The Sign of the Four: Difference between revisions

The Sign of the Four
	One of the coversheets to the original serial publication of the novel in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine.
Author	Arthur Conan Doyle
Language	English
Series	Sherlock Holmes
Genre	Mystery
Publisher	Lippincott's Monthly Magazine; Spencer Blackett (book)
Publication date	February 1890
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (Magazine, Hardback & Paperback)
Preceded by	A Study in Scarlet
Followed by	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Text	The Sign of the Four at Wikisource

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How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?

Sherlock Holmes, Chap. 6, p. 111

The Sign of the Four, also called The Sign of Four, is an 1890 detective novel, and it is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes by British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring the fictional detective.

Plot

Miss Mary Morstan arrives with a case. She explains that ten years earlier, her father, Captain Arthur Morstan, disappeared immediately after arriving in London. Mary contacted his friend, Major Sholto, who denied having seen him. Four years later, she received a valuable pearl in the post, a gift repeated once a year for six years. With the sixth pearl, she received a letter asking for a meeting, claiming that she is a "wronged woman".

Holmes takes the case, and soon discovers that Major Sholto had died a week before Mary received the first pearl. The only further clue Mary can give Holmes is a map of a fortress found in her father's desk, appended with the words "The Sign of the Four: Jonathan Small, Mahomet Singh, Abdullah Khan, Dost Akbar," and four small cross-like symbols.

Following the letter's instructions, Holmes, Watson, and Mary go to the Lyceum Theatre; there, they meet a coachman who takes them to the house of Major Sholto's son Thaddeus, the anonymous sender of the pearls. He reveals that Captain Morstan did, in fact, visit Major Sholto, demanding his half of a treasure that Sholto had secretly brought back from India. In the ensuing quarrel, Captain Morstan suffered a heart attack and died, striking his head on the treasure box as he fell. Afraid he would be suspected of murder, Major Sholto buried the body and hid the treasure, leaving out a small gold chaplet studded with twelve pearls. Thaddeus and his twin brother Bartholomew only learned of this when their father revealed it while on his deathbed; he was about to reveal to them where the treasure was hidden, when a bearded man appeared at the window and the Major died of fear. The brothers tried and failed to catch the intruder; later on, they found a note pinned to the Major's body, which read "The Sign of Four". Thaddeus began sending Mary the pearls to make things right, and the brothers searched for the treasure. Six years later, Bartholomew found and withheld it; Thaddeus then contacted Mary so they could both confront Bartholomew and demand their shares.

The party, now accompanied by Thaddeus, heads to Bartholomew's house, Pondicherry Lodge, Upper Norwood. As they enter the house, the worried housekeeper reveals that Bartholomew has locked himself in his laboratory and refuses to come out. Mary Morstan stays downstairs to comfort the housekeeper, while the others rush up to the laboratory door; through the keyhole, they can see Bartholomew Sholto slumped in his chair, with a "fixed and unnatural grin" upon his face. Holmes and Watson break down the door, to discover Bartholomew in a state of rigor mortis. Upon further inspection of the body, Holmes discovers a poisonous thorn above Bartholomew's ear. The treasure box is also gone, though there is a hole in the ceiling where it used to be.

While the police wrongly take Thaddeus in as a suspect, Holmes deduces from footmarks and other clues that there are two persons involved in the murder: a one-legged white man named Jonathan Small, and a small Andamanese accomplice, who accidentally stepped in creosote. Borrowing Toby, a trained scent hound, from a naturalist, Holmes traces the pair to a boat landing. Learning that Small has hired a steam launch named the Aurora, Holmes, with the help of the Baker Street Irregulars and his own disguises, traces the boat to a repair yard. In a police launch, Holmes and Watson pursue the Aurora when it flees the yard; the islander attempts to shoot a dart at Holmes, and is shot dead himself. Small attempts to flee, running the Aurora aground, but is captured. However, the treasure box is now empty; Small, not wanting to surrender the gems, had scattered them into the Thames during the chase.

Small confesses that he was once a soldier of the Third Buffs in India, and lost his right leg to a crocodile while bathing in the Ganges. He then became an overseer on an indigo plantation; the 1857 rebellion occurred, and he was forced to flee to the Agra fortress. While standing guard one night, he was overpowered by Sikh troopers, who gave him a choice; be killed, or help them waylay Achmet, a disguised servant of an outlawed rajah, who had sent Achmet with a box of jewellery to the British for safekeeping. The robbery and murder took place, but the crime was discovered, although the hidden jewels were not. Small and his accomplices got penal servitude on the Andaman Islands.

Some years later, Small learned that Major Sholto and Captain Morstan, who were guards at the convict barracks, had lost money playing cards. Small saw his chance, and made a deal with the officers; Sholto would recover the treasure, and in return send a boat to pick up Morstan, Small, and the Sikhs so they could all meet and divide it. However, Sholto stole the treasure for himself, returning to England after inheriting a fortune from his uncle. Morstan went after Sholto but never returned, and Small vowed vengeance against Sholto. Four years later, Small escaped prison with the help of Tonga, an islander whose life he had once saved. It was the news of this escape that shocked Sholto into his fatal illness. Small arrived too late to hear of the treasure's location, but left the note in the room anyway as revenge for the treatment of himself and the Sikhs. When Bartholomew eventually found the treasure, Small only planned to steal it; however, a miscommunication led Tonga to kill Bartholomew before Small could stop him. Small decides the treasure brings nothing but bad luck to anyone who has it; to Achmet and Bartholomew, death; to Major Sholto, fear and guilt; and for Small himself, penal servitude for life.

Mary is left with no treasure, save the pearls; however, she and Watson have fallen in love over the course of the adventure, and the loss of the treasure has removed any barriers there might have been between them. Watson reveals that he has proposed to Mary and that she has accepted, much to the annoyance of Holmes.

Publication history

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described how he was commissioned to write the story over a dinner with Joseph Marshall Stoddart, managing editor of the American publication Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, at the Langham Hotel in London on 30 August 1889. Stoddart wanted to produce an English version of Lippincott’s with a British editor and British contributors. The dinner was also attended by Oscar Wilde, who eventually contributed The Picture of Dorian Gray to the July 1890 issue.^[1] Doyle discussed what he called this "golden evening" in his 1924 autobiography Memories and Adventures.

The novel first appeared in the February 1890 edition of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine^[2] as The Sign of the Four; or The Problem of the Sholtos, appearing in both London and Philadelphia.^[3] The British edition of the magazine originally sold for a shilling, and the American for 25 cents. Surviving copies are now worth several thousand dollars.

Over the following few months in the same year, the novel was then republished in several regional British journals. These re-serialisations gave the title as The Sign of Four. The novel was published in book form in October 1890 by Spencer Blackett, again using the title The Sign of Four.^[1] This edition included a frontispiece illustrated by Charles H. M. Kerr.^[4] The title of both the British and American editions of this first book edition omitted the second "the" of the original title.

A German edition of the book published in 1902 was illustrated by Richard Gutschmidt. An edition published by George Newnes Ltd in 1903 was illustrated by F. H. Townsend.^[5]

Different editions over the years have varied between the two forms of the title, with most editions favouring the four-word form.^[1] The actual text in the novel nearly always uses "the Sign of the Four" (the five-word form) to describe the symbol in the story, although the four-word form is used twice by Jonathan Small in his narrative at the end of the story.

As with the first story, A Study in Scarlet, produced two years previously, The Sign of the Four was not particularly successful to start with. It was the short stories, published from 1891 onwards in Strand Magazine, that made household names of Sherlock Holmes and his creator.

Adaptations

Television and film

There have been multiple film and television adaptations of the book:

Year	Media	Title	Country	Director	Holmes	Watson
1905	Film (silent)	Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; or, Held for Ransom	US	J. Stuart Blackton	Gilbert M. Anderson	Kyrle Bellew
1913	Film (silent)	Sherlock Holmes Solves the Sign of the Four	US	Lloyd Lonergan	Harry Benham	Charles Gunn
1923	Film (silent)	The Sign of Four	UK	Maurice Elvey	Eille Norwood	Arthur Cullin
1932	Film	The Sign of Four	UK	Graham Cutts	Arthur Wontner	Ian Hunter
1968	TV (series)	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes – "The Sign of Four"	UK	William Sterling	Peter Cushing	Nigel Stock
1974	TV	Das Zeichen der Vier (Le signe des quatre)	France/West Germany	Jean-Pierre Decourt	Rolf Becker	Roger Lumont
1983	TV (film)	The Sign of Four	UK	Desmond Davis	Ian Richardson	David Healy
1983	TV (series)	Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four (animated)	Australia	Ian Mackenzie Alex Nicholas	Peter O'Toole (voice)	Earle Cross (voice)
1983	TV (series)	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson – The Treasures of Agra (Сокровища Агры, Sokrovishcha Agry)	USSR	Igor Maslennikov	Vasily Livanov	Vitaly Solomin
1987	TV (film)	The Return of Sherlock Holmes	US	Kevin Connor	Michael Pennington	(n/a)
1987	TV (series)	The Return of Sherlock Holmes – "The Sign of Four"	UK	Peter Hammond	Jeremy Brett	Edward Hardwicke
1991	Filmed play	The Crucifer of Blood	US	Fraser Clarke Heston	Charlton Heston	Richard Johnson
1999	TV (series)	Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century – "The Sign of Four" (animated)	US/UK	Paul Quinn	Jason Gray-Stanford (voice)	John Payne (voice)
2001	TV (film)	The Sign of Four	Canada	Rodney Gibbons	Matt Frewer	Kenneth Welsh
2014	TV (series)	Sherlock – "The Sign of Three"	UK	Colm McCarthy	Benedict Cumberbatch	Martin Freeman
2014	TV (series)	Sherlock Holmes – "The Adventure of the Cheerful Four" (愉快な四人組の冒険, Yukai na yoningumi no bōken)	Japan	Kunio Yoshikawa	Kōichi Yamadera (voice)	Wataru Takagi (voice)

Radio

A radio adaptation of the story was broadcast on New York radio station WGY on 9 November 1922. The cast included Edward H. Smith as Sherlock Holmes, F. H. Oliver as Dr. Watson, and Viola Karwowska as Mary Morstan. It was produced as part of a series of adaptations of plays, so it is likely that the script was based on an existing stage adaptation of the story (one was written by John Arthur Fraser in 1901 and another by Charles P. Rice in 1903).^[6]

A six-part adaptation of the novel aired in the radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Adapted by Edith Meiser, the episodes aired from 9 November 1932 to 14 December 1932, with Richard Gordon as Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell as Dr. Watson.^[7]

The book was adapted by Felix Felton for the BBC Light Programme in 1959. Richard Hurndall played Holmes and Bryan Coleman played Watson.^[8]

In 1963, the story was dramatised by Michael Hardwick for the BBC Home Service as part of the 1952–1969 radio series, with Carleton Hobbs as Holmes and Norman Shelley as Watson.^[9]

CBS Radio Mystery Theater aired a radio version of the story in 1977, starring Kevin McCarthy as Holmes and Court Benson as Watson.^[10]

The Sign of the Four was adapted for radio by Bert Coules in 1989 as part of BBC Radio 4's complete Sherlock Holmes 1989–1998 radio series, with Clive Merrison as Holmes, Michael Williams as Watson, and featuring Brian Blessed as Jonathan Small.^[11]

In 2016, the story was adapted as an episode of the American radio series The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, with John Patrick Lowrie as Holmes and Lawrence Albert as Watson.^[12]

Stage

Paul Giovanni's 1978 play The Crucifer of Blood is based on the novel. The Broadway premiere featured Paxton Whitehead as Holmes and Timothy Landfield as Watson. The 1979 London production featured Keith Michell as Holmes and Denis Lill as Watson.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Redmond, Christopher (2009). Sherlock Holmes Handbook: Second Edition. Dundurn Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9781459718982.
^ Smith, Daniel (2011). The Sherlock Holmes Companion. Castle Books. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7858-2784-9.
^ Honce, Charles (1944), "Sherlock Holmes in the News", in Smith, Edgar W. (ed.), Profile by Gaslight, Simon and Schuster, pp. 74–75
^ Green, Richard Lancelyn (ed.). The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Oxford University Press, 1998). p. 11. ISBN 978-0191605598
^ Klinger, Leslie (ed.). The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume III (New York: W. W. Norton, 2006). p. 214, 269. ISBN 978-0393058000
^ Dickerson, Ian (2019). Sherlock Holmes and His Adventures on American Radio. BearManor Media. p. 6. ISBN 978-1629335087.
^ Dickerson, Ian (2019). Sherlock Holmes and His Adventures on American Radio. BearManor Media. p. 49. ISBN 978-1629335087.
^ De Waal, Ronald Burt (1974). The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes. Bramhall House. p. 384. ISBN 0-517-217597.
^ De Waal, Ronald Burt (1974). The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes. Bramhall House. p. 390. ISBN 0-517-217597.
^ Payton, Gordon; Grams, Martin Jr. (2015) [1999]. The CBS Radio Mystery Theater: An Episode Guide and Handbook to Nine Years of Broadcasting, 1974–1982 (Reprinted ed.). McFarland. p. 196. ISBN 9780786492282.
^ Bert Coules. "The Sign of the Four". The BBC complete audio Sherlock Holmes. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
^ Wright, Stewart (30 April 2019). "The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Broadcast Log" (PDF). Old-Time Radio. Retrieved 1 May 2020.

External links

Works related to The Sign of the Four at Wikisource
Media related to The Sign of the Four at Wikimedia Commons
The Sign of the Four at Standard Ebooks
The Sign of the Four at Project Gutenberg
The Sign of Four at the Internet Archive
The Sign of the Four public domain audiobook at LibriVox

[redmond14-1] Redmond, Christopher (2009). Sherlock Holmes Handbook: Second Edition. Dundurn Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9781459718982.

[2] Smith, Daniel (2011). The Sherlock Holmes Companion. Castle Books. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7858-2784-9.

[3] Honce, Charles (1944), "Sherlock Holmes in the News", in Smith, Edgar W. (ed.), Profile by Gaslight, Simon and Schuster, pp. 74–75

[4] Green, Richard Lancelyn (ed.). The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Oxford University Press, 1998). p. 11. ISBN 978-0191605598

[5] Klinger, Leslie (ed.). The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume III (New York: W. W. Norton, 2006). p. 214, 269. ISBN 978-0393058000

[6] Dickerson, Ian (2019). Sherlock Holmes and His Adventures on American Radio. BearManor Media. p. 6. ISBN 978-1629335087.

[7] Dickerson, Ian (2019). Sherlock Holmes and His Adventures on American Radio. BearManor Media. p. 49. ISBN 978-1629335087.

[8] De Waal, Ronald Burt (1974). The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes. Bramhall House. p. 384. ISBN 0-517-217597.

[9] De Waal, Ronald Burt (1974). The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes. Bramhall House. p. 390. ISBN 0-517-217597.

[10] Payton, Gordon; Grams, Martin Jr. (2015) [1999]. The CBS Radio Mystery Theater: An Episode Guide and Handbook to Nine Years of Broadcasting, 1974–1982 (Reprinted ed.). McFarland. p. 196. ISBN 9780786492282.

[11] Bert Coules. "The Sign of the Four". The BBC complete audio Sherlock Holmes. Retrieved 12 December 2016.

[12] Wright, Stewart (30 April 2019). "The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Broadcast Log" (PDF). Old-Time Radio. Retrieved 1 May 2020.

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+{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
-{{Use British English|date=April 2015}}
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-'''''The Sign of the Four''''' (1890), also called '''''The Sign of Four''''', is the second [[novel]] featuring [[Sherlock Holmes]] by British writer [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]]. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring the fictional detective.
+'''''The Sign of the Four''''', also called '''''The Sign of Four''''', is an 1890 [[detective fiction| detective]] [[novel]], and it is the second [[novel]] featuring [[Sherlock Holmes]] by British writer [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]]. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring the fictional detective.
 ==Plot==
+Miss [[Mary Morstan]] arrives with a case. She explains that ten years earlier, her father, Captain Arthur Morstan, disappeared immediately after arriving in London. Mary contacted his friend, Major Sholto, who denied having seen him. Four years later, she received a valuable pearl in the post, a gift repeated once a year for six years. With the sixth pearl, she received a letter asking for a meeting, claiming that she is a "wronged woman".
-On a foggy day in 1888,<ref>Conan Doyle, A. ''The Sign of the Four'', "Chapter 2: The Statement of the Case", in which characters state: "He disappeared upon the 3d of December, 1878,—nearly ten years ago." & "About six years ago—to be exact, upon the 4th of May, 1882"</ref> [[Dr. Watson]] remonstrates with Holmes about his [[cocaine]] usage. Holmes claims he needs a problem to solve and is bored; shortly thereafter, Miss [[Mary Morstan]] arrives with a case.
-Miss Morstan explains that, in December 1878, her father, Captain Arthur Morstan, had arrived in London, on leave from his post as a convict guard in the [[Andaman Islands]]. He requested her to meet him at the [[Langham Hotel]], but he was not there when she arrived. Mary contacted Major John Sholto, a former convict guard who had known her father and was now living in England; however, he denied having seen Morstan, and Morstan was never heard from again. Four years later, Miss Morstan answered an anonymous newspaper advertisement, asking for her whereabouts. She then received a large and valuable pearl in the post, a gift repeated once a year for six years. With the sixth pearl, she received a letter asking for a meeting, claiming she has been "wronged". Holmes takes the case, and soon discovers that Major Sholto had died in 1882; within a week of his death, Mary received the first pearl. The only further clue Mary can give Holmes is a map of a fortress found in her father's desk, appended with the words "The Sign of the Four: Jonathan Small, Mahomet Singh, Abdullah Khan, and Dost Akbar".
+Holmes takes the case, and soon discovers that Major Sholto had died a week before Mary received the first pearl. The only further clue Mary can give Holmes is a map of a fortress found in her father's desk, appended with the words "The Sign of the Four: Jonathan Small, Mahomet Singh, Abdullah Khan, Dost Akbar," and four small cross-like symbols.
-Holmes, Watson, and Mary meet with Major Sholto's son Thaddeus, the anonymous sender of the pearls. Thaddeus explains that Morstan ''had'' visited Major Sholto, to demand his half of a great treasure that Sholto had secretly brought back from [[British Raj|India]]. The two men quarreled, and Captain Morstan suffered a heart attack and died, striking his head on the [[Benares brass|brazen]] treasure box as he fell. Afraid he would be suspected of murder, Major Sholto buried the body and hid the treasure, leaving out a small gold [[Chaplet (headgear)|chaplet]] studded with twelve pearls. Thaddeus and his twin brother Bartholomew knew nothing of these events, until an unexpected letter from India caused their father to faint, and sicken to his death. On his deathbed, he confessed the truth to them; he was about to reveal to them where the treasure was hidden, when a bearded man appeared at the window and the Major died of sheer fright. The man fled, but the brothers later found a note reading "The Sign of the Four" pinned to their dead father's body. Thaddeus began sending Mary the pearls to make things right, and the brothers searched for the treasure. Six years later, Bartholomew found and withheld it; Thaddeus has contacted Mary so they can both confront Bartholomew and demand their shares.
+Following the letter's instructions, Holmes, Watson, and Mary go to the [[Lyceum Theatre, London|Lyceum Theatre]]; there, they meet a coachman who takes them to the house of Major Sholto's son Thaddeus, the anonymous sender of the pearls. He reveals that Captain Morstan did, in fact, visit Major Sholto, demanding his half of a treasure that Sholto had secretly brought back from [[British Raj|India]]. In the ensuing quarrel, Captain Morstan suffered a heart attack and died, striking his head on the treasure box as he fell. Afraid he would be suspected of murder, Major Sholto buried the body and hid the treasure, leaving out a small gold [[Chaplet (headgear)|chaplet]] studded with twelve pearls. Thaddeus and his twin brother Bartholomew only learned of this when their father revealed it while on his deathbed; he was about to reveal to them where the treasure was hidden, when a bearded man appeared at the window and the Major died of fear. The brothers tried and failed to catch the intruder; later on, they found a note pinned to the Major's body, which read "The Sign of Four". Thaddeus began sending Mary the pearls to make things right, and the brothers searched for the treasure. Six years later, Bartholomew found and withheld it; Thaddeus then contacted Mary so they could both confront Bartholomew and demand their shares.
+The party, now accompanied by Thaddeus, heads to Bartholomew's house, Pondicherry Lodge, [[Upper Norwood]]. As they enter the house, the worried housekeeper reveals that Bartholomew has locked himself in his laboratory and refuses to come out. Mary Morstan stays downstairs to comfort the housekeeper, while the others rush up to the laboratory door; through the keyhole, they can see Bartholomew Sholto slumped in his chair,  with a "fixed and unnatural grin" upon his face. Holmes and Watson break down the door, to discover Bartholomew in a state of ''[[rigor mortis]]''. Upon further inspection of the body, Holmes discovers a poisonous thorn above Bartholomew's ear. The treasure box is also gone, though there is a hole in the ceiling where it used to be.
-The party heads to Bartholomew's house, Pondicherry Lodge, only to find that he is dead from a [[poisoned dart]], and the treasure is missing. While the police wrongly take Thaddeus in as a suspect, Holmes deduces from several clues that there are two persons involved in the murder: a one-legged white man named Jonathan Small, and a very small, tribal [[Andamanese peoples|Andamanese]] accomplice. Borrowing Toby, a trained scent hound, from a naturalist, Holmes traces the pair to a boat landing. Learning Small has hired a steam [[Launch (boat)|launch]] named the ''Aurora'', Holmes, with the help of the [[Baker Street Irregulars]] and his own disguises, traces the boat to a [[shipyard|repair yard]]. In a police launch, Holmes and Watson pursue the ''Aurora'' when it flees the yard; the islander attempts to shoot a dart at Holmes, and is shot dead himself. Small attempts to flee, running the ''Aurora'' aground, but is captured. However, the brass box is empty; Small, not wanting to surrender the gems, scattered them overboard into the [[Thames]].
+While the police wrongly take Thaddeus in as a suspect, Holmes deduces from footmarks and other clues that there are two persons involved in the murder: a one-legged white man named Jonathan Small, and a small [[Andamanese peoples|Andamanese]] accomplice, who accidentally stepped in [[creosote]]. Borrowing Toby, a trained scent hound, from a naturalist, Holmes traces the pair to a boat landing. Learning that Small has hired a steam [[Launch (boat)|launch]] named the ''Aurora'', Holmes, with the help of the [[Baker Street Irregulars]] and his own disguises, traces the boat to a [[shipyard|repair yard]]. In a police launch, Holmes and Watson pursue the ''Aurora'' when it flees the yard; the islander attempts to shoot a dart at Holmes, and is shot dead himself. Small attempts to flee, running the ''Aurora'' aground, but is captured. However, the treasure box is now empty; Small, not wanting to surrender the gems, had scattered them into the [[Thames]] during the chase.
-Small confesses that he was once a soldier of the Third [[Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)|Buffs]] in India, and lost his right leg to a [[crocodile]] while bathing in the [[Ganges]]. He then became an overseer on an [[indigo (plant)|indigo]] plantation; the [[Indian Mutiny|1857 rebellion]] occurred, and he was forced to flee to the [[Agra Fort|Agra fortress]]. While standing guard one night, he was overpowered by some [[Sikh]] troopers, who gave him a choice; be immediately killed, or help them [[waylaying|waylay]] Achmed, a disguised servant of an outlawed [[rajah]], who had sent Achmed with a box of jewelry to the British for safekeeping. The robbery and murder took place, but the crime was discovered, although the hidden jewels were not. Small and his accomplices got penal servitude on the Andaman Islands.
+Small confesses that he was once a soldier of the Third [[Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)|Buffs]] in India, and lost his right leg to a [[crocodile]] while bathing in the [[Ganges]]. He then became an overseer on an [[indigo (plant)|indigo]] plantation; the [[Indian Mutiny|1857 rebellion]] occurred, and he was forced to flee to the [[Agra Fort|Agra fortress]]. While standing guard one night, he was overpowered by [[Sikh]] troopers, who gave him a choice; be killed, or help them [[waylaying|waylay]] Achmet, a disguised servant of an outlawed [[rajah]], who had sent Achmet with a box of jewellery to the British for safekeeping. The robbery and murder took place, but the crime was discovered, although the hidden jewels were not. Small and his accomplices got penal servitude on the Andaman Islands.
-Many years later, Small learned that Major Sholto and Captain Morstan had lost much money at cards. Small saw his chance, and made a deal with the officers; Sholto would recover the treasure, and in return send a boat to pick up Morstan, Small and the Sikhs so they could all meet and divide it. However, Sholto stole the treasure for himself, returning to England after inheriting a fortune from his uncle. Morstan went after Sholto but never returned, and Small vowed vengeance against Sholto. Four years later, Small escaped prison with the help of an islander named Tonga, whose life Small had once saved. It was the news of this escape that shocked Sholto into his fatal illness. Small arrived too late to hear of the treasure's location, but left the note in the room anyway. When Bartholomew found the treasure, Small only planned to steal it; however, a miscommunication led Tonga to kill Bartholomew before Small could stop him. Small decides the treasure brings nothing but bad luck to anyone who has it; to Achmed and Bartholomew, death; to Major Sholto, fear and guilt; and for Small himself, penal servitude for life.
+Some years later, Small learned that Major Sholto and Captain Morstan, who were guards at the convict barracks, had lost money playing cards. Small saw his chance, and made a deal with the officers; Sholto would recover the treasure, and in return send a boat to pick up Morstan, Small, and the Sikhs so they could all meet and divide it. However, Sholto stole the treasure for himself, returning to England after inheriting a fortune from his uncle. Morstan went after Sholto but never returned, and Small vowed vengeance against Sholto. Four years later, Small escaped prison with the help of Tonga, an islander whose life he had once saved. It was the news of this escape that shocked Sholto into his fatal illness. Small arrived too late to hear of the treasure's location, but left the note in the room anyway as revenge for the treatment of himself and the Sikhs. When Bartholomew eventually found the treasure, Small only planned to steal it; however, a miscommunication led Tonga to kill Bartholomew before Small could stop him. Small decides the treasure brings nothing but bad luck to anyone who has it; to Achmet and Bartholomew, death; to Major Sholto, fear and guilt; and for Small himself, penal servitude for life.
-Mary is left with no treasure, save the pearls; however, she and Watson have fallen in love over the course of the adventure. Watson reveals to Holmes that he has proposed to her and that she has accepted, much to Holmes' annoyance.
+Mary is left with no treasure, save the pearls; however, she and Watson have fallen in love over the course of the adventure, and the loss of the treasure has removed any [[social class|barriers]] there might have been between them. Watson reveals that he has proposed to Mary and that she has accepted, much to the annoyance of Holmes.
 ==Publication history ==
@@ Line 76: / Line 78: @@
 {| class=wikitable
+! Year !! Media !! Title !! Country !! Director !! Holmes !! Watson
-|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
-| '''Year''' || '''Media''' || '''Title''' || '''Country''' || '''Director''' || '''Holmes''' || '''Watson'''
 |-
-| 1905 || Film (silent) || ''[[Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; or, Held for Ransom]]'' || US || [[J. Stuart Blackton]] || ? || ?
+| 1905 || Film (silent) || ''[[Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; or, Held for Ransom]]'' || US || [[J. Stuart Blackton]] || [[Gilbert M. Anderson]] || [[Kyrle Bellew]]
 |-
 | 1913 || Film (silent) || ''Sherlock Holmes Solves the Sign of the Four'' || US || [[Lloyd Lonergan]] || [[Harry Benham]] || [[Charles Gunn (actor)|Charles Gunn]]
@@ Line 87: / Line 88: @@
 | 1932 || Film || ''[[The Sign of Four (1932 film)|The Sign of Four]]'' || UK || [[Graham Cutts]] ||[[Arthur Wontner]] || [[Ian Hunter (actor)|Ian Hunter]]
 |-
-| 1968 || TV (series) || ''[[Sherlock Holmes (1965 TV series)|Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes]]'' - "The Sign of Four"|| UK || [[William Sterling (director)|William Sterling]] || [[Peter Cushing]] || [[Nigel Stock (actor)|Nigel Stock]]
+| 1968 || TV (series) || ''[[Sherlock Holmes (1965 TV series)|Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes]]'' – "The Sign of Four"|| UK || [[William Sterling (director)|William Sterling]] || [[Peter Cushing]] || [[Nigel Stock (actor)|Nigel Stock]]
 |-
 | 1974 || TV || ''Das Zeichen der Vier'' (''Le signe des quatre'') || France/West Germany || [[Jean-Pierre Decourt]] || [[Rolf Becker]] || [[Roger Lumont]]
@@ Line 95: / Line 96: @@
 | 1983 || TV (series) || ''Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four'' (animated) || Australia || Ian Mackenzie<br>Alex Nicholas || [[Peter O'Toole]] (voice) || Earle Cross (voice)
 |-
-| 1983 || TV (series) || ''[[The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson]]'' - ''[[The Treasures of Agra]]'' ({{lang-ru|Сокровища Агры|translit=Sokrovishcha Agry|label=none}}) || USSR || [[Igor Maslennikov]] ||[[Vasily Livanov]]||[[Vitaly Solomin]]
+| 1983 || TV (series) || ''[[The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson]]'' – ''[[The Treasures of Agra]]'' ({{langx|ru|Сокровища Агры|translit=Sokrovishcha Agry|label=none}}) || USSR || [[Igor Maslennikov]] ||[[Vasily Livanov]]||[[Vitaly Solomin]]
 |-
 | 1987 || TV (film) || ''[[The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1987 film)|The Return of Sherlock Holmes]]'' || US || [[Kevin Connor (director)|Kevin Connor]] || [[Michael Pennington]] || (''n/a'')
 |-
-| 1987 || TV (series) || ''[[Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV series)|The Return of Sherlock Holmes]]'' - "The Sign of Four" || UK || [[Peter Hammond (actor)|Peter Hammond]] || [[Jeremy Brett]] || [[Edward Hardwicke]]
+| 1987 || TV (series) || ''[[Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV series)|The Return of Sherlock Holmes]]'' – "The Sign of Four" || UK || [[Peter Hammond (actor)|Peter Hammond]] || [[Jeremy Brett]] || [[Edward Hardwicke]]
 |-
 | 1991 || Filmed play || ''[[The Crucifer of Blood]]'' || US || [[Fraser Clarke Heston]] || [[Charlton Heston]] || [[Richard Johnson (actor)|Richard Johnson]]
 |-
-|  1999 || TV (series) || ''[[Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century]]'' - "The Sign of Four" (animated) || US/UK || Paul Quinn || [[Jason Gray-Stanford]] (voice) || [[John Payne (voice actor)|John Payne]] (voice)
+|  1999 || TV (series) || ''[[Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century]]'' – "The Sign of Four" (animated) || US/UK || Paul Quinn || [[Jason Gray-Stanford]] (voice) || [[John Payne (voice actor)|John Payne]] (voice)
 |-
 | 2001 || TV (film) || ''[[The Sign of Four (2001 film)|The Sign of Four]]'' || Canada || Rodney Gibbons || [[Matt Frewer]] || [[Kenneth Welsh]]
 |-
-| 2014 || TV (series) || ''[[Sherlock (TV series)|Sherlock]]'' - "[[The Sign of Three]]" || UK || [[Colm McCarthy (director)|Colm McCarthy]] || [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] || [[Martin Freeman]]
+| 2014 || TV (series) || ''[[Sherlock (TV series)|Sherlock]]'' – "[[The Sign of Three]]" || UK || [[Colm McCarthy (director)|Colm McCarthy]] || [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] || [[Martin Freeman]]
 |-
-| 2014 || TV (series) || ''[[Sherlock Holmes (puppetry)|Sherlock Holmes]]'' - "[[The Adventure of the Cheerful Four]]" ({{lang-ja|愉快な四人組の冒険|translit=''Yukai na yoningumi no bōken''|label=none}}) || Japan || [[Kunio Yoshikawa]] || [[Kōichi Yamadera]] (voice) || [[Wataru Takagi]] (voice)
+| 2014 || TV (series) || ''[[Sherlock Holmes (puppetry)|Sherlock Holmes]]'' – "[[The Adventure of the Cheerful Four]]" ({{langx|ja|愉快な四人組の冒険|translit=''Yukai na yoningumi no bōken''|label=none}}) || Japan || [[Kunio Yoshikawa]] || [[Kōichi Yamadera]] (voice) || [[Wataru Takagi]] (voice)
 |}
@@ Line 122: / Line 123: @@
 In 1963, the story was dramatised by [[Michael Hardwick]] for the [[BBC Home Service]] as part of the [[Sherlock Holmes (1952 radio series)|1952–1969 radio series]], with [[Carleton Hobbs]] as Holmes and [[Norman Shelley]] as Watson.<ref>{{cite book |last=De Waal |first=Ronald Burt |title=The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes |year=1974 |publisher=Bramhall House |page=390 |isbn=0-517-217597 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldbibliograph00dewa/page/390}}</ref>
-''[[CBS Radio Mystery Theater]]'' aired a radio version of the story in 1977, starring [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]] as Holmes and Court Benson as Watson.<ref>{{cite book |title=The CBS Radio Mystery Theater: An Episode Guide and Handbook to Nine Years of Broadcasting, 1974-1982 |page=196 |last1=Payton |first1=Gordon |last2=Grams |first2=Martin Jr. |publisher=McFarland |year=2015 |orig-year=1999 |isbn=9780786492282 |edition=Reprinted}}</ref>
+''[[CBS Radio Mystery Theater]]'' aired a radio version of the story in 1977, starring [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]] as Holmes and Court Benson as Watson.<ref>{{cite book |title=The CBS Radio Mystery Theater: An Episode Guide and Handbook to Nine Years of Broadcasting, 1974–1982 |page=196 |last1=Payton |first1=Gordon |last2=Grams |first2=Martin Jr. |publisher=McFarland |year=2015 |orig-year=1999 |isbn=9780786492282 |edition=Reprinted}}</ref>
 ''The Sign of the Four'' was adapted for radio by [[Bert Coules]] in 1989 as part of [[BBC Radio 4]]'s complete Sherlock Holmes [[List of BBC Radio Sherlock Holmes dramatisations|1989–1998 radio series]], with [[Clive Merrison]] as Holmes, [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]] as Watson, and featuring [[Brian Blessed]] as Jonathan Small.<ref>{{cite web
@@ Line 162: / Line 163: @@
 [[Category:Epistolary novels]]
 [[Category:Treasure troves]]
-[[Category:Dogs in literature]]
+[[Category:Novels about dogs]]
 [[Category:British novels adapted into films]]
 [[Category:British novels adapted into plays]]
+[[Category:Detective novels]]
 [[Category:Novels adapted into radio programs]]
 [[Category:British novels adapted into television shows]]
+[[Category:Fiction about poisonings]]

v t e Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes
Canon Adaptations Pastiches Popular culture
Novels	A Study in Scarlet (1887) The Sign of the Four (1890) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) The Valley of Fear (1915)
Story collections	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894) The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905) His Last Bow (1917) The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)
Characters	Sherlock Holmes Dr. Watson Professor Moriarty Inspector Lestrade Mycroft Holmes Mrs. Hudson Irene Adler Colonel Moran Baker Street Irregulars Minor characters
Uncollected stories	"The Field Bazaar" (1896) "The Story of the Lost Special" (1898) "How Watson Learned the Trick" (1924)
Universe	221B Baker Street Baritsu Diogenes Club The Dynamics of an Asteroid Reichenbach Falls A Treatise on the Binomial Theorem
Studies	Sherlockian game Holmesian studies The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes From Holmes to Sherlock The Great Detective Naked Is the Best Disguise
Related	Sherlock Holmes fandom Sherlockiana Sherlock Holmes Museum The Sherlock Holmes The Baker Street Irregulars The Baker Street Journal The Bootmakers of Toronto Sidney Paget The Strand Magazine Undershaw
Category

v t e Arthur Conan Doyle
Bibliography
Sherlock Holmes (canon)	A Study in Scarlet (1887) The Sign of the Four (1890) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1904) The Valley of Fear (1914) His Last Bow (1917) The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)
Professor Challenger	The Lost World (1912) The Poison Belt (1913) The Land of Mist (1926) "When the World Screamed" (1928) "The Disintegration Machine" (1929)
Other novels	The Narrative of John Smith (1883) [2011] The Mystery of Cloomber (1889) Micah Clarke (1889) The Firm of Girdlestone (1890) The White Company (1891) The Doings of Raffles Haw (1892) Beyond the City (1892) The Great Shadow (1892) The Refugees (1893) The Parasite (1894) The Stark Munro Letters (1895) The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard (1896) Rodney Stone (1896) The Tragedy of the Korosko (1898) A Duet, with an Occasional Chorus (1899) Adventures of Gerard (1903) Sir Nigel (1906) The Maracot Deep (1929)
Short stories	"J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884) "Lot No. 249" (1892) "The Case of Lady Sannox" (1893) "The Club-Footed Grocer" (1898) "The Brown Hand" (1899) "The Terror of Blue John Gap" (1910) "The Horror of the Heights" (1913) Danger! and Other Stories (1918)
Other	"The Inner Room" (1898) "The Crime of the Congo" (1909) The Vital Message (1919)
Depictions	FairyTale: A True Story (1997 film) Photographing Fairies (1997 film) Arthur & George (2015 miniseries) Houdini & Doyle (2016 miniseries)
Related	Adrian Conan Doyle (son) Jean Conan Doyle (daughter) Charles Altamont Doyle (father) John Doyle (grandfather) The Great Wyrley Outrages Undershaw (home)

Authority control databases
National	Spain
Other	MusicBrainz work