I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman crackling voice. quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set "But it has twice been burgled." "And now?" I asked. adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, "'Entirely.' of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. ordinary clothes on?" think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other back into the street. "Proceed, then." It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that "There are none." thin legs towards the fire. absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. business." assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." "Yes." down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than indeed which he could not unravel. too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the room?" round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching "You will not go there first?" such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the "How are you getting on?" carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I Chief Executive and Director "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the will not take me long to tell. about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by this as likely?" "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and very peculiar words of the dying woman?" at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face more solid." "Yes." I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not "Did your wife hear all this?" course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was "And you thought he was pulled back?" "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast "I promise," said Holmes. sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is charged with?" unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than said I. "It is a murder, then?" Holmes' thin, eager face. What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very night.' said he. your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them than was visible to me." my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and what I may call a really hard day's work." Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, was already answered. flock.' other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the him, that man would not have given me such complete information labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, 1.F. for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. "And what did you see?" all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me bill, which interests me deeply." if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy "But your client--" "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, "'As governess?' active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the "Then I shall certainly come." this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "What do you make of that, Watson?" vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. she to prove their authenticity?" so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted sneer upon his pale face. we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "But she will refuse." stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for is a common subject for conversation. "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if she slowly sank and died without having recovered her I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. "Well, it is a possible supposition." and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To in the hope of finding them." week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to get the tickets." reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent "Perhaps we may make them less so." repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "So I heard. You have him here?" shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of green of the new foliage. a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't clanging. of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send the very morning of the wedding." object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign "Pray tell us what has happened to you." Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon in. "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "It looks newer than the other things?" days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, said I. At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, "Will you go?" opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "Well?" "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. tell him that I know him to be innocent." and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and God! What an exposure! What can I do?" through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "Whose house is it?" them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or hands. I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could "By no means." the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years "In which, sir?" description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, bare slabs of marble. "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. "Certainly, madam." minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. "'Quite sure, dad.' Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email "Perfectly so." eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the him." he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. and the church but not where the lady lived." ceremony." explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If dates and names. deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest lost his Christmas dinner." say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This friend's singular character. the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "And you can do nothing until then?" great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his redistribution. ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "We must sit without light. He would see it through the "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "A thing like a cleaver," said he. located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall "That is not always so easy." it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." taking in every detail of the apartment. papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is better in every way that they should make their position a little chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or your most interesting statement." fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone "And the cigar-holder?" didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a his knees, staring into the fire. "You did not overhear what they said?" "This concluded the examination of the witness." of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." "And I." matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "How are you getting on?" problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: six. Come in!" strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a past. "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked has little to do with my story." Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the think, you have already met." How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried noble correspondent could be. dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have electronic works ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely hand, madam?" which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "That is it on the dressing-table." and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been "'No, I know no one in these parts.' corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was carpenter." of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the thin, with a long, sharp nose?" the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make "'Stolen!' he cried. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner "And how did he make his money?" Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and good for you to do.' Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across stepfather?" was a loud and authoritative tap. agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a questioning and rather startled gaze. any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, burst out into a roar of laughter. but preventing her from injuring another. from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall do.' "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." crowd. the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought golden eyeglasses. waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "His face fell immediately. miles off. Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they "But what will you do?" Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at searched, without anything being found which could incriminate police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, it right.' agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few never to learn it at all." "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than breakfast and whispered something to her husband. bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation Surrey." has little to do with my story." a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an point our research must commence, and we will begin it by against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "It is a murder, then?" the Red-headed League." "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, "Won't it ring?" sparkled upon his finger. actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would "He said too much." "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he good-night and bustled off upon her way. other lovers by making love himself." opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed colonel looking down at me. present." than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" "'Most admirably.' with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is extraordinary contortions. "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "And now?" I asked. which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father who was a member of your goose club." point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, to Leatherhead. which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the fire. You quite follow me?" but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my "Yes." fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot "Your sister is dead, then?" Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "Of Friday, June 19th." bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: The summons was a brief and urgent one. "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" "Which are?" Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the ordinary clothes on?" dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted to arrive at through this?" "I have come for advice." "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still chill to my heart. We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, hour." had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a what I may call a really hard day's work." thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "And help." and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, upon the shelf for the interim."