“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 found some fault in them which would disqualify them.[7] Getting a vacancy did not seem to be such an 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, so that he might speak in private with us.
“‘This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,’ said my assistant, ‘and he wishes to fill a vacancy in the League.’
“‘And he suits us,’ the other answered. ‘I do not remember when I saw anything so fine.’ He took a step backward, and looked at my hair. Then suddenly he ran forward, shook my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my success.
“‘I am sure, you will excuse me for taking a precaution.’ With those words he seized my hair in both his hands, and pulled until I cried with pain. ‘I think that all is as it should be. But we have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and once by paint,’ said he as he released me. He went to the window and shouted at the top of his voice that the vacancy was filled.
“‘My name,’ said he, ‘is Mr. Duncan Ross. Are you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?’
“I answered that I had not.
“His face fell.
“‘Dear me![8]’ he said, ‘that is very serious indeed! I am sorry to hear you say that. The league was founded for the propagation of the red-headed men. It is very bad that you are a bachelor.’
“My face fell at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I would not have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for a few minutes he said that it would be all right.
“‘We cannot lose a man with such a head of hair as yours. When will you be able to start work?’ said he.
“‘Well, I have a business already,’ said I.
“‘Oh, never mind about that,[9] Mr. Wilson!’ said Vincent Spaulding. ‘I am able to look after that for you.’
“‘What will be the working hours?’ I asked.
“‘Ten to two.’
“A pawnbroker’s business is mostly done in the evening, Mr. Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just before pay-day; so it suited me very well to earn a little in the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, and that he would see to anything that turned up.
“‘That will suit me very well,’ said I. ‘And the pay?’
“‘It is 4 pounds a week.’
“‘And the work?’
“‘Very simple.’
“‘What do you call very simple?’
“‘Well, you have to be in the office the whole time. If you leave, you will lose your position.’
“‘It’s only four hours a day, and I shall not leave,’ said I.
“‘Neither sickness, nor business, nor anything else will excuse you,’ said Mr. Duncan Ross; ‘you must stay there, or you lose your position.’
“‘And the work?’
“‘You are to copy out the Encyclopaedia Britannica. You must find your ink, pens, and paper, but we give you this table and chair. Will you be ready tomorrow?’
“‘Certainly,’ I answered.
“‘Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you once more on the important position which you have received.’ He showed me out of the room and I went home with my assistant. I was so pleased at my good fortune.”
Exercises
1. Answer the questions:
1. What client called on Sherlock Holmes one day? What did he look like?
2. What did Sherlock Holmes tell Dr. Watson about Mr. Wilson’s case?
3. What did Sherlock Holmes guess about Mr. Wilson? What details helped him? Was Mr. Wilson impressed? Why (not)?
4. What did Mr. Wilson tell Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson about his business and household?
5. What did you learn about Mr. Wilson’s assistant?
6. How did Mr. Wilson learn about a vacancy on the Red-headed League?
7. Was Mr. Wilson enthusiastic about the vacancy? Why (not)?
8. Why did Mr. Wilson go to Fleet Street in the end?
9. Why did he take his assistant with him?
10. What did Mr. Wilson see in Fleet Street and in the office of the Red-headed League?
11. Whom did Mr. Wilson meet in the office? Did Mr. Ross employ him at once?
12. What was the work like?
2. Think and say if these statements are right or wrong. Correct the wrong ones, give your reasons.
1. Vincent Spaulding agreed to work for Mr. Wilson for half the wages to learn the business.
2. An American millionaire Ezekiah Hopkins left his enormous fortune to help and propagate red-headed men in London.
3. Mr. Wilson was sure that the whole affair of the Red-Headed League was a fraud and wanted Sherlock Holmes to explain to him what it was all about.
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