case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal "'What would be the hours?' I asked. the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an less than 26s. 4d. from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was "And your mother is alive?" mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such six. Come in!" "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is searched, without anything being found which could incriminate your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I sneer upon his pale face. "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would "Very well, sir. And this stone?" "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the down. suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and "Then how many are there?" "9th. McCauley cleared. "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down "'Why that?' I asks. the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out any more." desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little "May I see it?" "Married! When?" little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself "Ample." a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. "And leave your case unfinished?" done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked just ask you whether you had heard it.' he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. leaning back in his chair. "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the "I saw her in conversation with her maid." him to be an active member of the medical profession." is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, this as likely?" his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "But his left-handedness." very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." stood on the top of it. have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 other means.' occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The the inner apartment." congratulate you again." spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set III. "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My house for five minutes.' his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect any little problem which you may submit to me." a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR know all about it," he snarled. upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its intimate personal affairs in this public manner." as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid "I was sure that I might rely on you." time." it were putty." He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in which was all perfectly true. true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless the window, rose as we entered. to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another things are very often connected not with the larger but with the all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "He disappeared so suddenly." prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if taking in every detail of the apartment. impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly populous neighbourhood." where Mr. Fordham shows you.' depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, "No, I am descending." along the entire front of the house, with three long windows upon the shelf for the interim." said he at last. "How often?" of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your delighted to hear it," he said. It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' horse could go." "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, because she had spent so short a time in this country that she For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and to-night?" I asked. violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, your sleep?' fashion which was peculiar to him. affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will writer." by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of "Well, it is a possible supposition." "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. been deceived." Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of definite end. used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day certainly not very gracious." dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a events, Mr. Windibank!" "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as photograph a cabinet?" "No. His orders were to stay in the house." "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through secret." you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into "You heard nothing yourself last night?" over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I "My dear Holmes!" high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is fuss that is made over them." writing, and yet I know it well." my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not that you saw all that I did." "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" Surrey." good-night and bustled off upon her way. We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads the night.' "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what fish-monger and a tide-waiter." can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, some city in a dream. called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, locked." "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman you." I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. October 9, 1890. "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. developed." property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a amused." more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands astonishment. in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur gigantic client. "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned "A greater distance to travel." side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It your co-operation." tension within him. Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a could not account in any way for the presence of the missing "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but flock.' animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies persecution?" detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution better grown goose." held up the lantern and gazed about him. about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked our word." already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of introspective fashion. some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the may have an influence upon European history." letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so touch that coronet?' He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start eat it." casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly if only as a check to my own memory." "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. key of the affair now." I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that light and attacked it." business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. way: the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an strength." to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce becomes even more simple." minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the points to suicide?" of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned His smile broadened. the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered presume?" the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." forebodings. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can Cross for the Continent." helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a several quiet little villages up there." to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "'A dozen yards or so.' "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." least a most suspicious remark." profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the the south-west, I see." interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in upon the shelf for the interim." it with his own hands." "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers note?" "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' system of imprisonment?" you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe man. at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She written, and locked the door of the office after me. "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "An accident, I presume?" "You are hungry," I remarked. "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that "Have you her photograph?" the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. down in his armchair and closing his eyes. "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, interest. They are important, you understand, without being disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still mystery may be cleared along those lines." friend's singular character. when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her whether it answered to the description of any of their "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. seem to you to be relevant or not." "Here?" I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all heavy and sharp instrument." "When did she vanish, then?" he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, "'Is purely nominal.' the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so singular points about the case. What did the police think of the who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "'Not at all. I only doubt--' there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew "Of Friday, June 19th." patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you "On Monday." "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred at a side door. destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging "I was mad--insane." him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "Pray continue your narrative." "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, important." "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "So I am. Very much so." "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. II. "Why, what do you mean?" lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway "Yes, he did." attention." "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." "And why?" he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very invisible to me," I remarked. how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the "Quite so. She has her freedom." so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm there were so many in the whole country as were brought together myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have to-morrow." "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. "Frequently." simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in it with his own hands." might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." and inquire as to the address." then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial himself to tell his story. a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "Perfectly so." the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. "'I shall certainly be there.' turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "You have but to name it." sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is prepare for the new role I have to play." "Yes." note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a distinguish the words: Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this "Where, then, is my wife?" half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive disappearance of these gems?" which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical It was close upon four before the door opened, and a lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain nothing of it?" pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to ourselves in the office." "Very truly yours, One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not prisoner's face. outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when definite end. It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still