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ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS `
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When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes `
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cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which `
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present strange and interesting features that it is no easy `
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matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, `
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have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have `
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not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend `
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possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of `
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these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his `
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analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without `
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an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and `
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have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and `
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surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to `
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him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable `
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in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted `
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to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are `
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points in connection with it which never have been, and probably `
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never will be, entirely cleared up. `
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The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater `
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or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my `
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headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the `
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adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant `
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Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a `
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furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the `
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British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the `
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Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the `
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Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, `
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Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to `
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prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that `
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therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a `
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deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the `
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case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of `
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them present such singular features as the strange train of `
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circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. `
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It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales `
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had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had `
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screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that `
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even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced `
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to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and `
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to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which `
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shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like `
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untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew `
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higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in `
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the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the `
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fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the `
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other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until `
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the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, `
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and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of `
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the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a `
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few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker `
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Street. `
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"Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the `
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bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" `
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"Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage `
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visitors." `
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"A client, then?" `
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"If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out `
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on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more `
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likely to be some crony of the landlady's." `
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Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there `
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came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He `
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stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and `
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towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. `
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"Come in!" said he. `
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The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the `
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outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of `
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refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella `
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which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told `
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of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about `
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him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his `
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face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is `
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weighed down with some great anxiety. `
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"I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to `
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his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have `
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brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug `
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chamber." `
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"Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest `
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here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from `
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the south-west, I see." `
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"Yes, from Horsham." `
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"That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is `
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quite distinctive." `
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"I have come for advice." `
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"That is easily got." `
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"And help." `
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"That is not always so easy." `
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"I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast `
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how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." `
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"Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." `
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"He said that you could solve anything." `
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"He said too much." `
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"That you are never beaten." `
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"I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a `
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woman." `
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"But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" `
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"It is true that I have been generally successful." `
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"Then you may be so with me." `
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"I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me `
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with some details as to your case." `
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"It is no ordinary one." `
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"None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of `
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appeal." `
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"And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you `
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have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of `
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events than those which have happened in my own family." `
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"You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the `
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essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards `
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question you as to those details which seem to me to be most `
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important." `
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The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out `
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towards the blaze. `
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"My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, `
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as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful `
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business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an `
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idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the `
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affair. `
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"You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias `
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and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, `
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which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He `
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was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business `
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met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire `
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upon a handsome competence. `
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"My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and `
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became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done `
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very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, `
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and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When `
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Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where `
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he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came `
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back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. `
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He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his `
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reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his `
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dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to `
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them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very `
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foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring `
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disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I `
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doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or `
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three fields round his house, and there he would take his `
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exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave `
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his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very `
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heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any `
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friends, not even his own brother. `
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"He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the `
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time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This `
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would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years `
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in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he `
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was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be `
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fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would `
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make me his representative both with the servants and with the `
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tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite `
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master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I `
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liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in `
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his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he `
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had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was `
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invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or `
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anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped `
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through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a `
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collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such `
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a room. `
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"One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp `
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lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a `
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common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all `
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paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From `
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India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can `
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