"red herring"

[justcarol67]

I (Carol) wrote:
> Thanks. I appreciate your going to the OED, but as I indicated in my
> original post, I already know about that particular use of the term.
> The quote I'm looking for is the first one that relates to the use
of "red herring" to denote a false clue in a mystery story.

Response to my own post:

I seem to have found a reference to "red herring" in a 1904 Sherlock
Holmes story, "Adventure of the Priory School":

Holmes is speaking: "If you are telegraphing home, Mr. Huxtable, it
would be well to allow the people in your neighbourhood to imagine
that the inquiry is still going on in Liverpool, or *wherever else
that red herring led your pack*. In the meantime I will do a little
quiet work at your own doors, and *perhaps the scent is not so cold
but that two old hounds like Watson and myself may get a sniff of it*."

Does anyone know of a similar, and preferably earlier, reference? The
use of the term here seems to imply that the reader will already be
familiar with it.

Thanks,
Carol