"Now it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, that my hair
is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed to me that, if there
was to be any competition in the matter, I stood as good a chance as any
man that I had ever met. Vincent Spaulding seemed to know so much about it
that I thought he might prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the
shutters for the day, and to come right away with me. He was very willing
to have a holiday, so we shut the business up, and started off for the
address that was given us in the advertisement.

"I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From north,
south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in his hair had
tramped into the City to answer the advertisement. Fleet Street was choked
with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court looked like a coster's orange
barrow. I should not have thought there were so many in the whole country
as were brought together by that single advertisement. Every shade of
color they were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish setter, liver, clay;
but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real vivid
flame-colored tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I would have given
it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear of it. How he did it I
could not imagine, but he pushed and pulled and butted until he got me
through the crowd, and right up to the steps which led to the office.
There was a double stream upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some
coming back dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could, and soon found
ourselves in the office."

"Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked Holmes, as
his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge pinch of snuff.
"Pray continue your very interesting statement."