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    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
    Ebook370 pages6 hours

    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

    By Arthur Conan Doyle

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    About this ebook

    Twelve stories by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring our favourite duo, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, as they solve mysteries. The undefeatable wit of Sherlock, his power of deduction, and his application of pure reason make this beautiful deluxe edition a must-have for all detective fiction lovers! More titles by Arthur Conan Doyle: The Complete Novels of Sherlock Holmes, The Return of Sherlock HolmesTwelve best detective fiction stories that will keep you on the edge of seat!• Follow the world' s greatest detective as he solves nail biting mysteries• Stories that made Arthur Conan Doyle famous in the literary world• Explore the social injustices prevalent in the society and how Sherlock fights them!• Rediscover friendship, love, and passion• Stories that will grip you till the end with its twists and turns

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFingerprint Publishing
    Release dateMay 20, 2023
    ISBN9789358562750
    Author

    Arthur Conan Doyle

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish writer and physician, most famous for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes and long-suffering sidekick Dr Watson. Conan Doyle was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.

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    Reviews for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

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    • 3/5
      The stories aren't as memorable as The Hound of the Baskervilles, Study in Scarlet, and The Sign of Four. None of the stories stand out.
    • 4/5
      Excellent short stories with the same detective and his friend Dr. Watson, the stories normally being less than 20 pages. I like how the stories are bizarre yet still realistic and that logic plays such a big part. Quite entertaining.
    • 3/5
      Sherlock Holmes solves mysteries.2.5/4 (Okay).Some of these are pretty bad, especially the early ones where Doyle (and therefor Holmes) is on the side of the villains as often as not. They improve as they go, as Doyle settles into a formula. Unfortunately, unlike the preceding novellas, there's no character development at all.(May 2022)
    • 4/5
      I liked the first and the last stories the best, but I really like the longer novel length stories the best in the Holmes canon. 3 1/2 stars
    • 5/5
      This first collection of shorter Holmes and Watson adventures is massively enjoyable.

      Yes, the stories are a touch formulaic in that Holmes and Watson are typically met by a confused or panicked individual who manages to provide a completely coherent and well-observed summary of the mystery. Then Holmes almost always has the answer almost immediately and heads off to confirm his theory, then there is the denouement where certain suspicions are confirmed, and Holmes walks us through his solution.

      And yet, for all of that, each one is vastly entertaining and well-written. Holmes is surely one of the pinnacles of fictional characters.

      Love this stuff.
    • 3/5
      Classic, great, fun all that. I think I'm just more partial to the pacing and length of the four novels.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyed more than I expected! I hadn't read some of these stories since high school, but some of the memories came sprinting back. Looking forward to reading more of the Holmes canon.
    • 4/5
      A varied, intriguing collection. My favorites are "A Scandal in Bohemia," "A Case of Identity," "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," and "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches," because they are fascinating but deliciously plotted mysteries. "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is suuuuper creepy (and it involves a creature I hate), but it's one of the most suspenseful stories in the collection.
    • 4/5
      Rating 3.8
      Review I've had this on my TBR for a long time. I thought I had the one that is part of 1001 but I checked further and not all are the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This consisted of 12 short stories narrated by the good doctor Watson POV. Entertaining, not complicated, easily to engage stories. I had read only one previously The Blue Carbuncle which was a free one at Christmas time a few years back. These stories are full of social justice issues.
    • 5/5
      The classic collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories. I enjoyed re-reading these classic favorites. My favorite story was "The Five Orange Pips". There have been many watered down retellings of this story, but the original is much grittier and unusual for the setting.
    • 5/5
      These are the classic Sherlock tales, and they’re probably the best known of all the short stories. I remember my dad reading these aloud to my brother and me when we were children. These stories are distinctive and quite enjoyable, and in my opinion, some of Sherlock’s most memorable moments occur within these pages. I liked that not all of these stories involved traditional crimes, and I also liked that several of them featured strong women. Holmes fails in at least two of these stories, and it really was something to see the great detective in his lower moments as well. He is still a very human character, for all his powers, and he’s very well fleshed-out here. On the whole, a wonderful collection of tales.
    • 4/5
      A wonderful collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories. At first, I wasn't thrilled with the narrator, but shortly into the first story I found that he suited the material well. I only wish he would have tried for different voices for Holmes and Watson, but that's a minor point.

      Out of this collection, "A Scandal in Bohemia" is the rough basis for the season 2 Sherlock premiere, "A Scandal in Belgravia". Reading it, you can definitely see where the TV series borrowed portions. Not that either suffers from the comparison. It's also the where Irene Adler first appears in a Holmes story.

      There's a variety of different kinds of mysteries in the collection. Some are terrible crimes to be solved/averted while others are simply interesting mysteries to be solved. But, one can't always tell which stories fits into which category. Some stories are truly fantastic, while others are merely good.

      I'd highly recommend that fans of mysteries and in particular, fans of the BBC series read these stories. You won't regret it.
    • 4/5
      2020 reread via this Tantor audiobook:
      An excellent way to experience these short stories but unfortunately, it is missing the 2nd story "The Red-headed League". According to the pdf file that came with the audiobook, this story should have been included; it is possible this defect is individual due to my download but for those considering buying this audiobook, make sure that you get the whole book.

      Simon Prebble did a good narration.
    • 4/5
      This collection of a dozen short stories recorded by Dr. Watson showcases the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes. The crimes range from murder to blackmail, robbery, and missing persons. They’re not in chronological order. Watson is married in some stories, and in others he is a bachelor sharing rooms with Holmes. The impression one gets is that Watson is writing up cases from his notes as something triggers his memory of a particular case. This time around I listened to the audio by Ralph Cosham. I prefer Edward Hardwicke’s narration of the Holmes stories, perhaps because he played Watson in the Granada TV series.
    • 4/5
      My first collection of Sherlock's shorts and they were super fun. Witty, varied, self-referential, Holmes is a much gentler fellow in these tales than he appears in recent incarnations. He fights for the underdog and cares about the wronged. Some of these stories seem to have been told and retold in every detective series ever imagined but they shine here in their original forms.
    • 4/5
      I've read this multiple times, having first come to Holmes as a teenager. This was the first time I've listened to them, and having Stephen Fry narrate is a stroke of genius. He has that patrician voice that seems to match nicely with the tone I can hear in Watson as he narrates the stories. The short stories make it easy to listen while commuting. That and the fact that as I listened to them I could remember what the puzzle or situation involved meant this was a bit like revisiting an old friend and finding them both changed and reliably the same.
    • 5/5
      A strong collection of Holmes stories, highlighted by the powerfully creepy “The Speckled Band,” the modesty gothic “The Copper Beeches,” and the delightful “A Scandal in Bohemia.”
      The only story that was substandard for me was “The Blue Carbuncle,” in which the plot was too fantastic to be believed. But even that story is full of the late Victorian atmosphere and Holmes at his best.
      We tend to forget how much mystery stories and novels owe to Conan Doyle. His ideas and plots are being used even today as inspiration for authors.
      If you long for gas-lit London, hansom cabs, fog, and excellent detecting, try this volume, either for the first or fifth time. You’ll be glad you did.
    • 4/5
      Great little mystery stories, I had fun reading this!
    • 5/5
      This is the first book I have read out of all Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes books, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has made me want to read the actual novels, names and incidents of which were mentioned in several of the stories in this book.

      I loved both the observation of Sherlock Holmes himself, by Dr. Watson who writes the accounts of their investigations, in the first person. I love how, seemly odd events come together to make such intriguing tales. It is less 'mystery thriller' or 'whodunnit' and more the small almost imperceptible occurrences which grow into something more, or baffling accidents which become investigative worthy. I loved the simplicity of how such detailed and convoluted happenings come together and unfold into something criminal - things that would be completely missed by anyone but Sherlock Holmes' keen eye.

      I loved the style of late Victorian writing, reminiscent of a time gone by. It made me realise that the recent Sherlock Holmes films (staring Robert Downey Jr.) reflect both the time and the writing. This has book has turned me into a Sherlock Holmes fan!
    • 5/5
      The Powers of Observation
      Sherlock Holmes was a busy detective. In this stage of his illustrious career there is so much to tell. Dr. Watson, his faithful companion and oficial schreiber, gives us a summary of Holmes’s most interesting cases. The short stories found in this book provide the reader enough material to appreciate Holmes’s powers of careful observation and enlightened deduction. Holmes’s path to mystery solving is quite unique. His behavior somewhat funny. The short stories show all this. Although I cannot recollect the details of most stories, I enjoy a lot the book. Above all one feel more familiarity with Holmes and that is good.
    • 5/5
      Great mystery stories that I will miss reading on the couch each night.

      The clues offered give readers a chance to figure out the crime and criminals
      and none is gruesome or horrifying, though The Thumb can be rough to endure.

      The characters of Holmes and Watson are so finely tuned that we fit right in as soon
      as the fireplace or dressing gown or breakfast are mentioned.

      A few of the stories could have used more suspense, as though Doyle was tired and just wanted to end them,
      yet what a variety!
    • 4/5
      It was nice to re-read these.
    • 4/5
      The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) is the first book-length collection of Holmes short stories, they were originally published in The Strand Magazine 1891-92. Most of them have small references to other stories so there is a sense of coherence and world-building. It includes "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" which Doyle considered his all-time favorite Holmes story. It's gaslight entertainment that evokes an age. The spooky mansions with the evil mastermind, brutish henchmen and the locked room with a mystery. Well, it's better than Saturday morning cartoons.
    • 3/5
      This is filled with several short stories. They were interesting and live up to the adventures part of the title. I believe the shortness of the stories made me not get into them as much. I still liked them for sure.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this one, it had a number of interesting short stories in highlighting the skills of Sherlock Holmes. I much prefer longer novels to short stories but I did all these stories fully engaging. Onto the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes now.
    • 5/5
      If you've ever read Sherlock Holmes, you don't need me to tell you how brilliant this collection of stories is. It has most of my favourites: A Scandal in Bohemia, The Adventure of the Red-Headed League, The Five Orange Pips, The Man with the Twisted Lip and The Adventure of the Speckled Band. The rest are all great too, but those have always been the stories I remember, even after reading the entire collection at least half a dozen times.

      Sherlock Holmes is, far and away, my favorite all-time literary character and I never get tired of reading him; Watson... ok, if I read too many stories in a row I want to throttle Watson because surely he can't be that obtuse all the time? But he's a big teddy bear and someone needs to play the straight man to Holmes' brilliance.
    • 4/5
      Sherlock Holmes -- always a favorite. Read these stories years ago. Having them on Kindle means I can always dip back into them.
    • 3/5
      Prior to this, the only Sherlock Holmes I had attempted to read was "The Hound of the Baskervilles" which I started at least twice but never finished. I've enjoyed the PBS series "Sherlock" and a friend mentioned that some of the events in that corresponded with what she'd read in the stories/novels. So when this one came up as free on Amazon, I downloaded it and decided I'd give it a try. I enjoyed the stories, but I don't follow the clues that Holmes sees/hears as he investigates--so his reveal is always a bit of a surprise to me.
    • 4/5
      A collection of short stories as told by Dr Watson of his cases with Sherlock Holmes. Watson (author Doyle) isn't afraid to demonstrate Holmes' personality tics and general moral faults, while admiring Holmes' ability to find a needle in a haystack through keen observation and precise deduction. Holmes is CSI before there was CSI and does it without the tools of today's TV shows. Holmes listens to his interviewees in great detail, is quick to observe the littles things (her left hand was more worn than her right with that crease in her dress she therefore was spending great deal of time sewing) and is able to connect all the dots and even add the missing dots. Entertaining and very easy to read, leave and pickup because each story is only an hour or so read.
    • 5/5
      I previously read A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four and found them a little underwhelming. With this book though the game really is afoot. I've read a lot of short stories so I'm a bit fussy and these are some of the best.

    Book preview

    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

    1

    A Scandal in Bohemia

    I

    To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer—excellent for drawing the veil from men’s motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.

    I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of my former friend and companion.

    One night—it was on the twentieth of March, 1888—I was returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which had formerly been in part my own.

    His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular introspective fashion.

    Wedlock suits you, he remarked. I think, Watson, that you have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you.

    Seven! I answered.

    Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not tell me that you intended to go into harness.

    Then, how do you know?

    I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?

    My dear Holmes, said I, this is too much. You would certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can’t imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it out.

    He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together.

    It is simplicity itself, said he; my eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce him to be an active member of the medical profession.

    I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his process of deduction. When I hear you give your reasons, I remarked, the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.

    Quite so, he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself down into an armchair. You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.

    Frequently.

    How often?

    Well, some hundreds of times.

    Then how many are there?

    How many? I don’t know.

    Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed. By the way, since you are interested in these little problems, and since you are good enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you may be interested in this. He threw over a sheet of thick, pink-tinted notepaper which had been lying open upon the table. It came by the last post, said he. Read it aloud.

    The note was undated, and without either signature or address.

    There will call upon you tonight, at a quarter to eight o’clock, it said, a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask.

    This is indeed a mystery, I remarked. What do you imagine that it means?

    I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. What do you deduce from it?

    I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was written.

    The man who wrote it was presumably well to do, I remarked, endeavouring to imitate my companion’s processes. Such paper could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly strong and stiff.

    Peculiar—that is the very word, said Holmes. It is not an English paper at all. Hold it up to the light.

    I did so, and saw a large "E with a small g, a P, and a large G with a small t" woven into the texture of the paper.

    What do you make of that? asked Holmes.

    The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather.

    "Not at all. The ‘G’ with the small ‘t’ stands for ‘Gesellschaft,’ which is the German for ‘Company.’ It is a customary contraction like our ‘Co.’ ‘P,’ of course, stands for ‘Papier.’ Now for the ‘Eg.’ Let us glance at our Continental Gazetteer. He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. Eglow, Eglonitz—here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking country—in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. ‘Remarkable as being the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous glass-factories and paper-mills.’ Ha, ha, my boy, what do you make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue triumphant cloud from his cigarette.

    The paper was made in Bohemia, I said.

    Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you note the peculiar construction of the sentence—‘This account of you we have from all quarters received.’ A Frenchman or Russian could not have written that. It is the German who is so uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts.

    As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses’ hoofs and grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the bell. Holmes whistled.

    A pair, by the sound, said he. Yes, he continued, glancing out of the window. A nice little brougham and a pair of beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There’s money in this case, Watson, if there is nothing else.

    I think that I had better go, Holmes.

    Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss it.

    But your client—

    Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best attention.

    A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there was a loud and authoritative tap.

    Come in! said Holmes.

    A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy.

    You had my note? he asked with a deep harsh voice and a strongly marked German accent. I told you that I would call. He looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to address.

    Pray take a seat, said Holmes. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?

    You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate with you alone.

    I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me back into my chair. It is both, or none, said he. You may say before this gentleman anything which you may say to me.

    The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. Then I must begin, said he, by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it may have an influence upon European history.

    I promise, said Holmes.

    And I.

    You will excuse this mask, continued our strange visitor. The august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have just called myself is not exactly my own.

    I was aware of it, said Holmes dryly.

    The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia.

    I was also aware of that, murmured Holmes, settling himself down in his armchair and closing his eyes.

    Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his gigantic client.

    If your Majesty would condescend to state your case, he remarked, I should be better able to advise you.

    The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. You are right, he cried; I am the King. Why should I attempt to conceal it?

    Why, indeed? murmured Holmes. Your Majesty had not spoken before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and hereditary King of Bohemia.

    But you can understand, said our strange visitor, sitting down once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, you can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting you.

    Then, pray consult, said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more.

    The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you.

    Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor, murmured Holmes without opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea fishes.

    Let me see! said Holmes. Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto—hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera of Warsaw—yes! Retired from operatic stage—ha! Living in London—quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and is now desirous of getting those letters back.

    Precisely so. But how—

    Was there a secret marriage?

    None.

    No legal papers or certificates?

    None.

    Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is she to prove their authenticity?

    There is the writing.

    Pooh, pooh! Forgery.

    My private note-paper.

    Stolen.

    My own seal.

    Imitated.

    My photograph.

    Bought.

    We were both in the photograph.

    Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an indiscretion.

    I was mad—insane.

    You have compromised yourself seriously.

    I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now.

    It must be recovered.

    We have tried and failed.

    Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought.

    She will not sell.

    Stolen, then.

    Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice she has been waylaid. There has been no result.

    No sign of it?

    Absolutely none.

    Holmes laughed. It is quite a pretty little problem, said he.

    But a very serious one to me, returned the King reproachfully.

    Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the photograph?

    To ruin me.

    But how?

    I am about to be married.

    So I have heard.

    To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end.

    And Irene Adler?

    Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not go—none.

    You are sure that she has not sent it yet?

    I am sure.

    And why?

    Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday.

    Oh, then we have three days yet, said Holmes with a yawn. "That is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in London for

    the present?"

    Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the Count Von Kramm.

    Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress.

    Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety.

    Then, as to money?

    You have carte blanche.

    Absolutely?

    I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom to have that photograph.

    And for present expenses?

    The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak and laid it on the table.

    There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in notes, he said.

    Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and handed it to him.

    And Mademoiselle’s address? he asked.

    Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John’s Wood.

    Holmes took a note of it. One other question, said he. Was the photograph a cabinet?

    It was.

    Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson, he added, as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street.

    If you will be good enough to call tomorrow afternoon at three o’clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you.

    II

    At three o’clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the house shortly after eight o’clock in the morning. I sat down beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and strange features which were associated with the two crimes which I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to enter into my head.

    It was close upon four before the door opened, and a drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. Accustomed as I was to my friend’s amazing powers in the use of disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes.

    Well, really! he cried, and then he choked and laughed again until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the chair.

    What is it?

    It’s quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I employed my morning, or what I ended by doing.

    I can’t imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler.

    "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, however. I left the house a little after eight o’clock this morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without noting anything else of interest.

    I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half-and-half, two fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but whose biographies I was compelled to listen to.

    And what of Irene Adler? I asked.

    "Oh, she has turned all the men’s heads down in that part. She is the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan of campaign.

    This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the relation between them, and what the object of his repeated visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman’s chambers in the Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the situation.

    I am following you closely, I answered.

    "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached—evidently the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly at home.

    "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from his pocket and looked at it earnestly, ‘Drive like the devil,’ he shouted, ‘first to Gross & Hankey’s in Regent Street, and then to the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if you do it in twenty minutes!’

    "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of the buckles. It hadn’t pulled up before she shot out of the hall door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for.

    "‘The Church of St. Monica, John,’ she cried, ‘and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.’

    "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could object. ‘The Church of St. Monica,’ said I, ‘and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.’ It was twenty-five minutes to twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind.

    "My cabby drove fast. I don’t think I ever drove faster, but the others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards me.

    "‘Thank God,’ he cried. ‘You’ll do. Come! Come!’

    "‘What then?’ I asked.

    "‘Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won’t be legal.’

    I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just now. It seems that there had been some informality about their license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean to wear it on my watch chain in memory of the occasion.

    This is a very unexpected turn of affairs, said I; and what then?

    Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and she to her own house. ‘I shall drive out in the park at five as usual,’ she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove away in different directions, and I went off to make my own arrangements.

    Which are?

    Some cold beef and a glass of beer, he answered, ringing the bell. I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want your co-operation.

    I shall be delighted.

    You don’t mind breaking the law?

    Not in the least.

    Nor running a chance of arrest?

    Not in a good cause.

    Oh, the cause is excellent!

    Then I am your man.

    I was sure that I might rely on you.

    But what is it you wish?

    When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to you. Now, he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I

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