The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes / Приключения Шерлока Холмса

“What is the name of this youth?” asked Sherlock Holmes.

“His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he’s not such a youth either. It’s hard to say his age. Mr. Holmes, I know very well that he could earn twice what I am able to give him. But after all, if he is satisfied, why should I put these ideas in his head?”

“Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate. It is not a common experience among employers in this age. Your assistant is as remarkable as your advertisement.”

“Oh, he has his faults, too,” said Mr. Wilson. “The fellow adores photography. He is taking pictures all the time, and then diving down into the cellar like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his main fault; but, on the whole, he’s a good worker. There’s no vice in him.”

“He is still with you, I presume?”

“Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does simple cooking, and keeps the place clean-that’s all I have in the house, for I am a widower, and never had any children. We live very quietly, sir, the three of us; and we pay our debts, nothing more.

“But that advertisement! Eight weeks ago Spaulding came into the office with this paper in his hand, and he said: —

“’I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.’

“’Why that?’ I asks.

“’Why,’ says he, ’here’s another vacancy on the League of the Red-headed Men. It’s very profitable and gives a lot of money. If my hair would only change colour!’

“’Why, what is it, then?’ I asked.

“You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a stay-at-home man. So I didn’t know much of what was going on outside, and I was always glad to hear some news.

“’Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?’ he asked, with his eyes open.

“’Never.’

“’Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one of the vacancies.’

“’And what are they worth?’ I asked.

“’Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and it need not interfere very much with one’s other occupations.’

“Well, my business has not been very good for some years, and an extra couple of hundred would have been very handy.

“’Tell me all about it,’ said I.

“’Well,’ said he, showing me the advertisement, ’you can see for yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address where you could apply for particulars. The League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins, who was very peculiar. He was himself red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; so, when he died, it was found that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to help the men whose hair is of that colour.’

“’But,’ said I, ’there would be millions of red-headed men who would apply.’

“’Not so many as you might think,’ he answered. ’You see it is really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American was born in London, and he wanted to do something for his town. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but real, bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Wilson, you would just walk in; but for the sake of a few hundred pounds… I don’t know.’

“Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed to me that I had a chance. So I ordered Vincent Spaulding to take me to the office. He was very happy to have a holiday, so we started off for the address that was given us in the advertisement.

“Mr. Holmes! From north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in his hair had come into the City to answer the advertisement. Pope’s Court looked like a coster’s orange barrow. Every shade of colour they were-straw, lemon, orange, brick, liver, clay; but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back dejected. Soon we found ourselves in the office.”

“Your experience has been a most entertaining one,” remarked Holmes, as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge pinch of snuff. “Please, continue your very interesting story.”

“There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs and a table, behind which sat a small man, with a head that was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem to be such a very easy matter after all. However, when our turn came, the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of the others, and he closed the door as we entered.

“’This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,’ said my assistant, ’and he is willing to fill a vacancy in the League.’

“’And he is admirably suited for it,’ the other answered. ’He has every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so fine.’

“He took a step backwards and gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my success.

“’It would be injustice to hesitate,’ said he. ’You will, however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.’

“With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I yelled with the pain.

“’Excuse me,’ said he. ’But we have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and once by paint.’

“He stepped over to the window, and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, and the fellows went away in different directions, until there was not a red head to be seen except my own and that of the manager.

“’My name,’ said he, ’is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of the pensioners. Are you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?’

“I answered that I had not.

“His face fell immediately.

“’Dear me!’ he said, gravely, ’that is very serious indeed! I am sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a bachelor.’

“My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was not to have the vacancy after all; but, after thinking it over for a few minutes, he said that it would be all right.

“’Don’t worry,’ said he, ’a man with such a head of hair as yours… When will you be able to enter upon your new duties?’

“’Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,’ said I.

“’Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!’ said Vincent Spaulding. ’I should be able to look after that for you.’

“’What would be the hours?’ I asked.

“’Ten to two.’

“It would suit me very well to earn a little in the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man.

“’That would suit me very well,’ said I. ’And the pay?’

“’Is four pounds a week.’

“’And the work?’

“’Is purely nominal.’

“’What do you call purely nominal?’

“’Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole position forever. The will is very clear upon that point.’