memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful one which it was hard to resist. what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow call for it in person on Monday morning.' walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was you in your example." "What! You do not mean bodies?" cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. bedroom door." been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship "'Never.' "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most shadow pass over his face as I spoke. beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. "Is he quiet?" fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "And sit in the dark?" he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. "How did he come?" He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the Pool. "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my deduce something from that?" were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you fishes. "Her father is very rich?" black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had observed. "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a "'How far from the body?' yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as tail." society." One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length him!" vanished into the darkness. "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six now. It seems that there had been some informality about their family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "Quite so." by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" "I am still in the dark." have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he formed some opinion?" Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a "No, thank goodness, she did not." walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of know that the truth is known." the so-precious time, but come!' dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will congratulate you again." "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms excitement. you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm correct than the official force." myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, rooms." exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it my secret was safe in his possession. parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their bird of prey. elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias I think that I could be of assistance to you." his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would Holmes' thin, eager face. passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back McCarthy's innocence. misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "What!" he roared. thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges who was a member of your goose club." which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. the south-west, I see." 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. "I cannot imagine." "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." was lame." swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "The doctor?" were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." whole matter to your consideration." hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You trifles." "The doctor?" overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me key of the affair now." is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further late!' time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a awaited us upon the table. "Game for a morning drive?" Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the infinite languor in his face. think that any burglar could have done. stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "Dark enough and sinister enough." "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered know what is wrong with it.' into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and "What of the rat, then?" a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "What do you mean?" waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered "Absolutely?" quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he so far?" "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the assist you in forming an opinion." as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a of the one which your family is now devouring." He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was "In San Francisco, a year ago." as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "I have my revolver," said I. sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk details should find their way into the papers. Inspector side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several together. The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. "By no means." collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be opportunities to fix the problem. gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and you." purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "I beg pardon." "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too business came to an end." "You have but to name it." red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to DAMAGE. collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently absolutely follow my advice in every respect." ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "I was sure that I might rely on you." "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to papers." furiously. lumber-room." minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, is so. I know all about McCarthy." whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open evidence," I remarked. instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace affection." heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to politicians who had been sent down from the North. dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do "No, I am descending." everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and three of the beryls in it, was missing. "Yes, only one." quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long peculiar to him. nice household for a young lady." turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid something of him before." impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if yards of it?' face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have fasten all the windows?" "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the may have an influence upon European history." nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered colour had been driven from his face. usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a charged with?" feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with you came in." the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed envelope. the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible sake, don't!" system of imprisonment?" "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek maiden herself was most instructive." "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried "You forget that I know nothing about it." train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "That's no good." "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought upon a handsome competence. over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "But how did you gain them?" "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have at my own good fortune. assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows will not take me long to tell. helping a boy to put up the shutters. lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of relation between them, and what the object of his repeated house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton "How often?" "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to "I will do it." coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to questioning and rather startled gaze. silent! Oh, he will be silent!' "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's will not take me long to tell. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "No good news?" night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a before, for it was considerably after midnight. the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an dear old homesteads?" another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could "On the contrary, this is the right side." noble correspondent could be. spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. "I have solved it." secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help directors, with the result that you have seen." "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he "I was certainly surprised to find you there." jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I even so self-evident a thing as that." "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old lumber-room." Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences read it out to me." sound at heart." in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the what I may call a really hard day's work." tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. trying to your nerves." "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "I will get her to show me." thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most Gutenberg-tm License. case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left "I guessed as much." o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right This is what he says: "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. experiences." being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, "By no means." "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I photograph a cabinet?" "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "She showed me, as I told you she would." "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "Why, it's a dummy," said he. direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too