 
 I hardly expected that you would  Let me see if I can make it clearer  
Most people  if you describe a train of events to them  will tell you 
what the result would be  They can put those events together in their 
minds  and argue from them that something will come to pass  There are 
few people  however  who  if you told them a result  would be able to 
evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were which led 
up to that result  This power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning 
backwards  or analytically   
 
 I understand   said I  
 
 Now this was a case in which you were given the result and had to 
find everything else for yourself  Now let me endeavour to show you the 
different steps in my reasoning  To begin at the beginning  I approached 
the house  as you know  on foot  and with my mind entirely free from all 
impressions  I naturally began by examining the roadway  and there  as I 
have already explained to you  I saw clearly the marks of a cab  which  
I ascertained by inquiry  must have been there during the night  I 
satisfied myself that it was a cab and not a private carriage by the 
narrow gauge of the wheels  The ordinary London growler is considerably 
less wide than a gentleman s brougham  
 
 This was the first point gained  I then walked slowly down the garden 
path  which happened to be composed of a clay soil  peculiarly suitable 
for taking impressions  No doubt it appeared to you to be a mere 
trampled line of slush  but to my trained eyes every mark upon its 
surface had a meaning  There is no branch of detective science which 
is so important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps  
Happily  I have always laid great stress upon it  and much practice 
has made it second nature to me  I saw the heavy footmarks of the 
constables  but I saw also the track of the two men who had first passed 
through the garden  It was easy to tell that they had been before the 
others  because in places their marks had been entirely obliterated by 
the others coming upon the top of them  In this way my second link was 
formed  which told me that the nocturnal visitors were two in number  
one remarkable for his height  as I calculated from the length of his 
stride   and the other fashionably dressed  to judge from the small and 
elegant impression left by his boots  
 
 On entering the house this last inference was confirmed  My well booted 
man lay before me  The tall one  then  had done the murder  if murder 
there was  There was no wound upon the dead man s person  but the 
agitated expression upon his face assured me that he had foreseen his 
fate before it came upon him  Men who die from heart disease  or any 
sudden natural cause  never by any chance exhibit agitation upon their 
features  Having sniffed the dead man s lips I detected a slightly sour 
smell  and I came to the conclusion that he had had poison forced upon 
him  Again  I argued that it had been forced upon him from the hatred 
and fear expressed upon his face  By the method of exclusion  I had 
arrived at this result  for no other hypothesis would meet the facts  
Do not imagine that it was a very unheard of idea  The forcible 
administration of poison is by no means a new thing in criminal annals  
The cases of Dolsky in Odessa  and of Leturier in Montpellier  will 
occur at once to any toxicologist  
 
 And now came the great question as to the reason why  Robbery had not 
been the object of the murder  for nothing was taken  Was it politics  
then  or was it a woman  That was the question which confronted me  
I was inclined from the first to the latter supposition  Political 
assassins are only too glad to do their work and to fly  This murder 
had  on the contrary  been done most deliberately  and the perpetrator 
had left his tracks all over the room  showing that he had been there 
all the time  It must have been a private wrong  and not a political 
one  which called for such a methodical revenge  When the inscription 
was discovered upon the wall I was more inclined than ever to my 
opinion  The thing was too evidently a blind  When the ring was found  
however  it settled the question  Clearly the murderer had used it to 
remind his victim of some dead or absent woman  It was at this point 
that I asked Gregson whether he had enquired in his telegram to 
Cleveland as to any particular point in Mr  Drebber s former career  He 
answered  you remember  in the negative  
 
 I then proceeded to make a careful examination of the room  which 
confirmed me in my opinion as to the murderer s height  and furnished me 
with the additional details as to the Trichinopoly cigar and the length 
of his nails  I had already come to the conclusion  since there were no 
signs of a struggle  that the blood which covered the floor had burst 
from the murderer s nose in his excitement  I could perceive that the 
track of blood coincided with the track of his feet  It is seldom that 
any man  unless he is very full blooded  breaks out in this way through 
emotion  so I hazarded the opinion that the criminal was probably a 
robust and ruddy faced man  Events proved that I had judged correctly  
 
 Having left the house  I proceeded to do what Gregson had neglected  I 
telegraphed to the head of the police at Cleveland  limiting my enquiry 
to the circumstances connected with the marriage of Enoch Drebber  The 
answer was conclusive  It told me that Drebber had already applied for 
the protection of the law against an old rival in love  named Jefferson 
Hope  and that this same Hope was at present in Europe  I knew now that 
I held the clue to the mystery in my hand  and all that remained was to 
secure the murderer  
 
 I had already determined in my own mind that the man who had walked 
into the house with Drebber  was none other than the man who had driven 
the cab  The marks in the road showed me that the horse had wandered 
on in a way which would have been impossible had there been anyone in 
charge of it  Where  then  could the driver be  unless he were inside 
the house  Again  it is absurd to suppose that any sane man would carry 
out a deliberate crime under the very eyes  as it were  of a third 
person  who was sure to betray him  Lastly  supposing one man wished 
to dog another through London  what better means could he adopt than 
to turn cabdriver  All these considerations led me to the irresistible 
conclusion that Jefferson Hope was to be found among the jarveys of the 
Metropolis  
 
 If he had been one there was no reason to believe that he had ceased to 
be  On the contrary  from his point of view  any sudden change would be 
likely to draw attention to himself  He would  probably  for a time at 
least  continue to perform his duties  There was no reason to suppose 
that he was going under an assumed name  Why should he change his name 
in a country where no one knew his original one  I therefore organized 
my Street Arab detective corps  and sent them systematically to every 
cab proprietor in London until they ferreted out the man that I wanted  
How well they succeeded  and how quickly I took advantage of it  are 
still fresh in your recollection  The murder of Stangerson was an 
incident which was entirely unexpected  but which could hardly in 
any case have been prevented  Through it  as you know  I came into 
possession of the pills  the existence of which I had already surmised  
You see the whole thing is a chain of logical sequences without a break 
or flaw   
 
 It is wonderful   I cried   Your merits should be publicly recognized  
You should publish an account of the case  If you won t  I will for 
you   
 
 You may do what you like  Doctor   he answered   See here   he 
continued  handing a paper over to me   look at this   
 
It was the  Echo  for the day  and the paragraph to which he pointed was 
devoted to the case in question  
 
 The public   it said   have lost a sensational treat through the sudden 
death of the man Hope  who was suspected of the murder of Mr  Enoch 
Drebber and of Mr  Joseph Stangerson  The details of the case will 
probably be never known now  though we are informed upon good authority 
that the crime was the result of an old standing and romantic feud  in 
which love and Mormonism bore a part  It seems that both the victims 
belonged  in their younger days  to the Latter Day Saints  and Hope  the 
deceased prisoner  hails also from Salt Lake City  If the case has had 
no other effect  it  at least  brings out in the most striking manner 
the efficiency of our detective police force  and will serve as a lesson 
to all foreigners that they will do wisely to settle their feuds at 
home  and not to carry them on to British soil  It is an open secret 
that the credit of this smart capture belongs entirely to the well known 
Scotland Yard officials  Messrs  Lestrade and Gregson  The man was 
apprehended  it appears  in the rooms of a certain Mr  Sherlock Holmes  
who has himself  as an amateur  shown some talent in the detective 
line  and who  with such instructors  may hope in time to attain to some 
degree of their skill  It is expected that a testimonial of some sort 
will be presented to the two officers as a fitting recognition of their 
services   
 
 Didn t I tell you so when we started   cried Sherlock Holmes with a 
laugh   That s the result of all our Study in Scarlet  to get them a 
testimonial   
 
 Never mind   I answered   I have all the facts in my journal  and the 
public shall know them  In the meantime you must make yourself contented 
by the consciousness of success  like the Roman miser   
 
              Populus me sibilat  at mihi plaudo 
       Ipse domi simul ac nummos contemplor in arca    
 
 
 
 
 
ORIGINAL TRANSCRIBER S NOTES  
 
 
 Footnote    Frontispiece  with the caption   He examined with his glass 
the word upon the wall  going over every letter of it with the most 
minute exactness     Page        
 
 Footnote     JOHN H  WATSON  M D    the initial letters in the name are 
capitalized  the other letters in small caps  All chapter titles are in 
small caps  The initial words of chapters are in small caps with first 
letter capitalized   
 
 Footnote     lodgings    the period should be a comma  as in later 
editions   
 
 Footnote     hoemoglobin   should be haemoglobin  The o e are 
concatenated   
 
 Footnote        B   the B is in small caps  
 
 Footnote     THE LAURISTON GARDEN MYSTERY   the table of contents 
lists this chapter as     GARDENS MYSTERY   plural  and probably more 
correct   
 
 Footnote     brought     the text has an extra double quote mark  
 
 Footnote     individual     illustration this page  with the 
caption   As he spoke  his nimble fingers were flying here  there  and 
everywhere    
 
 Footnote     manoeuvres   the o e are concatenated   
 
 Footnote      Patent leathers   the hyphen is missing   
 
 Footnote      condonment   should be condonement   
 
 Footnote      wages    ending quote is missing   
 
 Footnote      the first    ending quote is missing   
 
 Footnote      make much of      Other editions complete this sentence 
with an  it   But there is a gap in the text at this point  and  given 
the context  it may have actually been an interjection  a dash  The gap 
is just the right size for the characters  it   and the start of a new 
sentence  or for a         
 
 Footnote      tho cushion    tho  should be  the   
 
 Footnote      shoving   later editions have  showing   The original is 
clearly superior   
 
 Footnote      stared about      illustration  with the caption   One of 
them seized the little girl  and hoisted her upon his shoulder    
 
 Footnote      upon the   illustration  with the caption   As he watched 
it he saw it writhe along the ground    
 
 Footnote      FORMERLY      F S L C in caps  other letters in this line 
in small caps   
 
 Footnote      ancles   ankles   
 
 Footnote      asked    should be  asked    
 
 Footnote      poisions   should be  poisons   
 
 Footnote         fancy   should be  I fancy   There is a gap in the 
text   
 
 Footnote      snackled    shackled  in later texts   
 
 Footnote     Heber C  Kemball  in one of his sermons  alludes to his 
hundred wives under this endearing epithet   
 
 
 
 
 
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