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The Red Headed League · The Red Headed League

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  Speaker 1: The Red Headed League by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Part one.
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  Speaker 1: I had called upon my friend mister Sherlock Holmes one
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  Speaker 1: day in the autumn of last year, and found him
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  Speaker 1: in deep conversation with a very stout, florid faced, elderly
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  Speaker 1: gentleman with fiery red hair, with an apology for my intrusion.
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  Speaker 1: I was about to withdraw when Holmes pulled me abruptly
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  Speaker 1: into the room and closed the door behind me. You
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  Speaker 1: could not possibly have come at a better time, my
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  Speaker 1: dear Watson, he said cordially. I was afraid that you
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  Speaker 1: were engaged, so I am very much so then I
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  Speaker 1: can wait in the next room. Not at all, this gentleman,
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  Speaker 1: mister Wilson has been my partner and helper in many
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  Speaker 1: of my most successful cases, and I have no doubt
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  Speaker 1: that he will be of the utmost use to me
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  Speaker 1: in yours. Also. The stout gentlemen half rose from his
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  Speaker 1: chair and gave a bob of greeting with a quick,
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  Speaker 1: little questioning glance from his small, fat encircled eyes. Try
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  Speaker 1: the settee, said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and putting
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  Speaker 1: his fingertips together, as was his custom when in judicial moods.
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  Speaker 1: I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love
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  Speaker 1: of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and
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  Speaker 1: humdrum routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish
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  Speaker 1: for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle.
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  Speaker 1: And if you will excuse my saying so somewhat to
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  Speaker 1: embellish so many of my own little adventures, your cases
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  Speaker 1: have indeed been of greatest interest to me, I observed.
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  Speaker 1: You will remember that I remarked the other day, just
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  Speaker 1: before we went into the very simple problem presented by
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  Speaker 1: Miss Mary Sutherland, that for strange effects extraordinary combinations, we
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  Speaker 1: must go to life itself, which is always far more
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  Speaker 1: daring than any effort of the imagination, A proposition which
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  Speaker 1: I took the liberty of doubting you did, doctor, But
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  Speaker 1: none the less, you must come round to my view,
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  Speaker 1: for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact
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  Speaker 1: on you until your reason breaks down under them and
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  Speaker 1: acknowledges me to be right. Now, mister JOBEZ Wilson here
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  Speaker 1: has been good enough to call upon me this morning
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  Speaker 1: and to bring a narrative which promises to be one
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  Speaker 1: of the most singular which I have listened to for
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  Speaker 1: some time. You have heard me remark that the strangest
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  Speaker 1: and most unique things are very often connected not with
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  Speaker 1: the larger but with these smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed,
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  Speaker 1: where there is room for doubt whether any positive crime
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  Speaker 1: has been committed. As far as I have heard, it
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  Speaker 1: is impossible for me to say whether the present case
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  Speaker 1: is an instance of crime or not. But the course
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  Speaker 1: of events is certainly among the most singular that I
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  Speaker 1: have ever listened to. Perhaps, mister Wilson, you would have
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  Speaker 1: the great kindness to recommence your narrative. I ask you
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  Speaker 1: not merely because my friend doctor Watson has not heard
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  Speaker 1: the opening part, but also because the peculiar nature of
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  Speaker 1: the story makes me anxious to have every possible detail
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  Speaker 1: from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard
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  Speaker 1: some slight indication of the course of events, I am
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  Speaker 1: able to guide myself by the thousands of other similar
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  Speaker 1: cases which occur to my memory. In the present instance,
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  Speaker 1: I am forced to admit that the facts are, to
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  Speaker 1: the best of my belief unique. The portly client puffed
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  Speaker 1: out his chest with an appearance of some little pride,
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  Speaker 1: and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the inside
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  Speaker 1: pocket of his greatcoat as he glanced down the advertisement
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  Speaker 1: column with his head thrust forward and the paper flattened
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  Speaker 1: out upon his knee. I took a good look at
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  Speaker 1: the man, and endeavored, after the fashion of my companion,
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  Speaker 1: to read the indications which might be presented by his
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  Speaker 1: dress or appearance. I did not gain very much. However,
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  Speaker 1: by my inspection, our visitor bore every mark of being
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  Speaker 1: an average commonplace British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He
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  Speaker 1: wore rather backy gray shepherd's check trousers, a not over
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  Speaker 1: clean black frock coat unbuttoned in the front, and a
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  Speaker 1: drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy Albert chain and a
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  Speaker 1: square pierced bit of metal dangling down as an ornament.
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  Speaker 1: A frayed top hat, and a faded brown overcoat with
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  Speaker 1: a wrinkled velvet color lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether,
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  Speaker 1: look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man,
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  Speaker 1: save his blazing red head and the expression of extreme
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  Speaker 1: chagrin and discontent upon his features. Sherlock Holmes's quick eye
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  Speaker 1: took in my occupation, and he shook his head with
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  Speaker 1: a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. Beyond the
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  Speaker 1: obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labor,
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  Speaker 1: that he takes snuff, that he is a freemason, that
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  Speaker 1: he has been to China, and that he has done
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  Speaker 1: a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else,
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  Speaker 1: mister job. As Wilson started up in his chair with
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  Speaker 1: his forefinger upon the paper, put his eyes upon my companion.
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  Speaker 1: All when the name of good fortune, did you do
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  Speaker 1: you know all that? Mister Holmes? He asked, how did
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  Speaker 1: you know, for example, that I did manual labor? It's
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  Speaker 1: true as gospel, for I began as a ship's carpenter.
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  Speaker 1: Your hands, my dear sir, your right hand is quite
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  Speaker 1: a size larger than your left. You have worked with it,
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  Speaker 1: and the muscles are more developed. Well. The snuff, then,
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  Speaker 1: and the freemasonry. I won't insult your intelligence by telling
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  Speaker 1: you how I read that, especially as rather against the
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  Speaker 1: strict rules of your order, you use an arc and
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  Speaker 1: compass breastpin. Oh, of course I forgot that. But the writting.
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  Speaker 1: What else can be indicated by that right cuff so
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  Speaker 1: very shiny for five inches, and the left one with
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  Speaker 1: the smooth patch near the elbow where you rested upon
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  Speaker 1: the desk. Well, but China, the fish that you have
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  Speaker 1: tattooed immediately above your right wrist could only have been
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  Speaker 1: done in China. I have made a small study of
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  Speaker 1: tattoo marks, and have even contributed to the literature of
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  Speaker 1: the subject. The trick of staining the fish's scales of
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  Speaker 1: a delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When in addition,
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  Speaker 1: I see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch chain,
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  Speaker 1: the matter becomes even more simple. Mister Jabez Wilson laughed heavily.
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  Speaker 1: I never said he. I thought at first that you
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  Speaker 1: had done something clever, But I see that there was
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  Speaker 1: nothing in it. After all, I begin to think, Watson,
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  Speaker 1: said Holmes, that I make a mistake in explaining omne
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  Speaker 1: ignotum pro magnifico, you know, and my poor little reputation,
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  Speaker 1: such as it is, will suffer shipwrecked if I am
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  Speaker 1: so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Miss Wilson, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: I have got it now, he answered, with his thick
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  Speaker 1: red finger planted half way down the column. Here it is,
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  Speaker 1: this is what we get at all. You just read
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  Speaker 1: it for yourself. Sir. I took the paper from him
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  Speaker 1: and read as follows to the Red Headed League. On
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  Speaker 1: account of the bequest of the late Essekiah Hopkins of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, USA,
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  Speaker 1: there is now another vacancy open which entitles a member
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  Speaker 1: of the League to a salary of four pounds a
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  Speaker 1: week for purely nominal services. All Red Headed men who
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  Speaker 1: are sound in body and mind and above the age
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  Speaker 1: of twenty one years are eligible. Apply in person on
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  Speaker 1: Monday at eleven o'clock to Duncan Ross at the offices
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  Speaker 1: of the League, seven Pope's Court, Fleet Street. What on
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  Speaker 1: earth does this mean? I ejaculated after I had twice
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  Speaker 1: read over the extra extraordinary announcement. Holmes chuckled and wriggled
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  Speaker 1: in his chair, as was his habit when in high spirits.
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  Speaker 1: It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?
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  Speaker 1: Said he? And now, mister Wilson, off you go with
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  Speaker 1: scratch and tell us all about yourself, your household, and
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  Speaker 1: the effect which this advertisement had upon your fortunes. You
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  Speaker 1: will first make a note doctor of the paper and
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  Speaker 1: the date m It is the Morning Chronicle of April
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  Speaker 1: twenty seven, eighteen ninety Just two months ago. Very good now,
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  Speaker 1: mister Wilson. Well, it is just as I've been telling you,
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  Speaker 1: mister Sherlock Holmes said, job as Wilson mopping his forehead.
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  Speaker 1: I have a small pawnbroker's business at Cobourg Square near
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  Speaker 1: the city. It is not a very large affair, and
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  Speaker 1: of late years it has not done more than just
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  Speaker 1: give me a living. I used to be able to
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  Speaker 1: keep two assistants, but now I only keep one, and
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  Speaker 1: I would have a job to pay him, but that
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  Speaker 1: he is willing to come for half wages so as
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  Speaker 1: to learn the business. What is the name of this
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  Speaker 1: obliging youth, asked Sherlock Holmes. His name is Vincent Espalding.
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  Speaker 1: And he's not such a youth either. It's hard to
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  Speaker 1: say his age. I should not wish a smart assistant,
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  Speaker 1: mister Holmes, and I know very well that he could
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  Speaker 1: better himself and earn twice what I am able to
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  Speaker 1: give him. But after all, if he is satisfied, why
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  Speaker 1: should I put ideas in his head? Why? Indeed, you
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  Speaker 1: seem most fortunate in having an employee who comes under
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  Speaker 1: the full market price. It is not a common experience
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  Speaker 1: among employers in this age. I don't know that your
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  Speaker 1: assistant is not as remarkable as your advertisement. Oh he
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  Speaker 1: has his faults too, said mister Wilson. Never was such
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  Speaker 1: a fellow for photography, snapping away with a camera when
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  Speaker 1: he ought to be improving his mind, and then diving
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  Speaker 1: down into the cellar like a rabbit into its hole
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  Speaker 1: to develop his pictures. That is his main fault. But
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  Speaker 1: on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice
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  Speaker 1: in him. He is still with you, I presume, yes, sir.
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  Speaker 1: He and a girl of fourteen who does a bit
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  Speaker 1: of simple cooking and keeps the place clean. That's all
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  Speaker 1: I have in the house where I am a widower
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  Speaker 1: and never had any family. We live very quietly, sir,
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  Speaker 1: the three of us, and we keep a roof over
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  Speaker 1: our heads and pay our debts if we do nothing more.
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  Speaker 1: The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. Spalding.
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  Speaker 1: He came down into the office just this day, eight
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  Speaker 1: weeks with this very paper in his hand, and he says,
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  Speaker 1: I wish to the Lord, mister Wilson, that I was
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  Speaker 1: a red headed man. Why is that, I asked, Why,
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  Speaker 1: says he, here's another vacancy on the League of the
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  Speaker 1: red headed men. It's worth quite a little fortune to
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  Speaker 1: any man who gets it. And I understand that there
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  Speaker 1: are more vacancies than there are men, so that the
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  Speaker 1: trustees are at their wits end what to do with
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  Speaker 1: the money. If my hair would only change color, here's
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  Speaker 1: a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.
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  Speaker 1: Why what is it? Then? I asked? You. See, mister Holmes,
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  Speaker 1: I'm a very stay at home man, and as my
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  Speaker 1: business came to me instead of my having to go
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  Speaker 1: to it, I was often weeks on end without putting
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  Speaker 1: my foot over the door. Met in that way, I
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  Speaker 1: don't know much of what was going on outside, and
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  Speaker 1: I was always glad of a bit of news. Have
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  Speaker 1: you never heard of the League of the red headed Men?
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  Speaker 1: He asked, with his eyes open. Never. Why I wonder
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  Speaker 1: at that? For you are eligible yourself for one of
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  Speaker 1: the vacancies. And what are they worth? I asked, Oh,
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  Speaker 1: merely a couple of hundred a year. But the work
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  Speaker 1: is slight and it need not interfere very much with
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  Speaker 1: one's other occupations. Well, you can easily think that that
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  Speaker 1: made me pick up my ears, for the business has
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  Speaker 1: not been over good for some years, and an extra
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  Speaker 1: couple of hundred would have been very handy. Tell me
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  Speaker 1: all about it, said I, well, said he, showing me
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  Speaker 1: the advertisement. You can see for yourself that the league
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  Speaker 1: has a vacancy, and there is the address where you
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  Speaker 1: should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out,
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  Speaker 1: the league was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins,
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  Speaker 1: who was very peculiar in his ways. He himself was
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  Speaker 1: red headed, and he had a great sympathy for all
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  Speaker 1: red headed men. So when he died, it was found
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  Speaker 1: that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands
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  Speaker 1: of trustees, with instructions to apply the interest to the
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  Speaker 1: providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of
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  Speaker 1: that color. From all I hear, it is splendid pay
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  Speaker 1: and very little to do. But said I, there would
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  Speaker 1: be millions of red headed men who would apply, not
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  Speaker 1: so many as you might think, He answered, you see,
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  Speaker 1: it is really confined to Londoners and to grown men.
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  Speaker 1: This American had started from London when he was young,
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  Speaker 1: and he wanted to do the old town a good turn.
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  Speaker 1: Then again, I have heard it is of no use
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  Speaker 1: your replying if your hair is light red or dark red,
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  Speaker 1: or anything but real, bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if
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  Speaker 1: you cared to apply, mister Wilson, you would just walk in.
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  Speaker 1: But perhaps it would hardly be worth your while to
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  Speaker 1: put yourself out of the way for the sake of
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  Speaker 1: a few hundred pounds. Now it is a fact, gentleman,
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  Speaker 1: as you may see for yourselves, that my hair is
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  Speaker 1: of a very full and rich tint. So that it
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  Speaker 1: seemed to me that if there was to be any
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  Speaker 1: competition in the matter, I stood as good a chance
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  Speaker 1: as any man that I had ever met. Vincent Spalding
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  Speaker 1: seemed to know so much about it that I thought
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  Speaker 1: he might prove useful. So I ordered him to put
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  Speaker 1: up the shutters for the day and to come right
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  Speaker 1: away with me. He was very willing to have a holiday,
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  Speaker 1: So we shut the business up and started off for
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  Speaker 1: the address that was given us in the advertisement. I
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  Speaker 1: never hoped to see such a sight as that, again,
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: mister Holmes, from north, southeast and west, every man who
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  Speaker 1: had a shade of red in his hair had tramped
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  Speaker 1: into the city to answer the advertisement. Fleet Street was
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  Speaker 1: choked with red headed folk, and Pope's Court looked like
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  Speaker 1: a coaster's orange barrow. I should not have thought that
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  Speaker 1: there was so many in the whole country as were
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  Speaker 1: brought together by that single advertisement. Every shade of color.
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  Speaker 1: They were straw, lemon, orange, brick, irish setter, liver clay.
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  Speaker 1: But as Spalding said, there were not many who had
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  Speaker 1: the real vivid, flame colored tint. When I saw how
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  Speaker 1: many were waiting, I would have given it up in despair.
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  Speaker 1: But Spalding would not hear of it. How he did
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  Speaker 1: it I could not imagine. But he pushed and pulled
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  Speaker 1: and butted until he got me through the crowd and
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  Speaker 1: right up to the steps which led to the office.
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  Speaker 1: There was a double stream upon the stair, some going
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  Speaker 1: up in hope and some coming back dejected. But we
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  Speaker 1: wedged in as well as we could and found ourselves
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  Speaker 1: in the office. Your experience has been a most entertaining one,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: remarked Holmes, as his client paused and refreshed his memory
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  Speaker 1: with a huge, pincious snuff. Pray, continue your very interesting statement.
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  Speaker 1: There was nothing in the office but a couple of
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  Speaker 1: wooden chairs and a deal table, behind which sat a
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  Speaker 1: small man with a head that was even redder than mine.
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  Speaker 1: He said a few words to each candidate as he
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  Speaker 1: came up, and then he always managed to find some
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  Speaker 1: fault in them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy
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  Speaker 1: did not seem to be such a very easy matter
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  Speaker 1: after all. However, when our turn came, the little man
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  Speaker 1: was much more favorable to me than to any of
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  Speaker 1: the others, and he closed the door as we entered,
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  Speaker 1: so that he might have a private word with us.
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  Speaker 1: This is mister Jopas Wilson, said my assistant, and he
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  Speaker 1: is willing to fill a vacancy in the league, and
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  Speaker 1: he is admirably suited for it. The other answered, he
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  Speaker 1: has every requirement. I cannot recall when I I have
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  Speaker 1: seen anything so fine. He took a step backward, cocked
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  Speaker 1: his head on one side, and gazed at my hair
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  Speaker 1: until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he plunged forward,
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  Speaker 1: wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my success.
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  Speaker 1: It would be injustice to hesitate, said he you will, however,
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  Speaker 1: I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.
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  Speaker 1: With that, he seized my hair in both his hands
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  Speaker 1: and tugged until I yelled with the pain. There is
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  Speaker 1: water in your eyes, said he as he released me.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: I perceive that all is as it should be, but
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: we have to be careful, for we have twice been
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  Speaker 1: deceived by wigs and once by paint. I could tell
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: you tales of cobbler's wax which would discust you with
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: human nature. He stepped over to the window and shouted
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: through it at the top of his voice that the
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below,
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  Speaker 1: and the folk all trooped away in different directions, until
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  Speaker 1: there was not a red head to be seen except
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  Speaker 1: my own and that of the manager. My name said,
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  Speaker 1: He is mister Duncan Ross, and I am myself one
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  Speaker 1: of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor.
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  Speaker 1: Are you a married man, mister Wilson, have you a family?
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  Speaker 1: I answered that I had not. His face fell immediately.
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  Speaker 1: Dear me, he said, gravely, that is very serious. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: I am sorry to hear you say that the fund was,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: of course for the propagation and spread of the Redheads,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: as well as for their maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate
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  Speaker 1: that you should be a bachelor. My face lengthened at this,
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  Speaker 1: mister Holmes, for I thought that I was not to
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  Speaker 1: have the vacancy after all. But after thinking it over
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: for few minutes, he said that it would be all
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: right in the case of another, said he. The objection
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: might be fatal, but we must stretch a point in
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  Speaker 1: favor of a man with such a head of hair
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  Speaker 1: as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon
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  Speaker 1: your new duties. Well, it is a little awkward, for
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: I have a business already, said I. Oh, never mind
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: about that, mister Wilson, said Vincent Spalding. I should be
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  Speaker 1: able to look after that for you. What would be
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: the ours, I asked, ten to two. Now upon broker's
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: business is mostly done of an evening, mister Holmes, especially
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: Thursday and Friday evenings, which is just before payday, So
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: it would suit me very well to earn a little
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: in the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: a good man and that he would see to anything
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  Speaker 1: that turned up. That would suit me very well, said I.
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  Speaker 1: And the pay is four pounds a week, and the
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: work is purely nominal. What do you call purely nominal? Well,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: you have to be in the office, or at least
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: in the building the whole time. If you leave, you
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: forfeit your whole position forever. The will is very clear
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: upon that point. You don't comply with the conditions if
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: you budge from the office during that time. It's only
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: said I. No excuse will avail, said mister duncan Ross,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: neither sickness, nor business nor anything else. There you must
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: stay or you lose your billet. And the work is
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: to copy out the Encyclopedia Britannica. There is the first
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: volume of it in that press. You must find your
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: own inche pins and blotting paper. But we provide this
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: table and chair. Will you be ready to morrow? Certainly?
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: I answered, then, good bye, mister Javes Wilson, and let
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: me congratulate you once more on the important position which
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: you have been fortunate enough to gain. He bowed me
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: out of the room, and I went home with my assistant,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: hardly knowing what to say or do. I was so
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: pleased at my own good fortune. End of Part one,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: Part two. Well, I thought over the matter all day,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: and by evening I was in low spirits again, for
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: I had quite persuaded myself that the whole affair must
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: be some great hoax or fraud. Though what its object
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: might be, I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: belief that any one could make such a will, or
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: that they would pay such a sum for doing anything
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: so simple as copying out the Encyclopedia Britannica. Vincent Spaulding
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: did what he could to cheer me up, but by
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the whole thing. However,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: in the morning I determined to have a look at
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: it anyhow so I bought a penny bottle of ink,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: and with a quill pen and seven sheets of foolscap paper,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: I started off for Pope's court. Well, to my surprise
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: and delight, everything was as right as possible. The table
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: was set out ready for me, and mister Duncan Ross
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: was there to see that I got fairly to work.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: He started me off upon the letter A, and then
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: he left me, but he would drop in from time
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: to time to see that all was right with me.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: At two o'clock he bade me good day, complimented me
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: upon the amount that I had written, and locked the
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: door of the office after me. This went on day
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: after day, mister Holmes, and on Saturday, the manager came
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my week's work.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: It was the same next week, and the same the
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: week after. Every morning I was there at ten, and
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: every afternoon I left it two by degrees. Mister Duncan
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Ross took to coming in only once of a morning,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: and then after a time he did not come in
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: at all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: the room for an instant, for I was not sure
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: when he might come. And the billet was such a
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: good one and suited me so well that I would
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: not risk the loss of it. Eight weeks passed away
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: like this, and I had written about abbots and archery,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: and armor, and architecture and attica, and hoped with diligence
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: that I might get on to the bees before very long.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: It cost me something in foolscap and I had pretty
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: nearly filled a shop with my writings, And then suddenly
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: the whole business came to an end. To an end, yes, sir,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: and no later than this morning. I went to my
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: work as usual at ten o'clock, but the door was
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: shut and locked with a little square of cardboard hammered
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: on to the middle of the panel with a tack.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Here it is, and you can read for yourself. He
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: held up a piece of white cardboard about the size
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: of a sheet of notepaper. It read, in this fashion,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: the Red Headed League is dissolved. October ninth, eighteen nineteen.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: affair so completely overtopped every other consideration that we both
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: burst out into a roar of laughter. I cannot see
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: that there is anything very funny, cried our client, flushing
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: up to the roots of his flaming head. If you
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: can do nothing better than laugh at me, I can
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: go elsewhere. No, no, cried Holmes, shoving him back into
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: the chair from which he had half risen. I really
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: wouldn't miss your case for the world. It is most
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you will excuse my
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: saying so, something just a little funny about it. Pray
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: what steps did you take when you found the card
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: upon the door? I was staggered, sir. I did not
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: know what to do. Then I called at the offices round,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: but none of them seemed to know anything. About it.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Finally I went to the landlord, who is an accountant
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: living on the ground floor, and I asked him if
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: he could tell me what had become of the red
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: headed league. He said that he had never heard of
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: any such body. Then I asked him who mister Duncan
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. Well,
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: said I, the gentleman at number four, what the red
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: headed man? Yes, oh, said he. His name was William Morris.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: He was a solicitor and was using my room as
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: a temporary convenience until his new premises were ready. He
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: moved out yesterday. Where could I find him? Oh, at
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: his new offices. He did tell me the dress, Yes,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: seventeen King Edward Street, near Saint Paul's. I started off,
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: mister Holmes, But when I had got to that address,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: it was a manufactory of artificial knee caps, and no
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: one in it had ever heard of either mister William
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Morris or mister Duncan Ross. And what did you do, then,
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: asked Holmes. I went home to Saxe Coburg Square and
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: I took the advice of my assistant, but he could
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: not help me in any way. He could only say
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: that if I waited, I should hear my post. But
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: that was not quite good enough, mister Holmes. I did
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: not wish to lose such a place without a struggle.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: So as I had heard that you were good enough
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: to give advice to poor folk who were in need
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: of it, I came right away to you, and you
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: did very wisely, said Holmes. Your case is an exceedingly
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: From what you have told me, I think that it
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: is possible that graver issues hanging from it then might
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: at first sight a peer grave enough, said mister job
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: As Wilson. Why I have lost four pounds a week?
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: As far as you are personally concerned, remarked Holmes, I
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: do not see that you have any grievance against this
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: extraordinary league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand,
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: richer by some thirty pounds, to say nothing of the
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: minute knowledge which you have gained on every subject which
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: comes under the letter A. You have lost nothing by them, no, sir,
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: But I want to find out about them, and who
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: they are, and what their object was in playing this prank.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: If it was a prank upon me, it was a
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: pretty expensive joke for them, for it cost them two
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: and thirty pounds. We shall endeavor to clear up these
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: points for you. And first, one or two questions, mister Wilson,
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: this assistant of yours who first called your attention to
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: the advertisement? How long has he been with you? About
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: a month? Then? How did he come in answer to
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: an advertisement? Was he the only applicant? No? I had
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: a dozen? Why did you pick him? Because he was
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: handy and would come cheap at half wages? In fact? Yes?
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: What is he like? This? Vincent Spalding? Small stout, built,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: very quick in his ways, no hair on his face,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: though he's not short of thirty, has a white splash
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: of acid upon his forehead. Holmes sat up in his
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: chair in considerable excitement. I thought as much, said he.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: Have you ever observed that his ears are pierced for
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: ear rings? Yes, sir, he told me that a gipsy
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: had done it for him when he was a lad, hm,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. He is still
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: with you? Oh? Yes, sir, I have only just left him.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: And has your business been attended to in your absence?
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: Nothing to complain of, sir, There's never very much to
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: do of a morning. That will do, mister Wilson, I
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: shall be happy to give you an opinion upon the
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: subject in the course of a day or two. Today
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: is Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: come to a conclusion. Well, Watson set Holmes, when our
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: visitor had left us, what do you make of it all?
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: I make nothing of it, I answered, frankly. It is
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: a most mysterious business. As a rule, said Holmes, the
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: more bizarre a thing is, the less mysterious it proves
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: to be. It is your commonplace featureless crimes, which are
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this matter.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: What are you going to do? Then? I asked to smoke?
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: He answered, it is quite a three pipe problem. And
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: I beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: He curled himself up in his chair, with his thin
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: knees drawn up to his hawk like nose, and there
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: he sat, with his eyes closed and his black clay
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: a sleep and indeed was nodding myself when he suddenly
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: sprang out of his chair with the gesture of a
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: man who has made up his mind, and put his
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: pipe down upon the mantelpiece. Sataste plays at the Saint
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: James Hall this afternoon. He remarked, what do you think, Watson?
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: Could your patience spare you for a few hours. I
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: have nothing to do today. My practice is never very absorbing.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: Then put on your hat and come. I am going
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: through the city first, and we can have some lunch
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: on the way. I observe that there is a good
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: deal of German music on the program, which is rather
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: more to my taste than Italian or French. It is introspective,
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: and I want to introspect. Come along. We traveled by
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: the underground as far as Aldersgate, and a short walk
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: took us to Saxe Coburg Square, the scene of the
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: singular story which we had listened to in the morning.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: It was a poky, little shabby, genteel place where four
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: lines of dingy, two storied brick houses looked out into
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: a small, railed in enclosure, where a lawn of weedy
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: grass and a few clumps of faded Laurel Bushes made
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: a hard fight against a smoke laden and uncongenial atmosphere,
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: three gilt balls and a brown board with job as
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: Wilson in white letters. Upon a corner house announced the
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: place where our red headed client carried on his business.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it, with his hat
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: on one side, and looked all over with his eyes
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: shining brightly between puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: the street and then down again to the corner, still
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: looking keenly at the houses. Finally he returned to the pawnbrokers, and,
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: having thumped vigorously upon the pavement with his stick two
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: or three times, he went up to the door and knocked.
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: It was instantly opened by a bright looking, clean shaven
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: young fellow, who asked him to step in. Thank you,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: said Holmes. I only wish to ask you how you
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: would go from here to the strand third right, fourth left,
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: answered the assistant, promptly closing the door. Smart fellow that
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: observed Holmes as we walked away. He is, in my judgment,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring, I
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: am not sure that he has not a claim to
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: be third. I have known something of him before, evidently,
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: said I, mister Wilson's assistant counts for a good deal
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: in this mystery of the Red Headed League. I am
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: sure that you inquired your way merely in order that
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: you might see him, not him? What then, the knees
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: of his trousers? And what did you see? What I
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: expected to see? Why did you beat the pavement? My
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: dear doctor, This is a time for observation, not talk.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: We are spies in an enemy's country. We know something
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: of saxe Coburg Square. Let us now explore the parts
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: which lie behind it. The road in which we found
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: ourselves as we turned round the corner from the retired
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: Saxe Coburg Square presented as great a contrast to it
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: as the front of a picture does to the back.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: It was one of the main arteries which conveyed the
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: traffic of the city to the north and west. The
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: roadway was blocked with the immense stream of commerce flowing
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: at a double tide inward and outward, while the footpaths
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: were black with the hurrying swarm of pedestrians. It was
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: difficult to realize as we looked at the line of
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: fine shops and stately business premises that they really abutted
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: on the other side with the faded and stagnant square
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: which we had just quitted. Let me see, said Holmes,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: standing at the corner and glancing along the line. I
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: should like just to remember the order of the houses here.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: It is a hobby of mine to have an exact
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: knowledge of London. There is Mortimer's, the Tobacconist, the little
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank,
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: the vegetarian restaurant, and McFarland's carriage building depot. That raise
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: us right on to the other block. And now, doctor,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: we've done our work, so it's time we had some play,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: a sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: to violin Land. We're all a sweetness and delicacy and harmony,
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: and there are no redheaded clients to vex us with
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: their conundrums. End of Part two, Part three. My friend
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a very
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: capable performer, but a composer of no ordinary merit. All
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: the afternoon he sat in the stalls, wrapped in the
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: most perfect happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: time to the music, while his gently smiling face and
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: his languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those of Homes
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: the sleuth hound Holmes, the relentless, keen witted, ready handed
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: criminal agent, as it was possible to conceive in his
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: singular character, the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and his
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: extreme exactness and astuteness represented, as I have often thought,
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: the reaction against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: from extreme languor to devouring energy, And as I knew well,
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: he was never so truly formidable as when for days
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: on end he had been lounging in his armchair amid
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: his improvisations and his black letter editions. Then it was
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: that the lust of the chase would suddenly come upon him,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: and that his brilliant reasoning power would rise to the
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: level of intuition wish, until those who were unacquainted with
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: his methods would look askance at him as on a
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: I saw him that afternoon, so enwrapped in the music
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: at Saint James's Hall. I felt that an evil time
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: it might be coming upon those whom he had set
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: himself to hunt down. You want to go home, no doubt, doctor,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: he remarked, as we emerged. Yes, it would be as well,
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: and I have some business to do which will take
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: some hours. This business at Coburg Square is serious? Why serious?
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: to believe that we shall be in time to stop it.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: But today, being Saturday, rather complicates the matters. I shall
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: want your help tonight at what time ten will be
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: early enough. I shall be in Baker Street at ten
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: very well, And I say, doctor, there may be some
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: little danger, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: He waved his hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: in an instant among the crowd. I trust that I
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: am not more dense than my neighbors. But I was
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: my dealings with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: he had heard, I had seen what he had seen,
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: And yet from his words it was evident that he
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: saw clearly not only what had happened but what was
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: about to happen? While to me the whole business was
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: still confused and grotesque. As I drove home to my
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: house in Kensington, I thought over it all, from the
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: extraordinary story of the red headed copier of the Encyclopedia,
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: down to the visit to Saxe Coburg Square and the
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: ominous words with which he had parted from me. What
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: was this nocturnal expedition and why should I go armed?
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: Where were we going and what were we to do?
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: I had the hint from Holmes that this smooth faced
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: pawnbroker's assistant was a formidable man, a man who might
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: play a deep game. I tried to puzzle it out,
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: but gave it up in despair and set the matter
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: aside until nights should bring an explanation. It was a
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: quarter past nine when I started from home and made
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: my way across the park and so through Oxford Street
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: to Baker Street. Two Hansoms were standing at the door,
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: and as I entered the passage I heard the sound
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: of voices from above. On entering his room, I found
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: Holmes in animated conversation with two men, one of whom
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: I reckonedognized as Peter Jones, the official police agent, while
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: the other was a long, thin, sad faced man with
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: a very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock coat. Ah
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: our party is complete, said Holmes, buttoning up his pea
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. Watson,
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: I think you know, mister Jones of Scotland Yard. Let
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: me introduce you to mister Merriwether, who is to be
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: our companion in tonight's adventure. We're hunting in couples again, doctor,
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: you see, said Jones in his consequential way. Our friend
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: here is a wonderful man for starting a chase. All
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: he wants is an old dog to help him to
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: do the running down. I hope a wild goose may
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: not prove to be the end of our chase, observed
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: mister Merriweather gloomily. You may place considerable confidence in mister Holmes, Sir,
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: said the police agent loftily. He has his own little methods,
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: which are, if he won't mind my saying so, just
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: stay little too theoretical and fantastic. But he has the
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: makings of a detective in him. It is not too
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: much to say that once or twice, as in that
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: business of the soulto murder and the agra treasure. He
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: has been more nearly correct than the official force. Oh,
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: if you say so, mister Jones, it is all right,
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: said the stranger, with deference. Still, I confess that I
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: miss my rubber. It is the first Saturday night for
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: seven and twenty years that I have not had my rubber.
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: I think you will find, said Sherlock Holmes, that you
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: will play for a higher stake to night than you
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: have ever done yet, and that the play will be
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: more exciting for you, mister Meriwether. The stake will be
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: some thirty thousand pounds, and for you, Jones, it will
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: be the man upon on whom you wish to lay
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: your hands, John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher and forger.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: He's a young man, mister Meriwether, but he is at
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: the head of his profession. And I would rather have
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: my bracelets on him than any criminal in London. He's
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: a remarkable man, is young John Clay. His grandfather was
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: a royal duke, and he himself has been to Eton
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers,
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: and though we meet signs of him at every turn.
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: We never know where to find the man himself. He'll
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: crack a crib in Scotland one week and be raising
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. I've
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: been on his track for years and have never set
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: eyes on him yet. I hope that I may have
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: the pleasure of introducing you tonight. I've had one or
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: two little turns also with mister John Play, and I
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: agree with you that he is at the head of
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: his profession. It is past ten, however, and quite time
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: that we started. If you two will take the first,
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: handsome Watson, and I will follow in the second. Sherlock
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive, and
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: had heard in the afternoon. We rattled through an endless
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: labyrinth of gas lit streets until we emerged into Farrington Street.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: We are close there now, my friend remarked. This fellow
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: Merriweather is a bank director and personally interested in the matter.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: I thought it is well to have Jones with us. Also,
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: he is not a bad fellow. Though an absolute imbecile
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: in his profession, he has one positive virtue. He is
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: as brave as a bulldog, and as tenacious as a
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we are,
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: and they are waiting for us. We had reached the
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: same crowded thoroughfare in which we had found ourselves in
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: the morning. Our calves were dismissed, and following the guidance
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: of mister Merriweather, we passed down a narrow passage and
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: through a side door which he opened for us. Within
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: there was a small corridor which ended in a very
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: massive iron gate. This also was opened and led down
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: a flight of winding stone steps, which terminated at another
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: formidable gate. Mister Merriweather stopped to light a lantern, and
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: then conducted us down a dark, earth smelling passage, And
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: so after opening a third door into a huge vault
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: or cellar, which was piled all round with crates and
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: massive boxes. You were not very vulnerable from above, Holmes remarked,
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: as he had held up the lantern and gazed about him.
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: Nor from below, said mister Merriwether, striking his stick upon
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: the flags which lined the floor. Why dear me, it
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: sounds quite hollow, he remarked, looking up in surprise. I
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: must really ask you to be a little more quiet,
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: said Holmes. Severely, you have already imperiled the whole success
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: of our expedition. Might I beg that you would have
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: the goodness to sit down upon one of these boxes,
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: and not to interfere. The solemn mister Meriwether perched himself
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: upon a crate, with a very injured expression upon his face,
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: while Holmes fell upon his knees upon the floor, and
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: with the lantern and the magnifying lins, began to examine
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: minutely the cracks between the stones. A few seconds sufficed
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: and put his glass to his pocket. We have at
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: least an hour before us, he remarked, for they can
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: in bed. Then they will not lose a minute, for
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: the sooner they do their work, the longer they will
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: have for their escape. We are at present, doctor, as
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: no doubt you have divined in the cellar of the
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: city branch of one of the principal London banks. Mister
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: Meriwether is the chairman of directors, and he will explain
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: to you that there are reasons why the more daring
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: criminals of London should take a considerable interest in this cellar.
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: At present it is our French gold, whispered the director.
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: We have had several warnings that an attempt might be
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: made upon it your French gold. Yes, we had occasion
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: some months ago to strengthen our resources, and borrowed for
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: that purpose thirty thousand napoleons from the Bank of France.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: It has become known that we have never had occasion
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: to unpack the money, and that it is still lying
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: in our cellar. The crate upon which I sit contains
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: two thousand napoleons packed between layers of lead foil. Our
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: reserve of bullion is much larger at present than is
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: usually kept in a single branch office. And the directors
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: have had misgivings upon the subject, which were very well justified,
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: observed Holmes. And now it is time that we arranged
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: our little plans. I expect that within an hour matters
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: will come to a head. In the meantime, mister Meriwether,
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: we must put the screen over that dark lantern and
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: sit in the dark. I am afraid so I had
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and I
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: thought that as we were a PARTI carree, you might
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: have your rubber after all, But I see that the
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: enemy's preparations have gone so far that we cannot risk
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: the presence of a life. And first of all, we
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: must choose our possessions. These are daring men, and though
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: us some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: behind this crate, and do you conceal yourselves behind those? Then,
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: when I flash a light upon them, close in swiftly.
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: If they fire, Watson have no compunction about shooting them down.
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: I placed my revolver cocked up on the top of
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: the wooden case behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: slide across the front of his lantern and left us
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: in pitch darkness, such an absolute darkness as I have
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: never before experienced. The smell of hot metal remained to
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: assure us that the light was still there, ready to
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: nerves worked up to a pitch of expancy, there was
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: something depressing and subduing in the sudden gloom and in
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: the cold, dank air of the vault. They have but
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: one retreat, whispered Holmes, that is back through the house
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: into Saxe Coburg Square. I hope that you have done
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: what I asked you, Jones. I am an inspector and
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: two officers waiting at the front door. Then we have
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: stopped all the holes, and now we must be silent
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: and wait. What a time it seemed from comparing notes afterwards,
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: it was but an hour and a quarter. Yet it
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: appeared to me that the night must have almost gone,
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs were
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position.
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: Yet my nerves were worked up to the highest pitch
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: of tension, and my hearing was so acute that I
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: could not only hear the gentle breathing of my companions,
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: but I could distinguish the deeper, heavier in breadth of
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: the bulky Jones from the thin sighing note of the
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: bank director. From my position, I could look over the
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: case in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: caught the glint of a light. At first it was
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then it
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: leathened out until it became a yellow line, and then,
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open,
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: and hand appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: about in the center of the little area of light.
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: For a minute or more, the hand, with its writhing fingers,
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: protruded out of the floor. Then it was withdrawn as
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark again, save
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: the single lurid spark which marked a chink between the stones.
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, tearing sound,
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: one of the broad white stones turned over upon its
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: side and left a square, gaping hole through which streamed
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: the light of a lantern. Over the edge, there peeped
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: a clean cut, boyish face which looked keenly about it,
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: and then, with a hand on either side of the aperture,
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: drew itself shoulder high and waist high, until one knee
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: rested upon the edge. In another instant he stood at
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: the side of the hole and was hauling after him
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: face and a shock of very red hair. It's all clear,
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: he whispered, Have you the chisel and the bags, Great Scott, jump, Archie, jump,
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: and I'll swing for it. Shirl Holmes had sprung out
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: down the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes's hunting crop
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: came down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: upon the stone floor. It's no use, John Clay, said Holmes, flandly,
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: you have no chance at all, so I see the
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: other answered with the utmost coolness. I fancy that my
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: pal is all right, though I see you have got
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: his coat tails. There are three men waiting for him
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: at the door, said Holmes. Oh, indeed, you seem to
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: have done the thing very completely. I must compliment you,
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: and I you, Holmes answered, Your red headed idea was
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: very new and effective. You'll see your palagan presently, said Jones.
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: He's quickerly climbing down holes than I am. Just hold
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: out while I fix the derbies. I beg that you
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: will not touch me with your filthy hands, remarked our prisoner,
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. You may not
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: be aware that I have royal blood in my veins.
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: Have the goodness also when you address me, always to
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: say sir and please all right, said Jones, with a
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: stare and a snigger. Well, would you please, sir march
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: upstairs where we can get a cab to carry your
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: highness to the police station. That is better, said John
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow to the three
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: of us, and walked quietly off in the custody of
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: the detective. Really, mister Holmes, said mister Merriwether, as we
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: followed them from the cellar. I do not know how
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: the bank can thank you, will repay you. There is
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: no doubt that you have detected and defeated, in the
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: most complete manner, one of the most determined attempts at
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: bank robbery that has ever come within my experience. I
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: have had one or two little scores of my own
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: to settle with, mister John Clay, said Holmes. I have
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: been at some small expense over this matter, which I
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: shall expect the bank to refund. But beyond that I
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: am amply repaid by having had an experience which is
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: in many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: narrative of the red Headed League, you see, Watson, he
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: explained in the early hours of the morning, as we
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: sat over a glass of whiskey and soda in Baker Street.
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: It was perfectly obvious from the first that the only
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: possible object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: of the league and the copying of the encyclopedia must
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: be to get this not over bright pawnbroker out of
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: the way for a number of hours every day. It
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: was a curious way of managing it, but really it
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: would be difficult to suggest a better The method was
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the color
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: of his accomplice's hair. The four pounds a week was
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: a lure which must draw him. And what was it
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: to them who were playing for thousands? They put in
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: the advertisement. One rogue has the temporary office, the other
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: rogue incites the man to apply for it, and together
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: they managed to secure his absence every morning in the week.
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: From the time that I heard of the assistant having
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: come for half wages, it was obvious to me that
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: he had some strong motive for securing the situation. But
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: how could you guess what the motive was? Had there
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: been a woman in the house, I should have suspected
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: did a mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: the question. The man's business was a small one, and
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: there was nothing in his house which could account for
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: such elaborate preparations and such an expenditure as they were
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: at It must then be something out of the house.
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: What could it be? I thought of the assistant's fundness
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: for photography and his trick of vanishing into the cellar
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: the cellar. There was the end of this tangled clue
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: that I made my inquiries as to this mysterious assistant
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: and found that I had to deal with one of
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: the coolest and most daring criminals in London. He was
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: doing something in the cellar, something which took many hours
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: a day from months on end. What could it be?
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: Once more, I could think of nothing, say that he
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: was running a tunnel to some other building. So far
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: I had got. When we went to visit the scene
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: of action, I surprised you by beating upon the pavement
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: with my stick. I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: out in front or behind. It was not in front.
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: Then I rang the bell, and as I hoped the
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: had never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: looked at his face. His knees were what I wished
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: to see. You must yourself have remarked how worn, wrinkled
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: and stained they were. They spoke of those hours of burrowing.
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: The only remaining point was what were they burrowing? For?
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: I walked round the corner, saw the city in suburban
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: bank about it on our friend's premises, and felt that
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: I had solved my problem. When you drove home after
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: the concert, I called upon Scotland Yard, upon the chairman
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: of the bank directors, with the result that you have
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: seen And how could you tell that they would make
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: their attempt tonight? I asked, Well, when they closed their
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: league offices, that was a sign that they cared no
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: longer about mister job As Wilson's presence. In other words,
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: that they had completed their tunnel, but it was essential
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: that they should use it soon, as it might be
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: discovered or the bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: them better than any other day, as it would give
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: them two days for their escape. For all these reasons
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: I expected them to come tonight you reasoned it out beautifully,
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: I exclaimed, in unfeigned admiration. It is so long a chain,
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: and yet every link rings true. It saved me from anyui,
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: he answered, yawning. Alas I all ready feeling closing and
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: upon me. My life is spent in one long effort
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: to escape from the commonplaces of existence. Ah, these little
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: problems help me to do so. And you are a
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: benefactor of the race, said I. He shrugged his shoulders. Well, perhaps,
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: after all, it is of some little use, he remarked. Long,
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: serrier lou sit too, as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: sand end of Part three, End of The Red Headed
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: League by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle