The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (9 page)

‘And how did you verify them?'

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

‘And Miss Sutherland?'

‘If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Persian saying, “There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.” There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace,
¹²
and as much knowledge of the world.'

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

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

‘I was afraid that you were engaged.'

‘So I am. Very much so.'

‘Then I can wait in the next room.'

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

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

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

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

‘You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we
went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary Sutherland,
¹
that for strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the imagination.'

‘A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.'

‘You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my view, for otherwise I shall keep piling fact upon fact on you, until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to be right. Now, Mr Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique things are very often connected not with the larger but with the smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I have heard, it is impossible for me to say whether the present case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. Perhaps, Mr Wilson, you would have the great kindness to recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend Dr Watson has not heard the opening part, but also because the peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some slight indication of the course of events I am able to guide myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the facts are, to the best of my belief, unique.'

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

I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey shepherds'
check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal
²
dangling down as an ornament. A frayed top-hat, and a faded brown overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and discontent upon his features.

Sherlock Holmes's quick eye took in my occupation and he shook his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. ‘Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason,
³
that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.'

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

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

‘Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more developed.'

‘Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?'

‘I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you use an arc and compass breastpin.'
⁴

‘Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?'

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

‘Well, but China?'

‘The fish which you have tattooed immediately above your right wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small study of tattoo marks, and have even contributed to the literature of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a delicate pink is quite peculiar to China.
⁵
When, in addition, I see a Chinese coin
hanging from your watch-chain, the matter becomes even more simple.'

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

‘I begin to think, Watson,' said Holmes, ‘that I make a mistake in explaining. “
Omne ignotum pro magnifico
,”
⁶
you know, and my poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr Wilson?'

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

I took the paper from him and read as follows:

To the Red-headed League

– On account of the bequest of the late Ezekiah Hopkins of Lebanon, Penn.,
⁷
U.S.A., there is now another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a salary of four pounds a week for purely nominal services. All red-headed men who are sound in body and mind, and above the age of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 Pope's Court,
⁸
Fleet Street.

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

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

‘It is the
Morning Chronicle
,
⁹
of 27 April 1890. Just two months ago.'
¹⁰

‘Very good. Now, Mr Wilson?'

‘Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr Sherlock Holmes,' said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead, ‘I have a small pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City.
¹¹
It's not a very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, but now I only keep one; and I
would have a job to pay him, but that he is willing to come for half-wages, so as to learn the business.'

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

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

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

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

‘He is still with you, I presume?'

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

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

‘ “I wish to the Lord, Mr Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.”

‘ “Why that?” I asks.

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

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

‘ “Have you never heard of the League of the Red-Headed Men?” he asked, with his eyes open.

‘ “Never.”

‘ “Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one of the vacancies.”

‘ “And what are they worth?” I asked.

‘ “Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and it need not interfere much with one's other occupations.”

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

‘ “Tell me all about it,” said I.

‘ “Well,” said he, showing me the advertisement, “you can see for yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; so, when he died, it was found that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay, and very little to do.”

‘ “But,” said I, “there would be millions of red-headed men who would apply.”

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

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