Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 46 Adventure History 4
One day last autumn, I went to call on my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and found him engaged in deep conversation with a short, stout, rosy-faced, red-haired gentleman.I apologized to Holmes for interrupting their conversation, and was about to withdraw, but Holmes pulled me into the room and closed the door behind him.

"My dear Watson, you have come just in time," he said kindly.

"I'm afraid you are busy."

"It's busy, and it's very busy."

"Then I'll wait next door for a while."

"No. Mr. Wilson, this gentleman has been my partner and assistant in many important cases that I have successfully solved. I have no doubt that he will also be of greatest assistance to me in the investigation of your case." of."

The stout gentleman sat on the chair, bowed his head, smiled and nodded to me; but there was a skeptical look in his fat little eyes.

"You sit on the settee," said Holmes, retiring himself in his arm-chair, with his fingers clasped--as was his habit when he was thinking about his cases. "My dear Watson, I know that we have a common taste for the unearthly and eccentric, and we have no interest in the monotonous routine of everyday life. If you are not surprised by your enthusiastic record, I must say It is an embellished description of my trivial adventures, which shows your keen interest in them."

"I have always been interested in your cases," I replied.

"A few days ago, before we discussed the very simple question raised by Miss Mary Sutherland, I said something with emotion, you must not have forgotten: In order to achieve a unique effect and an unusually tacit cooperation, we must One must go deep into life. Life itself is more adventurous than even the best imagination can match."

"I am deeply skeptical of this formulation."

"Doubt all you want, Doctor, but you've got to agree with me anyway. Otherwise, I'll go on and on with my examples until you throw in the towel and admit I'm right. Well, this Jaberts? Mr. Wilson came to consult me ​​this morning and began to tell a story. I have not heard a stranger story in a long time. You have heard me say before that the strangest and most unique events often It is related to minor crimes, but not necessarily related to those serious crimes. Those minor crimes even make people doubt whether there was any crime. After hearing your introduction now, I can’t say whether this case is a criminal case, but The course of the case is undoubtedly one of the most grotesque that I have ever heard. If possible, Mr. Wilson, I beg you to repeat it from the beginning. My friend Dr. Watson did not hear the beginning, and the story is too strange. So I want to get more detailed details from your narration. Generally speaking, I listen to the description of the case, and I can think of thousands of similar cases just by listening to the ins and outs of things; and use these cases to guide myself; But this time, I have to admit, it's an exception, and those facts are very unique to me."

With a somewhat proud sigh of relief, the portly client produced a dirty, crumpled old newspaper from the inside pocket of his long overcoat.Spreading the newspaper across his knees, he craned his neck to search the billboards.Then I began to look at the man carefully, trying to imitate my companion's methods, and to see something in his appearance.

However, the harvest after my observation is not ideal.On the surface, this visitor is a very ordinary British businessman, a little fat, pompous, and slow in action.He wore baggy, drooping gray checked trousers and a dirty tailcoat, unbuttoned in the front, revealing a drab vest with an Albert-style brass strap on it. The copper chain is decorated with a metal plate with a square hole in the middle, dangling on the chest.Beside him lay a worn top hat and a faded brown overcoat, the collar of which was crumpled, on a chair.I thought he was very ordinary except for his flaming red hair and his angry and dissatisfied expression.

The keen eye of Sherlock Holmes had read my mind.When he saw my skeptical look, he shook his head with a smile. "He has done manual labor, smoked snuff, was a Freemason, been to China, and has written quite a bit lately. I have not deduced anything other than the obvious."

Jaberts?When Mr. Wilson heard his words, he sat up suddenly, with his hands on the newspaper, but his eyes were fixed on my friend.

"Oh, God," said he, "Mr. Holmes, how do you know so well about me? How do you know, for example, that I have worked as a manual laborer? It is indeed true. I used to be a carpenter in a ship."

"My dear Mr. Wilson, look at your hands. The right hand is obviously larger than the left. You work with your right hand, and therefore your right hand is more muscular."

"And what about snuff and Freemasonry?"

"I can't tell you all, because then your understanding will be too low. Besides, you don't follow the rules of your group, and you have a bow-shaped compass-shaped pin."

"Oh, yes, I did forget that. What about writing?"

"Does that matter? You have five inches of light shining on your right sleeve, and the cuff of your left sleeve has a neat patch from constant wear and tear on the tabletop."

"How do you know I've been to China?"

"You have a tattooed fish on your right wrist, it must have been tattooed in China. I have studied tattoos and published articles about it. The skill of being able to color fish of different sizes with such a delicate pink A masterpiece of China. Also, I saw you wearing a Chinese coin, wouldn't that be more telling?"

Jaberts?After hearing this, Wilson laughed.He said: "That's great, I never thought of this. At the beginning, I thought you were clever, but after you said it, I felt nothing."

Holmes said: "Watson, I really regret that I shouldn't have said it. My reputation is not very good if I want to be 'great wisdom and foolishness'. If I am too real, my reputation will be ruined. Mr. Wilson, you found Is that ad?"

"Found it, here it is," he said, pointing his thick red finger in the middle of the billboard.He said: "Here, the whole thing came out of it. See for yourselves, sir."

I took the newspaper and read it:

redheads apocalypse

Since the late Lebanese Esekia originally lived in Pennsylvania, USA?There is another vacancy in the bequest of Hopkins.All Redhead members are eligible to apply.The salary was four pounds a week, purely nominal.All red-haired males, over 21 years old, in good health and with sound intelligence are qualified candidates.Candidates please come to the office building of the Redhead Society, No. 7 Pope's Court, Fleet Street, at [-]:[-] on Monday morning to Duncan?Rose applied.

"What the hell is going on here?" I exclaimed after viewing the highly unusual ad twice.

Holmes sat in his chair and laughed, tremblingly, as he often did when he was in a good mood. "It's a bit of an ad, isn't it?" he said. "Well, Mr. Wilson, you start at the beginning now—anything about you, your family, what this ad brings to you. By luck, tell us everything. Doc, please write down the name and date of the newspaper."

"The Annals of April 27, [-], exactly two months ago."

"Very well, Mr. Wilson, then please begin."

Jaberts said: "I opened a small shop in Saks-Coburg Square near the city. It was just a small business that kept me going. I used to be able to afford two guys, and now I can only hire one. I might not even be able to hire a helper if he hadn't volunteered to take half his salary just to learn to trade."

"What's the boy's name?"

"His name is Vincent Spaulding. He is smart and capable. He should live better and make more money than he is now. But since he is satisfied with this wages, why should I persuade him to give up?"

"You can hire such a good guy with less than half of the market price. This is really rare nowadays. Is there anything unusual about this guy?"

Mr. Wilson said: "He has a bit of a problem. He is very fond of taking pictures. He goes around taking pictures and rushing to the basement to wash them when he is done. That is his biggest problem. But on the whole, he is still a good helper."

"I think you're still living together now."

"Yes, sir. Besides him, there is a little girl of 14 years old. This kid cooks and cleans the house. Because I am a widower and never married, that's all. We live very well together, Everyone pays off the debt together, if there is nothing else to do.”

“The first thing that disrupted our lives was this ad. Exactly two months ago today, Spaulding walked into the office with a newspaper and said:

"'Mr. Wilson, I wish God I could be a redhead.'"

"I wondered: 'Why?'"

"He said: 'Why? You don't know that there are vacancies in the Redheads again, and it would be like a fortune for someone to fill them. As far as I know, there are more vacancies than people looking for one. , people who are lucky enough to be recruited don't know how to do it. They really have money to spend. If my hair can turn red, I can enter that comfort zone.'

"I asked him again, 'What the hell is going on here?' Mr. Holmes, you should understand that in our business, business comes to you, and there is no need to run around to solicit business. I don't go out for a long time, and I don't know anything about the outside world. I always hope to learn more information.

"Spaulding stared at me in confusion and asked, 'Haven't you heard about the Redheads?'

"'there has never been.'

"'I don't even understand it when you say that, because you're perfectly qualified to apply for that vacancy.

"'It's only £[-] a year, but there's hardly anything to do, and it doesn't matter if you have other work.'

"I was all ears, as you can imagine, for I've been out of business all these years, and it would be very nice to have an extra two hundred pounds.

"So I said to him, 'You tell me the whole story.'

"'Here,' he said, showing me the ad, 'see for yourself. There's a vacancy for the Redheads, and here's the address for the check-in. As far as I know, it's run by a guy named Ezekiah? Founded by the American millionaire Hopkins, who was himself a redhead. He was eccentric and had a deep affection for all redheads. It was only after his death that it was discovered that he paid the redheads with the interest of his estate. The man offers a comfortable job. I hear the pay is good and the work is easy.'

"'But there will be millions of red-haired men applying for the job,' I said.

"'Not as much as you think,' he replied, 'you see, the position is really restricted to Londoners, and to a grown man. He made his fortune in London when he was young, and wanted to do something for the Old City Good thing. And I've also heard that applicants have to have bright red hair, light red or dark red won't work. Well, Mr. Wilson, if you want to go, you can go. But, nothing A few hundred pounds may not be worth the trip.'”

"Here, gentlemen, you have seen with your own eyes that my hair is exactly that bright red color, and it is true. So I think that even if there is any competition for this job, I have the same chance of being hired in the competition. Well, Vincent Spaulding seemed to know a lot about it, so I wanted him to come with me and help me out. So I asked him to come with me after closing the shop that day, and he was willing to take a day off So we closed down, and Vincent Spaulding was more than happy to accompany me to the advertised address.

"I don't want to see that annoying scene any more, Mr. Holmes. Fleet Street is packed with men with a little red hair coming into the city from all directions to apply for the advertised positions. Yes, the Pope's Court looks like a peddler's cart full of oranges. I never imagined that a single ad could attract so many people from all over the country. They have all kinds of hair colors- straw yellow, lemon yellow, orange yellow , brick red, Irish butterfly brown, ocher, earthy brown. But there are not many people with bright and authentic fire red hair like me. Spaulding said the same. I see so many I felt hopeless waiting there, and I was about to give up, but Spaulding refused. I can't imagine how hard he was, pulling me, pushing and shoving me into the crowd, until I reached the steps of the Redhead office. There were two streams of people there too—one hopeful and one disappointed. We went in desperately, and we were in the office after a while."

"Your experience is very amusing," said Holmes.His client paused, took out a large snuffbox and took a few sniffs to refresh himself.

"The office was very simple, with only a table and a few chairs. There was a short man with redder hair than mine sitting behind the desk. Every applicant who applied there would say a few words, Try to find some shortcomings from them and dismiss them. It seems that it is really difficult to sit on that throne. Later, when it was our turn, I felt that the short man was very polite to me. After we walked in , he closed the door and talked to us alone."

"My buddy said, 'This is Mr. Jaberts? Wilson, and he wants to apply for that vacancy.'

"The short man said, 'I think your friend is very suitable for this position, very qualified. I have never met anyone with better hair color than him.' He backed away He took a step forward, tilted his head, and looked at my hair carefully, making me look embarrassed. Later, he quickly walked forward and held my hand to congratulate me.

"He said, 'If I can't make up my mind anymore, it's not advisable. But, if you'll forgive me, we have to be careful, and I'm sure you won't mind.' Then he grabbed my hair with both hands and shook it hard. Pull, I screamed in pain, and he let go. After he stopped, he said: 'I saw you were in tears, which means the hair is real. We have been cheated twice by wigs, Tricked once by someone with dyed hair, so we have to be careful. I can tell you about the wax and it will make you sick." He yelled out the window, "We've chosen Good man." There were sighs outside the window, and disappointed people walked in all directions. When they were gone, it was just me and the little man, us two redheads.

"He said, 'My name is Duncan? Ruth. I am a pensioner of the Redhead Foundation myself. Are you married, Mr. Wilson?'

"I said, 'No.'

"His expression became serious.

"He said, 'Ouch! This is a big deal! I'm so sorry for where you're at. You know, this fund was set up to raise more redheads. Let them reproduce more widely. You Not yet married, what a pity.'

(End of this chapter)