Ingles

C ASSETTE

AVAILABLE

SHERLOCK HOLMES
SHORT STORIES
Sherlock Holmes is the greatest
detective of them all. He sits in his
room, and smokes his pipe. He
listens, and watches, and thinks. He
listens to the steps coming up his
stairs; he watches the door opening
— and he knows what question the
stranger will ask.
In these three of his best stories,
Holmes has three visitors to thefamous flat in Baker Street — visitors
w ho bring their troubles to the only
man in the world who can help them.
take students
through six stages towards real
reading in English. Each one has been
chosen for its enjoyment value and
its quality of writing.

OXFORD BOOKWORMS

Cover illustration by Alan Morrison
Oxford University Press
ISBN

0-19-421650-0

Sherlock Holmes
ShortStories
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

retold by
Clare West

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Speckled Band
1
Helen's

Story

At the time of this story, I was still living at my friend
Sherlock Holmes's flat in Baker Street in London. Very
early one morning, a young woman, dressed in black,
came to see us. She looked tired and unhappy, and her
face was very white. 'I'm afraid! Afraid of death,Mr Holmes!' she cried. 'Please help me! I'm not thirty
yet and look at my grey hair! I'm so afraid!'

Very early one morning, a young woman, dressed in black,
came to see us.

2

Sherlock Holmes Short Stories

The Speckled Band

' Just sit down and tell us your story,' said Holmes
kindly.
' My name is Helen Stoner,' she began, 'and I live
with my stepfather, Dr Grimesby Roylott,near a
village in the country. His family was once very rich,
b ut they had no money when my stepfather was born.
S o he studied to be a doctor, and went out to India. He
met and married my mother there, when my sister Julia
a nd I were very young. Our father was dead, you see.'

r un freely around the garden. A friend sends them to
him from India. And the animals are not the only wildthings in the garden; there are also gipsies. My
s tepfather likes these wild people, and they can come
a nd go where they like. Poor Julia and I had very
u nhappy lives. We had no servants. They always left
because they were afraid of my stepfather, and we had
t o do all the work in the house. Julia was only thirty
w hen she died, and her hair was already grey, like my
h air now.'

' Yourmother had some money, perhaps?' asked
Sherlock Holmes.
' Oh yes, mother had a lot of money, so my
stepfather wasn't poor any more.'
'Tell me more about him, Miss Stoner,' said Holmes.
' Well, he's a violent man. In India he once got
angry with his Indian servant and killed him! He had
t o go to prison because of that, and then we all came
back to England. Mother died in an accident eightyears ago. So my stepfather got all her money, but if
Julia or I marry, he must pay us £250 every year.'
' And now you live with him in the country,' said
H olmes.
'Yes, but he stays at home and never sees anybody,
M r Holmes!' answered Helen Stoner. 'He's more and
m ore violent now, and sometimes has fights with the
people from the village. Everybody's afraid of him
n ow, and they runaway when they see him. And
t hey're also afraid of his Indian wild animals which

3

' When did she die?' asked Sherlock Holmes.
'She died two years ago, and that's why I'm here. We
never met anybody in the country, but sometimes we
visited some of my family who live near London. There
Julia met a young man who asked to marry her. My
stepfather agreed, but soon after this she died.' MissStoner put her hand over her eyes and cried for a
m inute.
Sherlock Holmes was listening with his eyes closed,
b ut now he opened them and looked at Helen Stoner.
'Tell me everything about her death,' he said.
'I can remember it all very well. It was a terrible
t ime!' she answered. 'Our three bedrooms are all
d ownstairs. First there is my stepfather's room. Julia's
r oom is next to...