The Adventure of the Dancing Men

The Return of Sherlock Holmes #3

by Arthur Conan Doyle, Edward Raleigh (Narrator)

One of the more famous short stories in the Sherlock Holmes collection. A sensation when first published in 1903. It was Doyle's third favourite of all his Holmes stories.

Mr. Hilton Cubitt of Norfolk visits Holmes and Watson about little drawings looking like dancing men which have been appearing in letters and at his home. He's anxious but is new wife Elsie is terrified. Can the famous detective be of assistance?

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Audiobook

Audio Cassette

First published December 5, 1903

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Francesc]

Novela corta que se basa en el misterio de un código en forma de figuras humanas que nuestro amigo detective tendrá que descifrar.

Short novel that is based on the mystery of a code in the form of human figures that our detective friend will have to decipher.

[Aishu Rehman]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would rank The Adventure of the Dancing Men as one of his favourite short Sherlock Holmes stories.

On the face of it, the drawings of dancing men may seem to be a childish prank, and that is what Watson assumes they are, but the fact that the figures are frightening a grown woman half to death of course means that there is something more sinister to them.

The case is one where the reader can work alongside Holmes, not just in solving the case, but also in deciphering the message, for the Dancing Men figures are reproduced in most reprints of the story.

Despite having a very high success rate with the most difficult of cases, in The Adventure of the Dancing Men, whilst Holmes does eventually solve the case, his client is not alive to witness the success. In this case the client is killed as Holmes is on the verge of deciphering the messages; this is similar to the case of The Five Orange Pips.

The Adventure of the Dancing Men has been adapted for stage and screen on several occasions. The first famous adaptation starred Peter Cushing as Holmes in the 1960s, but a second adaptation was undertaken by Granada TV when Jeremy Brett starred as Sherlock Holmes.

[Jack Heath]

5 Stars. One of the best by Doyle. Well written. Famous to this day. It's the one in which Sherlock Holmes deciphers coded messages which have a client both annoyed and concerned. A member of the landed gentry, Hilton Cubitt of Riding Thorpe Manor in Norfolk has come to see Holmes about the messages he and his wife Elsie have been receiving. He's perplexed about their meaning but she's terrified. The messages, which to Watson look like the scratching of children, come in the form of dancing stick men written on doors and window sills. Doyle adds illustrations. Can you make heads or tails of them? As Holmes says, "I am fairly familiar with all forms of secret writing, and am myself author of a trifling monograph upon the subject in which I analyze 161 separate ciphers, but I confess that this is entirely new to me." He then enunciates an adage which applies to this day, "What one man [and I'll add 2 words for the 21st century] or woman can invent, another can discover." He then painstakingly translates different stick men into letters of the alphabet. It means grave danger. But cipher translation is slow work; was Holmes fast enough? (Fe2023/Mar2026)

[Mary Pagones]

I'll never forget how this mystery taught me at a young age that the most common letter in the English alphabet is "e," which enables Holmes to crack the code. I also love the strength and sensitivity of the woman, Doyle's refreshingly non-stereotypical portraits of Americans, and even the criminal at the end has some moments of pathos. And Holmes is both clever yet quite fallible in this one.

The Jeremy Brett version ups the stakes a bit, fleshes out the characters, and Holmes is much more abrasive (as is typical), and is a flawless dramatization.

[James]

A rather good story by Arthur Conan Doyle. Here we see Holmes and Watson trundle off to Norwich regarding a case of a distraught wife and some odd symbols of ‘dancing men’. What is surprising and different about this story is that Holmes’ ego has been reigned in. When the local inspector asked Holmes if he wanted to do the case alone or a joint collaboration Holmes is keen and eager to have a joint effort which is rather nice too see.

[Lynn]

Sherlock and his companion, Watson, are in the ugly part of London underground to solve crimes and bringing the criminals to justice. A sudden appearance of a coded message are disastrous. The other stories in the book: The Adventure of the dying Detective, The Musgrave Ritual and the Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans were also good.

[itsdanixx]

"The Adventure of the Dancing Men" is the third story in the The Return of Sherlock Holmes story collection, the sixth publication in the Sherlock Holmes series.

Holmes is hired by a man who has been discovering coded messages in the form of little dancing men around his property, which his new wife is terrified by for reasons she cannot (or will not) explain.

One of my favourite Sherlock Holmes stories, and definitely one of the best from The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

[Crime Addict Sifat]

The sudden appearance of mysterious stick-figure drawings proves disastrous to a country squire and his bride.

[sihem]

ياليتها صارحت زوجها بالحقيقة من البداية🤦🏻‍♀️

[Katja Labonté]

5 stars. I say this every time, but I do really love this story. For one, the plot is very interesting. I have a particular interest in codes, and it was pleasant to see a case paralleling The Adventure of the Yellow Face yet be totally different… perhaps proving Sherlock had indeed retained the lesson he had learned in the latter story? The characters were delightful—the ending was dismayingly sad, yet once more made the story more realistic. A unique, baffling mystery, and a splendid addition to the Holmesian canon.

A Favourite Quote: “What one man can invent another can discover,” said Holmes.
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: ...we were passing through as singular a countryside as any in England, where a few scattered cottages represented the population of to-day, while on every hand enormous square-towered churches bristled up from the flat green landscape and told of the glory and prosperity of old East Anglia. At last the violet rim of the German Ocean appeared over the green edge of the Norfolk coast....
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “Now, it was not really difficult, by an inspection of the groove between your left forefinger and thumb, to feel sure that you did NOT propose to invest your small capital in the gold fields.”
“I see no connection.”
“Very likely not; but I can quickly show you a close connection.”

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora)]

Tengo la sensación de que los casos de este nuevo libro del regreso de Sherlock Holmes están siendo más interesantes y más complejos de descifrar tanto para Watson como para nosotros los lectores.

Como traductora, debo decir que siempre sufro un poco con los relatos que contienen códigos secretos y demás, pero le aportan muchísimo a la trama. Además, amé cómo usaron los jeroglíficos para pasarse mensajes y cómo Sherlock lo descifró todo.

[SLADE]

Liked it, but it didn't blow me away. Sherlock deciphers encrypted messages with best guesses about frequently used letters in English writing and then two guys shoot at each other over a girl. Nothing revolutionary there.

It's a good thing the message to be deciphered was a common one, and not something like "Extrapolate thine encyclopedias from beneath the breast of they chattel!"

[J9]

Enjoyed it, especially the beginning, but always get sad when Holmes solves the case just after someone is hurt or comes to him for help. I like a happy ending. Other than that, a good mystery and fun to read, I especially didn't figure out the dancing men clues which I love. I don't like when a mystery is too easy. An enjoyable read.

[Diamond Cowboy]

An other Sherlock Holmes adventure that I highly recommend.

[Rob Thompson]

The story begins when Hilton Cubitt of Ridling Thorpe Manor in Norfolk visits Sherlock Holmes and gives him a piece of paper with the following mysterious sequence of stick figures.

Cubitt explains to Holmes and Dr. Watson that he has recently married an American woman named Elsie Patrick. Before the wedding, she had asked her husband-to-be never to ask about her past, as she had had some "very disagreeable associations" in her life, although she said that there was nothing that she was personally ashamed of. Their marriage had been a happy one until the messages began to arrive, first mailed from the United States and then appearing in the garden.

The messages had made Elsie very afraid but she did not explain the reasons for her fear, and Cubitt insisted on honoring his promise not to ask about Elsie's life in the United States. Holmes examines all of the occurrences of the dancing figures, and they provide him with an important clue - he realizes that it is a substitution cipher and cracks the code by frequency analysis. The last of the messages causes Holmes to fear that the Cubitts are in immediate danger.

Holmes rushes to Ridling Thorpe Manor and finds Cubitt dead of a bullet to the heart and his wife gravely wounded from a gunshot to the head. Inspector Martin of the Norfolk Constabulary believes that it is a murder-suicide attempt; Elsie is the prime suspect. But Holmes, after noting some inconsistencies in that theory, proves that there is a third person involved.

Holmes writes a message—in dancing figure characters—and has it delivered to a lodger at a nearby farm. While waiting for the result of this message, Holmes explains to Watson and Inspector Martin how he cracked the code of the dancing figures. The last message, which caused Holmes and Watson to rush to Norfolk, read "ELSIE PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD".

The lodger, Abe Slaney, another American, unaware that Elsie is gravely wounded, arrives at Ridling Thorpe Manor and is seized as he comes through the door. Holmes had sent for Slaney using the dancing men, knowing that Slaney would believe the message is from Elsie. Slaney reveals that he had been engaged to Elsie, the daughter of the Chicago crime boss whom Slaney works for, and that she had fled to escape her old life. Slaney had come to England to get her back. When Slaney and Elsie were speaking through a window, Cubitt had appeared and shots were exchanged; Cubitt was killed and Slaney had fled. Apparently, Elsie then shot herself. Slaney is arrested and sentenced to hang, but his sentence is reduced to penal servitude because Cubitt had fired the first shot. Elsie recovers from her injuries, and spends her life helping the poor and administering her late husband's estate.

A short story, but a masterpiece of detection. Doyle is a tremendous storyteller and the plot twist was great.

[ᗩᗰIᖇᗩ ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚]

تُعد «مغامرة الرجال الراقصين» من أكثر قصص شيرلوك هولمز تميزًا وإثارة، حيث تمتزج الشفرة الغامضة بالخطر الحقيقي

يتلقى هيلتون كيوبت رسالة بها رسوم لرجال يرقصون فيظن انها مزحة ولكن زوجته إلسي تضطرب جدا لرؤيتها ويستمر اضطرابها وخوفها. يلح عليها زوجها ان تطلعه على حقيقة الامر ولكنها ترفض. كان السيد كيوبت قد قابل إلسي في احدى المناسبات فاعجبته وتزوجها ولكنها اشترطت عليه الا يسألها مطلقا عن ماضيها. وهنا يلجا الرجل الى شيرلوك هولز ليحقق في الامر لانه خشي على زوجته التي ظلت حالتها تزداد سوءا كلما ظهرت مثل هذه الرسوم في حديقة منزلهما او على ابوابه.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile]

A bittersweet mystery involving love and loss.

[IngeT (inge1970reads)]

3.5

[Lena]

gewoon 4 korte verhaaltjes. wel leuk.

[John Yelverton]

This is my all-time, favorite Sherlock Holmes story, and upon reading it, you quickly realize what an absolute genius Arthur Conan Doyle really was.

[Mohammed Alhammadi]

“What one man can invent another can discover” Holmes

[Amanda Artist Cat]

Awww, almost solved this one! I figured out which little figure stood for the letter "E" and which stood for a space, but I didn't get the rest, sadly :( :)

[Madhulika Liddle]

Not one of Conan Doyle's best. Holmes is approached by an 'honest, upright' country squire, newly married to an American woman who has hinted at an unsavoury past - but whom he's promised not to question, so he doesn't ask her why she is so disturbed when some strange messages, in the form of hieroglyphics, begin to appear at their home.

The solution hinges, of course, on the cipher of the hieroglyphics, which I suppose a suitably interested reader might try to decipher for themselves; but other than that, there is nothing much in this story that makes it memorable. On the whole, pretty disappointing.

[ياس مين]

In the story, Holmes is asked to investigate a series of mysterious drawings that appear to be childish scribbles of dancing figures. He soon realizes that the drawings are actually a code, and he must decipher it in order to solve the case.

[Aida]

۱۴۰۳/۱/۲
شرلوک هلمز هست دیگه!
انتظار داشتید کتابش بد باشه؟ مثل همیشه جذاب و گیرا بود. کوتاه بود بخاطر همین خوندش آسونه و برای من لذت بخش بود.

[Federico DN]

Good.

This was good, but not going to review it.

For the moment at least.

It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.

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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1905] [30p] [Crime] [Not Recommendable]
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★★★★☆ 1. A Study in Scarlet [3.5]
★★★☆☆ 2. The Sign of Four [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
★★★★☆ 4. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [3.5]
★★★★☆ 5. The Hound of the Baskervilles
★★★★☆ 6. The Return of Sherlock Holmes <--
★★★☆☆ 7. The Valley of Fear
★★★★☆ 8. His Last Bow [3.5]
★★★☆☆ 9. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 10. The Complete Sherlock Holmes

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Bien.

Esto estuvo bien, pero no voy a reseñarlo.

Al menos por ahora.

Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.

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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1905] [30p] [Crimen] [No Recomendable]
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[Dan Wilson]

I'm a sucker for a mystery story involving code-cracking. The code itself is inventive, and I like Holmes' step-by-step breakdown of how he cracked it. The story, however, while well-told, covers well-worn ground for Doyle: mysterious puzzle involving loving spouse with a secret past in a foreign land where bad things happen and occasionally intrude upon the lives of English gentry with deadly results. I do get a kick out of it when Doyle's nasty foreigners are Americans, and I particularly enjoyed the implicit portrayal of Chicago as a crime den, and wonder whether in this he was ahead of his time, or whether I just need to learn more about pre-Capone Chicago.

[Michael]

A typical Holmes' story with amusing observations by Watson, a lot of armchair solving by Holmes, and a lot of messy drama at the heart of the crime. Especially fun if you like ciphers, though Holmes doesn't give the reader much chance to solve it on their own!

I found a copy of The Return of Sherlock Holmes and opened to this story, which is how I came to read it. Note that the "Return" collection may be the first example of fan-based character resurrections, for without public demand, this and the other stories in that collection would not exist.

[Cosmic Arcata]

I liked the story. It was on the tail end of The Hound of the Baskervilles audio book that I was listening to. I was thinking about Baskerville being a font and so are the Dancing Men a type of communication. How a font itself might be a symbol or a sign in itself that would remain mysterious to others but those that are part of the secret. How about Gematria? Very good.

[Janith Pathirage]

Another display of Shirlock's extraordinary intelligence. Really like the methods he used to solve this problem. Old school pencil sketch techniques used to be his favorite way of approaching a problem. It was like solving a riddle. And I love Sherlock Holmes stories with secret languages and secret cults . This one got it all.