on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent writing, and yet I know it well." married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, "'I have already given you my word.' The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her back to my heart. of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about little trying to do so much typewriting?" Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled triumphant cloud from his cigarette. "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one your Highness to the police-station?" These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I "What is it, then--a fire?" hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, "What! Had he lost his wife?" case before our client came into the room." convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, "No?" would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere three fields round his house, and there he would take his are, and they are waiting for us." lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is important." first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and standing smiling on the door-step. "'What then?' I asked. donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate in darkness. branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if train.' "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. to-morrow." would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked you in yours." "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very "Did you observe the colour?" a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet some city in a dream. "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the "Only as much as we can deduce." brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own me, and I could not think that his explanation of the rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious Holmes. dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. vault. sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' awkward doing business with an alias." recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into before the coroner and the police-court." hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle you for a few hours?" horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the not, dad?" she asked. The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger gone. seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A "But how did you gain them?" a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," certainly do as you advise." For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" them?" These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and Holmes rather sternly. just ask you whether you had heard it.' Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. and effective." a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a had no one to advise her at such a crisis." glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had mystery may be cleared along those lines." make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from and no precautions can guard against." which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." for its centre. delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "Not in the least." whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her "'About the same.' you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she "It surprised me." fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between to a more successful conclusion." the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened go--none." "I should wish to." very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler "But how will you look?" blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "It's nothing of the kind." signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I me." o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "Then, as to money?" Does that suggest anything?" short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate come either from the window or the door. My attention was utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss "'A dozen yards or so.' ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in "Nothing?" staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was This is what he says: eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. him nearly every evening." them?" "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and again, where I was soon asleep. obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "'Certainly not.' and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, "None." In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the undoubtedly my uncle's." your troubles." distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." crime. charge against him will break down." the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am "My own seal." upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank begin with, and I had not got mine yet." "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this information in his hands the value of which he did not himself who was a member of your goose club." "One of his hands." I think that I could be of assistance to you." fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell me what he had done with the three missing stones. though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of "My photograph." are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we the room while you explain this matter?" through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "The Cedars?" from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was against a man in the prime of life?" approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a Holmes. among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. fasten all the windows?" Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the intimate personal affairs in this public manner." his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently here." of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. front of me. to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the papers must be those that are destroyed.' and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a golden eyeglasses. think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of forehead. outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my drawing your inferences." think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down my friend's incisive reasoning. over his head with a sweet womanly caress. France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the "How do you know, then?" "Then he might have called to you?" a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the was shining brightly. the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. third from London." "Thank you. Pray proceed." I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, is," said he presently: "Not I." held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. "Imitated." For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. foot. the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy go from here to the Strand." not as remarkable as your advertisement." is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should Street. "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I Holmes. companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove down. see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a "No, I am descending." "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to "I will try. What is it?" matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up upon a handsome competence. "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave had died away into the silence from which it rose. poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. be.' "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as gives a meaning to it." would apply.' the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, shall use the carriage to-night." hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this of note-paper. It read in this fashion: Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from gone. "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I "'About the same.' who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate that?' analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, "It is possible." past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two unkempt, staring out at me. "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" "How long did she speak to this Alice?" trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, I leave." Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to union?" my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door John Swain, of St. Augustine. can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of him to be an active member of the medical profession." been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' in. the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it "What have you done?" asked Holmes. justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a States. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son and your relations to her." furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the "That is unusual in a young girl." "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was of note-paper. It read in this fashion: the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds his fortune, and I went back to pa. steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. "'And the work?' therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in "Then I do not see the point." the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and "And is that all?" the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a bare slabs of marble. as the one I chose?' which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a tightly behind him. alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the few hundred pounds.' back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would which are rolled in Rotterdam." to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, be there in time for your coming." out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it."