Joseph could not get at the treaty during the daytime. After she left, Joseph broke in and retrieved the treaty, but Holmes ambushed him, and boxed him for the papers. Winning the fight, Holmes allowed Joseph to flee, though he wired particulars to Inspector Forbes. Percy wonders if Joseph meant to kill him with the knife; Holmes does not know, but says he would not trust such a selfish man to show mercy. Commentary This is the longest of the short stories published in The Strand Magazine before Sherlock Holmes's "death" in "The Final Problem". As such, it was originally published in two parts. This story contains the first reference to "The Adventure of the Second Stain", which would not be published until around 11 years later, however, Watson's account of the event in The Naval Treaty differs from the actual story. Publication history "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty" was published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in October and November 1893, and in the US in Harper's Weekly (under the title "The Naval Treaty") on 14 and 21 October 1893. It was also published in the US edition of the Strand one month after its UK publication. The story was published with eight illustrations by Sidney Paget in The Strand Magazine in October 1893, and with seven illustrations by Paget in November 1893. In Harper's Weekly, "The Naval Treaty" was published with two illustrations by W. H. Hyde in the first part of the story, and with two other illustrations by Hyde in the second part. It was included in the short story collection The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, which was published in December 1893 in the UK and February 1894 in the US. Adaptations Film and television One of the short films in the Sherlock Holmes Éclair film series (1912) was based on the story. In the short film, titled The Stolen Papers, Georges Tréville played Sherlock Holmes and Mr Moyse played Dr. Watson. Another short film based on the story was released in 1922 as part of the Sherlock Holmes Stoll film series, with Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes and Hubert Willis as Dr. Watson. The story was adapted for the 1968 BBC series with Peter Cushing. The episode is now lost. The story was adapted as the 1984 episode "The Naval Treaty" from the first series of the Granada TV series The Adventures of