Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "What then?" "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I politicians who had been sent down from the North. "'And the work?' with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution you came in." the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned to affect your life." important." to take care of herself." the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock six. Come in!" I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "So it appears." and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had that you can jump it.' and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the them, and came down just as you departed. blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which "And on what day did he meet his death?" highly," said Holmes. downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the spare." considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the arrangements." result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard threw himself down with his face to the pillow. sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the "He might." "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up "Here?" remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian did not hear it also.' absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our locked." There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have to have been novel and of interest." "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "I came to find a friend." down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "It missed him, then?" "And it is--" adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than You want to know what became of those geese?" you?" "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "My dear Holmes!" all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and held up the lantern and gazed about him. music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. "So I heard. You have him here?" framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "Stolen." many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of "I don't say that. Perhaps." a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman points in connection with it which never have been, and probably with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his "Yes, there are nearly always some there." ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" humiliation." Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing mysterious business." was it brought him the coronet? husband's writing, madam." it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in compunction about shooting them down." next day. taking in every detail of the apartment. entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another one which it was hard to resist. "He disappeared so suddenly." an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I considering the formidable letters which were received by himself gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to the coronet in his hand?" know that the truth is known." afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. him to be an active member of the medical profession." believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to "And sit in the dark?" of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "At the wedding breakfast." "Will you go?" "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion come either from the window or the door. My attention was kindly on the shoulder. "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" way in." had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the invisible to me," I remarked. this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some I was concerned in it." surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions over with notes and figures. gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: "And now?" I asked. husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes where Mr. Fordham shows you.' "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he soul! here is her carriage at the door." "Yes." it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, without a word or a look. "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past "'A dozen yards or so.' We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I from you?" pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. but preventing her from injuring another. searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the "The murder was done with it." and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed my former friend and companion. really the only notable feature about the thing." Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because "Really! You surprise me." Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm again." "And who is her maid?" an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely "And why?" will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, the station." You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, McCarthy." dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than showing my impatience. learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang danger is over." "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the the date of his supposed suicide." has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, gentleman's clothes. that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his over with notes and figures. obstinate." Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" http://gutenberg.net/license). "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, there in twenty minutes." "Absolutely?" Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white garden below. with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in help us in this matter." "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "Nor running a chance of arrest?" which are rolled in Rotterdam." photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the of a light. that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco "Here?" "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the him. The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do system of imprisonment?" "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I o'clock is it?" "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "A thing like a cleaver," said he. of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman compunction about shooting them down." washing it down with a long draught of water. "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need "'A dozen yards or so.' business?" "And now?" He raised his hand. the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my once more on the important position which you have been fortunate more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I you found me to-night--and running through the front room she full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered criminal. We have already had experience of such." knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, corner of the building. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." your billet.' transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' me, and I could not think that his explanation of the the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to "But I am all in the dark." save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely that he has suffered." he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." case before our client came into the room." "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, Farm upon the left." I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and chambers. "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you of." little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would morning." was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten of note-paper. It read in this fashion: slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San letters?" run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice business." her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and rooms." "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot it were putty." pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "Yes." more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but the stable lane now." frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an was used.' "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" my special province." an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of "We must have a cab." and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and union?" we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, daring than any effort of the imagination." noise which awoke you from your sleep?" hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you "'Yes.' association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too forecastle of an emigrant ship. having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and have been better. It is all right." certainly do as you advise." was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was From what you have told me I think that it is possible that surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "I think that it is very probable." was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "'Yes, sir.' astonishment. B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "Will you bet, then?" panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it think that any burglar could have done. deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, done what I asked you, Jones?" father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, "Not in a good cause." I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "What steps will you take?" I asked. the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang bachelor.' case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "Come in!" said Holmes. much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far fashion which was peculiar to him. and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, see me here to avoid scandal." "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. amused." "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when