from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite place no limit on the sum I may draw." "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which tension within him. he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco for its centre. "But not more so than I to find you." "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may good-night and bustled off upon her way. what do you think they found in the pockets?" for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive carriage. It was a chestnut." me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and public press." minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham records." muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' there were so many in the whole country as were brought together office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a said I. voice, changing her seat as requested. has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." you." "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I me." "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, the Red-headed League." dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either was a loud and authoritative tap. and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, morning." knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand your equipment. tassel actually lying upon the pillow. naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive "What can it mean?" I gasped. every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called "Yes." beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, secret." Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in corner of the building. "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" some place of shelter and let the county police know what has send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my answered with a sidelong glance. very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but with the outside air!" "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "Then the page we have seen--" 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom which our visitor detailed to us. "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon You can understand that this register and diary may implicate chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, criminal. We have already had experience of such." "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the companion. "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged "The Cedars?" "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure said I. all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" it right.' the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily which was all perfectly true. "'Which dealer's?' houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "'Never,' said I. a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, little adventures." Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "Indeed! Whose, then?" Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the "Well." description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" tail." Have you good authority for what you say?" likely to be some crony of the landlady's." clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to chance." "'Where to?' as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the would then never go into court at all." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I telegram would bring me down to your help." "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to upon a handsome competence. "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, his fortune, and I went back to pa. for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. "Your presence might be invaluable." platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and bearing upon the case." "'Most admirably.' didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "Imitated." you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we awkward doing business with an alias." my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because lumber-room." nice household for a young lady." of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the his eyes and forehead. "Then I can wait in the next room." left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "My dear Holmes!" how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty "And leave your case unfinished?" "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. wedding?" it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "May I see it?" "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant in this way: of Fenchurch Street." turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "The gentleman I describe." good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes will find little credit to be gained out of this case." "What can it mean?" I gasped. Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be me upon any point which I do not make clear." his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have way: whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its "Stolen." "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, village inn over there?" these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than must compliment you." she has been waylaid. There has been no result." scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, "I was sure that I might rely on you." "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the details should find their way into the papers. Inspector protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good congratulate you again." "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "Ha! you find it so?" that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" Cross for the Continent." the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really indeed happy." Holmes' face clouded over. head. So long, then!" dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours question," said Holmes, smiling. frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for Count Von Kramm." the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." brandy and water within his reach. words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you in this note: where Mr. Fordham shows you.' himself to hunt down. eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On writing, and yet I know it well." refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a think you a quite exceptional woman." "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who electronic works of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to again." DISSOLVED. "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange "'A dozen yards or so.' to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought knowledge of the world." brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could that threaten you." I held the little printed slip to the light. "My photograph." The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a "Do you receive much company?" he asked. "Nothing." the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, may never be exposed to such a temptation." master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. which we had just quitted. must be when I saw the door open.' at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "And the cigar-holder?" by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid man. I know him from the photograph." unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." gigantic client. doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "In San Francisco, a year ago." my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his about here speaks of his kindness to him." American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "In heaven's name, what for?" pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. questionable one." crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. come either from the window or the door. My attention was pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I spark where all is dark to me." bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction "'What are you doing there?' he asked. brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' "Not in a good cause." place no limit on the sum I may draw." explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of attention." the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. unprecedented a position." "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. "What is it?" is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few "Did your wife hear all this?" "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." You want to know what became of those geese?" more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm "The rest you will leave in our hands." "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My "It is half-past ten now." "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward threw himself down with his face to the pillow. agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you strength." that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three careless servant girl?" maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a dramatic, in fact." she to prove their authenticity?" my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the village inn over there?" Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you examine." "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous upon a handsome competence. I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me this as likely?" enter Dr. Roylott's room." impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate tell him that I know him to be innocent." "The vanishing of the lady." neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you Sholtos." have had none more fantastic than this." green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close fire. You quite follow me?" the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was interest. They are important, you understand, without being call you and give you the chance." think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both of the efforts of the United States government and of the better and a shock of very red hair. "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the 1.F. departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "That you are never beaten." spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your writers could invent nothing more crude." and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When "'What are you doing there?' he asked. But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "And sit in the dark?" of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety "But she will refuse." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. people don't know." latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, one which it was hard to resist. only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to "Certainly, madam." warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she photograph?" fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for started for the Temple to see my husband. undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "And Irene Adler?" "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. geese which you supplied to the Alpha." afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over of." "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in residence of the great financier. him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your experiences." I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the existence." fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully you in yours." paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, down in his armchair and closing his eyes. "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the wife's character?" heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could