{"product_id":"2940013086623","title":"R. HOLMES \u0026 CO.","description":"Contents\u003cbr\u003eI.    INTRODUCING MR. RAFFLES HOLMES\u003cbr\u003eII.   THE ADVENTURE OF THE DORRINGTON RUBY SEAL\u003cbr\u003eIII.  THE ADVENTURE OF MRS. BURLINGAME'S DIAMOND STOMACHER\u003cbr\u003eIV.   THE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING PENDANTS\u003cbr\u003eV.    THE ADVENTURE OF THE BRASS CHECK\u003cbr\u003eVI.   THE ADVENTURE OF THE HIRED BURGLAR\u003cbr\u003eVII.  THE REDEMPTION OF YOUNG BILLINGTON RAND\u003cbr\u003eVIII. \"THE NOSTALGIA OF NERVY JIM THE SNATCHER\"\u003cbr\u003eIX.   THE ADVENTURE OF ROOM 407\u003cbr\u003eX.    THE MAJOR-GENERAL'S PEPPERPOTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eR. HOLMES \u0026amp; CO.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCING MR. RAFFLES HOLMES\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was a blistering night in August. All day long the mercury in the\u003cbr\u003ethermometer had been flirting with the figures at the top of the tube, and\u003cbr\u003ethe promised shower at night which a mendacious Weather Bureau had been\u003cbr\u003eprophesying as a slight mitigation of our sufferings was conspicuous wholly\u003cbr\u003eby its absence. I had but one comfort in the sweltering hours of the day,\u003cbr\u003eafternoon and evening, and that was that my family were away in the\u003cbr\u003emountains, and there was no law against my sitting around all day clad only\u003cbr\u003ein my pajamas, and otherwise concealed from possibly intruding eyes by the\u003cbr\u003ewreaths of smoke that I extracted from the nineteen or twenty cigars which,\u003cbr\u003ewhen there is no protesting eye to suggest otherwise, form my daily\u003cbr\u003eallowance. I had tried every method known to the resourceful flat-dweller\u003cbr\u003eof modern times to get cool and to stay so, but alas, it was impossible.\u003cbr\u003eEven the radiators, which all winter long had never once given forth a\u003cbr\u003espark of heat, now hissed to the touch of my moistened finger. Enough\u003cbr\u003ecooling drinks to float an ocean greyhound had passed into my inner man,\u003cbr\u003ewith no other result than to make me perspire more profusely than ever,\u003cbr\u003eand in so far as sensations went, to make me feel hotter than before.\u003cbr\u003eFinally, as a last resource, along about midnight, its gridiron floor\u003cbr\u003ehaving had a chance to lose some of its stored-up warmth, I climbed out\u003cbr\u003eupon the fire-escape at the rear of the Richmere, hitched my hammock from\u003cbr\u003eone of the railings thereof to the leader running from the roof to the\u003cbr\u003earea, and swung myself therein some eighty feet above the concealed\u003cbr\u003epavement of our backyard--so called, perhaps, because of its dimensions\u003cbr\u003ewhich were just about that square. It was a little improvement, though\u003cbr\u003enothing to brag of. What fitful zephyrs there might be, caused no doubt by\u003cbr\u003ethe rapid passage to and fro on the roof above and fence-tops below of\u003cbr\u003evagrant felines on Cupid's contentious battles bent, to the disturbance of\u003cbr\u003ethe still air, soughed softly through the meshes of my hammock and gave\u003cbr\u003esome measure of relief, grateful enough for which I ceased the perfervid\u003cbr\u003elanguage I had been using practically since sunrise, and dozed off. And\u003cbr\u003ethen there entered upon the scene that marvelous man, Raffles Holmes, of\u003cbr\u003ewhose exploits it is the purpose of these papers to tell.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI had dozed perhaps for a full hour when the first strange sounds grated\u003cbr\u003eupon my ear. Somebody had opened a window in the kitchen of the first-floor\u003cbr\u003eapartment below, and with a dark lantern was inspecting the iron platform\u003cbr\u003eof the fire-escape without. A moment later this somebody crawled out of the\u003cbr\u003ewindow, and with movements that in themselves were a sufficient indication\u003cbr\u003eof the questionable character of his proceedings, made for the ladder\u003cbr\u003eleading to the floor above, upon which many a time and oft had I too\u003cbr\u003eclimbed to home and safety when an inconsiderate janitor had locked me out.\u003cbr\u003eEvery step that he took was stealthy--that much I could see by the dim\u003cbr\u003estarlight. His lantern he had turned dark again, evidently lest he should\u003cbr\u003eattract attention in the apartments below as he passed their windows in his\u003cbr\u003eupward flight.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ha! ha!\" thought I to myself. \"It's never too hot for Mr. Sneak to get in\u003cbr\u003ehis fine work. I wonder whose stuff he is after?\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145539633392,"sku":"2940013086623","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013086623_p0.jpg?v=1763576270","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013086623","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}