elapt1c/ElapticAI-512 · Datasets at Fast360

text stringlengths 0 149M
my pal is all right, though I see you have got his coat-tails.

“There are three men waiting for him at the door, said Holmes.

“Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I must
compliment you.

“And I you, Holmes answered. “Your red-headed idea was very new and
effective.

“You’ll see your pal again presently, said Jones. “He’s quicker at
climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the derbies.

“I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands, remarked our
prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. “You may not be
aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have the goodness, also,
when you address me always to say ‘sir’ and ‘please.’

“All right, said Jones with a stare and a snigger. “Well, would you
please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry your
Highness to the police-station?

“That is better, said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow to
the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the detective.

“Really, Mr. Holmes, said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them from
the cellar, “I do not know how the bank can thank you or repay you.
There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated in the most
complete manner one of the most determined attempts at bank robbery
that have ever come within my experience.

“I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. John
Clay, said Holmes. “I have been at some small expense over this
matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond that I am
amply repaid by having had an experience which is in many ways unique,
and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of the Red-headed League.

“You see, Watson, he explained in the early hours of the morning as we
sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, “it was perfectly
obvious from the first that the only possible object of this rather
fantastic business of the advertisement of the League, and the copying
of the Encyclopædia, must be to get this not over-bright pawnbroker
out of the way for a number of hours every day. It was a curious way of
managing it, but, really, it would be difficult to suggest a better.
The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious mind by the
colour of his accomplice’s hair. The £ 4 a week was a lure which must
draw him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? They
put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary office, the other
rogue incites the man to apply for it, and together they manage to
secure his absence every morning in the week. From the time that I
heard of the assistant having come for half wages, it was obvious to me
that he had some strong motive for securing the situation.

“But how could you guess what the motive was?

“Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere
vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The man’s
business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which
could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure
as they were at. It must, then, be something out of the house. What
could it be? I thought of the assistant’s fondness for photography, and
his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar! There was the end
of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious
assistant and found that I had to deal with one of the coolest and most
daring criminals in London. He was doing something in the
cellar—something which took many hours a day for months on end. What
could it be, once more? I could think of nothing save that he was
running a tunnel to some other building.

“So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I
surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was
ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. It
was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the assistant
answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had never set eyes
upon each other before. I hardly looked at his face. His knees were
what I wished to see. You must yourself have remarked how worn,
wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of those hours of
burrowing. The only remaining point was what they were burrowing for. I
walked round the corner, saw the City and Suburban Bank abutted on our
friend’s premises, and felt that I had solved my problem. When you
drove home after the concert I called upon Scotland Yard and upon the
chairman of the bank directors, with the result that you have seen.

“And how could you tell that they would make their attempt to-night? I
asked.

“Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that they
cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson’s presence—in other words, that
they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential that they should
use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the bullion might be
removed. Saturday would suit them better than any other day, as it
would give them two days for their escape. For all these reasons I
expected them to come to-night.

“You reasoned it out beautifully, I exclaimed in unfeigned admiration.
“It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings true.

“It saved me from ennui, he answered, yawning. “Alas! I already feel
it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort to escape
from the commonplaces of existence. These little problems help me to do

my pal is all right, though I see you have got his coat-tails.

“There are three men waiting for him at the door, said Holmes.

“Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I must

compliment you.

“And I you, Holmes answered. “Your red-headed idea was very new and

effective.

“You’ll see your pal again presently, said Jones. “He’s quicker at

climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the derbies.

“I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands, remarked our

prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. “You may not be

aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have the goodness, also,

when you address me always to say ‘sir’ and ‘please.’

“All right, said Jones with a stare and a snigger. “Well, would you

please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry your

Highness to the police-station?

“That is better, said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow to

the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the detective.

“Really, Mr. Holmes, said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them from

the cellar, “I do not know how the bank can thank you or repay you.

There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated in the most

complete manner one of the most determined attempts at bank robbery

that have ever come within my experience.

“I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. John

Clay, said Holmes. “I have been at some small expense over this

matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond that I am

amply repaid by having had an experience which is in many ways unique,

and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of the Red-headed League.

“You see, Watson, he explained in the early hours of the morning as we

sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, “it was perfectly

obvious from the first that the only possible object of this rather

fantastic business of the advertisement of the League, and the copying

of the Encyclopædia, must be to get this not over-bright pawnbroker

out of the way for a number of hours every day. It was a curious way of

managing it, but, really, it would be difficult to suggest a better.

The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious mind by the

colour of his accomplice’s hair. The £ 4 a week was a lure which must

draw him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? They

put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary office, the other

rogue incites the man to apply for it, and together they manage to

secure his absence every morning in the week. From the time that I

heard of the assistant having come for half wages, it was obvious to me

that he had some strong motive for securing the situation.

“But how could you guess what the motive was?

“Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere

vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The man’s

business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which

could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure

as they were at. It must, then, be something out of the house. What

could it be? I thought of the assistant’s fondness for photography, and

his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar! There was the end

of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious

assistant and found that I had to deal with one of the coolest and most

daring criminals in London. He was doing something in the

cellar—something which took many hours a day for months on end. What

could it be, once more? I could think of nothing save that he was

running a tunnel to some other building.

“So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I

surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was

ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. It

was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the assistant

answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had never set eyes

upon each other before. I hardly looked at his face. His knees were

what I wished to see. You must yourself have remarked how worn,

wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of those hours of

burrowing. The only remaining point was what they were burrowing for. I

walked round the corner, saw the City and Suburban Bank abutted on our

friend’s premises, and felt that I had solved my problem. When you

drove home after the concert I called upon Scotland Yard and upon the

chairman of the bank directors, with the result that you have seen.

“And how could you tell that they would make their attempt to-night? I

asked.

“Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that they

cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson’s presence—in other words, that

they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential that they should

use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the bullion might be

removed. Saturday would suit them better than any other day, as it

would give them two days for their escape. For all these reasons I

expected them to come to-night.

“You reasoned it out beautifully, I exclaimed in unfeigned admiration.

“It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings true.

“It saved me from ennui, he answered, yawning. “Alas! I already feel

it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort to escape

from the commonplaces of existence. These little problems help me to do