The Notorious Canary-Trainers
A Scion of the Baker Street Irregulars
for friends and fans of Sherlock Holmes
-- celebrating our 40th year!

JUNE 2008: CHARLES AUGUSTUS MILVERTON
Thursday, January 5, to Saturday, January 14, 1899.

This account was first published in the United States in Collierïÿýs in March 1904 and in England's "The Strand" magazine the following month. It now may be found in the volume, "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."

This case took place about five months after the case of "The Retired Colourman" which we studied at our May meeting. At the time of this case, Holmes was 45 years old and Watson 43.

Quotes to Note: (Holmes to Watson) "He is the king of all the blackmailers. Heaven help the man, and still more the woman, whose secret and reputation come into the power of Milverton. With a smiling face and a heart of marble he will squeeze and squeeze until he had drained them dry."

(Holmes) "You know, Watson, I don't mind confessing to you that I have always had an idea that I would have made a highly efficient criminal."

(Holmes)"Do you feel a creeping, shrinking sensation, Watson, when you stand before the serpents in the Zoo, and see the slithery, gliding, venomous creatures, with their deadly eyes and wicked, flattened faces? Well, that's how Milverton impresses me."

(Milverton to Holmes)"You must admit that the occasion of a lady's marriage is a very suitable time for her friends and relatives to make some little effort upon her behalf. They may hesitate as to an acceptable wedding present. Let me assure them that this little bundle of letters would give more joy than all the candelabra and butter-dishes in London."

(Holmes to Watson)"I've had to do with fifty murderers in my career, but the worst of them never gave me the repulsion which I have for this fellow."

To read the full text of this story online, go to this Web site where you can choose a version which allows you to click on any highlighted word and find out all of its uses in other stories. Otherwise, go to Wikisource or The Sherlockian Net.

For a Wikipedia plot summary and related links, click here.

For additional insights from Stanford University into the case, click here.

For questions to review after reading the story -- to test yourself on how well you have observed -- check out these links:

Hounds of the Internet

The Sherlockian Net

What else was happening in 1899? Click here to find out.

Our meeting was held at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 15, at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, West Towne.

MAY 2008: THE RETIRED COLOURMAN
Thursday, July 28, to Saturday, July 30, 1898

(Details to be added.)

Our meeting was held at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, West Towne.

APRIL 2008: THE DANCING MEN
Wednesday, July 27, to Saturday, August 13, 1898

This account was first published in England's "The Strand" magazine in December 1903 and in the collection "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."

Quotes to Note: (Holmes to Watson) "Every problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you."

(Holmes to Abe Slaney) "What one man can invent another can discover."

(Holmes) "These hieroglyphics have evidently a meaning. If it is a purely arbitrary one, it may be impossible for us to solve it. If, on the other hand, it is systematic, I have no doubt that we shall get to the bottom of it."

(Holmes) "I have no desire to make mysteries, but it is impossible at the moment of action to enter into long and complex explanations."

(Holmes) "I am fairly familiar with all forms of secret writings, and am myself the author of a trifling monograph upon the subject, in which I analyze one hundred and sixty separate ciphers, but I confess that this is entirely new to me."

(Holmes) "As you are aware, E is the most common letter in the English alphabet, and it predominates to so marked an extent that even in a short sentence one would expect to find it most often. Out of fifteen symbols in the first message, four were the same, so it was reasonable to set this down as E."

To read the full text of this story online, go to this Web site where you can choose a version which allows you to click on any highlighted word and find out all of its uses in other stories. Otherwise, go to Wikisource or The Sherlockian Net.

For a Wikipedia plot summary and related links, click here.

For questions to review after reading the story -- to test yourself on how well you have observed -- check out these links:

Hounds of the Internet

The Sherlockian Net

What else was happening in 1898? Click here to find out.

Our meeting was held at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 20, at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, West Towne.

(For earlier stories we've discussed, click here.)