', 'The same. 'What alternative could be conceived?' [4] Other dramatisations of the story, also adapted by Meiser, aired on the same series on 31 March 1935 (with Louis Hector as Holmes and Lovell as Watson)[5] and on the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on 15 February 1942 (with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson)[6] and 20 June 1948 (with John Stanley as Holmes and Alfred Shirley as Watson). Create an account to start this course today. Holmes held up his hand in a gesture of pity and protest, and together we left the room. Look at it from the lion's point of view. “Very good, Mrs. Merrilow. Leonardo could have saved me. A quarter's rent right down on the table in advance and no arguing about terms. Holmes : This page was last edited on 19 December 2019, at 15:41. Mrs. Ronder's landlady, Mrs. Merrilow, becomes worried about her tenant after Mrs. Ronder starts to shout out things, including, "Murder!" You monster!" It is not reasonable to suppose that every one of these cases gave Holmes the opportunity of showing those curious gifts of instinct and observation which I have endeavoured to set forth in these memoirs. "That will bring him, if he's the man I think he is. The source of these outrages is known, and if they are repeated I have Mr. Holmes�s authority for saying that the whole story concerning the politician, the lighthouse, and the trained cormorant will be given to the public. What could be more dreadful than my actual life? As it turned out, it had been a horrible accident involving a circus lion attacking two people; killing one and disfiguring the other. It is also strange that, after killing Mr. Ronder, instead of simply running away, the lion went back in the direction of its cage, near to which Mrs. Ronder was standing, to attack her. Her purpose, it seems, is to make a clean breast of the matter before she dies. We carried with us the raw meat in a zinc pail. I deprecate, however, in the strongest way the attempts which have been made lately to get at and to destroy these papers. He was horribly abusive towards her and treated all the people and animals around him with cruelty. Say that, and give him the name Abbas Parva." Our visitor had no sooner waddled out of the room–no other verb can describe Mrs. Merrilow’s method of progression–than Sherlock Holmes threw himself with fierce energy upon the pile of commonplace books in the corner. ', 'How can you tell? But the man lost his nerve. It was always fed at night. I saw his death in the paper. But why did you lie to him? When I came to myself, and saw myself in the mirror, I cursed that lion - oh, how I cursed him! In this lesson, you'll meet Mrs. Ronder, dubbed the 'veiled lodger,' in this Sherlock Holmes case, 'The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger'. Bring him here, Mrs. Merrilow, and if he won’t come, tell him I am the wife of Ronder’s wild beast show. It is not reasonable to suppose that every one of these cases gave Holmes the opportunity of showing those curious gifts of instinct and observation which I have endeavoured to set forth in these memoirs. ', 'Because the fate of someone else depended upon it. credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level. "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" is a Sherlock Holmes short story by the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Leonardo returned with help, but what was done could not be undone. 'It was, I understand, terribly mutilated. One forenoon–it was late in 1896–I received a hurried note from Holmes asking for my attendance. All rights reserved. In these times a poor woman like me can't afford to turn down a chance like that. 'Very good, Mrs Merrilow. Mrs. Ronder agrees to Mrs. Merrilow's suggestion that the famous private detective Sherlock Holmes be allowed to come and talk to her. You monster!" She told Mrs. Merrilow to tell the famous consulting detective that she was the "wife of Ronder's wild beast show" and that she should say the words "Abbas Parva" to him. One evening, the members of Ronder's circus made camp for the night near the village of Abbas Parva. Now, as she nears death, she comes clean about the murder plot to Holmes and Watson. He would fashion a club to resemble the paw of the lion, bash Mr. Ronder over the head and make it look like an accident. I picked it up. In spite of her somewhat odd behavior, Mrs. Merrilow considers Mrs. Ronder to be a good lodger because she always pays her rent on time and has caused her few problems. Since she has found out that Leonardo recently drowned during a swimming accident and since she will soon die also, Mrs. Ronder feels ready to tell Holmes the truth. He did not do so, however, because it would have revealed that he was guilty of the murder of Mr. Ronder. It was first published in 1927, appearing in the January 22, 1927 issue of Liberty magazine in the United States and the February 1927 issue of The Strand magazine in the United Kingdom. You will make her understand that before we arrive. Edmunds told me that in his cups he was horrible. He then tells Watson about the case. Let us see that we have our facts correct before we start. “This is Mrs. Merrilow, of South Brixton,” said my friend with a wave of the hand. ', 'Possibly the same enemy had done something to enrage it.'. For seven years, Mrs. Merrilow has been renting a room in her house to a woman named Mrs. Ronder. Also, her health has taken a turn for the worse, and she is wasting away. Close to the door of the cage lay Mrs Ronder, upon her back, with the creature squatting and snarling above her. "For God's sake, not the police!" Though the woman has always been quiet and enjoyed her relative anonymity, she has recently started looking more haggard and behaving in a way that concerns the landlady about the woman's mental state. 'My name is not unfamiliar to you, Mr Holmes,' said she. The married couple headed out after dark to feed the lion just like they did every night, and Leonardo followed, swinging the club over Ronder's head, killing him. When Mrs. Merrilow suggested speaking to Sherlock Holmes, Mrs. Ronder agreed. 'That is very easily done. ', 'I cannot tell, Mr Holmes. Sometimes he had with much effort to pick the fruit, sometimes it fell easily into his lap. Services. There was no one in the show who did not know of this treatment. I reckon she had tried others and found that mine suited her best. It was first shown on the ITV network in the United Kingdom on February 5, 1992. Here are my marginal notes to prove it. But the most terrible human tragedies were often involved in those cases which brought him the fewest personal opportunities, and it is one of these which I now desire to record. Mr. Ronder was the owner of a circus which had once been very popular. Several of the circus men, headed by Leonardo, the strong man, and Griggs, the clown, drove the creature off with poles, upon which it sprang back into the cage, and was at once locked in. At the same time, I am a responsible person. There is evidence, however, that he took to drink, and that both he and his show were on the down grade at the time of the great tragedy. The person that I allude to is dead. Anyone can earn Indeed he does. Visit the The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes Study Guide page to learn more. Hence her cries of "Coward! Then Holmes stretched out his long arm and patted her hand with such a show of sympathy as I had seldom known him to exhibit. When I saw her � I happened on her unawares � she covered up quick, and then she said, �Now, Mrs. Merrilow, you know at last why it is that I never raise my veil.� �, �Do you know anything about her history?�, �No, sir, but she gave hard cash, and plenty of it. Why had it suddenly turned on its feeders? A quarter�s rent right down on the table in advance and no arguing about terms. I expect those cries about a monster, of which our visitor has spoken, were nocturnal reminiscences of the dear departed. Although Mr. Ronder's death was ruled to be accidental, Holmes thinks there is something suspicious about it. But the most terrible human tragedies were often involved in these cases which brought him the fewest personal opportunities, and it is one of these which I now desire to record. ', 'You say that she never showed her face from first to last save on the one accidental occasion. Collected in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. "One night my cries brought Leonardo to the door of our van. Ronder tells the men that her husband was a terrible and abusive person whom everyone feared. It was only Leonardo and I who kept it up - with little Jimmy Griggs, the clown. With the palms of my hands I tried to push the great steaming, blood-stained jaws away from me, and I screamed for help. There is a chalk-pit by the camp, with a deep green pool at the base of it. I will follow your advice." ', 'Then what has brought matters to a head? I was sure you would pick up the trail presently. "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" was first published in the US in Liberty in January 1927, and was first published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in February 1927. But certainly my own impression was very superficial, for there was nothing to go by, and none of the parties had engaged my services. I was a poor circus girl brought up on the sawdust, and doing springs through the hoop before I was ten. Log in here for access. It must be a terrible face indeed. [3], In 1932, the story was adapted by Edith Meiser as part of the radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. They all pitied me and they all loathed him, but what could they do? How Do I Use Study.com's Assign Lesson Feature? We were near tragedy that night, and soon my lover and I understood that it could not be avoided.