Summary
Chapter 7
In the morning Holmes and Watson join Mason and MacDonald at the police station, where Holmes proceeds to tell them they should not waste their time on the bicyclist. Astonished, MacDonald asks why. Holmes says he cannot tell them quite yet, and then speaks of the history of Manor House. MacDonald grows annoyed and Holmes politely begs forgiveness.
Holmes then tells the men that he spent time in the study the previous evening and found the missing dumbbell. They are at the edge of the unexplored and soon, he says, he will share everything he knows. Holmes asks them to all meet again at dusk. Although Mason and MacDonald find it a bit difficult to go along with the plan without knowing more details, they finally agree.
Holmes tells them to write a note to Mr. Barker explaining that the moat around the house is going to be drained for the investigation. Confused, MacDonald replies that they cannot do this, but Holmes insists the note be sent.
In the evening, the four men reassemble. Holmes thanks them for going on this little expedition, and warns them it may be cold and take awhile. They walk to Manor House, wait near the shrubbery that lies in view of the drawbridge, and study the window.
The shadows darken and the night grows bitterly cold. Everything in the house is dark except for a light burning in the study. Finally MacDonald asks what they are waiting for, and Holmes suddenly points to the window. A figure is in the study. He moves about stealthily and leans out the window, seemingly stirring the moat below him. He hauls up something. At this moment Holmes signals; the group runs forward across the bridge and rings the bell. Ames lets them in and Holmes rushes past him to see Cecil Barker standing in the study. Barker is aghast and angry, but Holmes points to a bundle hurriedly thrust under the table. He proclaims that this is what they were after.
Barker is stunned and wonders how Holmes knew about this. Holmes explains that he was looking for the missing dumbbell and deduced that, since there was water nearby, the dumbbell—probably used as a weight for something—would be there. He fished it out and looked at it, then put it back and sent the note saying the moat was to be drained.
He undoes the bundle and finds the dumbbell, boots, a knife, and clothing. Holding up the clothes he reads the label: 'Neal, Outfitter, Vermissa, U.S.A.' This was Vermissa Valley, a coal mining locale that Barker had told them in one of his earlier interviews was associated with Douglas’s first wife. This may also be the Valley of Fear.
Barker’s face goes through “anger, amazement, consternation, and indecision” (231). He says acridly that he will tell them nothing, to which the inspector says he will have to be kept in sight until they get a warrant.
Suddenly Mrs. Douglas’s voice breaks the impasse. She implores Barker to stop, and Holmes advises him to have faith in the law. He then adds that perhaps Mr. Douglas should tell his own story.
To everyone’s shock, a man emerges from the wall. Mrs. Douglas embraces this man, and Barker grasps his hand. The man blinks in the light and turns to Watson. He tells him he’s heard he is the historian of the bunch, and has papers for him on the Valley of Fear.
Amid the amazement of all those gathered, Holmes asks for the story. First, though, Holmes explains that when he found the clothes in the moat he’d deduced that the body was not Mr. Douglas's, but rather the bicyclist's.
Mr. Douglas begins by staying there are many men who want to hurt him, and as long as he is alive they will not stop pursuing him. He was chased from Chicago to California, then out of America, but he thought he was finally safe. He never told his wife because he did not want to burden her.
The day before the murder, Douglas had glimpsed a man whom he knew for his worst enemy. He was on guard all day, but felt safe once the drawbridge was up. He never dreamed the man could get in, but when he entered the study that night he saw a boot under the curtain. The men fought to the death, and Douglas fired the shot that killed Ted Baldwin. Barker and his wife came down, saw the body, and realized that no one else had heard. They decided to set the scene, knowing that the man’s face was so unrecognizable due to the gunshot that no one would be the wiser. The wedding ring could not come off his own figure, but he was able to put the other rings on the man. He knew of a hiding place in the house and retired there; Barker did the rest.
Douglas stops talking for a moment. Holmes asks how the man got in, and Douglas admits he has no idea. Holmes then tells Douglas that he has worse enemies to face than the English law or even enemies in America, and tells him to be on his guard.
Watson now says the story must go back twenty years and thousands of miles away.
Part II: The Scowrers
Chapter 1
It was February 1875 in the cold, wintry ironworking and coalmining land of Pennsylvania. This was a desolate place filled with dark and craggy forest and rock. The train makes its way through the land. Most men on it are workmen, but there is another. This man is young and handsome; he is also gregarious and witty but has an edge to him. He sits alone after trying futilely to talk to others.
The iron and coal valleys of Vermissa have signs of “the crudest battle of life” (240). The young man looks out the window, repulsed and intrigued. Sometimes he looks at letters he holds, as well as a large revolver.
Another man notices the gun and conversationally says that the young man might need it here sometime. The young man says he occasionally needed it where he came from—Chicago. The workman asks why he came to Pennsylvania, and the young man says he came for work; he does not think he will have trouble finding it because he is in the union and is also a member of the Eminent Order of Freemen. The other man pauses in recognition and looks around the car, then shakes the young man’s hand. They exchange coded words and finally slip into easier relations. The young man is John McMurdo, and the workman is Scanlan.
Scanlan asks why McMurdo left Chicago if there was work for him there. McMurdo cagily says that he left because of trouble, but he grows a little irritated at Scanlan’s questions. Scanlan says he met no offense. He recommends a boarding house and then tells him he must go see Boss McGinty, the Bodymaster of Vermissa.
After Scanlan walks off, the two policemen who were casually talking in a corner tell McMurdo to avoid men like Scanlan. McMurdo grows irate and yells loudly that he did not ask for their advice, is not a sucker, and is neither afraid of them nor of their kind. The policemen are bemused and warn him to be careful.
The rest of the workmen on the train express their admiration of McMurdo and say goodnight to him. The young man’s reputation thus was made before he even stepped into the town. As for that town, it is horribly squalid and dirty. Someone on the street points out Union House as the abode of Jack McGinty. When McMurdo says he did not know McGinty, the man is surprised. He asks if McMurdo has heard of the Scowrers. McMurdo says that he has: he heard that they are a gang of murderers. The man is shocked and hushes him, warning him not to be loud like that.
After they part, McMurdo walks to the house of Jacob Shafter to seek room and board. An incredibly beautiful young woman opens the door, and McMurdo is dumbstruck. She invites him in and introduces herself as Ettie, saying her father will be back soon. Old Jacob Shafter returns and accepts McMurdo’s request for lodging.
Chapter 2
McMurdo becomes very well-known and liked in Shafter’s and beyond. He is good-humored but occasionally has flashes of anger. He is in love with Ettie, and she eventually returns the sentiment, entranced by his stories of Ireland and other American cities.
McMurdo becomes a bookkeeper because he is well-educated. He has not reported to the lodge of the Freemen, and one day Scanlan, the man he’d met in the train, asks why he has not met McGinty yet. McMurdo is surprised and says he has been busy. Scanlan suggests he not run afoul of the bodymaster, and anticipates that they will actually have a lot in common. McMurdo asks if McGinty hates the police too, and Scanlan laughs.
That same evening Shafter calls McMurdo aside and asks if he has designs on Ettie. The young man admits he loves her, but Shafter says she is already spoken for by Teddy Baldwin, a boss of the Scowrers. McMurdo has heard this name before, but wonders why everyone is afraid. Shafter says they are the Eminent Order of the Freedmen. McMurdo is shocked and says he is a member of that. Shafter recoils and says he would not have allowed McMurdo to board there if he had known that, and says that the Scowrers are a murder society. McMurdo is frustrated; he demands an apology and proof of the Scowrers' bad deeds. Shafter warns him that if he stays here long enough he will get his proof; he tells him he must find other lodgings and leave Ettie alone.
McMurdo speaks with Ettie and she bursts into tears saying she does not love Teddy and wishes she could be with him. She wants them to flee the area, but McMurdo says he is not afraid and will not leave. Ettie loathes Baldwin, but fears what will happen to her father if she says something. McMurdo proclaims he will take care of things.
At that moment a young man comes in. Teddy Baldwin is handsome and fierce, and he looks suspiciously at McMurdo. Ettie introduces him as a new boarder and Baldwin responds by asking if he knows of the understanding between him and Ettie. McMurdo fires back that he does not. Tensions begin to flare, and the two men almost fight. Baldwin shows McMurdo a mark on his arm and tells him to heed it. He furiously tells Ettie she had better come back to him on her knees. With that, he departs.
Ettie cries that McMurdo was so brave but they must leave. When McMurdo refuses, she tells him to go see McGinty. McMurdo agrees.
The saloon, opulent and bright, is crowded. McGinty is well-liked, but people also fear him and know his power throughout the whole valley. He held many municipal positions, gave out favors, and became exceedingly wealthy.
McMurdo spies the man who can only be McGinty. He is large, strong, and has long dark hair with a swarthy complexion. His noble features are matched by the jovial manners he possesses; he gives the impression of being honest, but his eyes suggest his true malice and menace.
Having observed his man, McMurdo moves audaciously forward and greets him. McGinty appraises him and tells him that he ought to use his real title. McMurdo apologizes as he is new, and offers complimentary words. He says Scanlan told him to come by. McMurdo calls him over privately, shows him his revolver to warn him against rash behavior, and tests him on where he was made in Chicago, who his bodymaster was, etc. McGinty admires McMurdo’s quick speech and tells him he may need quick action too. McMurdo will not tell him why he left Chicago, which angers McGinty, but McMurdo says he cannot lie to a brother. Finally, though, he decides to tell him the truth: he was partners with a man making fake currency and killed the man after he said he’d split. He then came here, thinking he would fit in here. McGinty is impressed and thinks he will have use for him here.
At that moment Teddy Baldwin comes up, impassioned and angry. He bursts out that McMurdo wronged him, but McMurdo coolly replies that whom Ettie loves is her choice. McGinty agrees because she is choosing between two freemen. This does not appease Baldwin, who begins to rise up against McGinty for choosing this new man over him. He even suggests McGinty might be voted out of his position. This infuriates McGinty, and he slams Baldwin roughly to the ground.
Finally, sputtering, Baldwin apologizes and says he did not mean to offend. McGinty jovially releases him and procures champagne. He makes the two young men agree to halt the bad blood. McMurdo offers out his hand to Baldwin, along with an apology. Baldwin accepts reluctantly.
McGinty laughs about how women can come between men. He then tells McMurdo he must come to their lodge meeting Saturday night.
Analysis
The structure of this novel is certainly somewhat unconventional: Doyle wraps up the main mystery of the supposed killing of John Douglas and then jumps backward in time and space to provide the lengthy account of why Douglas needed to fake his own murder. To Doyle’s credit, many of the revelations are legitimately surprising. While readers could guess that something was odd about Mrs. Douglas and Cecil’s relationship, most probably they would not guess that the characters were covering up Douglas’s faked death. It is also surprising that Douglas is still alive, that he is hiding within his own home, and that Barker and Mrs. Douglas were able to assist him in setting up the scene. What is perhaps not so surprising for fans of the Holmes books and film adaptations is that Holmes is able to take one of the overlooked pieces of evidence—the dumbbell—and discern that it is that very thing that will yield the most in terms of solving the case. Holmes’s intellect, keen observational and deductive skills, and tenacity are on full display here.
The novel’s second part introduces a new protagonist (that term is used loosely!), McMurdo, and a new setting in the 1870s coalmines of Pennsylvania. Although Holmes and Watson are nowhere to be found, this story is compelling nonetheless. McMurdo’s past is ambiguous and thus mysterious; the Scowrers are a society to be reckoned with, and McGinty is a captivating villain. Teddy Baldwin and Ettie Shafter are more prosaic and one-dimensional, but add nicely to the drama of the tale.
That drama is largely based on a real-life situation: the Molly Maguires, a secret-society-within-a-union of Irish-American murderers in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, who were infiltrated by a Pinkerton detective and eventually put on trial for their misdeeds (see “Other” in this ClassicNote). Apparently William Pinkerton, a member of the family who ran the Pinkerton Detective Agency, met Doyle on a train and shared this story; Doyle then adapted it into The Valley of Fear. This is the only story of Doyle’s that explicitly deals with Irish subject matter, though other tales of his brought in some Irish political motifs.
A bit of background on this matter may illuminate the reasons why Doyle chose this topic for one of his four Holmes novels. In 1815 Doyle’s grandfather emigrated from Ireland to London due to the persecution of Catholics under the Penal Laws. In Edinburgh Doyle found it difficult to come to terms with his Irish Catholic identity, but he found it even more difficult to embrace a Scottish identity.
Doyle would have known of the secret society of the Fenian Brotherhood, or the Irish Republican Brotherhood as it was known in Ireland, and their goal of separatism from Britain. The Fenians engaged in several violent incidents in the 1860s, and anti-Irish sentiment swept the United Kingdom. Though post-famine Ireland saw erosion in the agrarian secret societies, these societies migrated with immigrants to America. In the Pennsylvania coal fields, critic Catherine Wynne explains, “The Irish…discovered little change in their circumstances. Absentee landlords were replaced by absentee mine-owners; wages were equally low; and workers were often compelled to shop in the company store where prices were exorbitantly high. Mining was for the majority of the Irish an alien industry. The unskilled Irish were forced to join the low-status labouring ranks, while their English and Welsh fellow workers occupied the better paid and more socially prestigious mining positions. Ethnic divisions consequently ensued.” Many joined the Ancient Order of the Hibernians, and their lodges became fronts for the more violent Molly Maguires.
Although Doyle was a Unionist for the early years of the 1900s, by 1911 he had come to support Irish home rule. Critic Catherine Wynne explains, “Fundamentally, [this view] abrades the unitary concept of Doyle as a quintessential Englishman, patriotically devoted to Crown, empire's defender and empire's apologist. That Doyle was of Irish Catholic parents and born in Scotland complicates his attitude to Irish political demands; as Pierre Nordon proposes.” When it came time for Doyle to write his 1915 novel, he had much to navigate—a topic to which we shall return later in the analysis.
