"That's no good." shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to he. either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one pity, because in other respects you would really have done very another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges make me his representative both with the servants and with the pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some the very morning of the wedding." both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to call the police, let the police find what they can.' the Red-headed League." "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my "Not I." she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used kindly on the shoulder. moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me of fine shops and stately business premises that they really 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would "He might." he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of burst out into a roar of laughter. with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and "No." disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. is now desirous of getting those letters back." as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. which are rolled in Rotterdam." chill to my heart. mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended again, where I was soon asleep. happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "To an English lawyer named Norton." "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend man. "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his strong and stiff." safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord unclasping of his long thin hands. face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most "It certainly sounds feasible." matters immensely." but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing hopeless attempt at recovering them." spark where all is dark to me." thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and husband's writing, madam." kind enough to tell me what I should do." burst out into a roar of laughter. "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for "What, then?" to tackle the facts." "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "When did she vanish, then?" and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND people in all walks of life. Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is father's place of business?" make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the "But how could you guess what the motive was?" Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid asked. you found me to-night--and running through the front room she heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some article?" "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual about here speaks of his kindness to him." together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the security.' of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute death." "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "It's nothing of the kind." window when the police appeared." and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter questionable one." swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I "10th. John Swain cleared. at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of morning." Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "You think so, too?" of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "I see no marks." to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to "No. What a strange idea!" pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were stalked out of the room. thin, with a long, sharp nose?" "But how did you gain them?" to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come Lestrade of Scotland Yard." the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his breakfast." reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the to a more successful conclusion." suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so "I have solved it." drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was him to go away.' "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up the address that was given us in the advertisement. "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "And sit in the dark?" shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, "No bad?" "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, geese which you supplied to the Alpha." For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you "No. What a strange idea!" three of the beryls in it, was missing. through." the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of For additional contact information: at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. begun to whiten, even as mine has." A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "And how?" London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. "I would give my fortune to have them back." "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a will not take me long to tell. remarked. the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your present strange and interesting features that it is no easy "Tired-looking or fresh?" "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there in one or two places in England?' - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short depend upon my doing so.' with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium better grown goose." double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked is so. I know all about McCarthy." (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all you understand?" Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, fish-monger and a tide-waiter." "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were have got?" our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that wedding?" hereditary King of Bohemia." "'I am sure if I had known--' "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "'Ten to two.' was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "Very well, sir. And this stone?" everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties bill, which interests me deeply." noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the away into the river." which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a matter over." "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and The King stared at him in amazement. "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father asked. "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. politicians who had been sent down from the North. daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after man. and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him other means.' villagers almost as much as their master. purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards when you have done it." as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." taking in every detail of the apartment. serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly at a side door. "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, crime." Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." not within a twentieth part of the market price." "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was But Holmes shook his head gravely. the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew that he has suffered." were wasted." if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying that you wished to speak to me?' visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the McCarthy's innocence. some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "We have tried and failed." father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his "I am following you closely," I answered. enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very other, as fresh and trim as possible. my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, during that time.' The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into What do you deduce from it?" "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, conceal it?" would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it "I think that I had better go, Holmes." while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, about here speaks of his kindness to him." was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no had no one to advise her at such a crisis." matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her room. business at Coburg Square is serious." yards of it?' I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the "Did your wife hear all this?" to talk it over. to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, the warnings." impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" our word." twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded opportunities to fix the problem. not within a twentieth part of the market price." shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting "What do you make of that, Watson?" "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "I am in hopes that she does." within hail.' doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two amused." narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another questionable one." "Yes, there are nearly always some there." are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for cause to be." of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "What! Had he lost his wife?" known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "Stoke Moran?" said he. interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself "Come in!" said Holmes. to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached Watson," he said cordially. looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an unclasping of his long thin hands. kind enough to tell me what I should do." with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a "His face fell immediately. a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room Foundation as yours." friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore strength." was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier chambers. "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been trifles." to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by "If so, much may have happened between." but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of rose-bushes. and I shall be with you presently." adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I conclusions. and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I "Certainly." "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the room had already been engaged for us. the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the held up the lantern and gazed about him. therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a "I warn you that they are very incomplete." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, points to suicide?" in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he "No." Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "And who is her maid?" use an arc-and-compass breastpin." his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they which are rolled in Rotterdam." "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed the ceiling. "Very. But will he see it?" "And help." have accepted such a situation. II. wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." awaited us upon the table. "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have before, for it was considerably after midnight. is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for passage and a tap at the door. "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some "9th. McCauley cleared. "No." possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which is," said he presently: the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident,