The Five Orange Pips - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Solve crimes with the great detective in "Sherlock Holmes Short Stories." Featuring classic tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, this podcast brings you the brilliant deductions and thrilling adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the world of Holmes, these timeless mysteries will keep you captivated.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Five Orange Pips. When I glance over my notes
and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years
eighty two and ninety, I am faced by so many
which present strange and interesting features that it is no
easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however,
have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have

(00:21):
not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my
friend possessed in so high a degree, and which it
is the object of these papers to illustrate. Some too,
have baffled his analytical skill, and would be as narratives
beginning without an ending, while others have been but partially
cleared up, and have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture

(00:42):
and surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was
so dear to him. There is, however, one of these last,
which was so remarkable in its details and so startling
in its results, that I am tempted to give some
account of it, in spite of the fact that there
are points in connection with it which have never been
and probably never will be entirely cleared up. The year

(01:04):
eighty seven furnished us with a long series of cases
of greater or less interest, of which I retain the
records among my headings under this one twelve months, I
find an account of the adventure of the Paradol Chamber
of the Amateur Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club
in the lower vault of a furniture warehouse. Of the
facts connected with the loss of the British bark Sophie Anderson,

(01:28):
of the singular adventures of the Greis Pattersons in the
island of Ufa, And finally of the Camberwell poisoning case.
In the latter, as may be remembered, Schulock Holmes was able,
by winding up the dead man's watch, to prove that
it had been wound up two hours before, and that
therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time,
a deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing

(01:51):
up the case. All these I may sketch out at
some future date, but none of them present such singular
features as the strange train of circumstances which I have
now taken up my pen to describe. It was in
the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales had
set in with exceptional violence. All day, the wind had
screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so

(02:14):
that even here in the heart of great hand made London,
we were forced to raise our minds for the instant
from the routine of life, and to recognize the presence
of those great elemental forces which shriek at mankind through
the bars of his civilization, like untamed beasts in a cage.
As evening drew in, the storm grew higher and louder,

(02:35):
and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in
the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of
the fireplace, cross indexing his records of crime, while I
at the other, was deep in one of Clark Russell's
fine sea stories, until the howl of the gale from
without seemed to blend with the text, and the splash
of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash

(02:57):
of the sea waves. My wife was on a visit
to her mother's, and for a few days I was
a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street.
Why said I, glancing up at my companion, That was
surely the bell who could come up to night, some
friend of yours perhaps, except yourself, I have none, he answered,

(03:18):
I do not encourage visitors a client. Then if so
it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a
man out on such a day and at such an hour.
But I take it that it is more likely to
be some crony of the landlady's Sherlock. Holmes was wrong
in his conjecture, however, for there came a step in

(03:38):
the passage, and a tapping at the door. He stretched
out his long arm to turn the lamp away from
himself and towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer
must sit. Come in, said he. The man who entered
was young, some two and twenty at the outside, well
groomed and trimly clad, with something of refinement and delicacy

(03:59):
in his bed. The streaming umbrella which he held in
his hand, and his long shining waterproof told of the
fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about
him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I
could see that his face was pale, and his eyes heavy,
like those of a man who is weighed down with
some great anxiety. I owe you an apology he said,

(04:20):
raising his golden pontene to his eyes. I trust that
I am not intruding. I fear that I have brought
some traces of the storm and rain into your snug chamber.
Give me your coat and umbrella, said Holmes. They may
rest here on the hook and will be dry. Presently.
You have come up from the southwest. I see, yes,
from Horsham. That clay and chalk mixture which I see

(04:43):
upon your toe caps is quite distinctive. I have come
for advice that is easily got, and help that is
not always so easy. I have heard of you, mister Holmes.
I heard from Major Prendergast how you saved him in
the Bankerville club scandal. Ah. Of course he was wrongfully

(05:03):
accused of cheating at cards. He said that you could
solve anything. He said too much, that you are never beaten.
I have been beaten four times, three times by men
and once by a woman. But what is that compared
with the number of your successes. It is true that
I have been generally successful. Then you may be so

(05:27):
with me. I beg that you will draw up your
chair to the fire and favor me with some details
as to your case. It is no ordinary one. None
of those which come to me are. I am the
last court of appeal. And yet I question, sir, whether,
in all your experience you have ever listened to a
more mysterious and inexplicable chain of events than those which

(05:50):
have happened in my own family. You fill me with interest,
said Holmes. Pray, give us the essential facts from the commencement,
and I can afterwards question you as to those details
which seemed to me to be most important. The young
man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet
out toward the blaze. My name, said, he is John Openshaw.

(06:11):
But my own affairs have, as far as I can understand,
little to do with this awful business. It is a
hereditary matter. So in order to give you an idea
of the facts, I must go back to the commencement
of the affair. You must know that my grandfather had
two sons, my uncle Elias and my father Joseph. My
father had a small factory at Coventry, which he enlarged

(06:34):
at the time of the invention of bicycling. He was
a patentee of the open shore unbreakable tire, and his
business met with such success that he was able to
sell it and to retire upon a handsome competence. My
uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young
man and became a painter in Florida, where he was
reported to have done very well. At the time of

(06:57):
the war, he fought in Jackson's army and afterwards under Hood,
where he rose to be a colonel. When Lee laid
down his arms, my uncle returned to his plantation, where
he remained for three or four years. About eighteen sixty
nine or eighteen seventy he came back to Europe and
took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. He had

(07:17):
made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his
reason for leaving them was his aversion to the Negroes
and his dislike of the Republican policy in extending the
franchise to them. He was a singular man, fierce and
quick tempered, very foul mouthed when he was angry, and
of a most retiring disposition. During all the years that

(07:37):
he lived at Horsham, I doubt if he ever set
foot in the town. He had a garden and two
or three fields round his house, and there he would
take his exercise though very often for weeks on end,
he would never leave his room. He drank a great
deal of brandy and smoked very heavily, but he would
see no society and did not want any friends, not

(07:57):
even his own brother. He didn't mind me, in fact,
he took a fancy to me, for at the time
when he saw me first, I was a youngster of
twelve or so. This would be in the year eighteen
seventy eight, after he had been eight or nine years
in England. He begged my father to let me live
with him, and he was very kind to me in
his way. When he was sober. He used to be

(08:19):
fond of playing backgammon and drafts with me, and he
would make me his representative both with the servants and
with the trade people, so that by the time I
was sixteen, I was quite master of the house. I
kept all the keys and could go where I liked
and do what I liked, so long as I did
not disturb him in his privacy. There was one singular exception, however,

(08:40):
for he had a single room, a lumber room up
among the attics, which was invariably locked, and which he
would never permit either me or any one else to
enter with a boy's curiosity. I have peeped through the keyhole,
but I was never able to see more than such
a collection of old trunks and bundles as would be
expected in such a room. One day, it was March

(09:01):
of eighteen eighty three, a letter with a foreign stamp
lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate.
It was not a common thing for him to receive letters,
for his bills were all paid in ready money, and
he had no friends of any sort from India, said he,
as he took it up. Pond a cherry postmark. What
can this be? Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five

(09:23):
little dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate.
I began to laugh at this, but the laugh was
struck from my lips at the sight of his face.
His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his skin
the color of putty, and he glared at the envelope,
which he still held in his trembling hand. Kay k kay,
he shrieked. And then, my god, my god, my sins

(09:46):
have overtaken me. What is it? Uncle? I cried deaf,
said he, and rising from the table, he retired to
his room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up
the envelope and saw scrawlding red ink upon the inner flap,
just above the gum, the letter K three times repeated.
There was nothing else save the five dried pips. What

(10:09):
could be the reason of his overpowering terror? I left
the breakfast table, and as I ascended the stair I
met him coming down with an old rusty key which
must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and
a small brass box like a cash box in the other.
They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them, still,
said he, with an oath, tell Mary that I shall

(10:30):
want a fire in my room to day and send
down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer. I did as he ordered,
and when the lawyer arrived, I was asked to step
up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and
in the grate there was a mass of black, fluffy
ashes as of burned paper, while the brass box stood
open an empty beside it. As I glanced at the box,

(10:51):
I noticed with a start that upon the lid was
printed the treblequet which I had read in the morning.
Upon the envelope. I wish you, John, said my uncle,
to witness my will. I leave my estate, with all
its advantages and all its disadvantages, to my brother, your father.
Whence it will no doubt descend to you, if you
can enjoy it in peace, well and good. If you

(11:13):
find you cannot take my advice, my boy, and leave
it to your deadliest enemy, I am sorry to give
you such a two edged thing, but I can't say
what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the
paper where mister Fordham shows you. I signed the paper
as directed, and the lawyer took it away with him.
The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest

(11:36):
impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned
it every way in my mind, without being able to
make anything of it. Yet I could not shake off
the vague feeling of dread which it left behind. Though
the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed and
nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives.
I could see a change in my uncle. However, he

(11:56):
drank more than ever, and he was less inclined for
any sort of snens society. Most of his time he
would spend in his room with the door locked upon
me inside. But sometimes he would emerge in a sort
of drunken frenzy, and would burst out of the house
and tear about the garden with a revolver in his hand,
screaming out that he was afraid of no man, and

(12:16):
that he was not to be cooped up like a
sheep in a pen by man or devil. When these
hot fits were over, however, he would rush tumultuously in
at the door, and lock and bar it behind him,
like a man who can brazen it out no longer
against the terror which lies at the root of his soul.
At such times I have seen his face, even on

(12:37):
a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it were
new raised from a basin. Well, to come to an
end of the matter, mister Holmes, and not to abuse
your patience. There came a night when he made one
of those drunken sallies, from which he never came back.
We found him when we went to search for him,
face downward in a little green, scummed pool which lay
at the foot of the garden. There was no sign

(12:59):
of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep.
So that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity,
brought in a verdict of suicide. But I, who knew
how he winced from the very thought of death, had
much ado to persuade myself that he had gone out
of his way to meet it. The matter passed, however,
and my father entered into possession of the estate and

(13:22):
of some fourteen thousand pounds which lay to his credit
at the bank. One moment, Holmes interposed, your statement is
I foresee, one of the most remarkable to which I
have ever listened. Let me have the date of the
reception by your uncle of the letter and the date
of his supposed suicide. The letter arrived on March tenth,
eighteen eighty three. His death was seven weeks later, upon

(13:45):
the night of May second. Thank you, pray proceed. When
my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my request,
made a careful examination of the attic, which had been
always locked up. We found the brass box there, although
its contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the
cover was a paper label with the initials of K

(14:07):
K K repeated upon it, and letters, memoranda, receipts, and
a register written beneath these, we presume, indicated the nature
of the papers which had been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw.
For the rest, there was nothing of much importance in
the attic, save a great many scattered papers and note
books bearing upon my uncle's life in America. Some of

(14:28):
them were of the war time and showed that he
had done his duty well and had borne the repute
of a brave soldier. Others were of a date during
the reconstruction of the Southern States, and were mostly concerned
with politics, for he had evidently taken a strong part
in opposing the carpet bag politicians who had been sent
down from the North Well. It was the beginning of

(14:49):
eighty four when my father came to live at Horseham,
and all went as well as possible until the January
of eighty five. On the fourth day after the new year,
I heard and my father give a sharp cry of
surprise as we sat together at the breakfast table. There
he was sitting with a newly opened envelope in one
hand and five dried orange pips in the outstretched palm

(15:11):
of the other one. He had always laughed at what
he called my cock and bull story about the colonel.
But he looked very scared and puzzled now that the
same thing had come upon him. Why what on earth
does this mean? John, he stammered, My heart had turned
to lead. It is K K K, said I. He
looked inside the envelope. So it is, he cried. Here

(15:34):
are the very letters. But what is this written above them?
Put the papers on the sun dial? I read, peeping
over his shoulder. What papers? What sun dial? He asked,
The sun dial in the garden. There is no other,
said I. But the papers must be those that are destroyed. Pooh,
said he, gripping hard at his courage. We are in

(15:56):
a civilized land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of
this kind. Where does the thing come from from? Dundee,
I answered, glancing at the post mark. Some preposterous practical joke,
said he. What have I to do with sun dials
and papers? I shall take no notice of such nonsense.
I should certainly speak to the police, I said, and

(16:18):
be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort,
then let me do so. No, I forbid you. I
won't have a fuss made about such nonsense. It was
in vain to argue with him for he was a
very obstinate man. I went about, however, with a heart
which was full of forebodings. On the third day after
the coming of the letter, my father went from home

(16:40):
to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who
is in the command of one of the forts upon
portsdown Hill. I was glad that he should go, for
it seemed to me that he was further from danger
when he was away from home. In that, however, I
was in error. Upon the second day of his absence,
I received a telegram from the Major employed me to
come at once. My father had fallen over one of

(17:03):
the deep chalk pits which abound in the neighborhood, and
was lying senseless with a shattered skull. I hurried to him,
but he passed away without ever having recovered his consciousness.
He had, as it appears, been returning from Fareham in
the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him
and the chalk pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation

(17:24):
in bringing in a verdict of death from accidental causes. Carefully,
as I examined every fact connected with his death, I
was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea
of murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks,
no robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon
the roads. And yet I need not tell you that

(17:44):
my mind was far from at ease, and that I
was well nigh certain that some foul plot had been
woven around him. In this sinister way I came into
my inheritance. You will ask me why I did not
dispose of it. I answer because I was well convinced
that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an
incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would

(18:05):
be as pressing in one house as in another. It
was in January of eighty five that my poor father
met his end, and two years and eight months have
elapsed since then. During that time I have lived happily
at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that this
curse had passed away from the family, and that it
had ended with the last generation. I had begun to

(18:25):
take comfort too soon. However, yesterday morning the blow fell
in the very shape in which it had come upon
my father. The young man took from his waistcoat a
crumpled envelope, and turning to the table, he shook out
upon it five little dried orange pips. This is the envelope,
he continued. The postmark is London Eastern Division. Within are

(18:48):
the very words which were upon my father's last message,
K K K. And then put the papers on the
sun dial. What have you done, asked Holmes. Nothing, nothing
to tell the truth. He sank his face into his
thin white hands. I have felt helpless. I have felt
like one of those poor rabbits when the snake is

(19:10):
riding toward it. I seem to be in the grasp
of some resistless, inexorable evil which no foresight and no
precautions can guard against. Tut tut, cried Sherlock Holmes. You
must act, man, or you are lost. Nothing but energy
can save you. This is no time for despair. I
have seen the police ah, but then listen to my

(19:32):
story with a smile. I am convinced that the inspector
has formed the opinion that the letters were all practical jokes,
and that the deaths of my relations were really accidents,
as the jury stated, and were not to be connected
with the warnings. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air.
Incredible imbecility, he cried. They have, however, allowed me a

(19:53):
policeman who may remain in the house with me? Has
he come with you tonight? No? His order were to
stay in the house again. Holmes raved in the air.
Why did you come to me, he cried, And above all,
why did you not come at once? I did not know.
It was only to day that I spoke to Major
Prendergast about my troubles, and was advised by him to

(20:16):
come to you. It is really two days since you
have had the letter. We should have acted before this.
You have no further evidence, I suppose, than that which
you have placed before us, no suggestive detail which might
help us. There is one thing, said John openshawl He
rummaged in his coat pocket, and, drawing out a piece

(20:36):
of discolored, blue tinted paper, he laid it out upon
the table. I have some remembrance, said he, that on
the day when my uncle burned the papers, I observed
that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the ashes
were of this particular color. I found this single sheet
upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined
to think that it may be one of the papers

(20:57):
which has perhaps fluttered out from among the others, and
in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond the mention of pips.
I do not see that it helps us much. I
think myself that it is a page from some private diary.
The writing is undoubtedly my uncle's. Holmes moved the lamp
and we both bent over the sheet of paper, which

(21:18):
showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been
torn from a book. It was headed March eighteen sixty nine,
and beneath were the following enigmatical notices. Fourth Hudson came
same old platform. Seventh set the pips on Macauley, Paramour,
and John Swain of Saint Augustine ninth. Mc cauley cleared, tenth,

(21:42):
John Swain cleared twelfth, visited Paramour. All well, thank you,
said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it to
our visitor. And now you must, on no account lose
another instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what
you have told me. You must get home instantly and act.
What shall I do? There is but one thing to do.

(22:05):
It must be done at once. You must put this
piece of paper which you have shown us into the
brass box which you have described. You must also put
in a note to say that all the other papers
were burned by your uncle, and that this is the
only one which remains. You must assert that in such
words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this,
you must at once put the box out upon the

(22:27):
sun dial as directed. Do you understand entirely? Do not
think of revenge or anything of that sort at present.
I think that we may gain that by means of
the law. But we have our web to weave, while
theirs is already woven. The first consideration is to remove
the pressing danger which threatens you. The second is to

(22:49):
clear up the mystery and to punish the guilty parties.
I thank you, said the young man, rising and pulling
on his overcoat. You have given me fresh life and hope.
I shall certainly do as you advise, do not lose
an instant, and above all, take care of yourself in
the meanwhile, For I do not think that there can
be a doubt that you are threatened by a very

(23:09):
real and imminent danger. How do you go back by
train from Waterloo? It is not yet nine. The streets
will be crowded, so I trust that you may be
in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too closely.
I am armed. That is well, to morrow I shall
set to work upon your case. I shall see you

(23:30):
at Hortammen. No, your secret lies in London. It is
there that I shall seek it. Then I shall call
upon you in a day, or in two days, with
news as to the box and the papers. I shall
take your advice in every particular. He shook hands with
us and took his leave. Outside, the wind still screamed,

(23:50):
and the rain splashed and pattered against the windows. This strange,
wild story seemed to have come to us from amid
the mad elements, blown in upon us like a sheet
of seaweed in a game, and now to have been
reabsorbed by them once more. Sherlock Holmes sat for some
time in silence, with his head sunk forward and his
eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then

(24:12):
he lit his pipe, and, leaning back in his chair,
he watched the blue smoke rings as they chased each
other up to the ceiling. I think Watson. He remarked
at last, that of all our cases we have had
none more fantastic than this, save perhaps the sign of
four well, yes, save perhaps that. And yet this John

(24:33):
Openshaw seems to me to be walking amid even greater
perils than did the Shoultos. But have you, i asked,
formed any definite conception as to what these perils are?
There can be no question as to their nature? He answered,
Then what are they? Who is this K K K?
And why does he pursue this unhappy family? Sherlock Holmes

(24:56):
closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the arms
of his chair, with his his finger tips together. The
ideal reasoner, he remarked, would, when he had once been
shown a single fact in all its bearings, deduce from
it not only all the chain of events which led
up to it, but also all the results which would
follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole

(25:17):
animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer,
who has thoroughly understood one link in a series of
incidents should be able to accurately state all the other ones,
both before and after. We have not yet grasped the
results which the reason alone can attain to. Problems may
be solved in the study which have baffled all those

(25:39):
who have sought a solution by the aid of their senses.
To carry the art, however, to its highest pitch. It
is necessary that the reasoner should be able to utilize
all the facts which have come to his knowledge, and
this in itself implies, as you will readily see, a
possession of all knowledge, which, even in these days of
free education and encycloped medias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment.

(26:03):
It is not so impossible, however, that a man should
possess all knowledge which is likely to be useful to
him in his work. And this I have endeavored in
my case to do. If I remember rightly, you, on
one occasion in the early days of our friendship, defined
my limits in a very precise fashion. Yes, I answered, laughing.

(26:24):
It was a singular document. Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were
marked at zero. I remember botany variable, geology, profound as
regards the mud stains from any region within fifty miles
of town, Chemistry, eccentric anatomy, unsystematic sensational literature, and crime records,
unique violin player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and self poisoner by

(26:45):
cocaine and tobacco. Those I think were the main points
of my analysis. Holmes grinned at the last item. Well,
he said, I say, now, as I said then, that
a man should keep his little brain attic stocked with
all the furniture that he is likely to use, and
the rest he can put away in the lumber room
of his library, where he can get at it if

(27:06):
he wants it. Now, for such a case as the
one which has been submitted to us to night, we
need certainly to muster all our resources. Kindly hand me
down the letter K of the American Encyclopedia, which stands
upon the shelf beside you. Thank you. Now let us
consider the situation and see what may be deduced from it.
In the first place, we may start with a strong

(27:28):
presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for
leaving America. Men at his time of life do not
change all their habits and exchange willingly the charming climate
of Florida for the lonely life of an English provincial town.
His extreme love of solitude in England suggests the idea
that he was in fear of something or some one.

(27:49):
So we may assume, as a working hypothesis that it
was fear of some one or something which drove him
from America. As to what it was he feared, we
can only deduce that by considering the formidable letters which
were received by himself and his successors. Did you remark
the post marks of those letters? The first was from Pondicherry,

(28:11):
the second from Dundee, and the third from London, from
East London. What do you deduce from that? They are
all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship. Excellent,
We have already a clue. There can be no doubt
that the probability, the strong probability, is that the writer
was on board of a ship. And now let us

(28:33):
consider another point. In the case of Pondicherry, seven weeks
elapsed between the threat and its fulfillments. In Dundee it
was only some three or four days. Does that suggest
anything a greater distance to travel? But the letter also
had a greater distance to come. Then I do not

(28:53):
see the point. There is at least a presumption that
the vessel in which the man or men are is
a sailing shop. It looks as if they always send
their singular warning or token before them when starting upon
their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the
sign when it came from Dundee. If they had come
from Pondicherry in a steamer, they would have arrived almost

(29:15):
as soon as their letter, But as a matter of fact,
seven weeks elapsed. I think that those seven weeks represented
the difference between the mail boat which brought the letter
and the sailing vessel which brought the writer. It is possible,
more than that, it is probable. And now you see
the deadly urgency of this new case, and why I

(29:35):
urged young Openshaw to caution. The blow has always fallen
at the end of the time which it would take
the senders to travel the distance. But this one comes
from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay. Good God,
I cried, what can it mean? This relentless persecution. The
papers which open Shore carried are obviously of vital importance

(29:57):
to the person or persons in the sailing ship. I
think that it is quite clear that there must be
more than one of them. A single man could not
have carried out two deaths in such a way as
to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several
in it, and they must have been men of resource
and determination. Their papers they mean to have be the
holder of them, who it may in this way you

(30:18):
see k K K ceases to be the initials of
an individual and becomes the badge of a society. But
of what society have you never, said Sherlock Holmes, bending
forward and sinking his voice. Have you never heard of
the ku klux Klan? I never have Holmes turned over

(30:41):
the leaves of the book upon his knee. Here it
is said he presently ku klux Klan, A name derived
from the fanciful resemblance to the sound produced by cocking
a rival. This terrible secret Society was formed by some
ex Confederate soldiers in the Southern States after the Civil War,
and it rapidly formed local branches in different parts of

(31:03):
the country, notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.
Its power was used for political purposes, principally for the
terrorizing of the Negro voters and the murdering and driving
from the country of those who were opposed to its views.
Its outrages were usually preceded by a warning sent to

(31:24):
the marked man in some fantastic but generally recognized shape
a sprig of oak leaves in some parts, melon seeds
or orange pips in others. On receiving this the victim
might either openly abjure his former ways, or might fly
from the country. If he braved the matter out, death
would unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange

(31:47):
and unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organization of the society,
and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a
case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it
with impunity, or in which any of its outrages were
traced home to the perpetrators. For some years the organization flourished,
in spite of the efforts of the United States government

(32:10):
and of the better classes of the community in the South. Eventually,
in the year eighteen sixty nine, the movement rather suddenly collapsed,
although there have been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort
since that date. You will observe, said Holmes, laying down
the volume, that the sudden breaking up of the society
was coincident with the disappearance of Openshaw from America with

(32:33):
their papers. It may well have been cause and effect.
It is no wonder that he and his family have
some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. You
can understand that this register and diary may implicate some
of the first men in the south, and that there
may be many who will not sleep easy at night
until it is recovered. Then the page we have seen

(32:55):
is such as we might expect it ran If I
remember right, sent the lips to A, B and C,
that is, sent the society's warning to them. Then there
are successive entries that A and B cleared or left
the country, and finally that sea was visited with I
fear a sinister result for C. Well, I think, doctor,

(33:17):
that we may let some light into this dark place.
And I believe that the only chance young Openshaw has
in the meantime is to do what I have told him.
There is nothing more to be said or to be
done to night. So hand me over my violin, and
let us try to forget for half an hour the
miserable weather and the still more miserable ways of our
fellow men. It had cleared in the morning, and the

(33:41):
sun was shining with a subdued brightness through the dim
veil which hangs over the great city. Sherlock Holmes was
already at breakfast when I came down. You will excuse
me for not waiting for you, said he. I have
I foresee a very busy day before me in looking
into this case of young Openshaws. What steps will you take?
I asked, It will very much depend upon the results

(34:04):
of my first enquiries. I may have to go down
to Horsham. After all, you will not go there first, No,
I shall commence with the city. Just ring the bell
and the maid will bring you up your coffee. As
I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table
and glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a
heading which sent a chill to my heart. Holmes, I cried,

(34:28):
you are too late, ah said he, laying down his cup.
I feared as much. How is it done? He spoke calmly,
but I could see that he was deeply moved. My
eye caught the name of Openshaw and the heading Tragedy
near Waterloo Bridge. Here is the account. Between nine and
ten last night, police Constable Cook of the h Division,

(34:51):
on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help
and a splash in the water. The night, however, was
extremely dark and stormy, so that in despite of the
help of several passers by, it was quite impossible to
effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was given and by
the aid of the water police. The body was eventually recovered.

(35:11):
It proved to be that of a young gentleman, whose name,
as it appears from an envelope which was found in
his pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham.
It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down
to catch the last train from Waterloo station, and that
in his haste and the extreme darkness, he missed his
path and walked over the edge of one of the

(35:33):
small landing places for river steamboats. The body exhibited no
traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that
the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident,
which should have the effect of calling the attention of
the authorities to the condition of the river side landing stages.
We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed

(35:54):
and shaken than I had ever seen him. That hurts
my pride, Watson said at last. It is a petty feeling,
no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a
personal matter with me now, and if God sends me health,
I shall set my hands upon this gang, that he
should come to me for help and that I should
send him away to his death. He sprang from his

(36:17):
chair and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with
a flush upon his sallow cheeks, and a nervous clasping
and unclasping of his long, thin hands. They must be
cunning devils, he exclaimed at last. How could they have
decoyed him down there? The embankment is not on the
direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was

(36:37):
too crowded even on such a night for their purposes. Well, Watson,
we shall see who will win in the long run.
I am going out now to the police. No, I
shall be my own police. When I have spun the web,
they may take the flies, but not before. All day
I was engaged in my professional work, and it was
late in the evening before I returned to Baker Street.

(37:00):
Sherlock Holmes had not come back yet. It was nearly
ten o'clock before he entered. Looking pale and worn, he
walked up to the sideboard, and, tearing a piece from
the loaf, he devoured it voraciously, washing it down with
a long draft of water. You are hungry, I remarked,
starving it had escaped my memory. I have had nothing

(37:20):
since breakfast, nothing, not a bite. I had no time
to think about it. And how have you succeeded? Well,
you have a clue. I have them in the hollow
of my hand, Young Openshaw shall not long remain unavenged.
Why Watson let us put their own devilish trade mark

(37:41):
upon them? It is well thought of. What do you mean?
He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it
to pieces, he squeezed out the pips upon the table.
Of these he took five and thrust them into an envelope.
On the inside of the flap, he wrote s H
for j O. Then he sealed it and addressed it
to Captain James Calhoun bark lone Star Savannah, Georgia. That

(38:06):
will await him when he enters port, said he, chuckling.
It may give him a sleepless night. He will find
it as sure a precursor of his fate as Openshaw
did before him. And who is this, Captain Calhoun, the
leader of the gang? I shall have the others? But
he first? How did you trace it? Then he took

(38:26):
a large sheet of paper from his pocket or covered
with dates and names. I have spent the whole day said,
he over Lloyd's registers and files of the old papers
following the future career of every vessel which touched at
Pondicherry in January and February in eighty three, there were
thirty six ships of fair tonnage which reported there during

(38:47):
those months. Of these, one, the Lone Star, instantly attracted
my attention, since although it was reported as having cleared
from London, the name is that which is given to
one of the states of the Union, Texas. I think
I was not and am not sure of which, but
I know that the ship must have an American origin.

(39:07):
What then I searched the Dundee records, and when I
found that the Bark Lone Star was there in January
of eighty five, my suspicion became a certainty. I then
inquired as to the vessels which lay at present in
the Port of London. Yes, the Lone Star had arrived
here last week. I went down to the Albert Dock
and found that she had been taken down the river

(39:29):
by the early tide. This morning, homeward bound to Savannah,
I wired to Gravesend and learned that she had passed
some time ago, and as the wind is easterly. I
have no doubt that she has now passed the good winds,
and not very far from the Isle of Wight. What
will you do, then, oh, I have my hand upon him.
He and the two mates are, as I learn, the

(39:50):
only native born Americans in the ship. The others are
Finns and Germans. I know also that they were all
three away from the ship last night. I had it
from the stevedor who has been loading their cargo. By
the time that their sailing ship reaches Savannah, the mail
boat will have carried this letter, and the cable will
have informed the police of Savannah that these three gentlemen

(40:11):
are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder. There
is a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans,
and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive
the orange pips which would show them that another as
cunning and as resolute as themselves was upon their track.
Very long and very severe were the Equinoctial gales that year.

(40:32):
We waited long for news of the lone Star of Savannah,
but none ever reached us. We did at last hear
that somewhere far out in the Atlantic, a shattered stern
post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough
of a wave, with the letters L S carved upon it.
And that is all we shall ever know of the
fate of the lone star, end of the five Orange pips.