From shopkeepers to kings, everyone wants the help of Sherlock Holmes, but can he solve these mysteries?

    Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1891 Excerpt: ...the train pulled out. I took a seat in the rear of the men, and for the next hour or two Oliver kept furtively looking around at me. I cautioned him against these tactics, and while I was speaking, he sprang to his feet and leaped for the open car window, head'first, like a diver. He was half-way out before I could lay hold of him. I seized his legs and drew him in, struggling desperately, although he was manacled and the train was going at full speed. As soon as I got him into the seat again I drew my revolver, and presenting it at his head told him that the next time he moved or looked around I would blow his brains out. Under this powerful persuasion he remained quiet for the balance of the trip. When I turned him over to Captain Forrester, I told him of the character of the man, and a few days later he fully sustained his reputation. He was with a squad on a construction train moving at fullspeed, and while passing over a twelve foot embankment he seized an opportunity to leap off. He wore a 'stride-chain" on his ankles at the time, riveted from shackle to shackle, but strange to say, he alighted unhurt and instantly darted off into the timber. Captain Forrester was on the train, saw the leap, and jerked the bell-cord. The engine was reversed, and when the speed of the train was slackened a little, he also jumped off. However, he was not as sure-footed as the negro, and rolled headover-heels to the bottom of the embankment. When he regained his feet, his eyes were so full of sand and he was so jolted up generally that he had no idea which direction the fugitive took. Thus he made good his escape. CHAPTER XI A bad example is just as dangerous in a convict camp as elsewhere, and the day following the escape of Smith Oliver, described in the last chap...